DOD expands troop anthrax, smallpox vaccination

  • Published
  • By Gerry J. Gilmore
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  More U.S. servicemembers, including those serving in South Korea, will be vaccinated against smallpox and anthrax, the Defense Department's senior medical adviser said June 30.

The availability of additional smallpox and anthrax vaccine will allow for vaccinating all servicemembers assigned to U.S. Central Command, and many serving in U.S. Pacific Command, said Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. This includes troops assigned in South Korea.

Dr. Winkenwerder said he could not provide the numbers of troops affected by the policy change, other than saying "tens of thousands" would be vaccinated. The policy change, he said, was not precipitated by a definite threat increase.

"There is no substantial change to the threat situation," Dr. Winkenwerder said, explaining the increased availability of both vaccines "will provide an additional layer of protection" for servicemembers.

Central Command troops deployed to the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters of operation had been vaccinated against smallpox and anthrax, Dr. Winkenwerder said, but now "all personnel in Central Command" will receive both vaccinations.

Servicemembers serving in selected areas of PACOM, including South Korea, also will receive the anthrax and smallpox vaccines, Dr. Winkenwerder said.

The cost of administering more smallpox and anthrax shots will run into "the tens of millions of dollars," Dr. Winkenwerder said, but the program would not strain his $30 billion overall budget.

Medical studies, Dr. Winkenwerder said, have shown that administration of the vaccines poses little threat to servicemembers' health. Since June 2002, the Defense Department has vaccinated more than 750,000 troops against anthrax. That number, he said, increases to an aggregate of more than 1 million if vaccinations administered since 1998 are factored in. Since December 2002, he said, more than 625,000 troops received smallpox vaccinations.