Today's D Brief: COVID vax mandate for the military; Taliban's new orders; Tough talk from North Korea, China; And a bit more.
By Ben Watson
August 10, 2021
The D Brief
The U.S. military is making COVID vaccinations mandatory as early as the middle of next month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in a memo to the force Monday. That mandate timeline could move up if the Food and Drug Agency formally approves a vaccine before mid-September.
Background: This new guidance for all uniformed service members and Defense Department staff follows a White House announcement in July that mandated all federal workers either assert that they have been vaccinated, with penalties including criminal prosecution if they lie, or submit to strict rules to stop the spread of the virus, including weekly testing, mandatory mask wearing, and social distancing, Defense One’s Jacqueline Feldscher reports.
Next steps: If a vaccine is approved by the FDA, Austin can make it mandatory without seeking permission from his commander-in-chief, President Joe Biden. But if it’s not approved within about five weeks, Biden will need to issue a waiver to add it to the list of more than a dozen shots already required by troops, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing Monday.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/08/the-d-brief-august-10-2021/184410/
