The Bioport Corporation of Lansing Michigan is the only company that produces the anthrax vaccine. According to a Phoenix Times article, the original Bioport plant had to be demolished due to quality control problems. A new plant was built, but it also failed FDA inspections in December of 1999. Subsequently, the process of administering the vaccination to all service members has been suspended. The vaccination is currently administered only to personnel deploying to "high threat" areas of the world. The Joint Staff has designated Korea, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, and Israel as high-threat areas. The immunizatio

The debate and confusion over this issue is not going away in the near future. People opposing the vaccine want the program terminated. The DOD is not backing down from the mandatory inoculations. In an Air Force News article released Feb 18 2000, DOD officials say they have no intention of ending their program despite a House of Representatives panel's recommendation that it be suspended. Dr. Sue Baily, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, holds the position that the vaccine is very safe and effective against a biological agent produced by many of our adversaries. She says, "Were service members not vaccinated and exposed to this agent, they would die a horrible death. It is our mission to protect those forces."

An additional concern is whether the vaccine will actually work. While the DOD sites studies with monkeys to prove it will work, other doctors site studies using mice and guinea pigs to dispute that claim. Dr. Meryl Nass, an expert on biological warfare has testified before congress twice about the anthrax program. She says the program will not work. "Vaccinating everyone against one particular strain of anthrax, or one particular biological weapon, for that matter, would only protect them against that one thing. The enemy forces could then merely develop a new strain of the disease or another type of biological weapon making the whole effort moot."

n is administered in a series of six shots over an eighteen-month period, with annual boosters. The following analysis will contain a brief discussion about both sides of this issue.

She also disputes the DOD's claim of only minor adverse reactions being reported. Her research has shown that the vaccine can cause chronic symptoms that often worsen after the fourth shot is administered. Initially, she says, many experience abdominal cramping, diarrhea, fever, chills and a headache. Later symptoms can include chronic fatigue, dizziness, joint and muscle pain, headaches, memory loss, sleep disorders, chest pains and recurring rashes. She contends the Vaccine Adverse Event reporting System is not effective because it is voluntary. She fears some people do not report problems because they a

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Approximate Word count = 1478
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)