7 Coast Guard Cadets Disenrolled Due To Vaccination Status: Reports

NEW LONDON, CT — Seven Coast Guard Academy cadets are being ordered off campus due to their failure to comply with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate, according to WTNH News-8. The cadets are being disenrolled after their requests for exemptions were denied.

A lawyer for several of the cadets said they were told Aug. 18 that they had to leave campus by 4 p.m. the next day. However, a Coast Guard official told FOX 61 that the cadets were given a week's notice regarding disenrollment.

The attorney for the cadets said academy officials could have waited until pending lawsuits on the military's vaccination requirements were resolved, WTNH News-8 reported.

The Coast Guard was part of an August 2021 mandate for all military personnel to be vaccinated. Fifteen cadets then applied for religious or medical waivers, but their requests were denied, according to FOX 61.

Four of those cadets resigned, four were vaccinated, and the remaining seven failed to get the vaccine. A Coast Guard official told FOX 61 that it has "determined that the COVID-19 vaccine is part of our medical readiness practices..."

The seven cadets were informed of their violations three months ago and provided 10 additional days to get the vaccine.