SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (KTVX) — A Utah woman and Utah senator are teaming up to get some answers after a group claims they’ve experienced life-altering injuries that they believe are from the COVID-19 vaccine.
While the symptoms haven’t been officially linked to the vaccine by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some people are convinced that the two are related, including Brianne Dressen.
Dressen is a preschool teacher in Saratoga Springs who participated in the AstraZeneca clinical trial back in November.
“There’s no question that the vaccines do save lives, they are an important piece of the puzzle to get us through the pandemic. But we all knew that some people were going to draw the short straw with these vaccines, so we need to take care of those who are getting the short straw,” Dressen said.
That includes her. She got her vaccine on Nov. 4 and says she hasn’t been the same since.
“Immediately within an hour I had tingling down my arm…and by the time I got home, my vision was blurry and double,” Dressen said.
Dressen said her sensitivity to sound and light became so severe that she had to have earmuffs on all the time and sunglasses.
“Things progressed pretty quick. So, I have this week’s long neurological decline, and no one knew what was going on. I called the test clinic several times, finally two days later they had me come in and they did a neurological exam and they said, ‘oh it looks like you have MS, so you probably need to get that checked out,’” Dressen said.
She said her symptoms continued to worsen, and just before Thanksgiving, she said her legs stopped working, sending her to the emergency room. However, after running several MRI’s, cat scans, and lumbar punctures, no one could tell her what was wrong.
“I spent the next several months of my life trapped in my room by myself…completely alone and in silence. Even the sound of my husband’s pants swishing was too much for my ears. We put towels on the windows trying to make it darker and it was a nightmare,” Dressen said.
“I missed out on Christmas; I didn’t buy my kids a single Christmas present. I’ve missed out of months of their lives; they don’t know me as the mom that I used to be taking care of them. I would take them to and from school, to extracurricular activities, I would help them with homework, make them meals. But now, they just know me as sick mom,” Dressen said.
She spent months teaching herself how to walk, eat, and form sentences again — all while she traveled near and far to try and get some answers.
“The hospital didn’t know what was going on…none of the neurologists that I saw knew what was going on…I called the test clinic several times and they had no idea what was going on,” Dressen said.
She said she has talked with other people who are dealing with the same symptoms after getting their COVID-19 vaccines.
“I want these people to get help. I want the CDC to do the right thing and communicate with the medical community so these people can get help. I want the public to be able to have the full picture so they can make an informed decision,” Dressen said.
While she calls herself pro-vaccine, she believes the people who are injured are being left behind.
“We absolutely can have the vaccines and we can take care of the injured. This does not need to be an either-or thing,” Dressen said.
A few weeks ago, Dressen visited a research institution in Washington DC. While she was there, she met up with Utah Senator Mike Lee and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson to explain what she has experienced and to voice her concerns.
After showing all the research and data she’s collected, the two senators agreed to write a letter on her behalf to the CDC and FDA demanding some answers.
The full letter is included below. In it, they asked for a response to each of the six questions they wrote out no later than July 12.
