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NDAA rescinds military vaccine mandate; DoD formally repeals it

Section 525 of the FY2023 NDAA (James M. Inhofe NDAA, H.R. 7776), signed December 23, 2022, required the Secretary of Defense to rescind the August 24, 2021 vaccination mandate. On January 10, 2023, Secretary Austin formally rescinded the mandate and the related Guard/Reserve memo, barring separations solely for vaccine refusal for those who had sought accommodations. The memo reported 96% of the force fully vaccinated and stated DoD would continue to encourage vaccination; thousands of service members had been discharged while the mandate was in force.

Primary quotes

Other
“Section 525 of the NDAA for FY 2023 requires me to rescind the mandate that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated against COVID-19… I hereby rescind that memorandum.”

SecDef memo, January 10, 2023

Linked sources

P.L. 117-263 — James M. Inhofe NDAA for FY2023 (govinfo full text)
Tier 1 · other · Sec. 525 requires rescission of the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate
Secretary of Defense Memo on Rescission of COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements (Jan. 10, 2023)
Tier 1 · report · Formal repeal; reports 96% of force fully vaccinated

Related contentions

COVID-19 vaccine mandates: justified protection or overreach?

Partially resolved procedurally, unresolved substantively. Courts settled who held legal authority (OSHA stayed, CMS upheld) and Congress ended the military mandate, but no court or official body has adjudicated the underlying disputes over natural-immunity exemptions, transmission benefit post-Delta, or whether the uptake gains justified the coercive costs — interpretation of those trade-offs remains contested.