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Anthrax jabs put Cohen in a battle zone

February 17, 2000
Web posted at: 1:37 PM EST (1837 GMT)

By Michael Eskenazi

(TIME.com) -- A congressional panel's recommendation that the military suspend its controversial anthrax vaccination program appears to leave Defense Secretary William Cohen between a rock and a hard place. After a mounting chorus of complaints from soldiers, the House Government Reform national security subcommittee on Thursday released a report urging that the inoculation of 2.4 million military personnel be halted until the procedure is further tested. Almost 400,000 troops have so far been inoculated, with at least 400 complaints of side effects, ranging from dizziness to severe thyroid problems.

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The report leaves Cohen having to decide whether to carry on with the program or suspend it -- and face the possibility that his department will be sued by the personnel who have already received their jabs. While the Pentagon and the FDA maintain that the only side effects are fever, muscle pains and dizziness -- all of which are supposed to disappear within a few days -- fears of the vaccine have been contagious in the ranks. This past weekend a dozen members of the Indiana Air National Guard were banned from flying after refusing the shots, which are administered in six injections of low doses of anthrax over 18 months and boosters every year.

The program was launched in 1997 in response to fears of biological warfare that began during the Gulf War when the Iraqi army reportedly tipped missiles with vials of anthrax. But soldiers complain that the Pentagon rushed into requiring the vaccine. The House committee investigating the vaccine agrees, saying in its report that "the Defense Department answers with an excess of faith but a paucity of science." In addition, military personnel increasingly resent having the vaccine injected into their bodies when there seems to be a minimal chance that they will be deployed to combat one of the 10 nations known to have biological capabilities. Looks like the administration's best spin doctors will have to be brought in to sort out this one.

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