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The Bush administration’s smallpox vaccination plan is too narrowly focused to adequately protect Americans from bioterrorism, and the vaccine itself is too risky to be made widely available to the public, an advisory panel reported Tuesday.
“Smallpox is not the only threat to the nation’s health, and vaccination is not the only tool for preparedness,” said Dr. . Brian Strom, chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The committee’s report for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls on the administration to make its smallpox vaccination plan part of a broader public health program to protect against a variety of threats.
