The Department of Defense’s vaccine mandate may be lifted, but the U.S. Military Academy is reimposing restrictions on cadets who have not received the jab, according to military attorney R. Davis Younts, reports Just the News.
Unvaccinated cadets were previously unable to travel for sports or other events, but that policy was said to have been reversed last semester.
Now, however, West Point has reportedly put the “restrictions back in place,” which Younts told Just the News “feels like coercion.”
In response, the U.S. Military Academy Office of Public Affairs and Communications said it’s following DOD “guidance regarding unvaccinated service members," though it told Fox News the policy never changed.
“U.S. Army policy states unvaccinated service members are not eligible for official travel without prior approval from the Under Secretary of the Army,” the statement added. “Until the policy is rescinded, West Point will continue to follow it."
While the policy mandating the vaccine was rescinded in the NDAA, it did not address the service members discharged for refusing the shot. Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that requires the Secretary of Defense to offer reinstatement to those fired over the mandate.
“Our military continues to feel the effects of the Biden administration’s reckless, misguided, and now-prohibited vaccine mandates," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). "I’m glad that we were able to remove the COVID-19 vaccine mandate last Congress, but there is more work to do. The AMERICANS Act would correct the wrongs done to unvaccinated service members who were discharged for exercising their conscience.”