U.S. health officials this week will present their argument for a mass, nationwide smallpox vaccination campaign to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (see GSN, Oct. 15).

The committee has earlier recommended immunizing only 20,000 health care workers (see GSN, June 21); the officials are expected to try to persuade them otherwise today in Atlanta (see GSN, Sept. 27).

“We’ve taken the ACIP’s recommendations and expanded upon it,” said Bill Hall, spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department.

The department is also distributing information to doctors on recognizing smallpox symptoms and administering the vaccine, as well a list of people who cannot be inoculated.  Jerry Hauer, assistant Health and Human Services secretary for public health preparedness, announced the department plans to hire a psychiatrist trained in communication and mass panic.

“The ‘worried well’ can bring the health care system to its knees,” he said (Daniel Yee, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Oct. 16).

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