Written by Luke Harrison.
A high-ranking CIA official tied to the contentious military Covid-19 vaccine mandate under President Joe Biden has been dismissed. Terry Adirim, who once held a senior role at the Department of Defense, lost her position last week, a source disclosed. Her firing stems from actions in 2021 that compelled U.S. service members to accept a vaccine or face expulsion—a policy that stirred debate over legality and personal choice within the armed forces.
The Mandate’s Origins and Adirim’s Role
The saga began in August 2021 when then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mandated Covid-19 vaccinations for all U.S. troops. Biden backed the move, with National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby affirming in 2022 that the president endorsed requiring service members to be vaccinated and boosted. Adirim, then performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, played a key part in rolling it out. On September 14, 2021, she issued a memo directing military health providers to treat Pfizer’s BioNTech vaccine—still under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)—as interchangeable with the FDA-approved Comirnaty vaccine.
This directive wasn’t a minor tweak. It effectively blurred the line between an EUA product, which legally requires informed consent, and a fully approved one, sidestepping potential objections from troops wary of unmandated shots. For a soldier in Texas or a sailor in Norfolk, it meant one choice: jab or job. Adirim’s memo aligned with Austin’s order, but her recent firing suggests the Trump administration views her actions as overreach—or worse.
From Pentagon to CIA—and Out
Adirim’s career path tells a story of influence. A Biden appointee at the Defense Department, she shaped health policy during a fraught time—Covid’s peak—before shifting to the CIA in December as director of its Centers for Global Health Services. Her tenure there ended abruptly last week, tied directly to that 2021 mandate. The source pegs her dismissal to forcing service members into a corner: take an EUA vaccine or get discharged. It’s a move some now call potentially illegal, given EUA rules demand voluntary acceptance.
Picture the stakes. The military’s 1.3 million active-duty members faced deadlines—November 2021 for most branches—to comply or risk losing livelihoods. Thousands resisted; some filed lawsuits claiming coercion. Adirim’s interchangeable-vaccine stance fueled the policy’s teeth, letting providers jab troops with BioNTech doses as if they were Comirnaty, despite the legal gray zone. Her exit signals a reckoning—Trump’s team isn’t letting that slide.
The fallout wasn’t small. By late 2021, over 8,000 service members were discharged for refusing, per Pentagon data later released. Careers ended, families scrambled—a cost Adirim’s memo helped impose. Her firing hints at a shift: what Biden saw as public health, Trump frames as abuse of power.
A Policy’s Legacy and Legal Shadows
The mandate’s roots run deep. Austin’s August 24, 2021, memo leaned on FDA guidance that BioNTech and Comirnaty were functionally identical—same formula, different labels. Adirim’s follow-up made it operational, instructing providers to use EUA doses as if fully approved. It streamlined compliance but sparked pushback. Troops argued they weren’t given a real opt-out, a right EUA status should’ve preserved. Courts later split—some upheld the mandate, others questioned its reach.
Fast forward to 2025. Adirim’s out, and the CIA’s tight-lipped. The source ties her firing to that mandate’s enforcement, suggesting Trump’s administration sees it as a stain—maybe a legal misstep. Rewind to a base in California: a young Marine, told it’s the shot or the door, might’ve trusted the “approved” label Adirim’s memo implied. Now, her dismissal reframes that moment as a breach of trust, not a safeguard.
The broader impact lingers. Military readiness took a hit—recruitment dipped as vaccine skepticism grew. A 2023 rollback of the mandate came too late for those already cut. Adirim’s role, once a cog in Biden’s machine, now marks her as a target in Trump’s cleanup. It’s less about her whole career—decades in health policy—and more about one call that reshaped thousands of lives.
Our Take
Adirim’s firing closes a chapter on a divisive policy—and opens a window into Trump’s priorities. The mandate she helped enforce aimed to protect but trampled choice, leaving scars on the military’s rank-and-file. Her memo’s legal fuzziness—merging EUA and approved vaccines—handed troops a raw deal, and her exit feels like justice to some, retribution to others. As a journalist digging through this, I’d argue it’s a signal: Trump’s team won’t spare architects of Biden’s edicts, especially ones that bent rules. It’s a win for accountability if it holds—but a warning, too, that purges can chill expertise when it’s needed most.
