Overview
- The Navy issued a NAVADMIN on Monday requiring annual influenza vaccination for defined groups, including recruits in initial entry training, officer accession students, deployed sailors entering countries with flu-vaccine rules, healthcare personnel, child and youth services staff, and certain reservists.
- The NAVADMIN sets a Jan. 15 deadline for required personnel to receive the 2026–27 vaccine and directs Navy medicine to manage ordering and tracking of shots.
- Service members and eligible civilians may still seek medical or administrative exemptions, including religious accommodations, under the guidance.
- The change follows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s April decision to make the flu shot optional and a June outbreak at Air Force basic training that sickened hundreds and prompted the Pentagon to grant service-level exceptions.
- The policy is a targeted, operational rollback rather than a return to a force-wide mandate, and it aims to limit training disruptions and protect units while other Navy personnel are only encouraged, not required, to vaccinate.