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Special Briefing on the Anthrax Vaccine Program
(2:00 PM ET)
Friday, June 28, 2002
Presented by Dr. William Winkenwerder
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

Special briefing on the anthrax vaccine program. Also participating were William F. Raub, Ph.D., deputy director, Office of Public Health Preparedness, Department of Health and Human Services, and Navy Vice Adm. Gordon S. Holder, director for logistics, J-4, the Joint Staff.



Q: Going back to the potential side effects, as we've noted, a small number of military personnel refused to take the anthrax shots. An even smaller number than that believes that they have serious health problems as a result of the vaccine. What does the science tell us about whether or not there are truly serious -- potential for serious side effects from this vaccine, and will the program in any manner be voluntary?



Winkenwerder: I'll take the first -- actually, both parts of that. The program is mandatory for those for whom the policy applies.

With respect to the side effect profile, in serious side effects, the percentage really is quite small. In following all of those vaccines that have been administered and the people, we have no documented death that has occurred as a result of vaccination. Obviously, when you have that many vaccines given to that many people, the chance that someone might die within, you know, some period of time following a vaccination is just -- by chance is going to happen. Of course, if someone is having a reaction, you know, in that window, then the question is whether there was an association or not.

I think many of those questions are well addressed in this report from the Institute of Medicine. That really goes into great detail and has looked at the data. And their conclusion was that the serious side effects were really quite small. There are probably -- as with any vaccine, there probably are a very, very small number of people who may have what, you know, one would call as a serious reaction. And -- but -- and we intend to follow those people very closely, if they come in, and they'll be evaluated medically.



WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Winkenwerder: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Dr. Bill Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. I'm pleased to be joined here with Adm. Gordon Holder, from the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Dr. William Raub, Bill Raub, from the Department of Health and Human Services.

I'm here to announce the department's resumption of our anthrax vaccine program, and the coordinated efforts of the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies for the stockpiling of both antibiotics and FDA-approved anthrax vaccine for civilians.

I'd like to briefly review the principal elements that informed our decision. First, the health and safety of our men and women in uniform is our top concern. We have a responsibility for them from illness and injury. Second, we continue to believe that the threat of anthrax being used against our armed forces is very real. Anthrax is highly lethal and it's easily stored. We know that potential adversaries do possess it.

Third, we have a vaccine that protects against anthrax exposure. The vaccine is safe and effective. The Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for use and the FDA certified the manufacturing facility that produces the vaccine. After a comprehensive independent study, the National Academies of Science's Institute of Medicine fully endorsed the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine just a few months ago in March.

Finally, we recognize that there is a domestic need for access to the vaccine. In collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services and in coordination with the Office of Homeland Security, we are reserving a portion of the anthrax vaccine for stockpiling for the Department of Health and Human Services to use in the event of a domestic emergency.

In balancing the military requirements and domestic needs, our policy will be to vaccinate servicemembers, essential civilians and contractor personnel, who are assigned or deployed for more than 15 days in higher-threat areas of the world, whose performance is essential for certain mission-critical capabilities.

Again, our responsibility to our servicemembers is to do all we can to protect their health and safety. The anthrax vaccine offers an important layer of protection for them, in addition to antibiotics, and we begin -- we plan to begin our vaccination right away.
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2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan