April 17, 2022

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has written 36 letters, starting in August 2020, to many agencies — FDA, CDC, NIH, NIAID, HHS, and DoD — about the mishandling of COVID-19, lack of transparency, adverse events, lack of early treatment, vaccine mandates, and health care freedom.

The DoD has not provided a single response.  Some of the other agencies have responded, although the majority of the responses received were considered incomplete.

The grossly inadequate reaction to Senator Johnson’s legitimate oversight demonstrates a level of arrogance toward the American public that is unacceptable.

In particular, the lack of transparency from federal health agencies has eroded public confidence in the agencies, which will take years (and probably a complete restructuring) to repair.

Perhaps most concerning is the treatment of those in our military, who have been given an unconstitutional mandate to receive the experimental vaccine or face being ejected.

The fact that there is irrefutable evidence of vaccine adverse events for the military members getting the vaccine and expulsion for those who don’t, poses a real threat to our nation’s defense capabilities.

On 24 August 2021, the secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, issued a memorandum directing the secretaries of the military departments to “immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under Department of Defense (DoD) authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

The memorandum stated that “[m]andatory vaccination against COVID-19 will only use COVID-19 vaccines that receive full licensure from the FDA in accordance with the FDA-approved labeling and guidance.

In light of the FDA’s statement that “there is not sufficient approved [supply]” of Comirnaty, the only fully licensed vaccine, Senator Johnson, in a 12 October 2021 letter, asked Secretary Austin how the DoD will comply with the vaccine mandate.

Despite this lack of clarity, DoD has begun discharging service members “for not obeying orders to get vaccinated.”  Reports indicate that on 13 December 2021, the Air Force discharged 27 service members for noncompliance.  The discharge classification of these 27 veterans is uncertain, as is their eligibility for veteran benefits.