Alabama Military Base Becomes First in US To Require COVID Vaccination Proof for Service Members

An Alabama 🪖Military base has become the first in the nation to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination this week as infection rates rise across the state.

“Due to the rising rates in the counties around us and some on Fort Rucker, we’re now implementing G.O. number 12,” Maj. Gen. David Francis said in a video on Fort Rucker’s official Facebook page.

“The big difference is going to be that if you are not wearing a mask, the leadership will be able to ask you, ask soldiers, to prove that they’ve been vaccinated by showing their vaccination card,” he added.

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The rule currently applies only to uniformed personnel.

“Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that about 70 percent of 🪖Military personnel have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine,” The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

“That’s encouraging, but there’s more work to do, and so we continue to be in the mode of encouraging troops to get vaccinated to the maximum degree,” Kirby said.

The move was considered especially important as the state’s daily coronavirus cases have risen over the past two weeks.

“According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Alabama has risen over the past two weeks from 205.43 new cases per day on June 28 to 559.57 new cases per day on July 12,”