The United States Department of Defense will require members of the country’s military to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 15, according to US media reports citing a memo from the federal body.

The memo contains statements from the United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who says that approval from President Joe Biden will be awaited to implement a vaccine mandate “no later than mid-September” or licensure by the Food and Drug Administration, according to reports from the Associated Press.

“I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course to the President if l feel the need to do so”, the memo from Pentagon read, which is expected to go out on Monday.

The coming weeks have been allocated for the various divisions of the United States defense forces to determine the framework of the inoculation drive, which would include the COVID-19 vaccine requirements, the memo said.

The decision will add the COVID-19 vaccine to a list of other inoculations that service members are already required to get. Depending on their location around the world, service members can get as many as 17 different vaccines.

United States military personnel are already mandated to get vaccinated against various diseases, depending on where they get deployed. As of now, the vaccine requirement can go as high as 17, according to reports from Associated Press.

Even though the COVID-19 vaccination rates vary in different departments of the United States military, more than a million troops have already been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus while a single dose has been received by nearly 237,000 military personnel, Associated Press reported citing reports from the country’s Department of Defense.

The United States Army reports the lowest inoculation rate out of the three major branches of defense forces ranging close to 50%. The Air Force reports active-duty personnel to have a partial vaccination rate that is more than 60%. The Navy has a single-shot vaccination rate of more than 74% of all active duty and reserve sailors.