{"id":906136,"date":"2026-07-01T19:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/906136\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:57:15","slug":"what-we-know-about-the-flu-outbreak-at-joint-base-san-antonio-lackland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/906136\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know about the flu outbreak at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 Two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth changed the flu vaccine policy from mandatory to optional for U.S. service members, a flu outbreak has spread amongst hundreds of recruits at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. <\/p>\n

Hegseth described the previous mandatory policy as \u201cnot rational.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOur new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cYou should, but we will not force you.\u201d <\/p>\n

During a June 30 news conference in Washington D.C., three members of Congress \u2014 including San Antonio-area Congressman Joaquin Castro \u2014 said the outbreak has swelled to 284 confirmed cases and four hospitalizations. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m demanding an investigation into his (McDaniel\u2019s) death in connection to the flu outbreak,\u201d Castro (D-San Antonio) said at the news conference. <\/p>\n

According to Castro, the U.S. Air Force confirmed the flu-related death of Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland trainee Keon McDaniel at Brooke Army Medical Center. <\/p>\n

In a June 17 news release from the U.S. Air Force, McDaniel, a trainee with the 737th Training Support Squadron, died June 16.<\/p>\n

The Air Force said McDaniel was in his sixth week of Basic Military Training on June 12 when he experienced a \u201cmedical emergency\u201d and was subsequently transported to Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment. McDaniel died at the hospital four days later.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know about the flu outbreak lawmakers are connecting to McDaniel\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

First report of the outbreak <\/p>\n

According to a June 18 report from ABC News<\/a>, at least 159 recruits tested positive for the flu and caused two hospitalizations. At the time, one of ABC News\u2019 sources suggested the actual number of cases and hospitalizations could be higher.<\/p>\n

Since the vaccine mandate was lifted, the flu vaccination rate among recruits at JBSA-Lackland has dropped to roughly 40%, down from nearly 100%, ABC News sources said.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon has since granted exceptions to the new policy for several branches and agencies. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told ABC News that exceptions were approved for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency.<\/p>\n

A climb in cases <\/p>\n

According to CNN<\/a>, the vaccine mandate for Air Force recruits was restored on June 11. Within weeks, unvaccinated trainees at JBSA-Lackland received the flu shot.<\/p>\n

However, in a June 24 news release, Castro reported the number of flu cases had climbed to 275. <\/p>\n

Six days later, Castro, who was joined by fellow U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) and U.S. Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California), called on Hegseth to \u201creinstate the flu vaccine requirement for all service members\u201d<\/a> after he said 284 flu cases were confirmed at the base. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a veteran, and as the ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I know that military readiness is built on discipline, professionalism and on leaders who make decisions based on evidence and not ideology,\u201d Houlahan, a former U.S. Air Force officer, said. \u201cReadiness begins and ends with healthy troops. That\u2019s why what is happening in Lackland is so deeply disturbing and troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my previous role at the Department of Defense, I oversaw the Defense Health Agency. I know firsthand why we kept these requirements,\u201d Cisneros, a U.S. Navy veteran who is also on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, said. \u201cHealth care is part of readiness. Vaccines are part of readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three members of Congress also introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require all service members to get vaccinated for the flu.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s absurd about keeping those who serve our nation safe?\u201d Castro asked rhetorically. \u201cNo president or secretary should be able to play politics and put the health of our troops at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with KSAT on June 30, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones noted that recruits who have \u201cfallen ill\u201d can also come into contact with civilians on base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, because again, this is completely preventable,\u201d Jones told KSAT. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s in fact why you have the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones, who previously served as Under Secretary of the Air Force, emphasized the impact on military readiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how important it is to keep that timeline and that pipeline moving, and so, this unnecessary \u2014 and unfortunately \u2014 kind of politicization of public health, has yielded this negative impact on our readiness,” Jones said. <\/p>\n

More recent coverage of this story on KSAT:<\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth changed the flu vaccine policy from mandatory to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":906137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,47180,7452,210,40657,47399,23008,15034,6986,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-906136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-flu","tag-gina-ortiz-jones","tag-health","tag-jbsa","tag-joaquin-castro","tag-joint-base-san-antonio","tag-joint-base-san-antonio-lackland","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116846490351610402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}