By Erica Thomas
An aviation safety officer and Army flight surgeon stationed at Ft. Rucker in Alabama testified that the military ignored a warning from her about the dangers of the COVID-19 vaccines after she witnessed “vaccine injuries” that caused several pilots to be grounded.
Army Lt. Col Theresa Long spoke at a roundtable hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Testifying under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, Long testified that she had grounded vaccinated pilots to monitor symptoms of myocarditis, including chronic fatigue, that she believed could cause them to die of heart failure in mid-air.
“I made numerous efforts to get senior medical leaders to, at the very least, inform soldiers of this risk; my concerns were ignored,” Dr. Long said at the event.
Long said she saw two patients with chest pains after they were vaccinated. Those two were diagnosed with pericarditis, a condition the CDC has confirmed can be caused by the vaccine. Long reported a third pilot felt drunk and fatigued within 24 hours of being vaccinated.
“The pilot told me he didn’t know what to do so he drank a lot of coffee to try and quote, ‘Wake himself up’ and continue to fly until he realized it wasn’t going away,” Long testified.
NOW - U.S. Army Brigade Surgeon says "in one morning I had to ground 3 out of 3 pilots due to vaccine injuries" at a panel discussion hosted by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.pic.twitter.com/jLlGwePPdQ
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 2, 2021
But it was what happened after Long reported those cases that caused concern.
“After I reported to my command my concerns that in one morning I had to ground three out of three pilots due to vaccine injuries, the next day my patients were canceled, my charts were pulled for review, and I was told I would not be seeing acute patients anymore -- just healthy pilots there for their flight physical,” she said.
Long said her concerns were ignored by her superiors, and that the military “didn’t even pause” vaccinations to investigate or look into the issue further. Long said the conditions could have caused pilots to die mid-air.
Since it is her job to ensure the health of pilots, Long felt it was necessary to take her concerns further. On Sept. 28, The Washington Times reported that Long filed an affidavit against President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate requiring military members to get vaccines. The affidavit accompanied a lawsuit filed by two Army staff sergeants.
Johnson hosted the roundtable where Long made her comments in order to let the public know about what is happening and to hold leaders accountable.
The CDC said cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have occurred in patients after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The condition is seen more often in male adolescents and young adults and usually happens several days after vaccination.
A spokesman at Fort Rucker referred any particular “medical questions” about Long’s appearance at the roundtable to the Army Surgeon General’s office.
“We’ll confirm that she’s assigned here and that she appeared in her own individual capacity,” Lt. Col. Andy Thaggard told The Washington Times on Wednesday.
In September, The Hill reported that Long said "I cannot discern what form of alchemy (vaccine maker) Pfizer and the FDA have discovered that would make antifreeze into a healthful cure to the human body.” The Hill article went on to say that "Long, like many vaccine skeptics and users on social media, claim the vaccines contain polyethylene glycol and that it is an active ingredient in antifreeze. But, Ethylene glycol is actually the active ingredient in antifreeze. Polyethylene glycol is present in the COVID-19 vaccines."
However it should be noted that her report of having to ground pilots due to what she called "vaccine injuries" would be a result of a medical examination conducted at the base.
(This article as been updated to reflect new information since time of original publication).
