Anthrax Vaccines

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MARCH 12, 09:02 EST

 

GIs Face Dismissal Over Shot Flap

 

By LAURA MYERS

Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small rebellion among U.S. troops is growing against

mandatory anthrax vaccinations, with some 200 facing dismissal for refusing

them, including 23 sailors who had been preparing to ship out toward the

Persian Gulf this month.

 

In response, Pentagon officials are offering fresh assurances the

vaccinations are safe, noting they've been received by some members of the

military, especially the Army's special forces, since the 1970s to protect

against the deadly threat that

could come during biological warfare.

 

``There are individuals who are still employed by the services, particularly

the Army, who have actually been receiving this vaccine for 25 years without

any ill effects,'' Navy Capt. Michael Doubleday, a Pentagon spokesman, said on

Thursday at a regular briefing with reporters.

 

Doubleday blamed the scattered resistance to inoculations partly on

``misinformation'' about the anthrax vaccine that has shown up on Internet

sites, apparently causing health concerns.

 

Defense Secretary William Cohen, who has been inoculated against anthrax to

set an example, launched the militarywide program last year after being

assured it wouldn't harm troops.

 

Overall, ``less than one-tenth of 1 percent'' of troops have refused to

receive the series of six shots, Doubleday estimated. Some 218,000 personnel

have been vaccinated so far against anthrax. That would mean roughly 200 men

and women in the armed forces have balked.

 

U.S. military personnel who refuse the vaccinations face dismissal, usually

through an administrative process, for refusing to follow an order, Doubleday

said. Their service records will determine whether they're honorably or

dishonorably discharged, he said.

 

The Defense Department, which began the anthrax inoculation program in late

August, is seeking to vaccinate all 2.4 million active duty and reserve

military members by 2005.

 

Cohen ordered all troops sent to the Persian Gulf vaccinated more than a year

ago.

 

Despite a Pentagon anthrax education program and assurances from U.S.

military leaders about the safety of the vaccine, which is approved by the

Food and Drug Administration, a growing number of troops are refusing shots.

 

The Marines Corps has been particularly hard hit, with more than two dozen

Marines in Okinawa refusing the vaccine, The New York Times reported in

Thursday's editions.

 

In February, 11 California Air Force Reserve pilots quit rather than take the

anthrax vaccine.

 

In the latest group rebellion, 23 sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt

aircraft carrier were demoted, fined and given extra duty after refusing

anthrax vaccinations, the Navy said. They face possible administrative

discharges once the ship returns, the Navy said.

 

Initially, 38 Roosevelt sailors balked at the vaccinations, which began two

weeks ago as the Norfolk, Va.-based carrier prepared for a six-month

deployment to the Mediterranean and Gulf starting March 26. Some later changed

their minds, Navy officials said.

 

The Navy confirmed the Roosevelt refusals Wednesday after an inquiry by The

Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, which received an anonymous e-mail message from a

sailor concerned about potential side effects.

 

``I was given nothing to explain what I was taking, so I did my own research

and found disturbing reports,'' the sailor said. ``We are scared.''

 

Cmdr. Garry Rudolph, a Navy doctor who directs the occupational health and

preventive medicine program at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in

Virginia, said he told sailors the anthrax vaccine is safe.

 

Last year, a sailor on the destroyer USS John S. McCain — named for the

Arizona senator's father, an admiral — developed a temporary paralysis after

being vaccinated, although he fully recovered, Navy officials said.

 

Refusals to accept inoculation may stem from a reluctance generated by the

use of experimental vaccines during the 1991 Gulf War. Some troops blamed

subsequent illnesses on drugs administered to counter biological and chemical

exposure.

 

Anthrax, a disease normally associated with animals such as sheep or goats,

can be used as a weapon when spores are released into the air and people

inhale them.