SMALLPOX VACCINATIONS CONSIDERED FOR ENTIRE U.S.

San Jose Mercury News ^ | 4/01/02 | Julie Sevrens Lyons & Lisa M. Krieger

[goody2shooz]

In a major shift in public health policy that underscores government concerns about bioterrorism, federal health officials are gathering enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate the entire country and are considering a widespread vaccination campaign.

By December, according to public health leaders in Washington D.C., the U.S. government will have more than 100 million doses of the vaccine in hand, an amount they say could be effectively diluted to make the shots available to everyone in the country. An inoculation effort using the sometimes risky vaccine would be new to millions of Americans born after the United States stopped offering the shots in 1972.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

But the announcement represents a significant shift.

It surely does and not any time too soon!!!!!!!!!!! The goobermint plan to vaccine AND quarantine only after there's been an outbreak, I.e. DEATHS, is outrageous.

[goody2shooz]

The Arabs, as a race and culture, have been around for millenia. That speaks volumes about their tenaciousness, cunning and stamina. They never forget an insult or hurt and they never forgive the person who commits those acts, but they just keep on trying to destroy what they feel they must. Even if it takes centuries.

Hell, they're still ticked off over the Crusades, and that was nearly a THOUSAND YEARS AGO!!

(I sincerely believe the only thing they'll miss from Western Civilization is air conditioning.)

[happygrl]

I'm with you Sam, in fact I have been most annoyed that it is not offered to the public long before this, as a matter of health care CHOICE.

The vaccinations which the health care/school Gestapo wants to force on our children include such ridiculas pallatives as the Hepatitus B Vaccine, designed for high risk groups as prostitutes, IV drug users, and first line care givers.

Oh sure, that description fits most five year olds.

But if you weigh out the really life threatening scenarios, an intentionally released smallpox epidemic is a real possibility.

[celtic gal]

I never realized the vaccines were so dangerous. I had the smallpox vaccine when I was a little kid. Then at least three more times, once as a teenager and then again in the military.. the last one didn't " take". All I ever got out of it was a scab and a little scar.

[Mulder]

Hell, they're still ticked off over the Crusades, and that was nearly a THOUSAND YEARS AGO!!

Very true. Their society hasn't advanced much since then.

Your typical desert-demon worshipping goblin in 1500 AD: "Today I think I'll screw a camel, abuse some women, go break something, and b!tch about the Crusades"

Your typical desert-demon worshipping goblin is 2002 AD: "Today I think I'll screw a camel, abuse some women, go break something, and b!tch about the Crusades"

Any guesses as to the itenaray in the year 2003?

[My Identity]

the United States isn't alone. The Russian Health Ministry said Tuesday it was also considering resuming vaccinations against smallpox.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?????
Isn't small pox confined to 2 labs (in the US and Russia)?
Assuming our supply is reasonably well contained,
what has Putin told Bush about Russia's supply?
Why is small pox getting so much press??
Stuff like this can make you paranoid.

there, i feel slightly better... ;-)

[FITZ]

Many more people with compromised immune systems such as AIDS patients would also die if they received the vaccine.

Some would ---they'd die if small pox hits too. Taking the vaccine should be voluntary anyhow ---AIDS patients shouldn't take it. They're still better off if most other people are immune to smallpox because then the chances of that spreading quickly through the population is drastically lessened.

[avenir]

The Arabs, as a race and culture, have been around for millenia. That speaks volumes about their tenaciousness, cunning and stamina. They never forget an insult or hurt and they never forgive the person who commits those acts, but they just keep on trying to destroy what they feel they must. Even if it takes centuries.

Yeah, kind of like Satan! But all their tenacity, cunning, and stamina won't mean a hill of beans on the day of God's wrath. Then—perhaps only then?—they will understand that they were wrong all those centuries long.

[happygrl]

Read this article; "The Demon in the Freezer" Then decide if you would be vaccinated.

http://cryptome.org/smallpox-wmd.htm

[happygrl]

Read this article; "The Demon in the Freezer." Then decide if you would be vaccinated. http://cryptome.org/smallpox-wmd.htm

[kayak]

My daughter was born in '72 and, a year later, when it was time for her smallpox vaccination (so I thought), the doctor did not include that in her baby shots. I questioned it and asked if she could have it anyway.

He explained that at the time there were only 2-3 cases worldwide and they were contained; therefore, smallpox was essentially eradicated from the world.

..... He also said that the vaccine is a high-risk one, with potentially serious, even fatal, side effects. He said the odds of having a serious side effect, even death, from the vaccine were far greater than the chances of getting the disease.

..... He did not outright refuse to vaccinate my daughter but he did say that the vaccine was quite hard to obtain and quite expensive (several hundred dollars, which was exhorbitant in 1973).

Given that choice, we did not have our daughter vaccinated. I believe it was children born in '72 that were the first not given the smallpox vaccine. At least it was a very new practice at that time.

[Centurion2000]

Explain to the Muslims that if they attack us with smallpox (or any biological agent), then Mecca will cease to exist.

We're not gonna do that and you know it. What exactly is the point of this bluster?

We may not ... but the Israelis certainly will.

[Texasforever]

Look, as I said to another poster. If you are more afraid of a vaccine than you are the disease, then by all means refuse the vaccine. In the case of small pox with the near eradication for so many years all residual immunity is long gone. The effect on people now would be very similar to what happened to the American Indians. I can tell you this though, those that refuse vaccination even with an ongoing outbreak and contract the disease will be quarantined without a whole lot of sympathy.

[Arkinsaw]

This is fairly worrisome as it is doubtful that the government would contemplate vaccinating the entire population unless there was a fairly reasonable chance of it being necessary. I sense that we are mushrooms. <

[FITZ]

I've been vaccinated ---I would choose to have my kids vaccinated against smallpox as quickly as I could ---even if I had to do it myself.

[Carry_Okie]

A moderate Arab is one who never keeps a grudge more than 300 years old.

[Buffalo Bob]

I can tell you this though, those that refuse vaccination even with an ongoing outbreak and contract the disease will be quarantined without a whole lot of sympathy.

Not those who are well armed.

[Skibane]

Buck, don't be vaccinated if you don't want it. However be prepared, and rightly so, to be quarantined, voluntarily or not, if you contract small pox.

If quarantines come to pass, it probably won't matter much whether you've been vaccinated or not — Nobody's going to have time to look over you medical records, much less confirm that they haven't been altered or forged. If you're unlucky enough to live in an area that's slated for quarantine, that's most likely what you'll get.

[Texasforever]

Not those who are well armed.

You are in a dream world.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Forced vaccinations is a bad idea. Here's what needs to be done:

1) Secure our borders

2) Eradicate as many of the terrorists as possible

3) Explain to the Muslims that if they attack us with smallpox (or any biological agent), then Mecca will cease to exist.

I respectfully disagree with you... I say we send them and Mecca straight to hell ASAP... end of story, end of problem!