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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has officially rescinded the military’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate for troops after President Joe Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, requiring its dismissal, CNN reported.

“Section 525 of the NDAA for FY 2023 requires me to rescind the mandate that members of the armed forces be vaccinated against Covid-19, issued in my August 24, 2021 memorandum … I hereby rescind that memorandum,” Austin said in a memo on Tuesday night.

The requirement to remove the mandate was viewed as a win for conservative lawmakers who had long argued that it was hindering the military’s recruitment efforts, though Pentagon officials maintained there was no evidence to support the claim.

In the wake of the news that the mandate would soon be rescinded, questions arose about what kind of impact it would have on the military’s ability to deploy or rotate through host nations, some of which have their own vaccine requirements. The Covid-19 vaccine was one of more than a dozen required by the Defense Department, and Austin made clear in his memo that other standing DOD “policies, procedures, and processes regarding immunizations remain in effect.”

“These include the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions, including when vaccination is required for travel to, or entry into, a foreign nation,” Austin said.