WASHINGTON Dec. 15 —
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Sunday he
does not plan to be inoculated with the smallpox vaccine and recommends
that other Cabinet members not request the inoculation either.
"I do not believe it is necessary or should be taking place," he
said.
President Bush said Friday he will take the vaccine along with U.S.
military forces but was not recommending the risky inoculation for most
Americans. The inoculation will be free for those who want it, Thompson
said over the weekend.
"The president is doing it because he is the commander in chief, and
he believes that if he is ordering his troops ... to get this
vaccination, he should do it as well," Thompson told CNN's "Late
Edition."
"He also is recommending that elected officials be considered just
like the general public, and I have also made the same kind of
recommendation to the governors and to health offices who are not going
to be in the first line."
Vaccinations for a few dozen military personnel began Friday. By late
January states are expected to begin inoculating health care response
teams and others who would respond to a smallpox attack.
The government will make the vaccine available to the general public
beginning in late spring or early summer, although it is not recommended
for most people.
The vaccine carries rare but serious side effects. One or two out of
every 1 million patients will be killed by the vaccine, and 15 will face
life-threatening complications.
Smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s and, while experts fear that
terrorists or hostile nations could unleash it in an act of bioterror,
Bush says no immediate threat exists.
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