by Merrilee Gasser
A new whistleblower report signed by nine officers across five branches of the military claims the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate is unlawful.
The report was sent to Congress urging an investigation into what it called illegal and fraudulent activity by the DOD. The memorandum was published by Liberty Council, a nonprofit legal group that in January maintained there was no legal COVID-19 vaccine available despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration saying there was.
The officers alleged in the Aug. 15 memorandum that the DOD has unlawfully administered emergency use authorized (EUA) products as if they were fully licensed FDA-approved products. Military regulations state service members have a legal right to refuse EUA products.
Although the FDA issued approval for Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine in August 2021, none of the FDA-approved vaccines were available. FDA documents dated November 2021 stated: “In the U.S., there are no licensed vaccines or antiviral drugs for the prevention of COVID-19.”
Furthermore, the FDA said the EUA-authorized Pfizer vaccines were “legally distinct” from the FDA-approved Comirnaty vaccines that were unavailable for service members in the U.S.
“The licensed vaccine has the same formulation as the EUA-authorized vaccine and the products can be used interchangeably to provide the vaccination series without presenting any safety or effectiveness concerns. The products are legally distinct with certain differences that do not impact safety or effectiveness,” the FDA said.
The National Institutes of Health confirmed no fully approved products were available in an announcement posted in September 2021.
Despite only having EUA products available, service members who did not want to receive a COVID-19 vaccine said the DOD still illegally mandated them to be vaccinated.
“The DoD cannot claim ignorance with regard to the legal differences between an EUA product and a licensed product that purports to be medically interchangeable but has not become statutorily interchangeable,” the officers wrote in the whistleblower report.
There are several pending legal cases against military vaccine mandates in which federal judges have granted preliminary injunctions for service members who do not wish to be vaccinated.
The ability to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine due to religious objections has been predominantly denied to service members. Of the 24,818 religious exemption requests received, only four were granted. Four thousand one hundred forty-six medical exemptions were granted. Military regulations state service members have a right to refuse vaccination on religious grounds or for medical reasons, including natural immunity from previous infection.
The report said that through legal battles over the past year, the DOD has pivoted to state that Pfizer EUA vaccines were compliant with Biologics License Application (BLA) requirements. The officers say the EUA products are not compliant with BLA requirements because they don’t match the BLA-approved product label.
Concerns have been raised over the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. A lawyer representing another whistleblower alleged the prevalence of multiple medical conditions has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 vaccines were introduced, including a 2,181% increase in hypertension, a 1,048% increase in nervous system diseases, and more.
“The military is hemorrhaging outstanding military men and women of conscience, who are attempting to defend the rule of law at great personal cost. The DoD has unlawfully discharged thousands of service members for exercising their legal right to decline emergency use products. Ensuring timely DoD adherence to U.S. law requires Congressional action. As the oversight authority, you have the ability to investigate the HHS Secretary’s recurring declarations of emergency, as well as potential crimes associated with unlawful administration of EUA products and biologic product labeling fraud. Failure to take swift action will cause continued, irreversible harm to the basic human rights of American citizens while further damaging our national security,” the whistleblower report said.
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Merrilee Gasser is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “COVID-19 Vaccine” by The National Guard. CC BY 2.0.
