Washington. August 5. INTERFAX-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin may this week request permission from US President Joe Biden to oblige all military personnel on active duty to be vaccinated against COVID-19, CNN reports.
Austin is "leaning toward making vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory" for active-duty military personnel, a Defense Department official told CNN.
If the Secretary of Defense makes a final decision on vaccination, he will be able to request the president's permission for mandatory vaccination of the military before the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approves the vaccines.
According to several officials, the Pentagon's decision and recommendations on how to act may be taken this week.
US President Joe Biden announced on July 29 that he is asking the Ministry of Defense to "study how and when" it will add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of mandatory vaccinations for the military.
Last week, Biden announced that employees of US federal agencies should either be vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus, or follow a number of precautions at work: wear masks at work, follow the rules of social distancing, and also periodically take a test for coronavirus.
