Editorial
Air Force Times
June 25, 2001 edition
For
the fourth time in 18 months, the Pentagon scaled back its
problem-plagued anthrax-vaccine program. In perhaps the
understatement of the year, Jim Turner, a Pentagon spokesman,
explained, “The program is not dead. It’s simply a
supply problem.”
Supplies
of the vaccine are so low, in fact, shots now will go only to
classified “special-mission” units and to those working
with and testing the vaccine. This cutback effectively brings the
inoculation effort to a halt. Yet the military leadership clings
to the remnants of a program that has raised the ire of service
members since its inception and has eroded their credibility.
The
Pentagon now says BioPort, the vaccine’s sole manufacturer,
should be making new batches by early next year. But it said the
same thing a year ago. Indeed, BioPort missed every milestone and
deadline for anthrax-vaccine production since the company was
formed in 1998. Why should anything change now?
Meanwhile,
troops with otherwise sterling records are booted out of the
service or harshly penalized for refusing to gamble
with
their long-term health on a vaccine that in many respects still
is shrouded in uncertainty. The Pentagon says only a few troops
have been drummed out for refusing the vaccine — 109 last
year and less than 500 since the program began.
But
those figures don’t account for the untold numbers of
service members who quietly chose to cut short their military
careers rather than take the shots. Nor do they account for the
distrust with which many remaining troops view the program —
and the Pentagon officials who run it. New Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld has no ready way out of this mess. In a recent
interview, he told Air Force Times he has “not developed
conviction” on the issue. Whenever he does develop
conviction, his best move would be to acknowledge the whole
episode has been a huge failure.
End
mandatory shots. Stop the prosecutions. Restore the faith of
service members in their leaders.This program has been on life
support for too long already. Pull the plug.