For immediate release, December 13, 2002

"The nation needs a smallpox vaccination plan that doesn't make the threat worse. I'm sorry to say that the President's plan doesn't meet that standard," said William F. Henning, Jr., Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) today.

"Under the President's plan, half a million civilians are going to be in the first wave of people vaccinated," continued Henning. "Every one of them is a worker, and they must get at least as much protection from the vaccination process as they get from any other on-the-job hazard."

"Unfortunately, none of those essential protections is included in the President's plan. Before the inoculations begin, the government needs to answer some tough questions about the vaccine's side-effects and their costs."

• By the government's estimates, one-third of the people vaccinated are likely to be made sick enough to miss a day or two of work. All that lost time should be charged to the government, not to the sick leave of the individual who misses work. Workers who do not have sick leave should be paid for the time missed. The government's plan is completely silent on this question.
  
  
• Also by the government's estimates, between 7 and 26 of the healthcare workers vaccinated in the first wave are likely to develop life-threatening side effects. One of them is likely to die. The federal government should agree, in advance, to cover the cost of medical care for side effects and lost work-time.
  
  
• The government acknowledges that the vaccine is so dangerous that people with compromised immune systems should not take it at all. That includes people with HIV/AIDS, because the vaccine could kill them. How is the federal government going to protect the estimated 500 healthcare workers in the first wave who are scheduled for the inoculation and who are HIV-positive, but don't know it?
  
  
• People who are vaccinated will "shed" the live virus that is used for the vaccine for two weeks, exposing anyone they come into close contact with, such as a housemate or a co-worker, to a virus that could kill anyone with a compromised immune system. How are they going to be protected, and who will cover their medical expenses?
  
  
• Who is going to insure that the screening process that employers use to avoid vaccinating people who should not, or don't want to be vaccinated is confidential and does not result in employees suffering retaliation or discrimination?
  
  
• Why did the federal government just purchase 50 million unsafe vaccination needles, needles that lack any device to protect a healthcare worker from getting stuck with a used needle, even though safer needles are on the market. The federal law that mandates the use of safer needles has been on the books for two years. Asking vaccinators to use unsafe needles is not only illegal, it is an ominous indication of the government's attitude toward the safety of the workers participating in the vaccination program.
  
  
• The President's announcement today states that "there is no reason to believe that smallpox presents an imminent threat." If that is the case, and given how dangerous the vaccine is, why is this crash program necessary? We have been grappling with the question of smallpox vaccinations for 15 months. Why can't we take the last steps in this process as deliberately as the first? People who are exposed to the smallpox virus have 2-3 days to get vaccinated. The CDC has pledged to make vaccine available anywhere in the U.S. in 12 hours. If the mechanisms are put in place and the personnel trained and screened in advance, it is difficult to conceive of a bio-terrorist attack that could not be checked by prompt, post-attack, action.
  

"Heathcare workers are going to be on the front line of any smallpox vaccination program, whenever it is implemented," said Henning. "Anyone who is enlisted in this patriotic effort should get every medical, social and financial protection they deserve. The President's program doesn't even come close."