Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who refrained from getting COVID vaccines are being bullied, harassed, and punished for their decision to forgo the experimental vaccine. Some cadets who got COVID immunity from earlier infections are also being forced to get the COVID vaccines. Out of the 4,500 cadets at the New York training academy, a handful remain unvaccinated.
According to the New York Post, the three dozen West Point cadets who were not vaccinated are being labeled as "diseased" and "dirty" and were being treated as outcasts. Despite COVID restrictions and mandates being lifted, the unvaccinated West Point cadets were being subjected to comply with mask wearing and social distancing, their parents told Sean Hannity of FOX News.
"I don't understand what the leadership at West Point is doing right now," Brian MacDonald, a parent of a female cadet at the military academy, lamented. MacDonald argued that his daughter already had COVID and recovered from the disease, which means, "she has the antibodies for COVID, and West Point is putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on her to take the vaccine."
Another West Point cadet who spoke out on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said that their treatment of unvaccinated cadets was "like solitary confinement - for a disease we don't have."
Some of the unvaccinated West Point cadets are concerned that they will have "significantly less time" to enjoy their summer break as they must comply with the mandatory quarantine period for unvaccinated folks. Elita Perusek, who graduated from West Point in 1994 and now has a son at the military academy who has natural immunity to COVID, lamented on how her son had to head back seven days early to comply with quarantine requirements or "isolation."
Perusek told the Christian Post, "My son is a first-class cadet, and he is very much looking forward to being an officer and defending the rights of fellow Americans and his right to not take the vaccine."
According to the report, a spreadsheet with personal information and students' vaccination status was leaked on the campus. A West Point medical officer by the name of Col. Laura Dawson has also been accused of verbally abusing cadets, calling them selfish for refusing COVID vaccines or suggesting that they must choose between getting the COVID vaccines or leaving the military academy.
In May, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul announced that he would not get COVID vaccines because he already had the disease and survived it. According to NBC News, the 58 year old senator argued during a conversation with a conservative host on WABC radio, "I just made my own personal decision that I'm not getting vaccinated, because I've already had the disease, and I have natural immunity."
A study conducted on Cleveland Clinic Health System employees showed that individuals who have had a COVID infection were "unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who have not been infected before." The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, showed that COVID did not occur in anyone within five months of the study among over 2,500 who were already previously infected with COVID and over 1,300 who did not get vaccinated for COVID.
