Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday asking how they are aiding service members who experience “negative health impacts” from vaccines.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, and five other lawmakers asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough in the letter how the agency handles disability benefits from vaccine injuries such as myocarditis. They requested information on whether the agency considers vaccine injuries to be service-related if the shots were received due to the military vaccine mandate, as well as whether the agency will investigate the causes of vaccine injuries.
“Many service members, despite hesitations against receiving the vaccine, chose to be vaccinated to continue their service to our country,” the letter said. “If our government is asking service members to receive a vaccine, we must be cognizant that there will be unintended side effects that may cause lifelong impacts on their health.”
The letter came after conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley shared the story of a twenty-four-year-old former member of the Navy who was threatened with discharge if he failed to comply with the military vaccine mandate. He took the Moderna shot after resisting, was diagnosed with myocarditis, and was discharged by the Navy because of his subsequent heart problems. Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs nevertheless resisted granting him disability benefits because they claim that the health issues are not related to his service.
Asa Miller, a former Navy SEAL who was forced to leave the military after he refused to comply with the vaccine mandate, told The Sentinel that he appreciated the lawmakers raising their concerns but said he was disappointed to see “so few names” on the letter.
“From the beginning I have said: ‘I hope in five years we look back and say, I was wrong. The vaccine was safe and effective, and I misjudged the science.’ Unfortunately less than two years into this untested therapy and its negative effects are blatantly obvious,” he commented. “Our nation's finest have been poisoned by their leadership.”
Miller, who is featured in the upcoming documentary SEALs Beat Biden, added that the Biden administration has consistently neglected to support service members, a phenomenon which the documentary chronicles. “Just like the Pentagon, the Department of Veterans Affairs is refusing to do the right thing and care for those they are charged to serve,” he continued.
