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Smallpox: First Set of Hearings Hear Vaccination Views Most participants at a New York City meeting on smallpox vaccination policy yesterday said that the United States should not vaccinate its entire population, but a number of speakers called for vaccinating health care workers, who would care for victims in the case of a terrorist attack involving smallpox. The speakers were attending a forum at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York that is part of a series of meetings to gather opinions before two panels make recommendations on whether to vaccinate the U.S. population against smallpox (see GSN, June 6). Current policy is to vaccinate only a small number of scientists and laboratory workers who work with smallpox and related diseases. Some of the attendees called for vaccinating health care workers preemptively because they would be at greater risk of infection. Most of the participants, however, opposed vaccinating the entire population due the risks involved with the vaccine. Up to 38 million U.S. citizens would be at serious risk of complications from the vaccine, according to the New York Times (Lawrence Altman, New York Times, June 7). More than 150 public health officials attended yesterday’s Manhattan meeting, but it was a surprisingly small number, according to the Washington Post. Health officials also met yesterday in San Francisco, and meetings are scheduled for Saturday in St. Louis, Mo., and Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas. National health experts are expected to meet in Atlanta, Ga., on June 19-20 to recommend if any changes should be made to U.S. smallpox vaccination policy (Christine Haughney, Washington Post, June 7). For further information, see: Journal of the American Medical Association Background
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