US officials investigate claims that Covid vaccines caused troop deaths

An Army doctor has told a US federal court that she is working with Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to investigate whether Covid-19 vaccines contributed to deaths among US service members,  an American political newspaper reports.

Theresa Long said in an August 14 deposition that Hegseth had assigned her as Kennedy's senior military medical adviser. Her role at the Department of Health and Human Services had not previously been reported.

Dr Long said she was examining 2,544 reported but unverified deaths among service members recorded in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to determine whether they were caused by Covid vaccines.

She said she hoped to complete her research into potential vaccine complications within a year.

Dr Long, who is board-certified in aerospace medicine and holds a master's degree in public health, also told the court that she knew of 28 people who had died because of Covid vaccines, but was not allowed to provide further details.

Her work also involves investigating the health surveillance system used during the pandemic and two military medical databases. One database showed a sharp rise in medical conditions among service members in 2021. The Defence Department later said the increase resulted from an error in the calculation of earlier illness rates.

The Pentagon said it had nothing to announce about Dr Long's role and referred to its Covid-19 Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force. The task force helps former service members who left the military after refusing vaccination return to the armed forces.

Nearly 9,000 service members were discharged for refusing Covid vaccination before Congress ordered the Defence Department to end the requirement in a 2022 law.

“The Department continues to right the wrongs of the past and to restore confidence in, and honour to, our fighting force,” the Defence Department said.

Kennedy has argued that requiring service members to receive Covid vaccines violated their rights. He has also questioned the safety of Covid vaccines and ended a government recommendation that most Americans receive them annually.

Vaccine safety experts have disputed some of Kennedy's claims. Studies have found that mRNA Covid vaccines can increase the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly among young men.

A 2026 Pentagon report found that cases of myocarditis and pericarditis increased in the short term after vaccination, but said the increase was not sustained over a one-year period. The report did not mention any deaths.

The claims being examined by Dr Long have not been established as evidence that Covid vaccines caused the reported deaths.

By Aghakazim Guliyev