Flu cases at Texas base hit 275 as services again require recruits to get shots

Defense Flu cases at Texas base hit 275 as services again require recruits to get shots Comments: by Ellen Mitchell - 06/25/26 6:42 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ellen Mitchell - 06/25/26 6:42 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The number of flu cases at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas continues to rise in the wake of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s banishment of the influenza vaccine mandate for service members.

The Air Force confirmed 275 cases as of Wednesday, up from 160 just last week, a figure Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said the service had relayed to his office.

In addition, four people have been hospitalized as of Tuesday, ABC News reported.

One recruit also died June 16, though the death remains under investigation and it is not clear whether it is tied to the outbreak.

The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The influenza outbreak over the past three weeks has slammed the 37th Training Wing at Lackland, part of Joint Base San Antonio, where more than 36,000 recruits come through annually.

The incident follows Hegseth’s decision in April to end the military’s mandatory flu vaccines for service members, arguing the changes are giving troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to express their religious convictions.”

At the time, he denounced the flu shot requirement — around since 1945 and in sidestep with longstanding public health directives — as an “absurd” and “overreaching” mandate that weakens the country’s warfighting capabilities. He claimed that the decision to receive a vaccine “posed no threat to our military readiness.”

Castro, meanwhile, called it a “reckless” decision that set the stage for an outbreak.

The services appear to have heeded the influenza spread at Lackland in giving new exceptions to Hegseth’s policy. The Army, Navy and Air Force reportedly are once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees, as they retain broad discretion in how to carry out Pentagon policy to address safety concerns.

The Army also is looking to extend that requirement to troops deploying overseas, first responders, childcare workers, healthcare personnel, prison staff and those taking part in certain large-scale training exercises, ABC reported.