Re: Fw: Air Force Print News, Oct. 8, 1999 Defense leaders stand firm on anthrax shot program

[Guest guest]

Apparently Deputy Defense Secretary J. Hamre has never heard of a

Chemical Warfare Suit. The associated mask and filter will easily filter

the quite large Anthrax Bacillus. Even if I don't have the vaccination, I

will not die. Do these people research anything?

Fw: Air Force Print News, Oct. 8, 1999 Defense leaders

stand firm on anthrax shot program

> From: " Debi Eubanks " <debieubanks@...>

>

> : 991868. Defense leaders stand firm on anthrax shot program

> : -- http://www.af.mil/news/Oct1999/n19991007_991868.html

> :

>

> : 991868. Defense leaders stand firm on anthrax shot program

> : by D. Kozaryn

> : American Forces Press Service

> :

> : WASHINGTON -- They offered no options. The lives of their soldiers,

> : sailors, Marines and airmen are not negotiable. Their message was

clear:

> : Anything less than DOD's mandatory anthrax vaccination program is

> : unacceptable.

> :

> : Senior military leaders recently delivered that firm message to

Congress.

> : Late September hearings were held because of congressional concerns

about

> : the impact on military readiness of service members refusing

vaccinations.

> : These concerns were fueled by controversial reports, many of them

> sprouting

> : up on small Internet sites, that claim DOD's vaccine is untested and

> : dangerous.

> :

> : Deputy Defense Secretary J. Hamre testified on the issue Sept. 30

> : before the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services

> : Committee. He was followed by U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Zinni,

> : commander, U.S. Central Command and Dr. (Lt. Gen.) E. Blanck,

> surgeon

> : general of the Army. The Army is the immunization program executive

> agent.

> :

> : Hamre stressed that DOD's Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program,

> implemented

> : in March 1998, is a vital part of the military's force protection

> strategy.

> : Over the next seven years, the department plans to immunize 2.4 million

> : active duty and reserve component personnel against the threat posed by

at

> : least 10 nations suspected of having weaponized anthrax.

> :

> : The Defense Department received unequivocal evidence in 1997 that Iraq

had

> : weaponized anthrax, Hamre said. Anyone in the U.S. Central Command's

> : theater of operations is especially at risk, and the anthrax vaccine is

as

> : necessary for force protection as a flak jacket or a helmet, he said.

> :

> : " If you don't get inoculated, you're going to die, " he said.

> Weapons-grade

> : anthrax is as deadly as the Ebola virus and virtually always fatal if

> : inhaled. Anthrax normally is a livestock disease transmitted to humans

by

> : skin contact and though dangerous is not usually fatal if treated in

time.

> :

> : The DOD vaccine is the same one licensed in 1970 by the U.S. Food and

Drug

> : Administration and used ever since by the U.S. livestock industry.

> Internet

> : misinformation and rumormongering about the vaccine has alarmed some

> : service members, Hamre said.

> :

> : " I would admit we have not done a good enough job explaining to all of

the

> : people at home, " he said. Emphasis was put on education of service

> members

> : in Central Command, where the threat was the most urgent, he said.

> :

> : The deputy noted that the Pentagon's top leaders, including himself,

> Defense

> : Secretary S. Cohen and other top Pentagon leaders including

every

> : service chief, service secretary and commander in chief have all taken

the

> : shots.

> :

> : " I am not going to ask a soldier to put something in his arm if I'm not

> : prepared to take it first, " Hamre said.

> :

> : Zinni acknowledged that anthrax vaccinations are voluntary among allied

> and

> : coalition forces, but he rejected a voluntary program for the United

> States.

> :

> :

> : " On battlefields, we overwhelm our medical capability, " he said. " If we

> : accept voluntary inoculation, I accept additional casualties. "

> :

> : As a commander, Zinni said, he would not place U.S. forces in a position

> : where they would be reliant on unvaccinated coalition forces.

> :

> : " I think I would make that promise to any American, mother, father or

> leader

> : of this country, " he said.

> :

> : Blanck reported that the vaccination program as of Sept. 30 had

immunized

> : more than 340,000 personnel, including 27,000 guardsmen and reservists.

> : Very few of those personnel have experienced significant and serious

side

> : effects, he said, and the numbers are consistent with the results of

> : extensive safety studies done over the years in humans.

> :

> : The anthrax vaccine is a biological product -- as are the vaccines used

> for

> : the seven other required immmunizations troops receive, he said.

> :

> : " That means when they're injected, there are often local side effects

that

> : include tenderness, soreness, redness, a lump at the site, fever, muscle

> : aches and pains, " he explained. The effects are mild and go away on

their

> : own, he said.

> :

> : Blanck said 72 cases of serious side effects have been reported that

> : required hospitalization or missed duty for greater than a day. Of

those

> : cases, FDA and Department of Health and Human Services officials could

> : attribute only 55 to the anthrax vaccine, he said, and all 55 service

> : members involved have returned to full duty.

> :

> : The surgeon general noted that there are no known long-term health

> : consequences to the vaccine, which can counter more than 30 anthrax

> strains.

> : About 500 employees at the Army's Medical Research and Materiel Command

at

> : Fort Detrick, Md., have received the vaccine since the 1970s and have

> : evidenced no signs of illness related to the vaccine, he pointed out.

> :

> : Blanck attributed problems in some units to a lack of education.

> :

> : " In those organizations, " he said, " the command information program to

get

> : the soldiers and the troopers the exact facts of the situation has not

> been

> : what it should be. " He stressed that commanders' total involvement is

> : called for in educating service members about the threat and the

vaccine.

> :

> : As a physician, Blanck concluded, the bottom line is very clear. " If

we're

> : attacked with this agent and we have a force that's vaccinated and

> : protected, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will largely

survive.

> : If they're not vaccinated, they will inevitably die. "

> :

> : Gen. Keane, Army vice chief of staff, who accompanied Hamre, said

the

> : threat of exposure to U.S. forces is real, and he believes the vaccine

is

> : safe and effective.

> :

> : " We have a moral obligation to do everything in our power to protect our

> : troops from the anthrax threat, " he said. " Despite reports to the

> contrary,

> : results so far have been overwhelmingly positive. We have very few

> : refusals, by comparison, to the number of troops that we have

inoculated. "

> :

> : Although the military does not specifically track the number of

refusals,

> : Keane said, they are ultimately gleaned from military justice channels.

> : Service members who refuse the shots first go through education and

> : counseling to ensure they know all the facts and are making an informed

> : decision. If they still refuse, the commander can then impose

nonjudicial

> : punishment, separation from the service or court-martial.

> :

> : Keane said there have been few courts-martial, and all have convened at

> the

> : service members' insistence on a trial.

> :

> :