According to the latest data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some 171 million or 51.6% of all Americans have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The White House redoubled its efforts to promote vaccination this summer amid the rapidly spreading Delta variant of COVID-19.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has ordered all military personnel to get their coronavirus vaccine shots and instructed top officers to “impose ambitious timelines for implementation”.

“To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force. After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease […] is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people”, Austin said in a memo distributed by the Pentagon.

While the document does not provide a clear deadline for vaccinating the roughly 800,000 unvaccinated active duty and reserve servicemen, an anonymous senior defence official told the AP that Austin had made it clear to commanders that he expects the process to be completed within weeks, not months. So far, a little over one million active duty service members, National Guard, and reservists have been fully vaccinated in the US.