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CDC Releases Guide to Possible Smallpox Vaccinations

Aired September 23, 2002 - 11:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Smallpox hasn't been seen in the U.S. for decades, but federal officials are drawing up contingency plans in case terrorism brings the disease back.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with details on the latest move by health officials. And so far, the U.S. and Russia have stockpiles of smallpox, but it is the unknown, who else has it, that the American government is a little bit worried about.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. The concern is that a bad guy could get a hold of the some of the stores, there are stores here in Atlanta at the CDC, and also in Russia. If someone got a hold of some of that smallpox virus, they could potentially use it as a bioterrorism threat, and the problem is that half of the population in the U.S. has not been vaccinated for smallpox because we stopped vaccinating people in 1971, and even those of us who have been vaccinated, it is not clear whether we would have any kind of protection. So the CDC has just put out their smallpox guidelines, Smallpox Vaccination Clinic Guide, it is on their web site, and what it is is its a plan for voluntary mass vaccinations in the event of a smallpox outbreak. The in the event part is very important. They are not saying, Let's vaccinate everybody now like we used to in the old days, they are saying in the event of a vaccination, the population may possibly -- we may need to do a mass vaccination of everybody on a voluntary basis. They have left themselves some wiggle room. They are not saying, if there is one case, if there is two cases of smallpox in the U.S. everyone ought to get vaccinated. They are saying that it may be required.

Now, you may be wondering, Gee, well, why not just vaccinate everyone right now, that would make sense, and that way you don't have to worry. If there is an attack, everyone is protected.

The reason is that the vaccination itself can be quite dangerous. It could cause encephalitis, for example. It can even cause death. If they vaccinated the entire population of the United States, between 300 and 350 people would die, and that is why they don't just want to vaccinate everyone to protect us in case of an attack.

WHITFIELD: So say the plan has to go in place, there is a threat, the word gets out, they want -- voluntarily -- people to come forward. Does this mean the federal government would ask for local health officials to administer these -- or inoculations, or how would it work?

COHEN: Right. It would work that local -- health departments and local health departments would do it. In fact, this guide here is really -- in incredible detail -- tells people what to do. It has sign up sheets where you would sign up to get the vaccination. It has consent forms. It has advice for pregnant women, advice for parents of small children. So really, it is a kit. It is everything that you would need if you were a state or county health department, if you wanted to start vaccinating the people in your area. So it is a soup to nuts guide on how to do it.

WHITFIELD: Now, the operative word was "voluntary." Since it is voluntary, doesn't that also leave room for some potential dangers, that there might be some folks who are afraid, and they may not voluntarily go to the health department and get inoculated?

COHEN: Right. I think what they are trying to do here is they are trying to let people weigh the risks themselves. They outline -- you know what, this is not an easy vaccination to get. It carries with it a lot of risks. So they are saying in the event that something were to happen, people can make a decision about whether or not they want to get a vaccination. Now, the key here, the reason why this is such a tough issue for public health officials to deal with, is that there has never been an attack with smallpox, so it is unknown how it would work.

Let's say there was an attack, you know, on a farm somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Do we all need to get vaccinated? Do we all need to take that risk if it is not going to go anywhere? Well, what if there was an attack in an airport, and everyone is getting on planes, going to all corners of the country? Maybe then, people should get vaccinated. So it is a very tough one, because you don't know. It's not -- an attack means that it is not naturally occurring. It means that someone has done it on purpose, and we haven't had that happen, so we don't know how it would spread, how rapidly it would spread, would it spread to everyone? It is just not known.

WHITFIELD: There are a lot of unanswered questions.

COHEN: A lot of unanswered questions.

WHITFIELD: Are any federal officials saying that this particular plan was sparked by anything, specifically, more than just the overall terror -- war on terror?

COHEN: Right. They have been working on this for quite some time and debating. There were basically two ways that they could have approached this. They could have said, You know, if there is an attack in city X, we will vaccinate the people who are right in the vicinity of that attack, and if it looks like it has to spread a little bit, we'll do a few more people, and a few more people, and a few more people. That is sort of one way to do it. Another way is to offer these voluntary mass immunizations, and this has been a debate, Fredricka, that has gone on for a while, ever since September 11 and anthrax and all the anxiety that has built up from that.

WHITFIELD: And this, perhaps, just might rest some anxieties out there.

COHEN: Absolutely. WHITFIELD: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks a lot.

COHEN: OK. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 23, 2002 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Smallpox hasn't been seen in the U.S. for decades, but federal officials are drawing up contingency plans in case terrorism brings the disease back.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with details on the latest move by health officials. And so far, the U.S. and Russia have stockpiles of smallpox, but it is the unknown, who else has it, that the American government is a little bit worried about.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. The concern is that a bad guy could get a hold of the some of the stores, there are stores here in Atlanta at the CDC, and also in Russia. If someone got a hold of some of that smallpox virus, they could potentially use it as a bioterrorism threat, and the problem is that half of the population in the U.S. has not been vaccinated for smallpox because we stopped vaccinating people in 1971, and even those of us who have been vaccinated, it is not clear whether we would have any kind of protection. So the CDC has just put out their smallpox guidelines, Smallpox Vaccination Clinic Guide, it is on their web site, and what it is is its a plan for voluntary mass vaccinations in the event of a smallpox outbreak. The in the event part is very important. They are not saying, Let's vaccinate everybody now like we used to in the old days, they are saying in the event of a vaccination, the population may possibly -- we may need to do a mass vaccination of everybody on a voluntary basis. They have left themselves some wiggle room. They are not saying, if there is one case, if there is two cases of smallpox in the U.S. everyone ought to get vaccinated. They are saying that it may be required.

Now, you may be wondering, Gee, well, why not just vaccinate everyone right now, that would make sense, and that way you don't have to worry. If there is an attack, everyone is protected.

The reason is that the vaccination itself can be quite dangerous. It could cause encephalitis, for example. It can even cause death. If they vaccinated the entire population of the United States, between 300 and 350 people would die, and that is why they don't just want to vaccinate everyone to protect us in case of an attack.

WHITFIELD: So say the plan has to go in place, there is a threat, the word gets out, they want -- voluntarily -- people to come forward. Does this mean the federal government would ask for local health officials to administer these -- or inoculations, or how would it work?

COHEN: Right. It would work that local -- health departments and local health departments would do it. In fact, this guide here is really -- in incredible detail -- tells people what to do. It has sign up sheets where you would sign up to get the vaccination. It has consent forms. It has advice for pregnant women, advice for parents of small children. So really, it is a kit. It is everything that you would need if you were a state or county health department, if you wanted to start vaccinating the people in your area. So it is a soup to nuts guide on how to do it.

WHITFIELD: Now, the operative word was "voluntary." Since it is voluntary, doesn't that also leave room for some potential dangers, that there might be some folks who are afraid, and they may not voluntarily go to the health department and get inoculated?

COHEN: Right. I think what they are trying to do here is they are trying to let people weigh the risks themselves. They outline -- you know what, this is not an easy vaccination to get. It carries with it a lot of risks. So they are saying in the event that something were to happen, people can make a decision about whether or not they want to get a vaccination. Now, the key here, the reason why this is such a tough issue for public health officials to deal with, is that there has never been an attack with smallpox, so it is unknown how it would work.

Let's say there was an attack, you know, on a farm somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Do we all need to get vaccinated? Do we all need to take that risk if it is not going to go anywhere? Well, what if there was an attack in an airport, and everyone is getting on planes, going to all corners of the country? Maybe then, people should get vaccinated. So it is a very tough one, because you don't know. It's not -- an attack means that it is not naturally occurring. It means that someone has done it on purpose, and we haven't had that happen, so we don't know how it would spread, how rapidly it would spread, would it spread to everyone? It is just not known.

WHITFIELD: There are a lot of unanswered questions.

COHEN: A lot of unanswered questions.

WHITFIELD: Are any federal officials saying that this particular plan was sparked by anything, specifically, more than just the overall terror -- war on terror?

COHEN: Right. They have been working on this for quite some time and debating. There were basically two ways that they could have approached this. They could have said, You know, if there is an attack in city X, we will vaccinate the people who are right in the vicinity of that attack, and if it looks like it has to spread a little bit, we'll do a few more people, and a few more people, and a few more people. That is sort of one way to do it. Another way is to offer these voluntary mass immunizations, and this has been a debate, Fredricka, that has gone on for a while, ever since September 11 and anthrax and all the anxiety that has built up from that.

WHITFIELD: And this, perhaps, just might rest some anxieties out there.

COHEN: Absolutely. WHITFIELD: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks a lot.

COHEN: OK. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com