In 2021, there were 275 reported cases of myocarditis, a 151% increase from the yearly average from 2016-2020, according to Gilbert Cisneros Jr. The Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness confirmed data revealed by a whistleblower earlier this year.
Cases of myocarditis soared among US service members in 2021 after the #COVID19 vaccines were rolled out, a top Pentagon official confirmed.
There was a 151% spike in myocarditis in 2021 compared to the annual average from 2016–2020. https://t.co/J5IqwL41iv
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 23, 2023
The data comes from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database. Mr. Cisneros provided the rate of cases per 100,000 person-years. In 2021, the rate was 69.8% among those with prior infection compared to 21.7% vaccinated.
Mr. Cisneros stated, “This suggests that it was more likely to be [COVID-19] infection and not COVID-19 vaccination that was the cause.”
No figures were available for individuals who had been vaccinated and also infected. The total rate, 20.6%, also indicates that some members were not included in the subgroup analysis.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has been investigating issues with the database and questioned how the military landed on those numbers. He wrote a message to Cisneros, “It is unclear whether or how it accounted for service members who had a prior COVID-19 infection and received a COVID-19 vaccination.”
Johnson requested a response before August 2. Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist and the president of the McCullough Foundation, looked closely at the data. In an email to The Epoch Times, he pointed out a study from Israel that found no increase or myocarditis in COVID-19 patients.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mandated COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, which remained in place until Congress stopped it. Military officials were among the first to point out the red flags regarding myocarditis after vaccination.
They published an early case of 22 previously healthy members who suffered myocarditis within four days of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. The U.S. officials since then have said the vaccines caused the myocarditis.
Johnson found the leaked information distressing, saying, “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.”
