Dr. Levy said given the military includes many young men, the group at highest risk of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, from Covid vaccines, he supported research into the safety of the shots in that population. But many infections, including Covid and flu, can cause myocarditis, he noted, and proving the exact cause of death can be exceedingly difficult.
A detailed investigation would require autopsy reports, including samples of nasal passages and lung fluid, and information on any infections the person may have had. “You’d want all of that and more to really reach a very serious conclusion that this is caused by the vaccine,” he said.
Dr. Long’s testimony was part of a defamation lawsuit brought against Ivan Raiklin, a far-right activist, by Dr. Terry Adirim, who as a senior Defense Department health official had advised that military personnel receive Covid shots. Shortly after she moved to a new post at the C.I.A., Mr. Raiklin accused her on social media of committing “jab genocide” with that advice.
In her deposition, Dr. Long spoke in support of Mr. Raiklin and said in immunizing service members, Dr. Adirim was morally comparable to Nazi doctors who were hanged for experimenting on prisoners in concentration camps during World War II.
Dr. Long said she did not receive the Covid vaccine and did not immunize her two children against the disease. She said she had received every vaccine the military required of her before then, but had struggled with infertility and heart failure.
“And so having received, you know, probably four or five rounds of vaccines every time they lost my vaccine card, I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t say that I feel like those vaccines helped in any way,” she said.
Helene Cooper contributed reporting, and Georgia Gee contributed research.
