Greetings and Felicitations, O Good Members of MAFL!
I’ve got some info to pass, so I won’t waste electrons.
- IMPORTANT. Your affidavits uploaded to Knack need to be in PDF format with an updated date and signature. If you need the link to the Knack site, please reach out to rachelsaranjohnson@gmail.com I am told by my technical experts that if you don’t have things uploaded in Knack, the boat will leave you behind. We really need you to make sure you’ve got your documents uploaded there so that we have accountability for everyone. It is critical for managing the litigation. Thanks.
- Speaking of the Knack site and “thanks” and all of you… My public thanks to some of you who are plaintiffs and also tech nerds for building that. I don’t want to start publicly naming folks here, but those of you working behind the scenes – and in front of them – to help moving the herd and allowing me to do the lawyer stuff, I am deeply grateful for the help. Many of you have stepped up in other ways, big and small, whether donating of your time, information, good will and wishes, or with some cheddar ($$). It all helps. We are, after all, up against the considerable resources of the U.S. government, in the form of the Dept. of “Justice.”
- Speaking of the DoJ… I have been asked to convey to you – and am required to do so – the DoJ’s offer to give anyone who wants to take it. Rather than paraphrase it, I think it is important to convey the direct terms of the offer because I want to “discuss” its exact terms briefly afterwards.
- We’re about to tee off the Coastie suit and I’m coordinating our litigation schedule with the DoJ to include asking for a voluntary pause by DoD to all processing so that I don’t have to file the TRO Motion repeatedly on your behalf. I don’t expect them to agree, but the rules require that we try to come to an agreement before filing the Motion. But just so you know – yes, a draft is done and I’m working on finalizing it for filing this week or weekend.
Now, here’s the DoJ offer:
Defendants now have over 35,000 doses of Comirnaty-labeled vaccine. While it is the Defendants’ position that all EUA-authorized Pfizer-BioNTech doses for adults are interchangeable for the purposes of the military’s vaccination requirement, in order to address Plaintiffs’ assertions they were unable to obtain a Comirnaty or BLA-manufactured dose, I wanted to confirm that any of the Plaintiffs who are still required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to satisfy the military’s requirement may receive a shot from a Comirnaty-labelled vial. If any of the Plaintiffs wish to do so, please prepare a memorandum addressed to the individual’s commanding officer committing to taking a shot from a Comirnaty-labeled vial. Please provide the memorandum to me and I will ensure the request is appropriately transmitted. Should any Plaintiff confirm in writing that they will take a Comirnaty-labeled dose, Defendants can ensure that Plaintiff will be administered one of those doses. If no Plaintiff is interested, please let us know that as well. As I previously mentioned, this is not intended as an offer of compromise and we anticipate informing the Court of the offer and any response.
Okay – there’s the DoJ’s offer. Now let me tell you why I recommend that you categorically reject it.
First, notice how curiously it’s worded. You’re not being offered “Comirnaty” – you’re being offered one of 35,000 doses of “Comirnaty-labeled vaccine.” Huh. And notice how consistently that term is applied throughout – “Comirnaty labelled vial” appears twice, along with “Comirnaty-labeled dose.” Second, I know that there are already a lot of questions about the provenance of any shots the DoD and all this email offer does is raise more questions, particularly since the DoD has been making claims in litigation about “BLA compliant” doses, which has no meaning and has already been rejected in Coker v. Austin. Without belaboring this whole offer, taking this shot would be a complete compromise of our – your – litigation position. But there’s the offer – and let’s handle responses by exception. Meaning: unless I hear from you specifically asking to accept the DoJ’s offer, I will presume that the answer is “No, thank you.” (I don’t want or need my inbox swamped by “hell no’s” or other similar responses or emojis, but you can make your feelings known to some of your “reps” who will get me the word).
We’ve got more folks coming on board soon. We have a right to amend by a certain date and we’ll do so in order to add all of the folks who heard late and wanted to get on board. A lot happening over the next week, so likely no update until late next week. In the meantime…
Take care, try to have a daily gratitude practice, be kind to yourself and each other, and… make sure you get your docs uploaded to Knack.
Fortitudine.
