Bush Readying Smallpox Plan

President Bush is expected to urge smallpox vaccinations for 500,000 emergency workers most likely to be exposed to the virus in a bioterrorist attack and order 500,000 military personnel to get the shots, White House officials said Wednesday.

Eventually, the vaccine will be made available to all Americans, although the government will probably not encourage them to get it, senior officials said.

Bush does not plan to announce his policy for at least a week, and details could change, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Barring a change, Bush plans to order vaccines for half a million military personnel. On the civilian side, where his thinking is less certain, he is inclined to accept recommendations to urge inoculating about 500,000 medical and emergency-response workers.

For months, officials have pondered who should be offered the vaccine, which carries risks including possible death, and whether to recommend it or just make it available.

Smallpox was wiped out worldwide two decades ago, but experts fear the contagious, often fatal disease could return through a terrorist attack or war. Routine vaccinations ended in the U.S. in 1972, meaning nearly half the population lacks any protection from the virus. Officials aren’t sure whether those vaccinated decades ago have residual protection.

The new vaccine would be offered in stages, beginning with those most likely to encounter a smallpox patient. That would include people on state response teams and people who work in hospital emergency rooms. In a second phase, the shot could be offered to other health-care workers and emergency workers, such as police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.