Comment:  Never mind the fact that the FDA miraculously found reason to approve it just days after the judge declared the vaccine experimental, and put a (what turned out to be) temporary hold on the military's anthrax shot program.

►March 4, 2004 - Criticism, skepticism surround anthrax vaccine - BioPort defends product despite lawsuits, studies - The State News - "BioPort Corp. executives are the first to admit that a cloud of doubt seems to linger above their anthrax vaccine...Critics relentlessly question if the Lansing-based company's product would be effective against a bioterrorist attack. Others contend the immunization is harmful to those who receive it...Company executives, however, maintain that scientific fact and a series of medical studies vouch for the safety and effectiveness of the nation's only federally licensed anthrax vaccine." - 3/4/04

►March 2, 2004 - Anthrax vaccine inquiry soldiers demand - Medical News Today - 3/4/04 

►March 4, 2004 - Drug to treat hepatitis B proves useful in blocking anthrax toxin - The University of Chicago Chronicle - "'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, Associate Professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'" - 3/4/04

Comment:  That is good news.  In my opinion, it is far better to develop drugs to treat those exposed to anthrax, rather than expose everyone to the known and unknown risks of anthrax vaccination, whether they need it or not.

►March 15, 2004 - Looking Back at Smallpox - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases) - "Examination of clinical variants suggests that severity of illness was usually determined by host responses during the incubation period. Control of viral replication was aided by early postexposure vaccination and might be strengthened by additional immunological interventions.^" - 3/3/04

►March 2, 2004 - Health experts laud the old-fashioned quarantine (requires registration) - Knight Ridder via The Charlotte Observer - "The best hope for stopping epidemics of infectious diseases, public health experts said Monday, may be a long-neglected tool: quarantining people...When modern medicine couldn't come up with antibiotics, vaccines and effective treatments against the contagious respiratory disease SARS last year, Canada and Asia dusted off quarantine laws and isolated more than 200,000 people. That stopped the disease." - 3/3/04

►March 2, 2004 - New Acambis CEO Announces Four-Fold Increase in Profits - press release - Acambis plc via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo! - "In developing new vaccines against infectious diseases, Acambis is aiming to maximise the value of its products by retaining rights to those vaccines for as long as possible. This means not only developing, clinically testing and licensing the vaccines but also, where possible, manufacturing, selling and distributing the product ourselves...The first of these primarily involves the development of our two key franchises: the smallpox vaccine franchise; and the travel vaccines franchise." - 3/3/04

►March 2, 2004 - FBI hits wall in anthrax investigation - Suspect profile is only clue agency has after 2 years (requires registration) - The Chicago Tribune - 3/3/04

►March 2, 2004 - VaxGen reports Phase I clinical trial results of anthrax vaccine candidate - VaxGen, Inc. via www.eurekalert.org - 3/3/04 

►October 12, 1999 - Anthrax Vaccine: Safety and Efficacy Issues (Testimony, 10/12/1999, GAO/T-NSIAD-00-48). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►October 11, 2000 - Anthrax Vaccine: Preliminary Results of GAO's Survey of Guard/Reserve Pilots and Aircrew Members (Testimony, 10/11/2000, GAO/GAO-01-92T). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►September 20, 2004 - Anthrax Vaccine: GAO's Survey of Guard and Reserve Pilots and Aircrew (20-SEP-02, GAO-02-445). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►October 22, 1999 - Medical Readiness: DOD Faces Challenges in Implementing Its Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (Letter Report, 10/22/1999, GAO/NSIAD-00-36). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►July 21, 1999 - Medical Readiness: Issues Concerning the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony, 07/21/1999, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-226). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►February 5, 1998 - Gulf War Illnesses: Research, Clinical Monitoring, and Medical Surveillance (Testimony, 02/05/98, GAO/T-NSIAD-98-88). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►April 14, 2000 - Contract Management: DOD's Anthrax Vaccine Manufacturer Will Continue to Need Financial Assistance (Testimony, 04/14/2000, GAO/T-NSIAD-00-140). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►December 1, 2003 - Smallpox Vaccination: Review of the Implementation of the Military Program (01-DEC-03, GAO-04-215R). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►April 30, 2003 - Smallpox Vaccination: Implementation of National Program Faces Challenges (30-APR-03, GAO-03-578). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►June 30, 1999 - Contract Management: Observations on DOD's Financial Relationship With the Anthrax Vaccine Manufacturer (Testimony, 06/30/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-214). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►April 29, 1999 - Medical Readiness: Safety and Efficacy of the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony, 04/29/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-148). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

►March 29, 1999 - Gulf War Illnesses: Questions About the Presence of Squalene Antibodies in Veterans Can Be Resolved (Letter Report, 03/29/99, GAO/NSIAD-99-5). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov - 3/3/04

Posted March 4

►March 1, 2004 - Military Vaccine Flattens GI, 17 - CBS News - "Amid all the war stories that have come out of the conflict with Iraq, Tyran Duncan's hasn't been widely told. The willing soldier became an unwitting victim to the vaccinations he was required to take to deploy. And as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports, he's not the only one." - 3/2/04

Posted February 19

►February 10, 2004 - Anthrax Spores Can Germinate, Grow and Reproduce in Soil - University of Michigan Health System via Newswise - 2/15/04

►February 13, 2004 - Genetic AIDS immunity traced to smallpox, not plague - www.gay.com - 2/15/04

►February 14, 2004 - Smallpox vaccine tested in Missoula - The Missoulian - 2/15/04

►February 14, 2004 - Surveillance and containment would be effective intervention against deliberate smallpox attack - Emory University Health Sciences Center via www.eurekalert.org - 2/15/04

►February 13, 2004 - Virus in Smallpox Inoculation Spreads - Atlanta Journal-Constitution via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - 2/15/04

Posted February 17

►February 10, 2004 - Smallpox Vaccine Spread Virus Through Family - HealthDay Reporter via  www.lifeclinic.com - "By his accounts and those of his 27-year-old wife, the soldier followed all precautions. Although he slept in the same bed as his spouse, he washed his hands, kept the site covered with gauze until it had fully healed and had limited contact with his 5-month-old daughter who was still breast-feeding...Nevertheless, in mid-May, the wife developed red, tender swelling around both her nipples. The area blistered, then ulcerated, leaving open sores around the nipple area. No one, including her doctor, suspected it was a vaccinia reaction, so she continued breast-feeding until May 29, when it became too painful...On the day she stopped breast-feeding, her baby developed a tell-tale blister on her upper lip, which turned into a pustule and formed a crust. The next day, she developed a similar lesion on her left check. On June 2, a pediatrician saw the facial lesions as well as one on her tongue and diagnosed her with suspected vaccinia. She was transferred to Madigan Army Medical Center, where she came under Fairchok's care...No one knows exactly how the transmissions occurred." - 2/11/04

►February 10, 2004 - Breastfed Baby Exposed to Smallpox Vaccine Virus - Reuters Health - "Breastfeeding women who live with someone who has been recently vaccinated against smallpox should take extra precautions to prevent their infants from being exposed to the virus used in the vaccine, according to a new report...Doctors at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, have documented the case of a breast-fed infant who was exposed to the vaccinia virus, which is used in the smallpox vaccine...The baby's mother had not been vaccinated against smallpox but her husband, a soldier, was given the vaccine soon before the baby developed symptoms." - 2/11/04

Comment:  "When", not "if"?  Is this merely careless speech or reporting?  Do they know something we don't, but should, know?   Or is this just more scare-mongering?

►January 25, 2004 - How smallpox affected our cemeteries - Corsicana Daily Sun - "My only experience with smallpox occurred when I was vaccinated as a child for the disease. My memory of the incident is that the vaccination left an ugly round scar on my shoulder. I also remember everyone saying don't touch or scratch the scab until it was completely healed. As a teenager, I was very self conscious of the scar especially when we went swimming. I really don't know why I had these thoughts since everyone I knew had a similar looking mark." -  1/25/04

►January 24, 2004 - Shots Have Healthy Repercussions Smallpox Vaccination Effort Helped Officials Learn How To Prepare For Disaster, Doctors Say - The Hartford Courant - "A year ago today, with the impending war with Iraq as a backdrop, three Connecticut doctors rolled up their sleeves and kicked off the nation's smallpox vaccination program...Anxiety about a smallpox attack and the vaccination program itself have almost disappeared. In retrospect, say those who were involved, it wasn't the vaccination effort that was important but the act of preparing for disaster." - 1/24/04

►January 22, 2004 - Little interest shown for small pox vaccines - The small pox inoculation is coming up small among first responders, according to the Montgomery County health department. - The Mercury - 1/24/04

►January 22, 2004 - Small-molecule inhibitors of anthrax lethal factor identified - Findings hold promise for developing new anthrax therapies - The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases via www.eurekalert.org - 1/23/04

►January 23, 2004 - Biodefense Agency Urged for Safety of U.S. Troops - Lack of New Vaccines Points to Need, Report Says - The Washington Post - "The Pentagon has not developed a single new vaccine against biological agents since the 1991 Gulf War and should create a new biodefense agency to respond to the growing threat of biological attacks on U.S. forces, according to a congressionally mandated report released yesterday." - 1/23/04

►January 22, 2004 - Report urges update to biological protection efforts - Scripps Howard News Service via  www.knoxstudio.com - 1/23/04

►January 21, 2004 - BIOLOGICAL WAR-FEAR: FDA fails to halt anthrax anxiety - After judge stopped controversial vaccine feds declared it safe - by Timothy W. Maier - Insight magazine, via www.worldnetdaily.com  - "'Only after the issuance of an injunction, up pops a federal rule,' Sullivan declared with acid sarcasm to Justice Department attorney Shannen Coffin, who is representing the Pentagon in the lawsuit filed by the six John Does. 'And you're telling me it's coincidental?'...'I'd stand on a stack of Bibles and tell you it's coincidental,' Coffin replied to Sullivan...'That's an amazing coincidence,' Sullivan shot back." - 1/22/04

►January 22, 2004 - Blueprint on Way for Vaccine Factory to Combat Terror Strikes - The Scotsman -"Plans for a Government-owned factory to produce large amounts of vaccine in the event of a terrorist strike could be finalised within weeks, it emerged today...The rapid response facility would produce vaccine for people contaminated by a chemical or biological attack." - 1/22/04
 

►January 21, 2004 - Local company testing anthrax vaccine - www.wtvw.com - "Bioterrorism is a constant threat, and now the government wants a new vaccine to protect us from anthrax...Now the race is on to find a safer vaccine. That's where federal researchers and those at GFI, a research company, come in...'What they've actually developed now is not only a vaccine that's been on the market for years, we're actually involved in a trial on a new vaccine to potentially protect the public,' said Dr. Randall Stoltz, Medical Director of GFI." - 1/22/04

►January 8, 2004 - Judge Reverses Anthrax Ruling - Pentagon May Resume Vaccinating Members of Military - "Zaid said he will soon ask Sullivan to reissue an order blocking mandatory anthrax inoculations because the FDA's approval of the vaccine was itself flawed, based only on animal research. Another government investigation of the vaccine, being carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and based on human research, will not be completed until 2007, he said." - 1/8/04

►January 7, 2004 - Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program Resumption (pdf) - Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Under Secretaries of Defense; Assistant Secretaries of Defense; General Counsel of the Department of Defense; Inspector General, Department of Defense; Directors of Defense Agencies; Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard - www.dod.mil - "Therefore you should immediately resume the anthrax vaccination program." - 1/8/04

►January 8, 2004 - Judge Decides Pentagon Can Resume Anthrax Vaccinations (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "In his two-page order issued on Wednesday, Judge Sullivan wrote, 'Although the timing of the issuance of the rule is arguably highly suspicious, nevertheless, the rule has been issued and the principle reason for the issuance of the injunction has been addressed by the government.'...Mr. Zaid, a plaintiffs' lawyer, said after the court action that the agency's rule should be interpreted as an admission that the vaccine 'was being used illegally by the Department of Defense before that time.' He said any military personnel or Pentagon civilians penalized for refusing the mandatory vaccine 'were unjustly punished.'" - 1/8/04

►January 5, 2004 - U.S. Army Buys $30 Million in Anthrax Shots - Reuters via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - 1/8/04

►January 6, 2004 - Commentary: Senseless ‘opt-out’ anthrax ruling must be reversed - The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - "The decision of Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the D.C. District Court, which will be binding until the full court can hear the trial or the Supreme Court overturns it, was based on 1998 federal legislation that says service members cannot be forced to take experimental drugs...Granted, it was a piece of bad legislation based not on scientific evidence but rather on kowtowing to “Gulf War Syndrome” activists." - 1/7/04

►January 7, 2004 - BioSante Pharmaceuticals Announces DynPort Subcontract to Develop Anthrax Vaccines Using Nanotechnology-Based Alternative Delivery Systems - Business Wire - 1/7/04

►January 6, 2004 - Acambis expands portfolio beyond smallpox - Business Weekly - "Cambridge based Acambis continues to build a global vaccines powerhouse around the world-class science that won it two contracts to supply the US government with smallpox vaccines." - 1/6/04

►January 6, 2004 - Some await anthrax shot antidote - The Daily News - "James Muhammad says that those who check his record will see he was a good Marine. An honor graduate from several military courses, he also received at least one meritorious promotion. In only two years and 11 months, he was promoted to sergeant on Nov. 1, 2002 - a rapid rise through the chain of command...Muhammad refused to take the vaccine. Less than six months later, on April 9, 2003, he was sentenced to 60 days in the brig, demoted to the rank of private and received a bad conduct discharge. He was jailed, strip-searched and housed with violent criminals." - 1/6/04

►January 6, 2004 - New Insight Into How Anthrax Bacteria Can Evade A Host's Immune Response - University of California, San Diego via www.newswise.com - 1/6/04

►January 4, 2004 - Colorado State Funded for Bioterrorism Data - Boston Globe via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - 1/6/04

►January 5, 2004 - Anthrax ruling a victory for local mom - Missoula woman says judge's decision isn't end of fight over vaccine - Missoulian Online - "'I went looking on the Internet for something that was not hysterical, not emotional; I wanted facts,' says Hubbell, who runs a public relations firm out of her Missoula home. 'I found that when I came across the site sponsored by Maj. Sonnie Bates.'...Bates, Hubbell says, is the highest-ranking officer to refuse the anthrax vaccine, costing him his military career...'His letter to his commanding officer explaining why he would not take it had a military precision to it,' she says. "'t was just fact, fact, fact, fact. It convinced me there was a real problem here, and I had to get involved. The people this is affecting can have their pay docked, be demoted, be court-martialed. They can't speak up, so I figured it's up to the parents to do it.' - 1/5/04

►January 5, 2004 - Smallpox vaccine elusive - Public demand for vaccination has subsided.  Concerns about side effects may outweigh fear of disease. -  The Morning Call Online - "Even a potentially safer experimental vaccine against the deadly disease being tested by the National Institutes of Health has insufficient takers. After a year, program officials have enrolled 130 of the 185 participants needed." - 1/5/04

►January 4, 2004 - Greater awareness of smallpox threat advocated - Star-Telegram - "The risk of a smallpox attack may have waned in the public's eyes. But some still regard smallpox as a credible bioterrorist threat, and they have criticized the health care community's weak response." - 1/5/04

►January 12, 2004 - Public health found still not ready for bioterrorism - Past neglect of the system requires a lengthy and consistently funded repair effort, officials say.  - www.ama-assn.org - 1/5/04

►January 4, 2004 - Colorado State funded for bioterrorism data - The Boston Globe - 1/4/04

►January 3, 2004 - Guardsman who refused vaccine to be deployed - AP via www.newarkadvocate.com - "An Ohio National Guard member convicted of disobeying a direct order by refusing to be vaccinated against anthrax is expected to be deployed next week with his unit, the guard said Friday." - 1/4/04

►January 2, 2004 - U.S. Army Buys $30 Million in Anthrax Shots - Reuters - "The Defense Department announced on Friday a $29.7 million order for anthrax vaccine based on the assumption that a federal judge's ban on mandatory inoculations will be reversed...Privately held BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Michigan, was awarded the Army order on Wednesday as part of a $245.6 million contract, the Pentagon said." - 1/4/04

Comment:  If this isn't arrogance of power and doesn't show contempt for the taxpayer, I don't know what does.

►December 31, 2003 - Anthrax Vaccine Safe, FDA Says - Washington Post via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - 1/1/04

►December 31, 2003 - FDA Issues Final Rule And Final Order Regarding Safety And Efficacy Of Certain Licensed Biological Products Including Anthrax Vaccine - FDA via ScienceDaily - "To complete the review of the safety and effectiveness of certain bacterial vaccines and toxoids licensed before July, 1972, FDA today issued a final rule and order that makes final determinations concerning the safety and effectiveness of such products and amends certain biologics regulations. The final order states FDA's conclusion that the licensed anthrax vaccine, Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed, is safe and effective for the prevention of anthrax disease - regardless of the route of exposure." - 12/31/03

Comment:  How conVENient.

►December 31, 2003 - Pentagon's past errors heighten vaccine fears - PalmBeachPost.com - "The Pentagon's shameful record of stonewalling active military members and veterans about toxic exposures inspires no confidence in the claim that the vaccinations are safe. Soldiers have been guinea pigs many times before." - 12/31/03

►December 31, 2003 - F.D.A. Rules Shots Effective for Anthrax That Is Inhaled (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "In its statement on Tuesday, the F.D.A. said the new 'final rule and order' made clear that it 'does not regard the approved anthrax vaccine as investigational for protection against inhalation anthrax.' The new determination, the statement said, was 'relevant and should be considered in any further litigation in this matter.'...But Mark S. Zaid, a lawyer who is challenging the Pentagon's mandatory anthrax vaccine program, said the timing of the announcement was driven by politics, not science...'This alleged final rule is nothing more than after-the-fact gamesmanship to overrule the court's findings,' he said in a telephone interview. 'It appears reflective more of policy duress than independent analysis.'" - 12/31/03

►December 30, 2003 - FDA: Anthrax vaccine 'safe and effective' - CNN - "Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit issued a statement saying that the FDA's ruling is nothing more than 'after-the-fact gamesmanship to overrule the Court's findings.'...Attorney Mark Zaid cited research from an FDA panel in 1985 -- which was also mentioned in the FDA statement Tuesday -- that said that 'no meaningful assessment of [the vaccine's] value against inhalation anthrax is possible,' Zaid said." - 12/31/03