The number of medical events that triggered official reporting requirements among U.S. military pilots rose more than 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, an increase the Pentagon says was the result of COVID-19.
Last month, an Army flight surgeon and prominent opponent of the U.S. military’s now-defunct COVID-19 vaccine mandate posted data on Twitter showing that the number of reportable medical events among military aviators rose from an average 226 a year between 2016 and 2019 to 4,059 in 2022, according to the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database.
The flight surgeon, Lt. Col. Theresa Long, has filed for whistleblower protection and testified against the vaccine mandate, alleging that the vaccine carries risk of severe side effects — more than the illness itself. Long did not respond to a request for comment from Military.com.
The Defense Department said this week that the increase in reportable adverse events among military pilots is the result of COVID-19 itself, not the vaccines.
www.yahoo.com/news/military-pilots-reported-1-700-215543321.html