News Specialist Jed Boal Reporting
State Health Officials tonight are reviewing a new federal strategy for mass small pox vaccinations if the deadly disease reappears in an act of bioterrorism.
It details plans for voluntary vaccinations in emergency clinics, but, does not account for current insufficient supplies of the vaccine.
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Innoculating everyone on the Wasatch Front would be a daunting task...let alone all 288 million Americans.
But, The Centers for Disease Control is preparing for a worst case scenario with small pox...and detailing the federal, state and local coordination it would take.
In the event of a bioterrorist small pox outbreak...the CDC wants state and local health departments to be ready to vaccinate as many as one million people within 10 days.
The blueprint calls for 75 million doses of smallpox vaccine to be shipped in a single day...280 million doses within a week.
It would take an army of health care workers to innoculate Utah's 2.3 million residents.
Richard Melton/Utah Department of Health: THIS WOULD RUN ABOUT 20 CLINICS. CLINICS IN 20 DIFFERENT PLACES, RUNNING 8 HOURS A DAY, AND WOULD REQUIRE ABOUT 4500 TO STAFF.
This is the beginning of the plan...there's a lot of work to do...although some bioterrorsim preparations were done for the Olympics.
The state would need five to 10-thousand to give the vaccines....and locations for temporary clinics
Public information and education would be the key...and right now there's no need to worry.
Richard Melton/Utah Department of Health: THERE IS STILL NO INDICATION THAT ANYONE IN THE WORLD HAS ACCESS TO SMALLPOX AS A BIOLOGICAL AGENT.
All of this is precautionary.
In the event of a smallpox outbreak...health officials would more likely innoculate only in areas of known contact...not nationwide.
Soon, a small group of first responders and health care workers may be immunized.
Routine smallpox vaccinations stopped in the U-S in 1972 and smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980.
Smallpox kills about 30 percent of its victims and the vaccination itself can, in some cases, cause a potentially deadly inflammation.
The nation should have an adequate supply to innoculate every American by the end of the year...but, don't expect any voluntary programs...it's simply too risky, unless there a credible threat of an attack.
September 23, 2002
