A Look at Groups Offered Smallpox Vaccine

Groups being offered the smallpox vaccine:

MILITARY:

Who: About 500,000 personnel in "high-threat areas."

When: Vaccinations began Friday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

How: Mandatory.

STATE DEPARTMENT:

Who: About 20,000 people working in U.S. embassies in the Middle East.

When: Not specified.

How: Recommended, but not mandatory.

CIVILIAN SMALLPOX RESPONSE TEAMS:

Who: About 450,000 people most likely to come in contact with a contagious smallpox patient, including people who work in hospital emergency rooms and people on public health teams who would investigate suspicious cases of smallpox. States already submitted plans identifying people in this group and plans for vaccinating them.

When: Beginning in late January, or when states are ready. Program expected to take 30 days, although health officials said some states may take longer.

How: Recommended, but not mandatory.

HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS:

Who: About 10 million total. People who work in hospital intensive care units, infectious disease doctors, dermatologists and other health care workers who might deal with smallpox. First responders including police and fire.

When: States must develop plans; timetable uncertain.

How: Recommended, but not mandatory.

GENERAL PUBLIC:

Who: Adults who insist on getting the vaccine.

When: People can enroll in clinical trials now under way at various sites across the country. The Department of Health and Human Services will create a new program available in every state for people who want to sign up, expected by late spring or early summer. Under both measures, complicated paperwork would be involved, because people would be enrolling in experiments to see if the vaccine works. People also could wait until 2004, after enough vaccine is licensed.

How: Not recommended, but available.

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