ABC News

July 11, 2000

Anthrax Vaccine

Facing Cutback

Pentagon Cites Usable Supply

Shortage

According to the Pentagon, the military

is running so short on usable doses of

the anthrax vaccine that not all troops

operating in high-threat areas of Korea

and the Persian Gulf may receive their

shots. (Mike Larson/US Navy/AP Photo)

By Barbara Starr

W A S H I N G T O N, July 10 € ’· The Pentagon is

expected to announce that it is, for the first time,

cutting back its controversial program to

inoculate all military personnel against the

deadly anthrax biological warfare agent because

of a shortage of the vaccine.

According to the Pentagon, the

military is running so short on usable

doses of the anthrax vaccine that not all

troops operating in high threat areas of

Korea and the Persian Gulf may receive

their shots. The Pentagon has been

running out of usable doses and had

been conducting € ’³reliability€ ’´ tests on one

of the last lots, about 190,000 doses,

that have been in storage for some

years.

Known as € ’³Lot 22,€ ’´ it had already failed

reliability

testing once, and it became apparent to officials over the

last few days that the batch would not pass the latest test

and the standards of the Food and Drug Administration.

€ ’³We don't have enough supply to continue at our

present rate without risking running out of vaccine,€ ’´ Maj.

Gen. Randy West said. € ’³I certainly don't think its positive

that we have to make a slowdown announcement.€ ’´

Select Few To Receive Shots

The Pentagon also attributes the vaccine shortage to

plodding construction of its new BioPort production plant

in Michigan, the only U.S. facility that makes the anthrax

vaccine. The production plant is not expected to gain

FDA certification until August at the earliest and would

not be able to have a new vaccine ready until January.

The reliability test is conducted by injecting guinea pigs

with the vaccine in three separate strength levels,

according to the Pentagon. Then the animals are exposed

to anthrax. The ones receiving the strongest dose are

supposed to live, and those receiving the weakest dose

are expected to die.

With the failure of the last batch of the vaccine, only

about 100,000 usable doses remain on the shelf. Defense

Secretary Cohen, who rejected the temporary

suspension of the anthrax vaccination program, is

expected to make a final decision Tuesday which soldiers

will receive the remaining shots. At the current rate of

usage, about 75,000 doses per month, the suspension

would be almost immediate. Approximately 450,000 have

been given some of the six shots administered in the

anthrax vaccine; approximately 1.8 million have received

the full series of shots. All troops deployed in high threat

areas are supposed to receive the full series of shots.

There is a € ’³strategic reserve€ ’´ in the event of war,

which

cannot be used routinely.

Congress is scheduled to hold two days of hearings on

the anthrax vaccination program beginning July 12.

Although hundreds of thousands of doses have been

successfully administered, a group of highly vocal soldiers,

sailors, and airman have refused to take the shot and

instead faced discharge € ’· claiming the vaccine is unsafe.

Some have faced court-martial hearings.

A History of Anthrax

1897 - Koch is the first scientist to grow anthrax,

a natural disease lethal to animals and humans, in a lab.

1970 - The FDA approves an anthrax vaccine for humans

who might be exposed to animals carrying the disease,

such as textile mill workers who handle contaminated

wool.

January 1991 - More than 150,000 U.S. troops fighting in

the Persian Gulf are inoculated against anthrax. Some

Gulf War veterans have blamed the vaccine in part for the

mysterious Gulf War syndrome, but no connection has

been proved.

Aug. 6, 1991 - Iraq admits it was experimenting with

anthrax as a biological weapon to be used in the Gulf

War, but there€ ’²s no evidence it was actually used in the

field.

March 1997 - The Michigan Biologic Products Institute,

now BioPort Corp., the sole maker of the anthrax

vaccine, is cited by the FDA for improperly storing

packaging materials. Over the next three years, the

company comes under criticism for slow production of

vaccines and for periodically demanding more money

from the government to stay afloat.

May 18, 1998 - Defense Secretary Cohen

mandates that all active-duty and reserve military

personnel get a six-shot, 18-month course of inoculation

against anthrax.

January 1999 - U.S. Air Force Reserve Airman 1st Class

Jeff Bettendorf refuses to be inoculated against anthrax.

He is demoted and eventually discharged.

March 1999 - More military personnel refuse to take the

anthrax vaccine, including 11 California Air Force Reserve

pilots, two dozen Marines in Japan, and 23 sailors.

April 1999 - A preliminary study from the General

Accounting Office says the vaccine has never been

tested for long-term safety and that its effectiveness is

also in question.

July 1999 - Rep. Ben Gilman, R-N.Y., introduces a bill to

halt the vaccinations. The Pentagon says the vaccine is

safe. By now, 200 troops have refused to take the

vaccine.

Feb. 17, 2000 - A congressional panel says the

Pentagon should halt the vaccinations and deems the

anthrax vaccine experimental because its effectiveness

against biological warfare is uncertain. Pentagon officials

continue with the vaccinations, saying the vaccine is safe

and anthrax is fatal.

April 14, 2000 - More than two years after the vaccination

campaign was announced, only 420,000 of the 2.4 million

military service members have completed the course of

vaccination.

May 16, 2000 - Twenty-eight House members issue a

letter asking the Department of Defense to stop the

inoculations. By now, 570,000 service members have

been immunized.

June 30, 2000 - The Department of Defense may have to

suspend the inoculations.

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A History of

Anthrax

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