September 1st of this year, the US Army has directed commands to prepare to administer mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.
The directive came from an execute order by Department of the Army Headquarters.
“Commanders will continue COVID-19 vaccination operations and prepare for a directive to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for service members [on or around] 01 September 2021, pending full FDA licensure,” the order said.
However, Pentagon has yet to put out a guidance to the services to prepare for a mandatory vaccine roll-out in September. Although, it was not immediately clear whether the vaccines would even be approved in time for a September 1 mandatory rollout.
The vaccine brands that will be administered in the initial mandatory roll-out are Pfizer and Moderna.
The ”timelines for vaccine approval may vary depending on a number of factors, but as Pfizer and Moderna announced, they have initiated rolling submissions of their biologics license applications for their COVID-19 vaccines,” said Alison Hunt, an FDA spokesperson.
The FDA will take 60 days to review the applications to be able to issue a full approval This is in accordance with the agency’s guidelines for priority review.
70% of the Army personnel have already been inoculated voluntarily. The Navy is also planning for a mandatory vaccination, just like the Army.
Meanwhile, the Veterans Affairs administration weighing a decision to require all VA staffers to receive the vaccine. This is in connection to the highly concerning Delta variant virus worldwide.
