Coast Guard members reinstated with back pay after COVID vaccine mandate

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that 56 U.S. Coast Guard members forced out over a Biden-era COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be reinstated with back pay, marking what DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called a major victory for “religious, personal and medical freedom.”

Former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, under former President Joe Biden, issued a mandate Aug. 21, 2021, requiring all service members to get a COVID-19 vaccine. It was rescinded nearly two years later on Jan. 10, 2023. 

The Coast Guard implemented a similar mandate, which was rescinded Jan. 11, 2023.

President Donald Trump issued executive order 14184 on Jan. 27, 2025, allowing reinstatement of all service members who were discharged for refusing the vaccine.

Following the order, a three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Military Records of the Coast Guard voted to reinstate 56 members of the Coast Guard.

“Fifty-six members of the United States Coast Guard who were kicked out of the service over the COVID-19 vaccine have finally been reinstated with back pay — this is a victory for religious, personal and medical freedom for all Americans — both in and out of uniform,” Noem, who made the recommendation to the board, wrote in a statement. 

“The last administration’s vaccine mandates were unconstitutional, un-American, and a gross violation of personal freedom.

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“It was no way to treat the men and women who put everything on the line to keep our country safe,” she continued. “President Trump is righting these wrongs and returning those unjustly removed members to service. This decision to reinstate these members of the Coast Guard is a major step in the right direction.”

DHS said the resinstatements will ensure the service records of each member reflect a period of unbroken and continuous active service between the date of their vaccine-related discharge and their reinstatement to Coast Guard duty.

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In accordance with Trump’s executive order, the members may be entitled to back pay and allowances, bonus payments, rank and seniority in grade, as determined by the Coast Guard.

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