Anthrax:  White House Orders NIH to Research New Vaccine Without Additional Funding

The White House has told the U.S. National Institutes of Health that it must conduct research on a next-generation anthrax vaccine without additional funding, Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday (see GSN, July 11).

Funding for the vaccine project was not included in the $1.75 billion allocated for biological defense research in 2003 and 2004, according to Newsday.  The project marks the first time in NIH history that the agency has been ordered to conduct a specific research project and reallocate funds from other projects to carry it out, Fauci said.

To make up for the lack of allocated funding for the vaccine project, hundreds of scientists have seen their research grants become reduced, Newsday reported.  For example, many four-year grants have been reduced by six months.

“We’re not happy about it, but we tried to do what was least painful,” Fauci said (Laurie Garret, Newsday, July 28).

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Smallpox:  Panel Questions HHS on Low Smallpox Vaccinations

By Emily Heil

CongressDaily

WASHINGTON — U.S. public health officials faced questions from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee yesterday about why fewer healthcare workers than expected have received smallpox vaccinations, after Congress passed legislation intended to boost vaccine use in preparation for a possible bioterrorism attack (see GSN, July 17).  During a hearing on bioterrorism readiness efforts, lawmakers also said they were close to reaching an agreement on legislation enacting U.S. President George W. Bush’s “Bioshield” plan to encourage commercial development of countermeasures to biological threats (see GSN, July 17).

Congress passed the “Smallpox Emergency Protection Personnel Act” in April to compensate healthcare workers harmed by side effects of the vaccine, which has been linked to heart problems and other complications (see GSN, April 14).  The administration had hoped to vaccinate between 400,000 and 500,000 emergency and healthcare workers who might respond to a smallpox outbreak.  Democrats argued when the legislation was passed that it should be more generous in order to ensure broader participation in the vaccination effort.  As of last Friday, only 38,000 civilian public health workers have been vaccinated.

“The vaccination program is off course and behind schedule,” said senior committee Democrat Edward Kennedy (Mass.).  Kennedy pinned the blame for the delay on the failure of the Health and Human Services Department to release a table of vaccine-related injuries that are eligible for compensation, as required by the legislation.  Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said he was concerned about the delay and about the slow pace of vaccinations.  “Clearly, we haven’t gotten the vaccine out as aggressively as we should,” Gregg said.  In a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, Kennedy and Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) pressed the agency to complete work on the table.  “We are increasingly concerned by the delay,” they wrote.  “Too many first responders aware of the possibility of side effects are refusing to participate in this very high priority vaccination program.”

Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said HHS was close to completing the table, which she said was slowed by both legal and scientific issues, including a newly discovered complication involving heart attacks.  Gerberding said relatively low vaccination rates also were due to the incorrect perception that a smallpox attack is less likely than it was in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.  With war in Afghanistan and Iraq over, people do not think smallpox is an imminent threat, she told the committee.  “We are still operating under the assumption that the smallpox threat is real,” she said.  “We have to be prepared as a nation for the possibility of a smallpox attack.”

Kennedy said he and Gregg were working to break the impasse that has prevented the Bioshield bill from reaching the Senate floor.  The bill passed the committee, but has been stymied because of concerns about its funding source.  Appropriators, including the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), do not want the program to have mandatory funding.  Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said passage of Bioshield legislation would help speed up research and approval of vaccines.  “Enactment of Project Bioshield is a priority for the administration,” he said.

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Anthrax:  U.S. Postal Service Installs New Detection System at Baltimore Facility

The U.S. Postal Service has installed a new anthrax detection system at its Baltimore mail processing center, the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday (see GSN, July 14).

The system, which is currently being tested at postal facilities in 15 cities, works by testing the air surrounding mail-handling equipment for anthrax spores.  If spores are detected, the system automatically sends an e-mail to designated officials who then will use fire alarms to alert workers, according to the Sun.

The postal service has entered into a $175 million contract with Northrop Grumman to install the new detection system in all 283 U.S. mail processing centers next year (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, July 23).

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U.S.-South Korea:  Washington and Seoul Collaborate on Biological Defense

The United States and South Korea have established a joint panel to address the threat of biological and chemical weapons attacks, Yonhap News Agency reported today (see GSN, July 17).

The agreement on the effort was signed by South Korean Health and Welfare Minister Kim Hwa-joong and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson (Yonhap News Agency/Asia Pulse, July 23).

Other joint public health initiatives will also be covered by the agreement, according to the HHS.

“As we jointly tackle enhanced infectious disease research, we’ll be doing more than just strengthening our own ties — we’ll be creating a healthier global community,” Thompson said (Health and Human Services release, July 22).

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