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U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Deciding Who Is to Be Protected Against Smallpox"
New York Times ( www.nytimes.com ) (08/09/02) P. A15; Frist, Bill
Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), in a commentary in the New York Times,
says he believes that U.S. citizens should be able to make an
informed choice about receiving the smallpox vaccine. He
advocates such choice becoming the central part of a national
policy designed to protect against smallpox as a bioterrorism
weapon. The president has signed legislation that would give
more federal money to improve public-health defenses and to make
and stockpile the smallpox vaccine, but the question is who
should get the vaccine and when they should get it, Frist notes.
He writes that every citizen should be allowed to make an
informed choice about immunization as soon as enough licensed
vaccine is available, but he believes all military personnel at
high risk of exposure should be vaccinated now, and that those at
lower risk should be vaccinated if they so choose. Frist also
thinks that health professionals and "first responders" should be
allowed to choose, and he wants a national plan that could
vaccinate every citizen at risk within up to 48 hours of
exposure, as well as a national education campaign to explain the
risks and benefits of the vaccinations.
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