Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hands out diplomas at the graduation and commissioning ceremony in West Point, New York, on May 22, 2021.
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Syndication: USA TODAY
Apr 28, 2021; Washington, DC, USA; Speaker Nancy Pelosi with, from left, Chairman Mark Milley of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken after President Joe Biden delivered an address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Mandatory Credit: Doug Mills/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK
Wash. DC (77WABC)-All members of the US Military are expected to hear that Covid-19 vaccinations will be mandatory.
The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today is expected to announce at the White House, a mandatory vaccine police for 1.3 million active-duty forces in the U.S. military.
Last week, Pres. Joe Biden said he was directing the Defense Department to examine how to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory.
A former Army lawyer says his firm has received calls from hundreds of service members since President Biden asked the Pentagon to look at adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the shots troops are required to get. Greg T. Rinckey says soldiers, Marines and sailors have asked about their rights and whether they can take legal action. But Rinckey and other experts say if Biden issues a wavier to a federal law requiring individuals be given a choice then it will be tougher for troops to challenge it. Some soldiers say they welcome making the vaccine mandatory and have been concerned about working in close quarters with unvaccinated troops.
The Department of Justice was also asked by the president to look into the legality of mandating for the military a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
DOJ officials said a vaccine mandate would require a presidential waiver.
Roughly 64% of active-duty forces are fully vaccinated.
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