ollowing is a transcript of President Bush's remarks yesterday on the administration's smallpox vaccination plan, as recorded by The New York Times:

Since our country was attacked 15 months ago, Americans have been forced to prepare for a variety of threats we hope will never come. We have stepped up security at our ports and borders. We've expanded our ability to detect chemical and biological threats. We've increased support for first responders. We've made our public health care system better able to track and treat disease. By preparing at home and by pursuing enemies abroad, we're adding to the security of our nation.

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I thank the members of my team who are here who are adding to the security of our nation.

One potential danger to America is the use of the smallpox virus as a weapon of terror. Smallpox is a deadly but preventable disease. Most Americans who are 34 or older had a smallpox vaccination when they were children. By 1972, the risk of smallpox was so remote that routine vaccinations were discontinued in the United States.

In 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been completely eradicated, and since then, there has not been a single natural case of the disease anywhere in the world.

We know, however, that the smallpox virus still exists in laboratories. And we believe that regimes hostile to the United States may possess this dangerous virus.

To protect our citizens in the aftermath of Sept. 11, we are evaluating old threats in a new light. Our government has no information that a smallpox attack is imminent. Yet it is prudent to prepare for the possibility that terrorists would kill indiscriminately, who do kill indiscriminately, would use diseases as a weapon.

Our public health agencies began preparations more than a year ago. Today, through the hard work of our Department of Health and Human Services, ably led by Tommy Thompson, and state and local health officials, America has stockpiled enough vaccine, and is now prepared to inoculate our entire population in the event of a smallpox attack.

Americans and anyone who would think of harming Americans can be certain that this nation is ready to respond quickly and effectively to a smallpox emergency or an increase in the level of threat.
Today, I am directing additional steps to protect the health of our nation. I'm ordering that the military and other personnel who serve America in high-risk parts of the world receive the smallpox vaccine. Men and women who could be on the front lines of a biological attack must be protected.

This particular vaccine does involve a small risk of serious health considerations. As commander in chief, I do not believe I can ask others to accept this risk unless I am willing to do the same. Therefore, I will receive the vaccine along with our military.
These vaccinations are a precaution only, and not a response to any information concerning imminent danger. Given the current level of threat and the inherent health risks of the vaccine, we have decided not to initiate a broader vaccination program for all Americans at this time. Neither my family nor my staff will be receiving the vaccine, because our health and national security experts do not believe vaccination is necessary for the general public.
At present, the responsible course is to make careful and thorough preparations in case a broader vaccination program should become necessary in the future.
There may be some citizens, however, who insist on being vaccinated now. Our public health agencies will work to accommodate them, but that is not our recommendation at this time.
We do recommend vaccinations for one other group of Americans that could be on the front lines of a biological attack. We will make the vaccine available, on a voluntary basis, to medical professionals and emergency personnel in response teams that would be the first on the scene in a smallpox emergency. These teams would immediately provide vaccine and treatment to Americans in a crisis, and to do this job effectively, members of these teams should be protected against the disease.
I understand that many first responders will have questions before deciding whether to be vaccinated. We will make sure they have the medical advice they need to make an informed decision.
Smallpox is a serious disease, and we know that our enemies are trying to inflict serious harm. Yet there is no evidence that smallpox imminently threatens this country.
We will continue taking every essential step to guard against the threats to our nation. And I deeply appreciate the good efforts of state and local health officials, who are facing difficult challenges with great skill. The actions we are taking together will help safeguard the health of our people in a measured and responsible way.
Briefing on Smallpox

Following are excerpts from a briefing yesterday by Bush administration officials on the vaccination plans, as transcribed by the White House. Speaking were Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services; Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

MR. THOMPSON This program centers on smallpox response teams and first responders for a very strategic reason. Since a smallpox release is possible, we must prepare by offering vaccine to those most likely needed to respond. . . .

While emergency responders are a priority, there is another component to this decision that recognizes that some people not on emergency response teams will insist on being vaccinated. Let me be very clear: we do not — we do not recommend that the general public get vaccinated at this time. But we will develop a very orderly process to make vaccine available to those adult members of the general public without contraindications who insist on being vaccinated either in 2003, with an unlicensed vaccine, or in 2004, with a licensed vaccine. We expect to develop this process by sometime next spring or summer.

DR. GERBERDING There are two kinds of smallpox response teams. The first, we're calling public health response teams. They will consist of public health officials, doctors with special knowledge about skin conditions and smallpox, the disease detectives who will help understand the cause and the source of an exposure. It may include other emergency medical personnel who help transport the initial cases to the facilities and so forth.

The health care delivery system response teams, in turn, will include not only the clinicians, but the other hospital workers necessary to take care of an affected patient over a period of time. So that will include emergency room doctors, critical care physicians, infectious disease, dermatology specialists. It will include housekeepers, perhaps some laundry workers, people who deliver services to the intensive care unit. Anyone who would come into direct contact with a patient with smallpox during their course of treatment. . . .

We are cognizant of the fact that some people feel strongly that they want to have access to the vaccine, and so we're going to be working with our partners in the public health community to ensure that there is access and an orderly process sometime over the next year.

DR. FAUCI The vaccine that will be administered to smallpox response teams, health workers and first responders in this voluntary program that the president just announced is called Dryvax. It is the identical vaccine that was successfully used for decades in this country at the time that smallpox was endemic throughout the world. Indeed, it has played an important role in the ultimate eradication of smallpox from this country and worldwide.

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Thus, it is a highly effective vaccine. It is a live virus vaccine in which the virus is called vaccinia, a close relative of the true smallpox virus. Vaccinia is capable of inducing in the recipient of the vaccine a response that protects that individual from infection with the true smallpox virus. . . .

In recently conducted studies, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, we demonstrated that even after more than two decades of storage, Dryvax maintains its potency. Specifically, we examined what we call the take rate, or the induction of the characteristic skin response to the vaccine in normal volunteers.

The take rate has been shown to closely correlate with the induction of a protective response. We tested these reactions in several hundred healthy volunteers who had never received a smallpox vaccination previously and compared the undiluted Dryvax to the vaccine diluted 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. We found out two important facts. The undiluted product had a greater than 97 percent take rate, and the 1-to-5 and 1-to-10 dilutions had similar take rates. Thus, the vaccine had retained its original potency. In addition, the minor reactions and discomfort associated with vaccinations were no different than those that we had experienced over decades and decades of use of the vaccine.

We detected no serious adverse events related to these vaccinations. However, since the serious reactions are rare — and I'll discuss that in a moment — we would statistically not have expected to see any such toxicities when vaccinating only several hundred people. We will be using the undiluted Dryvax vaccine which we recently — was relicensed in this current vaccination program.

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.