Re: off topic
- From: "Usenet Supreme Commander Chuck" <chuckadams05@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 16 Oct 2006 17:50:05 -0700
Usenet Supreme Loser ChuckWorth wrote:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-10-16T204312Z_01_N16365545_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-PENTAGON-ANTHRAX.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-politicsNews-3
Reuters
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Pentagon to resume forced anthrax vaccine program
Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:43 PM ET
By Kristin Roberts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Monday said it will force troops
in Iraq, Afghanistan and South Korea to be vaccinated against anthrax,
restarting a court-halted program after U.S. regulators declared the
shots safe and effective.
But William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health
affairs, said the Pentagon has no plans to vaccinate troops serving
elsewhere, including those in the United States -- site of the only
major anthrax attack against Americans, which killed five people in
2001.
"There are terrorists operating in and around Iraq and in that part of
the world," Winkenwerder said. "That's a higher threat area."
The move to reopen the mandatory vaccination program follows a final
order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005 that found the
anthrax vaccine safe and effective in preventing anthrax disease.
But attorneys whose lawsuit previously shut down the mandatory anthrax
vaccination program said they plan to file a new suit to challenge its
resumption.
"The forthcoming mandatory program is just as senseless as before and
the FDA's new determination remains legally and scientifically flawed,"
said Mark Zaid, one of the attorneys.
Winkenwerder, who has not taken the anthrax vaccine, said the FDA's
final order settles legal questions and the Pentagon is prepared for a
court challenge.
Anthrax spores can be used in germ warfare to give victims the deadly
bacterial disease. The Pentagon argues the shots are needed to protect
troops against bioterrorism.
A federal district court in 2005 allowed the Pentagon to give some
troops the vaccinations on a voluntary basis after ordering a halt to
the mandatory shots the year before.
The court's action came after a lawsuit filed by six unnamed military
personnel and civilian workers who objected to the vaccinations. Some
troops had refused to get the mandatory shots due to worries about side
effects, and some had been thrown out of the military.
Under the voluntary program, only 50 percent of troops offered the shot
accepted it.
Winkenwerder said those numbers were too low and left U.S. forces
unprepared for bioterrorist attacks. He said service members expect a
shot to be mandatory if it is important.
More than 1.4 million service members have been vaccinated since 1998,
according to the Defense Department.
Winkenwerder could not say how many troops would be vaccinated under
the mandatory program, which should start in 30 to 60 days. Troop
levels total 143,000 in Iraq, 21,000 in Afghanistan and 28,000 in South
Korea.
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