Well, as Tom Brokaw and the rest of the country continue the smallpox debate, so do we.
Margaret D. wrote to ask about how the vaccine itself can transmit a virus (see "…and another thing" in yesterday's e-Alert for the answer to that question). She also agreed that "the government could and will force vaccinations in the case of biological warfare," but then goes on to quote a friend of hers, a "Ph.D. clinician," who says, "to think the government can force someone to take a vaccination is ludicrous. If that were true, we wouldn't have the problem today with getting all kids to be immunized."
Unfortunately, Margaret, you're right and your friend is wrong. It does sound ludicrous - and I wish it were - but the fact is that provisions are being made for the most extreme responses to a smallpox outbreak, and forced vaccination is one of them. The Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities has prepared a "Model State Emergency Health Powers Act" that would give public health officials the power to use state militia to enforce vaccination during declared health emergencies.
This of course is a much different situation than that of immunizing school-age kids for various diseases. School principals still don't have the authority to call out the National Guard to force mumps and measles vaccinations…yet.
To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute
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