I've told everyone who would listen for thirty years that stopping smallpox vaccination was nuts, because of course it will be used as a weapon if people aren't vaccinated.The vaccine has severe side effects in a low percentage of cases. With smallpox eradicated, there was no point in having tens of thousands suffer major side effects, including death, especially when post-exposure vaccinations work.
Where the government screwed up was in not having enough doses on hand, and the blame for that rests squarely with the Clinton Administration, which took very little interest in the issue. Instead they focused on Ebola, which is scarier, but much more difficult to spread.
I hope you're right about Ebola being more difficult to spread. All of my knowledge (admittedly very little) about Ebola came from The Hot Zone. That book made it seem stunningly easy to spread the disease.
I hope you're right about Ebola being more difficult to spread. All of my knowledge (admittedly very little) about Ebola came from The Hot Zone. That book made it seem stunningly easy to spread the disease.