The United Kingdom is developing a smallpox vaccination plan that might involve inoculating a large portion of the population if the virus were to spread, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Sept. 23).

The plan — announced by Britain’s chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson — calls for precautionary vaccinations of vital emergency health workers and for those workers to “search and contain” the virus in the event of an outbreak.

“A proper counterplan to a smallpox attack would involve having a group of essential workers who were immune to the disease through vaccination,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson called a mass vaccination a “last resort,” saying there is no new risk of a smallpox attack.  He added, however, that the United Kingdom should nonetheless be prepared for numerous outbreaks of the disease.

“We should have in place enough vaccine to vaccinate on a mass population basis if necessary,” he said.  In April British officials decided to buy enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate 20 million people (see GSN, April 15; Pippa Crerar, Independent, Oct. 9).

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