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Posted on 11/09/2001 4:57:24 PM PST by Magician
All Americans could be forced to have smallpox jabs under plans being considered by President Bush, despite fears that such a programme would kill hundreds.
Underlining White House fears about America's vulnerability to a new wave of bioterrorism, Mr Bush said that he was discussing with Tommy Thompson, the Health Secretary, whether to order mandatory vaccinations.
"One of my concerns is if we were to have universal vaccination, some might lose their life," he said. "But I'm looking at all options, all possibilities."
Authorities in the US have already announced that they intend to stockpile 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine, enough for the country's 260 million citizens. But last night was the first time that anyone had suggested they would be compulsory rather than used to cover an emergency.
Mr Bush made his remarks yesterday as he was touring the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, which houses one of only two officially kept samples of smallpox since the World Health Organisation declared in 1979 that the virus had been eradicated. Earlier this week scientists at the Vektor Institute in Siberia, which holds the other sample, gave warning that underpaid Russian workers could be tempted to sell the virus to terrorists.
The last case of smallpox was in 1977. The vaccine is fatal for one in a million cases.
And, I must add, that IMHO the threat of smallpox is WAYYYY overblown. The US and Russia had the last remaining smallpox virus. I don't buy into the concept that rogue scientists or the Russian mafia may have got their hands on it and sold it to terrorist groups.
Since my husband is one of those who had a bad (and bizzare) reaction to the vaccine as a child, there is no way I'm putting my children in that position. Regardless of whether we're at war or not, I do indeed have rights, as do my children. When presented with an enemy that may have a weapon that may be used and that may come in contact with my children and a vaccine that has caused a bad reaction in their biological father(yes, and may cause the same in them), I choose not to vaccinate.
FP
It cannot be over stressed. It is the responsibility of all citizens to educate themselves and not rely on 2nd or 3rd hand information.
In the end, the decision rests on benefits vs. risks. All medicine involves a certain amount of risk, even in the best of circumstances. Medicine is not an exact science.
Make it voluntary. However, make it known that if anyone gets smallpox because of a decision not to be vaccinated, the legal whores will never have a case.
Friday November 9 5:12 PM ETOld Smallpox Vaccines May Still Help
By ERIN McCLAM, Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - With the anthrax scare stirring fears of a far deadlier smallpox attack, health officials are trying to reassure the public that people vaccinated decades ago are probably still protected.
The government has 15.4 million doses of smallpox vaccine and wants to buy 300 million more, enough to vaccinate the entire country. However, there are no government plans for a mass vaccination.
Health experts say the immune systems of people who received multiple shots before the government ended smallpox vaccinations in 1972 can probably still fight the disease.
Before the program ended, children were immunized as toddlers and usually again when they started school. And international travelers were required to show proof of a recent vaccination.
``If someone has had three immunizations, it would offer a significant degree of protection for decades,'' said Dr. Harry L. Keyserling, a smallpox expert at Emory University.
Research on smallpox outbreaks from the early 1900s shows the disease killed only 10 percent of people who had been vaccinated as much as 50 years before.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)'s bioterrorism Web site says the level of immunity left in people vaccinated before 1972 is uncertain. And the CDC conservatively warns the vaccine is most effective for three to five years.
But the agency is revising its guidelines to let state health departments know about the vaccine's lingering protection, said Dr. James LeDuc, acting head of the agency's viral division.
The government opposes mass vaccinations because it believes they are unnecessary and because the vaccine can cause crippling side effects.
Smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980, but the virus is stored in government laboratories in a few places around the world.
The virus is contagious and deadly, killing three in 10 of its victims. But experts say that a smallpox attack is unlikely to unleash a doomsday outbreak that could instantly get out of control.
There is a window of up to 11 days between the time people contract the virus and the time they actually become sick and develop the scabs that make the disease contagious.
Particularly in a time of heightened alert, doctors say they would probably be able to recognize a small outbreak during that window and quickly vaccinate people who came in contact with the victims.
``It has a rather slow evolution,'' LeDuc said. ``We think it's not going to be a wildfire.''
Smallpox is among the bioterrorism agents the CDC has warned doctors to watch for since the Sept. 11 attacks. No case has been documented in the United States since 1949.
Health officials have never stopped testing the effectiveness of the U.S. stockpile of vaccine and said they are confident it would work.
``The stuff is incredibly stable,'' LeDuc said.
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Those are my thoughts exactly. Good reply.
If we are hit with a smallpox bio attack, there will very likely be a death sentence for those who refuse the order to take the vaccine.
And the President won't have to lift a finger for that to happen to the refuseniks.
This is not fun and games. This is not a flu shot that makes your arm sore for a week and then you get the flu anyway because the shot was a composite of old variants.
This is a deadly disease, that will kill you in a horrible, painfull, disfiguring way, and only an idiot would refuse to accept the vaccine.
For the idiots I have no sympathy. For their children who will possibly die due to the paranoia of their parents, I do feel sad.
Fortunately, the vaccine is a live virus, and as such, it spreads to others who have not taken the shot. So, if enough people accept the vaccination, those who refuse will "catch" the "disease" from contact with them, and thus be protected.
Interesting. Very interesting. And what about the legal visitors and the illegals?
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