In 2021, the U.S. military saw a sharp rise in myocarditis cases following the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination, as confirmed by Gilbert Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
A reported 275 cases represented a surge of 151 percent from the yearly average noted between 2016 and 2020, lending weight to information shared by a whistleblower earlier that year.
Myocarditis, a potentially fatal form of heart inflammation, can be induced by both the COVID-19 virus and its corresponding vaccines. The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database was instrumental in confirming these diagnoses.
Mr. Cisneros cited data revealing an incidence rate of 69.8 cases per 100,000 person-years among those previously infected, contrasting with a rate of 21.7 among vaccinated personnel.
“This suggests that it was more likely to be [COVID-19] infection and not COVID-19 vaccination that was the cause,” Mr. Cisneros indicated.
However, these figures did not account for service members who had both been vaccinated and contracted the virus.
The overall rate of 20.6 seemed to exclude some individuals from subgroup analysis, raising questions from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Johnson, who has scrutinized potential database discrepancies, requested clarifications regarding the methodology behind these statistics.
Despite reaching out to the Department of Defense (DOD) for a comment, no response was forthcoming. Johnson called for the information by no later than Aug. 2.
Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist and president of the McCullough Foundation, expressed concern over the elevated cases of myocarditis within the military, suggesting that the “ill-advised COVID-19 vaccination” might have contributed to the increase.
Contrary to Mr. Cisneros, Dr. McCullough referenced an Israeli study that found no myocarditis increase among COVID-19 patients.
The military’s drive for COVID-19 vaccinations began in late 2020, after U.S. regulators approved the vaccines.
Notably, the military was among the first to voice concerns over the possible myocarditis risk following vaccination.
U.S. officials have since confirmed that the vaccines do pose a risk of myocarditis.
Under the direction of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, vaccinations were made mandatory in 2021, with this policy being enforced until Congress intervened.
The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database indicated a startling 2,868 percent increase in myocarditis in 2021, compared to the 2016-2020 average—a revelation brought to light by whistleblowers.
However, suspicions arose when the number of myocarditis diagnoses fell significantly later in the year, raising doubts over possible data manipulation.
After reviewing the data, military officials attributed the inconsistencies to “corrupted” data during a “database maintenance process”.
Despite an initial announcement in 2022 claiming the issues were resolved, another whistleblower in 2023 found discrepancies in the updated percentages.
The revelations prompted Sen. Johnson to seek further answers from the military.
Mr. Cisneros admitted that the data given to the senator was incomplete due to a lag in data availability from December 2021.
The data was apparently not available in February 2022, when officials provided the corrected data.
Pentagon officials affirmed that their analysis was comparable to the data given by the whistleblower.
However, military officials had not mentioned this lag in communication with Sen. Johnson or the public.
Sen. Johnson expressed his doubts about the DOD’s forthcomingness, stating, “Without the whistleblower’s disclosure, I doubt DOD would have ever acknowledged that it provided incomplete information to my office in February 2022 and again in July 2022.”
He further accused the DOD of demonstrating “a complete disregard for transparency” and called for an investigation into potential links between vaccination and the upswing in medical conditions.
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