Industry leader says risks of smallpox shots are too great

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
January 9, 2003

Hospital workers shouldn't volunteer to get smallpox vaccinations, at least until some questions about safety and liability are answered, the chief of the Colorado Health and Hospital Association said Wednesday.

"In good conscience, I can't recommend that they proceed with this until we have some assurances in place," said Larry Wall, president of the CHHA, the trade association for hospitals in Colorado. He'll make that recommendation in the association's newsletter on Friday.

Dr. Ned Calonge, Colorado's chief medical officer, said Wednesday the hospitals' hesitancy is rational and that the state should be well prepared for a smallpox outbreak even if most hospital workers say "no."

President Bush wants the front-line health workers in the United States to get vaccinated starting this month, so they can vaccinate others in the event of a terrorist-triggered smallpox outbreak.

But Wall points to the dangers of the vaccine - about 1 person in 1 million will die, and 15 people in 1 million will get gravely ill. He also would like to see:

• A written commitment that employees who get sick from the vaccine will be covered by workers' compensation.

• Protection from liability for hospitals if a vaccinated worker accidently infects a patient, co-worker or family member.

• Publication of the illness rates of military people who have already received the vaccine.

Wall has talked to officials from several hospitals who aren't sold on the idea of vaccines for their workers.

Originally, 4,000 Colorado health care workers - mostly from hospitals or county health departments - volunteered for the vaccine.

If an outbreak happens, people nearby who are vaccinated within five days have good assurance they won't get the disease. If non-vaccinated nurses care for a patient with smallpox, masks can give them quite robust protection from the disease, Calonge said.

Vaccinations of health care workers tentatively are scheduled to start Jan. 24, but Colorado has yet to receive the vaccine from the federal government.