ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska - The Pentagon's controversial program of vaccinating all troops against anthrax will be cut back immediately to conserve dwindling vaccine supplies, Defense Secretary William Cohen said Monday.
Cohen said inoculations will be limited mainly to those troops who already are taking the series of anthrax vaccine shots and those who are preparing to deploy to the Middle East and South Korea - where, in the Pentagon's estimation, the threat of exposure to the deadly anthrax virus is greatest.
Cohen discussed his decision during an interview with reporters traveling with him to China. His plane stopped to refuel at Elmendorf Air Force Base.
A relatively small, but increasingly vocal, number of military members are refusing to take the vaccine. They fear potentially damaging side effects, although the Pentagon insists the vaccine is safe. Some members of Congress have urged Cohen to end the program until a safer vaccine is found.
The Pentagon's only vaccine supplier, Bioport of Lansing, Mich., has not yet gained Food and Drug Administration certification for its new manufacturing plant.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said last week that the Pentagon had only about one month's supply of vaccine on hand, at the current rate of inoculations. An additional batch of vaccine in storage has yet to receive FDA approval for use, so Cohen had to decide on how to proceed.
Cohen said he decided to reduce the inoculation program ''in a way that preserves the program itself until such time as we can get certification of additional supplies.''
There are now about 100,000 doses available, Cohen said, adding that it should last until the end of the year. By that time, Bioport's new manufacturing plant should be certified, the Pentagon hopes.
Anthrax is a naturally occurring virus. Dry anthrax spores, when inhaled, can be deadly to humans.
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On the Net:
Pentagon anthrax program: http://www.anthrax.osd.mil
