The National Guard gave COVID-19 shots to multiple service members who were lined up for the influenza vaccine. Matthew Bouchard, a former specialist in Maine’s National Guard, was pursuing a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine, due to his Christian faith, when he was injected with the vaccine without his knowledge. Lawyer R. Davis Younts says that, by doing this, the military may have violated the constitutional rights of U.S. troops. The military alleges this was done accidentally.
We speak with Bouchard and Younts about what happened, what this means for the men and women in the U.S. armed forces, and whether this could have violated the law.
The U.S. military gave COVID-19 shots to troops while telling them they were flu vaccines.
Matt Bouchard is a former specialist in Maine's Army National Guard and was administered one of
the shots without his knowledge. This was done in violation of his sincerely held religious beliefs.
Lawyer R. Davis Younts says by doing this the military may have violated the constitutional
rights of U.S. troops. The military alleges this was done accidentally. We speak with Bouchard and
Younts about what happened, what this means for the men and women in the U.S. armed forces,
and on whether this could have violated the law. Hey Matt Bouchard, thanks for being on Crossroads.
Hey, thanks for having me. I understand. I remember seeing the headlines that there
were members of the National Guard who were given the COVID-19 vaccines while being told
they're getting the flu vaccines and the military basically said it was a slip up. I know you were
one of those individuals. Can you start by just telling us how this whole thing went down? Like,
how did this start? So this happened in November of 2021. So it's been almost a year. It was
like a yearly flu vaccination that our unit was having. So I asked my chain of command, I was
I'm supposed to be getting out in a couple months. Do I have to go to the flu and get my shot?
But they told me, no, you have to go. And while you're there, you can fill out a COVID
refusal form while I was there. So we transported to the base that we were going to get our
vaccinations at. And we got there. And where was this first of all? This was in Augusta, Maine.
So they bring you to the place where they're giving the vaccinations, then what happened?
Yeah, it was a base. So we walk in, we get to the room that they're going to do the vaccinations.
And there was a table ahead of us. That was where you were going to get your refusal form for the
COVID vaccine. And while you were there, they also had flu vaccination papers to fill out,
verify your info. So when I got into the room, I went and got my refusal first, and I filled it out.
I gave it to the NCO at the table, told them, yeah, I'm not taking it. And then I grabbed my
flu vaccination paper, and I got in line. So just to clarify, they had the exemption for COVID-19,
you did fill that out. So you made it clear you do not want the COVID-19 vaccine.
Correct. I've filled refusal forms before too. So this was, I believe, my second or third time
filling out a refusal form. So once I filled out...
And briefly, on what grounds did you refuse? What was your ground for that?
So first of all, there's a couple different reasons. But I grew up in a Christian family,
and I found out that there's fetal cells traced into the vaccine. And in the ingredients,
there's luciferase. I've compared lucifer to the devil. So pretty much as soon as I heard that,
I immediately was like, no, I don't want it. It's an experimental drug. I'm all set. I'm getting
out soon. So once I knew that that was in there, and all the other sides were how forceful they
are trying to put it on us, I just didn't want it. I was uncomfortable with it.
Okay. So you filed a few exemptions. You were getting out anyways. You go and get your shot.
You fill it out again. And then your flu papers, you're going to get it. What happens then?
So once I filled out my flu vaccination paper, I got in this line. So there's two lines. There's
one for the COVID vaccine line, and then there's one for the flu shot line. They're right next to
each other. And I assume they were clearly marked, and you were pretty sure which one you were in,
correct? I was aware of which vaccination line I was in, yes. So I was in my spot in the flu
vaccination line, and I was waiting my turn. And the NCO that was at the COVID vaccination line
didn't have anyone. The non-commissioned officer. Yeah. So he was at the what, sorry?
So he was right next to them. He had nobody in line waiting.
For the COVID-19 one? Yeah.
Interesting. So he offered to help the other NCO
with loading and assisting to kind of speed up the flu vaccination process.
So what he did was he looked at me, he's like, hey, if you want to get your flu vaccination
line, come into this line over here, and we'll speed things up a bit. Immediately, I was concerned.
I was like, hey, this is kind of like what I was, this is why I was scared it was going to happen,
was somehow it felt like, you know, they were going to accidentally give me the vaccine
if I was going to be in that line. So I was in there, and I was like, is this,
this doesn't seem okay. And then he ended up changing his mind, thankfully.
So I went from that line back into the flu shot line.
That's strange. Explain how he changed his mind, because he told you to come over,
then he decided not to. What happened with that?
So, like I said, I don't know what happened, what he was thinking, but he wanted to,
originally, he offered to help the other NCO with loading and basically speeding up the flu
vaccinations. I think, like I said, I don't really know the reason, but he, I think it was
less than a minute later, he changed his mind. He's like, okay, never mind, I'm just gonna go
do something else. You can get back in your line. So when I got back into my flu shot line,
I just waited my turn. I was next up. I gave him my flu vaccination paper.
He went through it, and then he sat me down, and he gave me my shot.
