Mike the Mad Biologist

This was likely a completely preventable death of a young man who had his entire life in front of him (boldface mine):

The Air Force has acknowledged that the recent death of a recruit in basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was caused by a flu virus that has swept the base, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.

It was the first confirmation that Airman 1st Class Keon Talik McDaniel, 25, died of influenza. Previously, the Air Force said only that McDaniel, who was in his sixth week of basic training, suffered “a medical emergency” and was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he died on June 16. Air Force officials did not disclose whether he had contracted the flu. They said the cause of death was under investigation.

On Tuesday afternoon, however, Castro said in a statement: “The Air Force confirmed that trainee Keon McDaniel died from the flu during the outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.”

The San Antonio Democrat has been in contact with Air Force officials to track the influenza surge and has given regular public updates. He and two fellow Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday called for federal legislation to require flu vaccinations for all military personnel.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the flu vaccine requirement in April, and in May influenza began spreading at Lackland, which is the hub of Air Force basic training, graduating 35,000 airmen every year….

Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Gilbert Cisneros, D-Calif., joined Castro on Tuesday in proposing to amend the National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the military, to make flu shots mandatory for all service personnel. So far, they said, Republicans had blocked the amendment.

There is still much we don’t know, such as the strain of influenza (if that has even been determined), but Hegseth and Kennedy’s idiocy killed this man. The influenza vaccine is safe and effective–it saves lives and not just lives of people at high-risk. Healthy, unvaccinated people die from influenza too. Hopefully, Airman McDaniel will be the last one killed by this foolishness.