US Troops Not Required to Get COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to reporters at the Pentagon in Washington on Aug. 18, 2021. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. troops are being encouraged but not required to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, according to a newly published memorandum.

Troops were told earlier this month in the memo, published by the military on Dec. 28, that “receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is not mandatory.”