Mandatory Vaccinations Expected to Protect Ft Hood Soldiers

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to announce mandatory vaccinations for all active military in the coming days as COVID-19 cases soar.

According to reports from both FOX news and CNN, while the vaccinations for COVID-19 have yet to be fully approved by the FDA, a mandate to receive the vaccination may be coming soon for all active military.

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Federal Employees Asked to Receive Vaccination

President Biden recently announced that," every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel."

So while Federal employees haven't been mandated to receive the vaccine, it has been highly suggested.

An Order From the Top

President Biden then asked the Defense Department to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 to the list of required vaccinations for the country's armed forced.

"Our men and women in uniform who protect this country from grave threats should be protected as much as possible from getting COVID-19. I think this is particularly important because our troops serve in places throughout the world, many where vaccination rates are low and disease is prevalent," President Biden stated.

Protecting Our Troops

Jamal Brown, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, released the following statement following President Biden's remarks.

"Secretary Austin will also begin consulting our medical professionals, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to determine how and when to make recommendations to the President with respect to adding the COVID-19 vaccines to the full list of requirements for military personnel."

Currently, a memorandum has ordered that anyone visiting Fort Hood be required to wear a mask inside all facilities. That includes service members, federal employees, onsite contractor employees, and visitors.

What's Next?

Vaccinations are the next step to protecting our troops from COVID-19, and the vaccine is expected to be fully approved by the FDA in the Fall. Speculators believe that Secretary Austin will make an announcement concerning active military vaccinations on Friday.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

7 Weird Texas Laws That Actually Exist

There are plenty of lists of 'crazy Texas laws' that you can find online. Unfortunately, a lot of those 'laws' don't actually exist, or they were appealed a long time ago. However, there are plenty of laws that do actually exist and seem pretty silly. Some of them are very self-explanatory, while others are oddly specific. These are a few weird Texas laws that actually exist.

Test Your Texas: How Many of These Jeopardy! Questions Can You Answer?

Jeopardy! as we know it has been on the air since 1984, but the show got its start way back 1964.

Over the decades, the writers have managed to keep coming up with challenging questions to test the intellectual might of America's best and brightest (and sometimes softball questions for celebrities).

Texas is a place packed with personality, culture, and history, and there've been hundreds of questions/answers about the Lone Star State. Let's take a look at a few recent ones, and keep an eye out because we'll add more soon to test your Texas trivia skills and challenge newcomers.

How many of these can you get right without Googling?