Committee expands plan for smallpox vaccine recommendations

ATLANTA - An immunization committee voted Wednesday to recommend vaccinating about 510,000 hospital workers against smallpox, an expansion of its initial recommendation this summer and one much closer to the Bush administration&#39;s suggestion. <br> <br> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&#39;s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-1 for the plan, which amounts to vaccinating about 100 workers at all hospitals in the nation that could handle smallpox patients. <br> <br> Those receiving shots would range from emergency room doctors and nurses to radiology technicians to select security and housekeeping workers. <br> <br> The vaccine can cause dangerous side effects, even death, in a fraction of patients. Smallpox has been wiped off the globe, but some experts fear that terrorists have samples of the virus and could use it as a devastating biological weapon. <br> <br> The ACIP&#39;s recommendation is not binding, and the final decision on smallpox vaccines will be made by the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House. <br> <br> Under the ACIP recommendation, the 510,000 hospital employees would get the shots first, then it would be made available to other health care and emergency workers, and finally to the public.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/201847