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medpundit |
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Friday, September 27, 2002The Bush administration has yet to make final decisions or announce plans for what is called "pre-attack" smallpox vaccination. But administration officials say the consensus is to begin vaccinating those at greatest risk of encountering a highly contagious smallpox patient, such as hospital emergency room workers. That could total a half million people. Then the vaccine would be offered to non-hospital health workers, such as primary care doctors, and to police, firefighters and other emergency workers. At some point after that, it would be offered to the general public. "You start with one group and based on their potential risk, you keep expanding," one administration official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. ..Other issues are logistical, such as how states and cities prepare large vaccination clinics and train people to give the shots, and how to deal with people who get sick from the vaccine and the publicity likely to surround such an incident. Those questions get more complicated as the number of people vaccinated increases. ...Some health officials are counseling a slower approach, in which they could analyze the results of the first round of vaccinations before moving to the next. Hmmm. Where have I heard this before? Advantage: Medpundit! Meanwhile: The states seem to be having mixed responses to the CDC guidelines. Oklahoma doesn’t appear to be planning to vaccinate anyone, healthcare workers included, unless there’s an attack, and Florida will model its response on its hurricane response program. (They’re used to handling disasters down there). Elsewhere, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has blasted the CDC for not recommending voluntary pre-attack mass vaccination. (They come across as a little shrill, but their points are valid.) UPDATE: More concerns are voiced about the feasibility of the CDC's after-the-fact mass vaccination plan. posted by Sydney on 9/27/2002 06:19:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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