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To: tallhappy
If Ridge said our 'goal' is to have 500 million-Why does it have to be done right now??
7 posted on 11/28/2001 10:50:39 AM PST by umbra
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To: umbra
"Why does it have to be done right now??" Because it should have been done years and years ago. Amazing that resources wern't used a long time ago to prevent this vulnerability.
13 posted on 11/28/2001 11:00:54 AM PST by TBall
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To: umbra
I thought that ever since the beginning of the anthrax cases, the US decided that it was NOT going to get caught with its collective pants down in the event of a smallpox bioattack. Even if we DID bomb the offending country into glass, we'd still have to deal with the potential serious consequences of a smallpox epidemic.

There are good reasons to increase the # of doses. The vaccine is relatively cheap and it probably doesn't double the cost to double the # of doses.

First off, not all people "take" (i.e. get immunity) with the first dose. If the vaccine is anything like the old ones we had (pre 1970), then at least some people are going to have to get revaccinated.

Second, there's always a chance of losing some stock due to accident, power failure, sabotage, etc.

Finally, having excess stock of vaccine can serve as a powerful inducement to either the offending country to surrender, or to other countries to join us if they themselves do not have the vaccine. We can also use excess vaccine stock to supply our allies (Great Britain? Turkey?)

Keep in mind that any smallpox bioattack will hurt the 3rd world/Muslim countries FAR worse than it will hurt us, even without immunization. It's also possible that those of us who were immunized prior to 1970 might have some residual immunity - which many in the 3rd world do not have. The thinking here might be "Better safe than sorry."

14 posted on 11/28/2001 11:01:57 AM PST by ikanakattara
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To: umbra
Why can't they save money and buy 50 million largepox doses.
19 posted on 11/28/2001 11:18:31 AM PST by Warren
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To: umbra
I don't know that it is "right now". These doses don't yet exist - they have to be produced for hopefully delivery in 3-6 months or similar time table. Sounds prudent to me. I pray we have that much time.
25 posted on 11/28/2001 11:33:46 AM PST by Let's Roll
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To: umbra
If Ridge said our 'goal' is to have 500 million-Why does it have to be done right now??

It has to be done as soon as possible. If we were attacked with smallpox tomorrow, we'd be in deep doo-doo. The vaccine won't be available for quite some time, but it's better to get the process going now rather than waiting. The sooner we have vaccine doses onhand, the sooner we can stop any epidemic in its tracks (vaccination still works even post-exposure).

51 posted on 11/28/2001 12:21:35 PM PST by Numbers Guy
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To: umbra
Why right now? Because if we wait until people are diagnosed with smallpox, it will be to late. The Demon in the Freezer
69 posted on 11/28/2001 12:51:13 PM PST by jeremiah
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