Pentagon considering options for its official policy on anthrax vaccinations

By Sandra Jontz, Washington bureau
European edition, Tuesday, February 26, 2002

ARLINGTON, Va. — Within the month, Pentagon officials plan to release the official policy on anthrax vaccinations, and staffers are mulling options that run from inoculating every single troop to none at all.

But not using the vaccination is unlikely, with nations and groups having the capability and desire to harm the United States and its allies, said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs.

According to the Department of Defense, nations — including Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Libya — have been developing capabilities for years to produce the potentially fatal bacteria.

What some people don’t know is that much of the equipment used to manufacture anthrax is used for legitimate reasons, like milling pharmaceutical products and common foodstuffs, said Lisa Bronson, deputy undersecretary of defense for technology, security and policy counterproliferation.

The making of powdered milk, for example, uses the same drying technique used in making powdered anthrax, she said, and this complicates detection and control.

Countries can, and do, buy the equipment under the pretense of legitimate use and divert it for chemical or biological warfare production, Bronson said.

Documents recovered recently in Afghanistan show that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were in the process of obtaining or making anthrax spores, Bronson said.

CIA Director George Tenet testified before Congress on Feb. 6 that "documents recovered from al-Qaida in Afghanistan show that bin Laden was pursuing a sophisticated biological weapons-research program" in addition to seeking nuclear capabilities to make what some have called a "dirty bomb."

Anthrax also is found in nature.

With the threats being real, and the sole manufacturer of the vaccine approved to resume production, Winkenwerder said he doesn’t foresee a halt to the program.

After a three-year battle, the Food and Drug Administration in January cleared Michigan-based BioPort Corporation to make and distribute the vaccine.

As part of the recertification, the company had to churn out some 500,000 doses, which have been approved and added to the DOD’s diminishing stockpile. Winkenwerder would not say how many doses the Pentagon has on hand.

Despite the depleting supply and questions about safety, the Pentagon never ceased inoculations. Instead, officials focused on vaccinating servicemembers traveling to high-risk areas of the globe.

And while the vaccine now is disseminated only to the military, the Pentagon did approve selling 200,000 doses to the Department of Health and Human Services in the fall after inhalation anthrax was dispersed through the U.S. postal system.

Five people died as a result of exposure to inhalation anthrax. Ten others are recovering or have recovered from either inhalation or cutaneous exposures. In all, 59 people were reported exposed to the bacteria.

Health and Human Services distributed 279 of the 200,000 doses to civilians following the deaths and exposure cases, and plans to simply store the remainder, spokesman Bill Pierce said. He did not know how much the department paid the Pentagon for the vaccine.