Sailor will refuse anthrax vaccination

By JIM CARNEY

June 19, 2000 Web posted at: 5:12 PM EDT (2112 GMT)

AKRON, Ohio (The Akron Beacon Journal) -- Petty Officer 2nd class Michael Goff says that during his more than five years in the Navy, he has done his best to be a good sailor.

But now, the former Akron resident is drawing his line in the sea.

Goff, currently based in Norfolk, Va., says he will refuse to take a series of anthrax vaccination shots that he expects to be ordered to take after his ship, the USS Normandy, leaves Norfolk on Wednesday on a six-month cruise to the Persian Gulf.

``I feel the government is using us as guinea pigs,'' said Goff, 24, a 1993 Akron Garfield High School graduate.

Goff is one of about 350 military personnel who have refused the vaccination. They say its safety hasn't been proven, and they cite other instances when the military has endangered the health of its personnel.

A U.S. House panel issued a report in February concluding that the inoculation program is based on ``dangerously narrow'' scientific evidence and should be suspended.

But Navy officials and the Defense Department say that the vaccination is safe and a proven method of protection from the deadly disease anthrax, which they believe could become a weapon as lethal as guns and bombs.

During the 1990s, the secretary of defense's office reported that Iraq produced 8,000 liters of anthrax spores -- an amount it said could kill every man, woman and child on Earth.

In May 1998, Defense Secretary William Cohen approved a plan to vaccinate all 2.4 million U.S. service members, including 1 million National Guardsmen and Reserves, for anthrax. Defense Department spokesman Jim Turner said as of March, 440,000 people had been vaccinated.

Military officials say nobody has died because of the vaccine; as of February there had been more than 600 reported adverse reactions. Twenty-six people were hospitalized after receiving the vaccine, but only six cases were known to be related to the vaccine.

Some who have refused the vaccine have been disciplined. Last November, Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Brown of Lorain received a bad-conduct discharge and 30 days' confinement after being convicted by a court-martial panel.

In late May, Air Force Capt. Clifton Volpe, one of the highest- ranking officers to refuse the shots, was allowed to resign under honorable conditions.

If he refuses the vaccine, Goff could see his rank and pay reduced, or he could be discharged from the service. It's up to his commanding officer.

Goff works as a fire controlman on the guided missile cruiser. His job is to operate and fix spy radar.

If he were demoted, his $1,950-a-month pay (including housing money) would fall about $300 a month for each drop in rank.

Goff is scheduled to leave the service in February. And that's one of his arguments against taking the vaccine. Because it is administered in six doses over an 18-month period, Goff believes it would be pointless for him to receive only some of the inoculations.

``Why should I try and take any of them if I am not going to take all of them?'' said Goff. ``I will never become immunized.''

An Army official, however, said the vaccination is partially effective after the first three doses.

Anthrax is an infectious bacterial disease spread by contact with infected animals, handling infected products, eating infected meat -- or breathing weapon-dispersed anthrax spores, according to the office of the secretary of defense.

The disease is almost always deadly if not treated early and can kill in just a few days.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Moynihan, Surface Forces Atlantic Fleet public affairs officer, emphasized that Goff has not yet officially been ordered to take the vaccine and ``it would be inappropriate'' to discuss what might happen should Goff refuse to take the vaccine.

The commanding officers of the ship, Moynihan said, ``make an individual decision regarding what is appropriate in each case.'' But sailors who disobey an order to receive a vaccination ``may subject themselves to administrative and disciplinary actions.''

U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Navarre, the congressman who represents the Doylestown area where Goff's parents live, has co-sponsored a bill that would make taking the vaccination voluntary until a new vaccine is created or one is developed that is ``totally safe for anthrax.''

Regula said he ``absolutely'' understands the step Goff plans to take.

``My concern is that it is not a totally proven medication,'' he said.

U.S. Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, said, ``Anthrax is a real threat, and attempting to protect members of the services from that threat is a worthwhile undertaking. No vaccination is without risk.''

But Sawyer said he is concerned that there are no consistent standards for disciplining those who refuse to take the vaccine.

In one place, Sawyer said, ``the penalty is carried out in one way and in another it is carried out another way.''

Goff's family supports his decision.

His father, Kenneth Goff, 53, a long-distance truck driver who served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the Navy, said he knows people who have suffered from Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed by the military that now is suspected of causing health problems.

``I am proud of him,'' he said.

His mother, Linda Goff, a teaching assistant at Leggett School in Akron, said she is pleased that her son ``will stand up for what he believes. . . . It's his body and he should not have to take something like that and not know what the results will be.''

Goff's wife, Melissa, said she would never expect her husband to take something she wouldn't take.

And she said she and her husband will be able to handle whatever happens as a result of his refusal.

``We'll deal with whatever he has to do to get through,'' she said.

But Defense Department spokesman Turner is equally adamant that what the military is doing is right. ``It is absolutely unconscionable for us -- knowing we have a vaccine that is safe and effective and we know we have this deadly threat -- if we didn't provide that,'' Turner said. ``We are doing the right thing.''

Goff said he and his wife would like to start a business as marriage coordinators when he leaves the Navy. He and Melissa have a 2-year-old daughter, Savannah.

``For me, I am looking at this like Agent Orange,'' said Goff. ``The government said Agent Orange won't hurt anybody, and yet guys are dying from it and now they are saying, `We were wrong.' ''

It is the same with nuclear weapons testing, he said.

And that is his fear.

``They (claimed) it didn't hurt anybody, then they said, `Maybe it was a problem,' '' said Goff.

With the unknown health issues, said Goff, ``I am putting myself at risk.''

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