Vaccine Guidance

• The Coast Guard remains committed to protecting our Service members, civilian employees, and families; safeguarding our national security capabilities; and supporting the whole-of nation response to the pandemic.
• All Coast Guard active duty and Ready Reserve members who are not fully vaccinated, and do not fall within an approved exception, must now be vaccinated against COVID-19. If you have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine, you must be fully vaccinated, as soon as operations allow, starting immediately.
• The requirement to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 constitutes a lawful general order. Refusal by Coast Guard Active Duty and Ready Reserve members to fully vaccinate against COVID-19 in the timelines prescribed, absent an approved medical exemption or approved religious accommodation, will constitute a failure to obey a lawful general order.
• Vaccine requirements are tied to personal medical readiness, and are designed to afford Service members with the best protections available so they can perform missions across the globe. Required vaccination to protect personnel is routine for the Coast Guard, including annual influenza vaccination. In concert with Department of Defense (DoD) guidance, the Coast Guard currently requires vaccines for individuals entering military service and other vaccines depending on the Service member’s role and geographic region.
• Coast Guard Active Duty and Ready Reserve members may choose to receive any COVID-19 vaccine that is fully approved by the FDA, administered under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), or is included on the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing. Coast Guard Active Duty and Ready Reserve members shall be provided any vaccine that has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensure.
• The FDA-approved Pfizer-BioNTech product Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) and the FDA-authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine under EUA have the same formulation and can be administered interchangeably to provide the COVID-19 vaccination series. The Vaccine Information Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers provides additional information about both the approved and authorized vaccine.
• Vaccine(s) for COVID-19 are only available after they are demonstrated to be safe and effective in large phase three clinical trials, have been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and have been manufactured and distributed safely and securely.
• After COVID-19 vaccination, you may have some side effects. This is a normal sign that your body is building protection. Although there have been a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who have gotten sick from COVID-19, their symptoms are less severe than those who are unvaccinated.

Aug. 27, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine mandated for all military members

July 26, 2021
Defeat COVID-19’s surging counterattack: vaccination is our best weapon

July 14, 2021
Fully vaccinated? Here are updated guidelines about required PPE

July 7, 2021
Travel and leave back to pre-pandemic policy

July 2, 2021
Coast Guard active duty workforce more than 70% vaccinated