A U.S. Army flight surgeon is warning that known side effects associated with the COVID-19 vaccines pose a potentially deadly risk to pilots and is alleging the Army isn’t following Department of Defense protocols to screen pilots for those potentially deadly side effects.
Lt. Col. Theresa Long recently filed an affidavit stating there is a risk of Myocarditis, a condition that causes inflammation to the heart muscle, associated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Long noted one potential complication of Myocarditis is “sudden cardiac death” and said “flight crews present extraordinary risks to themselves and others given the equipment they operate, munitions carried thereon and areas of operation in close proximity to populated areas.
Long filed her affidavit under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act last week and submitted the affidavit as part of a pending federal lawsuit against the military’s vaccine mandates.
In May, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized the risk of heart inflammation conditions like Myocarditis and Pericarditis associated with the two COVID vaccines. The CDC website continues to provide a warning about Myocarditis and Pericarditis as a potential side effect of COVID vaccines, particularly among male adolescents and young adults.
“Vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna both have been linked to myocarditis, especially in young males between 16-24 years old,” Long, a doctor of medicine, wrote in her affidavit. “The majority of young new Army aviators are in their early twenties. We know there is a risk of
myocarditis with each mRNA vaccination.”
Long said “complications of myocarditis include dilated cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death.” She also shared an assessment, which has previously been reported through the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, which states the long-term mortality rate for Myocarditis “is up to 20% at 1 year and 50% at 5 years.”
Long said she is responsible for certifying the flying fitness of 4,000 airmen at the 1st Aviation Brigade in Ft. Rucker, Alabama.
Long’s warning statements come weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Following FDA approval, President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin moved to require COVID-19 vaccines for the entire military.
Long’s affidavit further claims “there is no functional myocardial screening currently being conducted” and “it is my professional opinion that substantial foreseen risks currently exist, which require proper screening of all flight crews.”
“Based on the DOD’s own protocols and studies, the only two valuable
methodologies to adequately assess this risk are through MRI imaging or cardio biopsy which must be carried-out,” Long adds.
In response to a Washington Times request for comment, Long referred questions to the two lead attorneys for the suit, David Wilson and Todd Callender.
Wilson told the Washington Times, a judge for the U.S. District Court for Colorado rejected the case, which was originally brought by two military staff sergeants in August, but invited the plaintiffs to bring additional evidence.
“Last week we filed the amended complaint and that’s when the affidavit came from Col. Long,” Wilson told the Washington Times.
Callendar said his team chose to include Long’s testimony to demonstrate the potential “irreparable and immediate harm.”
“[Long’s] under a bit of pressure, as you might expect, because her testimony has caught fire,” Callender. “We’re going to have flight crews die in the air, and that’s the worst thing that could happen in her mind as a flight safety officer.”
Callendar said Long’s affidavit is “the equivalent of the FAA’s flight surgeon saying we should get all of our pilots to go through an MRI for their hearts, except in her case the pilots carry around real ammunition.”
Long is not the only military officer to come out in opposition to the vaccine. Earlier this month, an Army officer submitted a resignation letter over the military’s vaccine mandate and what he called the “Marxist takeover of the military.”
Last week, an active-duty Navy commander appeared on Fox News to share his criticism of the vaccine mandate. That commander also wrote a letter arguing, “Further study is needed before committing the Total Force to one irreversible experimental group.”
