This week, the federal government began to release preliminary batches of the smallpox vaccine to medical personnel -- including several Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employees -- in an effort to immunize healthcare workers in the event of a terrorist attack.
According to representatives at the Center for Disease Control, the "attacks of September and October, 2001 have heightened concern that terrorists may have access to the virus and attempt to use it against the American public."
Initiated by a Dec. 13 speech delivered by President George W. Bush, the government's plan is to immunize more than 500,000 healthcare workers during the first phase of the operation. Only 11 states have decided to implement the inoculation program, which is part of the newly-launched American biodefense effort. Every hospital in New Hampshire is participating in the vaccination process.
"The President also announced that the Department of Defense will vaccinate certain military and civilian personnel, who are or may be deployed in high threat areas," the CDC said. "Some United States personnel assigned to certain overseas embassies will also be offered vaccination."
The vaccine has not been made available to the general public.
The DHMC is obliged to participate in the plan, which is being implemented under the direction of the New Hampshire Department of Health. Every hospital in New Hampshire is receiving the vaccine. The DHMC will begin to administer the vaccine on Monday and anticipates continuing a gradual vaccination process through April.
Dr Robert Gougelet, assistant professor of emergency medicine and DHMC's medical director for disaster relief, said that the first employees to receive the vaccine would be "a smallpox hospital response team. All hospitals have been forming such response teams."
"At first just a couple of [the DHMC's] people will receive [the vaccine]... less than 10 for the first clinic," Gougelet said.
Even when administered perfectly, the smallpox vaccine is likely to result in the deaths of one or two people and serious illness in about 15 people for every one million recipients, medical reports have said. There has been a small backlash against the campaign in some medical circles, most noticeably in last week's report by the Institute of Medicine, which implied that the vaccination effort is rushed and lacks caution.
Other medical circles have prescribed that the government proceed slowly and take the time to properly assess the data gathered during the first phase of the inoculations before the implementation of the second phase, designed to vaccinate more than 10 million healthcare workers. Organizations such as the Service Employees International Union, which has 750,000 health care workers among its members, have criticized the program as it stands and asked for it to be delayed.
As a precaution, only DHMC employees who were previously vaccinated and had no adverse reactions and whose family members were successfully vaccinated will receive the vaccine. Concerning the possible risks identified by some medical supervisors, Gougelet said that "this is a reasonable level of preparation in the event that smallpox becomes a weapon."
