A Vaccine Compromise

Editorial (page 60)

Army Times

November 20, 2000

It's been three years since Defense Secretary William Cohen declared his intention to inoculate every man and woman in uniform against the deadly anthrax virus. But ever since, the program has been mired in controversy and plagued with supply problems.

Today, the military is at a crossroads.

On the one hand, its stockpile of vaccine is running out. Worse, the outlook for a renewed supply anytime soon is doubtful. BioPort Corp., the vaccine's Michigan manufacturer, continues to miss deadlines in its quest to be certified by the Food and Drug Administration.

As a result, the Pentagon had to scale back its ambitious anthrax inoculation plan. Instead of giving the shots to everyone, only those deploying for more than 30 days on the ground in identified threat regions are being inoculated.

This means that troops are routinely sent to those regions without being protected by anthrax inoculations. Sailors aboard ships, for example, don't get the shots. Nor do reservists doing their two-week active training stints in, say, Saudi Arabia (ground zero to the likes of Saddam Hussein).

The attack on the USS Cole is a case in point on how silly the policy really is: Had the attackers been packing an anthrax weapon along with their C-4, they just might have killed the entire (unvaccinated) crew. Think about it.

Yet, at the same time, the military continues to drum out pilots, Rangers and other troops because they refuse to take the shots. In one of the more ludicrous elements in the whole anthrax debate, Pentagon officials insist that troops should not have a choice in getting the shots because their decision not to be inoculated could have an impact on whether a comrade lives or dies in combat.

This is a noble reason. But the truth is, those comrades may well not be inoculated anyway. Terrorists and the like won't only go after troops deployed for more than 30 days, after all.

It is virtually inevitable the Pentagon will be forced to suspend the inoculation program in the coming months. Vaccine stores will be out by spring.

When supplies run out, troops will deploy without the shots, and without choice in the matter. It makes no sense to continue to enforce the program with the blunt force of courts-martial and discharges. Those troops who refuse should be required to sign an informed-consent waiver, acknowledging the risk associated with their choice not to be inoculated.

This way, the services don't lose valued, trained talent. And what little vaccine is left is saved not only for more people who may need it, but, perhaps more important, for those who really want it.