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October 20, 2004
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
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off in our Discussion Boards.]
By Sandra Jontz,
Stars and Stripes European Edition
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(Sandra Jontz / S&S) Sgt. Scott Johnson, 29, gives an anthrax
vaccination booster shot to Sgt. Jeremy Stanton, 26, at the
DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic at the Pentagon. All servicemembers
have until Dec. 31 to get caught up on their anthrax vaccine
shots.
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Troops who received some of their anthrax
inoculations before the Pentagon halted it 3 years ago have until
Dec. 31 to resume their six-shot regimen, no matter where they might
be stationed, officials said.
About 200,000 troops need to pick up the vaccination where they
left off, even if it has been three years since their last shot,
said Col. Steve Jones, director of the Military Vaccine Agency.
Commanders will be responsible for working with health care providers
and troops to ensure shot records are up-to-date and that those
who qualify get their shots, Jones said.
The controversial vaccination program is mandatory for all personnel
deploying to areas Pentagon officials have deemed “high risk,” and
for those who already started the process. The department will not
inoculate those exempt for health reasons, though exempted personnel
still are deployable.
For security reasons, Pentagon officials won’t publicly define
the high-risk areas, or say how many doses are available.
Anthrax vaccines were suspended in June 2001 because of a lack
of vaccine when the manufacturer, BioPort, changed its manufacturing
process without FDA approval. The stoppage created a stockpile shortage
for the military. When the program resumed in 2002, it first started
with troops deploying to the high-risk areas. With supply no longer
an issue, the program can expand to include other troops, Jones
said.
Some servicemembers have maintained the vaccine causes health problems
and have accepted separation from service or disciplinary action
for disobeying an order rather than take it
This summer, the Pentagon expanded the vaccination program in two
phases. In June, as a result of an increase in supply, the Pentagon
started inoculating “tens of thousands” of U.S. troops in or heading
to the Pacific Command and Central Command areas.
In July, the program resumed for troops who already had received
a dose before the program’s halt, regardless if deployed to a combat
zone or stationed in the United States, Jones said.
Stars and Stripes requested information from the Department of
Defense after seeing reports on the matter.
Since the June 2002 resumption, the department has inoculated about
840,000 personnel. Since the program’s inception in 1998, more than
1.2 million people have been vaccinated, he said.
In spite of the lag, troops do not have to start over with the
regimen, experts said.
“We’re following guidance from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention) … on immunization practices and they recommend to
one, stay on schedule as close as possible, and two, if you miss
[a dose] it is not necessary to resume the entire sequence. Start
where you left off,” Jones said.
However, the shots are unnecessary, said Dr. Meryl Nass, a physician
at Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, and an anthrax
and bioterrorism expert who has testified repeatedly before Congress
as a vocal opponent to the program.
“What is the evidence that there is a risk? There is none,” said
Nass. “[Presidential candidates] Bush and Kerry both are beating
the drums about the risk of bioterrorism, but every credible organization
that has looked into the issue hasn’t found any,” she said. “There
are no weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq] and two groups hand-picked
to find them didn’t find them.”
But troops need the vaccine, Jones said.
“We still feel the threat remains,” Jones said. “We do not see
a change in the threat and we think it is important to continue
to provide a layer of protection to our troops and vaccinations
is one of the primary layers of protection we can provide them.”
The CDC is conducting studies to determine if the six-dose regimen
can be lowered to four. It hopes to submit data to the FDA in early
2005 that could change the route of administration to intramuscular
and reduce the dose schedule to five doses, with the full study
to change to four doses and possibly biannual boosters in late 2007.
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