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CDC’s effort to vaccinate volunteers criticized

Emergency Management Alert, March 8, 2005

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came under fire last week when experts criticized its failed smallpox inoculation campaign of two years ago for hindering future efforts to vaccinate volunteers in the event of a bioterror attack, Newsday reported.

"The way the policy and the rationale for the smallpox vaccination initiative were communicated may have negatively affected the program's implementation and outcome," Brian Strom, MD, a vice dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and chairman of the Institute of Medicine's panel, said in a news briefing.

A report compiled by the institute shows the unusual effort to inoculate hundreds of thousands with a live-virus vaccine that hadn't been used in decades.

"CDC disagrees with the assertion that, in any way, its valued scientific voice was constrained in the smallpox program," CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding told Newsday. "The administration policy for the smallpox program was based on the best scientific advice ... I am disappointed that I was not given the opportunity for comment or input prior to the release of this report."

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