The Adjutant General, Alabama National Guard, MG Sheryl Gordon

The Senior Enlisted Leader, Command Chief Master Sgt. for the Alabama National Guard, CCMS David Bullard

State Chaplain (COL) Wylly Collins

State Surgeon, COL Michael Rowland

Aeromedical Physician Assistant, State Surgeon's Office, CPT Nicholas Krishnan, P.A.

135th ESC Commander, BG Thomas Vickers, Jr

State Command Sergeant Major, CSM Maria Rasmussen

Director Joint Staff, BG Johnny Bass

Judge Advocate, COL Brian Howell

Director of Military Support Operations and Plans, LTC Jesse Howard IV

Orders Management DSOP, SFC Adam Snyder

Deputy State Surgeon, LTC Jason Wells

Director of Strategic Communications, LTC Todd Wheeler

https://www.dvidshub.net/download/videofile/8050838

https://www.dvidshub.net/download/videofile/8050840

Part 1
Question 1 (Site)	Asked at 03:32	What are the legitimacies of the vaccine? Is it effective?
Question 2 (Site)	Asked at 06:09	What are better resources than the recommended video (see below)
Question 3 (Audience)	Asked at 09:51	What about missing long-term data? Would I be covered under longevity?
Question 4 (Site)	Asked at 11:48	Why is this disease and vaccination so different from all of the other immunizations we get?
Question 5 (panel)	Asked at 13:12	What happens if I go to a civilian pharmacy and I become ill? Will I be taken care of?
Question 6 (audience)	Asked at 16:04	With the approval of booster shots will this become an annual requirement as well?
Question 7 (audience)	Asked at 16:44	If we get the shot on duty, could it be put in the imprint system so that everyone can access it?
Question 8 (audience)	Asked at 18:18	Can we get a replacement card if it’s in Med Pros?
Question 9 (site)	Asked at 18:48	Why isn’t it against HIPPA to ask for proof of vaccination or mandate the vaccination? Why isn’t it just between the service member and the doctor?
Question 10 (audience)	Asked at 19:48	If you are mandating the shot, why is it that I have to take it to be on orders?
Question 11 (audience)	Asked at 20:38	If you’ve already received the first shot, how would I be able to get a claim?
Question 12 (audience)	Asked at 12:46	If a soldier has elected to go to a civilian Walmart or CVS and get vaccinated, can that still be put in Med Pros with proof?
Question 13 (audience)	Asked at 22:29	If the soldier doesn’t want to take the vaccine what happens to his / her career?
Question 14 (audience)	Asked at 23:41	If you have a natural immunity, why can’t testing be allowed, so that you don’t have to take the vaccine?
Question 15 (audience)	Asked at 25:29	Is there any data whatsoever on how long the vaccines last? Should we receive the booster? If so, how long before we should receive a booster?

Part 2
Question 16 (Site)	Asked at 00:23	For those of us who believe in abortion, will we be allowed a religious exemption?
Question 17 (audience)	Asked at 02:03	What’s the source of fetal cells being used?
Question 18 (site)	Asked at 05:08	What is the process for religious exemption?
Question 19 (audience)	Asked at 09:32	Has anyone thought about the effects of losing a large number of personnel if they refuse the vaccine?
Question 20 (site)	Asked at 12:02	What type of discharge will those refusing the vaccine receive?
Question 21 (audience)	Asked at 12:52	Is the process for administrative separation the same for both the army and the air side?
Question 22 (site)	Asked at 17:02	How is this not intimidation when soldiers are being told they will be flagged or receive a discharge from the National Guard?
Question 23 (audience)	Asked at 18:37	How are the exemptions or process of exemptions going to affect the readiness?
Question 24 (audience)	Asked at 21:22	Why is it mandate to get vaccinated if COVID can still be spread from a vaccinated and unvaccinated person?
Question 25 (audience)	Asked at 22:39	Will I not be allowed to go to school or get promoted if I get a religious exemption?

Q. As far as the myocarditis, has anyone even thought about talking to LTC Theresa Long? She is a Senior US Army Flight Surgeon that certifies the flight ready fitness of 4,000 pilots. She received specialized training in infectious disease and the later part of September filed an affidavit against the current administration's mandate.
Here's the link to the article:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/sep/28/senior-army-flight-surgeon-warns-pilots-could-die-/
So much more I want to say.
 
A.  The work of LTC Theresa Marie Bureau-Long, MD has been reviewed along with numerous other studies, reports and findings. The decision to approve and administer vaccines is not based upon one source. It is optimal to consider all evidence with a critical eye. For additional information see the Reference Documents, Helpful Medical Studies at https://www.al.ng.mil/COVID.
 
For those younger male soldiers who have concerns about the extremely rare but potentially serious cardiac side effects from mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), two important points should be made.
 
First, for those young male soldiers with concerns about the extremely rare side effects of myocarditis (heart inflammation) with mRNA vaccines, the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine is another option.
 
Second, the risk of myocarditis (heart inflammation) is higher in people infected with COVID-19 than in people vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. Because of how common COVID-19 has become and how long we expect it to be around, we all essentially have to choose between getting infected with COVID-19 while unvaccinated (higher risk of heart inflammation) and getting vaccinated (lower risk of heart inflammation). Taking the safer option and getting vaccinated is the recommendation of every major medical organization.

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Q. I want to be counseled by my COC before taking the vaccine. I want my resistance and current health status documented. Will this be an option? The response “Yes. Your current health status is documented yearly in your PHA. If there is a change to your medical status after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine it is important for you to provide a military health care provider with that information.” The question wasn't fully answered, you skipped the part about checking resistance.
 
A. FRAGORD 02 291440SOCT21 (November IDT Update to COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance) to OPORD 22-002

This FRAGORD is guidance for the November IDT. It provides the Phases and process for Soldier options. This includes “Counsel unvaccinated Soldiers using appropriate DA 4856 (Attachment 4 or 5 in OPORD 22-002 for those requesting exceptions or intending to refuse the vaccine, Attachment 2 to this FRAGORD for unvaccinated Soldiers intending to receive the vaccine). This counseling is not intended to be presented as an adverse action, it is to be used to address Soldier concerns one-on-one and to inform the Soldier of process requirements that must be met.” To ensure full understanding be sure to review the entire process with your unit, chaplain, medical representative or person doing your counseling.
 
With regard to the presence of antibodies, if you are able to provide documentation of recent infection (within the past 90 days) you may be eligible for a temporary medical exemption. Unfortunately, COVID is an infection that you can get twice and vaccines can strengthen natural immunity to help protect yourself and our formations.

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Q. Regarding discharges, why aren't Soldiers with JSAP discharges given GOMARs? Those Soldiers failed to follow a direct order by using illegal substances, yet from what I've seen all that happens to them is an honorable discharge. The RE code maybe a 3 but a good recruiter can get a waiver without batting an eye.
 
A. A GOMOR as it pertains to the order for mandatory vaccination is a last resort and one we hope to avoid. There is no comparison between the potential GOMOR for refusing a vaccination and AR 600-85. The Army Substance Abuse Program is a long established program designed to provide comprehensive alcohol- and drug-abuse prevention and control policies, procedures, and responsibilities for Soldiers of all components, DA Civilians, and other personnel eligible for Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) services. The comprehensive program is composed of integrated functions that include deterrence, drug testing, prevention and training, and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. Since personnel matters are not subject to public review, it is difficult to determine what decision is handed down in individual cases. However, if you believe you have witnessed wrong doing it should be reported up your chain of command and in some situations reported to the IG.

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Q. Will the mask mandate ever be removed?

Decades of RCT's have shown it does nothing to reduce the spread of any type of virus (unless it is a specific type of mask i.e. n95).

Also everyone has picked up & passed the mic around not one time has anyone disinfected the mic & they continuously remove & then place the mask to their face!
 
A. You are right to point out that studying how well masks work is difficult. People in the study group who are not supposed to wear masks sometimes do, and vice versa. Also, how many infections are going around can make a difference in the results. For example, studying how well something stops the flu, if you study it in Alabama in July, would probably find that it made no difference simply because there was hardly any flu around at the time. 
 
To best answer the question, we can look at 'Systematic Reviews' or studies of studies, to see what the overall message from what we have learned is.
 
One group of researchers looked at over 2,700 studies dating back to 2004 and found 21 different studies that help answer the question of mask effectiveness in stopping the spread of respiratory viruses. While results of course varied from study to study, the overall message was that masks did reduce the spread, both for healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers. 
 
Efficacy of face mask in preventing respiratory virus transmission: A systematic review and meta-analysis (nih.gov)
 
More recently, another group has done similar work for COVID-19 specifically. They looked at almost 700 studies and found 35 that they thought would help answer the question (a lot of research has been done on this in the past two years!). The found again that there is a very good probability that masks reduce the spread of COVID-19.
 
Face Mask Use in the Community for Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: A Systematic Review (nih.gov)
 
Lastly, a third group of researchers recently published the results from the largest single study on this question, giving either no masks, cloth masks, or surgical masks to 600 different villages (almost 350,000 people). They found that masks can reduce the spread of COVID-19. While we should take note that this study has not been peer-reviewed yet, and so we should wait for the community of researchers to see if they think it has any serious flaws, this is likely the best single study that we will have for a long time.
 
The Impact of Community Masking on COVID-19: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Bangladesh | Innovations for Poverty Action (poverty-action.org)
 
So it seems like masks do help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, but that does not answer the question of when mask mandates might be in place. In the end, it is a decision that communities and governments will make as situations change. In my hospital, for example, the requirement to wear masks in our meeting rooms was lifted when COVID-19 cases fell in the summer and was put back in place during the Delta wave this fall. Numbers are going back down, and I expect that the mask requirement for meeting rooms will be lifted again.
 
We acknowledge your observation during the town hall and the use of the hand mic. If we use this configuration again, we will have disinfecting wipes (per manufacture guidance) on hand.

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  Q. If I am in a sanctuary status do I have to take the shot?

A.  The Army National Guard: has until June 2022 to completely vaccinate all Soldiers. If you have a medical or religious concern consider submitting an ETP.

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Q. The tone from the White House and down thru NGB seems to suggest that people of faith no longer have a place in the National Guard. Leaders at those levels have eluded not many religious exemptions would be approved, pre-empting its disapproval prior to receiving it. What is being done to ensure those with exemption requests are being treated fairly and their request are taken seriously? Especially in light of recent exemptions given to Soldiers allowed to have beards and sex identities, etc.

A. The U.S. Army places the highest priority for religious practices and beliefs of Soldiers, DA Civilians, and Dependents. The Adjutant General and the Chain of Command are committed to ensuring that all Soldiers are treated fairly and with respect. If any Soldier has concerns about how his or her packet is being processed they need to immediately contact their Chain of Command. The JAG and IG Directorates are also available to for any questions or clarifications of policy.

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Q. The chances of developing myocarditis after receiving the vaccine are higher than the chance of dying from Covid (99.9997% survival rate). As an individual that is healthy and has a high level of fitness why would I take a vaccine that could cause lifelong heart issues? (If we as Soldiers experience Myocarditis which normally results in death within five years)

A. : Myocarditis is a great topic to mention, so thank you for bringing this up. A figure I turn back to when I think about risks for vaccination vs risks for un-vaccination (there is, unfortunately, no risk-free option) is at this website:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2110475
 
It’s a paper from the New England Journal of Medicine. It shows many different side effects / complications for people who got the vaccine and people who got COVID. I wish I could promise you that you won’t get COVID even if you don’t get the vaccine, but the odds of that are sadly low.
 
What it shows is that if you get the vaccine, you have a much higher chance of swelling of the lymph nodes (a common and temporary reaction for many vaccines and infections). However, if you get infected, you have a much higher risk of kidney damage (usually goes away, but not always), abnormal heart rhythms, blood clots, bleeding in the head, heart attack, and yes even myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation around the heart).
 
In short, yes the vaccine has very, very rarely caused myocarditis. We’re talking a few in every million, and this is usually very short lived (a few days). However, if I can avoid even a low risk of myocarditis I will! Unfortunately, avoiding the vaccine in order to avoid myocarditis is a bad gamble. Your risk of myocarditis if you get COVID is much higher.

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Q. The Pfizer vaccine (Comirnaty) that is approved by the FDA is not available yet to the public. Since Comirnaty is not available how can we mandate vaccines that have not properly been FDA approved (animal trials/long term studies)?

A. Comirnaty has the same formulation as the FDA-authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and can be used interchangeably to provide the COVID-19 vaccination series without presenting any safety or effectiveness concerns. The new brand name “is coined from Covid-19 immunity, and then embeds the mRNA in the middle, which is the platform technology, and as a whole the name is meant to evoke the word community,” Scott Piergrossi, president of operations and communications of the Brand Institute. Memorandum from the Assistant Secretary of Defense signed September 14, 2021 notes that, consistent with FDA guidance, DoD health care providers will use both Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Comirnaty vaccine interchangeably for the purpose of vaccinating service members in accordance with the SEC DEF memorandum “Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of the Department of Defense Service Member’s,” August 24, 2021.

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Q. I want to be counseled by my COC before taking the vaccine. I want my resistance and current health status documented. Will this be an option?

A. Yes. Your current health status is documented yearly in your PHA. If there is a change to your medical status after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine it is important for you to provide a military health care provider with that information.

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