Rep. Matt Rosendale Says Colleges Need to Reimburse COVID-19 Injuries

A new bill introduced by the Montana Republican would require colleges that mandate or previously mandated COVID-19 vaccines to reimburse students negatively impacted by the shot.

On October 29, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) introduced the University Forced Vaccination Student Injury Mitigation Act, a bill that, if passed, would require colleges and universities that imposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates to pay for medical costs of students who experienced any adverse effects. Refusal to pay would result in loss of federal funds.

Co-sponsors of the legislation include Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL).

Under the new bill, students with a record of vaccination, certification from a healthcare provider that the vaccine caused an adverse reaction or health condition, and documents showing related medical expenses could ask for reimbursement of those healthcare costs.

The bill lists four primary conditions that would be covered. These include:

• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)
• Pericarditis (inflammation of the heart's lining)
• Vaccine-induced thrombosis (blood clot) with thrombocytopenia (low platelets)
• Guillain-Barre Syndrome (an autoimmune condition that impacts the nervous system)

The list also includes other conditions linked to COVID-19 vaccines, which, at least over the next four years, would be determined by the individual President-Elect Donald J. Trump picks as his Secretary of Education.

Higher education facilities that imposed mandates can challenge the students' requests. However, they would be required to approve requests and reimburse students within 30 days.

"If you are not prepared to face the consequences, you should have never committed the act," Rep. Rosendale said in a statement. "Colleges and universities forced students to inject themselves with an experimental vaccine knowing it was not going to prevent COVID-19 while potentially simultaneously causing life-threatening health defects like Guillian-Barre Syndrome and myocarditis."

Rep. Rosendale adds that schools should be held accountable for their disregard for students' health and pay for the issues they are responsible for causing.

Low risk of adverse events

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), myocarditis and pericarditis can occur in adolescents and young adults after COVID-19 vaccination. And research shows that adolescents and young adults have a higher risk of vaccine-induced myocarditis.

A 2023 systematic review of research revealed 16,514 reported cases of COVID-19 vaccine-related myocarditis or pericarditis noted in 1,044 studies. These cases primarily occurred in males with an average age of 24.

Still, the researchers concluded that myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare, mostly mild, and resolves with treatment.

Moreover, 2023 research investigating Guillian-Barre Syndrome found that out of 487,651,785 COVID-19 vaccine doses, 462 cases of the syndrome were reported. Rates were higher among individuals receiving the Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen) vaccine, which was discontinued in 2023, than those given BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) COVID-19 vaccines.

In addition, evidence suggests that the incidence of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia is extremely low after receiving an mRNA vaccine.

Still, CDC data shows that from mid-September 2023 to January 2024, the updated COVID-19 vaccine's effectiveness hovered only around 54%.

Support for the bill

Individuals who support the new bill say the problem lies in unnecessary policies and a lack of justification for implementing vaccine mandates.

"COVID-19 vaccine mandates for college students were flawed policies that did not alter the course of the pandemic and were not needed to keep college campuses' safe,'" said Joseph Marine, M.D., MBA, Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Rosendale's statement. "It seems reasonable to me that institutions that implemented such policies without a sound medical or scientific rationale should take responsibility for any proven medical harm that they caused."

In a November 11, 2024, post on X, No College Mandates, an organization critical of the COVID-19 vaccine requirements, said that 16 colleges still require the shot to attend.

"Countless college students have been injured by COVID-19 vaccinations, and we are grateful that Representative Matthew Rosendale is introducing a new bill to hold colleges accountable for the injuries their unnecessary, unethical, and unscientific policies have caused for without such legislation, these students and their families would have no other recourse," said Lucia Sinatra, co-founder of No College Mandates.

It's unclear when lawmakers will vote on the bill or if passed, how it would impact universities that implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

However, with the Republicans gaining House majority due to the 2024 elections, the bill could gain traction in 2025.