Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) wrote a letter to the Biden administration questioning their use of COVID vaccinations for military members. Allegedly, military members may not be receiving COVID vaccines that are approved by the FDA.
Johnson’s letter stated, “Multiple sources have alleged that the Department of Defense’s (DoD) mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations may not be in accordance with Secretary of Defense Austin’s August 24, 2021 memorandum (vaccine mandate) stating ‘[m]andatory vaccination against COVID-19 will only use COVID-19 vaccines that receive full licensure from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in accordance with FDA-approved labeling and guidance.’”
In his letter to Biden, as well as the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, Johnson questions the way in which the Federal Drug Administration issued approval for one COVID vaccination. He shared a statement from the FDA regarding their approval of Comirnaty, a vaccine produced by Pfizer.
“On August 23, 2021, the FDA stated, ‘[a]lthough COMIRNATY (COVID Vaccine, mRNA) is approved to prevent COVID in individuals 16 years of age and older, there is not sufficient approved vaccine available for distribution to this population in its entirety at the time of reissuance of this [Emergency Use Authorization] EUA.’”
Johnson also drew from a statement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where they said that Pfizer would not be producing more of the FDA-approved COVID vaccine, Comirnaty. Johnson wrote, “On September 13, 2021, the National Library of Medicine within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reported, ‘[a]t present, Pfizer does not plan to produce any product with these new [Comirnaty National Drug Codes] and labels over the next few months while EUA authorized product is still available and being made available for U.S. distribution.’”
He wrote, “Absent a sufficient supply of the only approved COVID vaccine, Comirnaty, it is not clear how DoD is complying with Secretary Austin’s assertion that mandatory vaccination will only occur with the fully-licensed vaccine.”
Johnson asked the officials to provide data regarding the number of military members vaccinated and what types of COVID vaccines have been administered to them by October 26.
In an interview with Fox News in the beginning of October, Johnson touched on that same issue regarding which vaccine was approved by the FDA, saying, “We do not have an FDA-approved vaccine being administered in the U.S. The FDA played a bait and switch. They approved the Comirnaty version of Pfizer drugs. It’s not available in the U.S. They even admit it.”
Johnson has also spoken out strongly opposing any sort of vaccine mandates. The Wisconsin Daily Star reported, Johnson said he believes that a vaccine mandate “makes no sense.” He asked people to “follow the science,” saying “what we do know is that people who are vaccinated can still get infected, they can still transmit, so why would we segregate the society based on vaxxed versus unvaxxed.”
He also questioned the lack of credibility given to natural immunity and “wrote a letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci demanding answers regarding natural immunity from COVID.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
