Flu outbreak sickens 200 trainees at Lackland Air Force Base

Flu cases rise to 222 at Texas base in outbreak blamed on Hegseth scrapping of vaccine mandate

More than 220 troops have contracted influenza at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, up from 160 reported last week in a major outbreak that comes less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that flu vaccinations would no longer be mandatory for service members. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), whose district includes Lackland, on Friday…

Flu outbreak sickens 200 trainees at Lackland Air Force Base

More than 200 service members at a Texas base have contracted the flu following a new Pentagon policy that allows flu vaccinations to be optional.Over the past three weeks, the training wing at Lackland Air Force Base has suffered from a localized influenza outbreak among trainees at Basic Military Training, an Air Force spokesperson told Military Times.“Medical professionals and Public Health officials have implemented mitigation measures to is…

Air Force confirms flu outbreak among trainees at Lackland

An Air Force spokesperson said the 37th Training Wing and 59th Medical Wing are working together to contain the outbreak. Air Force confirms flu outbreak among trainees at Lackland was first posted on June 22, 2026 at 11:54 am.©2021 "San Antonio Report". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at

ICYMI: Washington Post (Editorial): Pete Hegseth’s reckless vaccine policy backfires with flu outbreak

Reaction from Kayla Hancock, Director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project: “Sec. Hegseth followed the lead of RFK Jr. and fully embraced his unfounded anti-vax ideology, which predictably did not take long to compromise military readiness with a terrible outbreak. Trump’s Cabinet says it’s all about freedom. Catching a preventable disease by refusing safe and effective vaccines is a perverse idea of freedom. But what about the freedom of…

Quick takes: Flu sickens US troops, Texas reports 3 more NWS cases, eligibility expands for pneumococcal vaccine

The US defense secretary lifted the flu vaccine mandate for troops 2 months ago. Now 160 trainees in Texas are sick.