Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate in Place Without Evidence

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One of the largest U.S. agencies doesnโ€™t have any data to support keeping its mandate in place.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reviewed no data when deciding in 2023 to keep its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough said on May 1, 2023, that the end of many other federal mandates โ€œwill not impact current policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs.โ€

He said the mandate was remaining for VA health care personnel โ€œto ensure the safety of veterans and our colleagues.โ€

Mr. McDonough did not cite any studies or other data. A VA spokesperson declined to provide any data that was reviewed when deciding not to rescind the mandate. The Epoch Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act for โ€œall documents outlining which data was relied upon when establishing the mandate when deciding to keep the mandate in place.โ€

The agency searched for such data and did not find any.

โ€œThe VA does not even attempt to justify its policies with science, because it canโ€™t,โ€ Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, told The Epoch Times.

โ€œThe VA just trusts that the process and cost of challenging its unfounded policies is so onerous, most people are dissuaded from even trying,โ€ she added.

The VAโ€™s mandate remains in place to this day.

The VAโ€™s website claims that vaccines โ€œhelp protect you from getting severe illnessโ€ and โ€œoffer good protection against most COVID-19 variants,โ€ pointing in part to observational data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimate the vaccines provide poor protection against symptomatic infection and transient shielding against hospitalization.

There have also been increasing concerns among outside scientists about confirmed side effects like heart inflammationโ€”the VA hid a safety signal it detected for the inflammationโ€”and possible side effects such as tinnitus, which shift the benefit-risk calculus.

President Joe Biden imposed a slate of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2021. The VA was the first federal agency to implement a mandate.

President Biden rescinded the mandates in May 2023, citing a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. His administration maintains the choice to require vaccines was the right one and saved lives.

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
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