Two public commenters allege COVID-19 vaccine harms and urge Merced County investigation

Two members of the public used the non-agenda public comment period at the April 22 meeting of the Merced County Board of Supervisors to assert that COVID-19 vaccines are harmful and to request county-level investigation and action.

Julie Threed identified herself as a former public-health worker from Butte County and said she traveled to multiple counties to ask officials to stop vaccine administration. Threed said she is vaccine-injured, listed multiple medical conditions she attributes to vaccination, and said she has filed a VAERS report. She said she is a member of Medical Doctors for COVID Ethics International and described herself as lead investigator for VAERSAWARE.com, which she said provides batch-number data on vaccine lots. Threed asked the board to review lot toxicity information she said the county health department possesses and to schedule subject-matter experts for a future agenda.

Ronald F. Owens Jr. said he was a public information officer for the California Department of Public Health for more than 14 years. Owens repeated an assertion he attributed to a federal official, saying, "we know these vaccines are killing people of color, black, Latino, indigenous people at about 2 times the rate of white Americans." He said he was muzzled during the pandemic and retired prematurely and urged the board to consider information he said he previously provided to county supervisors and other boards.

Both speakers named third-party organizations and resources (including React19, Americans for Health Freedom, and MilitaryAccountability.net) and offered to return with additional experts. The transcript records their remarks but does not record a county response, staff analysis, or any board action in response to the comments.