Army Doctor Testifies She Is Investigating Whether COVID-19 Vaccines Killed U.S. Troops
核心洞察
An Army doctor testified in federal court that she is examining 2,544 unverified deaths among service members reported to HHS's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Theresa Long, senior medical military adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said she knows of 28 people who died from the COVID-19 vaccine but was not permitted to share more details.
Long's Aug. 14 deposition, obtained by Politico, came in a lawsuit over the CIA's dismissal of Terry Adirim, who alleges she was fired for her advocacy of COVID-19 (搜索) vaccination.
An Army doctor has reportedly told a federal court that she is investigating whether U.S. troops died from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, following her appointment as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s senior medical military adviser.
According to an Aug. 14 deposition obtained by Politico, Theresa Long — who is board certified in aerospace medicine and holds a master's in public health — said she is examining 2,544 unverified deaths among service members that were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services' Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. Long also serves as an adviser to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Long reportedly said she is reviewing the data after Kennedy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appointed her to "investigate the health surveillance system during the pandemic" and two military medical databases. She said she knows of 28 people who died from the vaccine but stated she was not allowed to share more details.
Testimony in a Federal Court Case
Long testified for the defense in a lawsuit heard by District Court Judge Michael Nachmanoff over the dismissal of Terry Adirim as director of the CIA's Center for Global Health Services. Adirim alleges that the intelligence agency fired her for political reasons, specifically because of her advocacy for COVID-19 (搜索) vaccination.
Adirim served as acting assistant secretary for health affairs at the Department of Defense during the pandemic. The CIA fired her in April 2025, a move highlighted at the time by several conservative political commentators, including Ivan Raiklin, who is a defendant in the lawsuit. Her termination came about a month before she would have qualified for full federal retirement benefits.
In May 2025, Nachmanoff expressed skepticism about Adirim's chances of prevailing in the case when he declined to issue an injunction reversing her termination. The CIA has argued that the matter is an ordinary contract dispute.
Vaccine Safety Context
The COVID-19 vaccine has been widely studied. According to a 2022 study, 38 deaths could have been related to the vaccine at a time when more than 8 billion doses had been administered.
Mass-produced COVID-19 (搜索) vaccines using mRNA technology were fast-tracked for deployment. Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna later acknowledged that their vaccines could, in rare cases, increase the risk of inflammation of the heart muscle.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has called the COVID-19 (搜索) shots "the deadliest vaccine ever made" and has repeatedly argued that some vaccines have been insufficiently studied and may carry serious side effects. Since his appointment, he has replaced federal health advisers with individuals who have expressed anti-vaccine views, with some of those ousted later blaming disputes about vaccine policy for their removal. Critics have accused Kennedy of promoting anti-vaccine views and argued that they make him unsuitable to serve as health secretary.
Military Vaccination Policy Background
Former U.S. President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. military staff to be vaccinated or be discharged from service, resulting in over 9,000 dismissals. After returning to office, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to offer reinstatement to those who had been discharged for refusing a vaccine.