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September 30, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"U.S. Has Enough Smallpox Vaccine"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (09/29/02); Haney, Daniel Q.

Diluting 86 million long-stored doses of smallpox vaccine will work, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, giving the United States enough vaccine to immunize all 280 million Americans in the event of a bioterrorist attack.  Fauci said Sunday that the diluted vaccine was tested on over 100 volunteers, and the results indicated that this supply alone would be sufficient for a mass vaccination program.  The Aventis Pasteur vaccine can be diluted 5 to 1, providing over 300 million doses.  The United States has also contracted with Acambis to buy 209 million doses of smallpox vaccine, and earlier tests showed that the country's existing 15 million doses of Dryvax vaccine can be diluted to make 75 million doses.

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