Issue date: Sept 19, 1999

Biological warfare

WHAT YOU SAID

Should military personnel have the right to refuse anthrax vaccinations?

7,799 readers responded by phone or at our Web site, to USA WEEKEND's July 9-11 National Debate.

How the vote split:
YES = 83%
NO = 17%

Fighting a controversial, newly required anthrax vaccine, hundreds put their military careers on the line.
By Dennis McCafferty

One battle the U.S. military continues to fight is right here at home, over the controversial anthrax vaccine. Since the military began its program early last year to thwart the No. 1 biological-warfare threat, more than 200 servicemen and -women have refused orders to take the vaccine, saying not enough is known about it. USA WEEKEND readers overwhelmingly agree, voting that military personnel should have the right to refuse the vaccine.

While the Defense Department considers the vaccine vital in arming troops against the nearly always fatal bacterium, those refusing it largely object to taking a required six shots over 18 months.

Congress may soon intervene. One pending bill calls for a halt to the shots until safety concerns are sorted out. Another wants to make the vaccine voluntary.

At least 10 countries, including Iraq, are known to possess anthrax, which occurs naturally and is harmless in animals. But in concentrated powder form, a five-pound bag could wipe out the entire population of metro Washington, D.C. -- 4.5 million people.

Defense officials deny that the vaccine, approved by the FDA in 1971 to protect sheep farmers, carries chronic side effects besides temporary flulike chills, fever and fatigue. They say the anti-diphtheria shot commonly given to children has greater reactions.

So far, more than 1 million shots have been given to 326,084 military personnel in hot spots such as northeastern Asia and the Persian Gulf. All 2.4 million members of the armed forces are to be inoculated by 2003.

Those who refuse risk their military careers. Some already have been subject to courts-martial, jail time or demotions. Why the unprecedented insubordination? Though military personnel routinely are inoculated against everything from cholera to the plague, the aftermath of Agent Orange-related ailments and "Gulf War syndrome" has left many service members wary.

Mark Zaid, a lawyer who has defended service members opposed to the vaccine, says the military ignored federal testimony of adverse reactions in up to 44% of people given the vaccine: "Time and time again, we found that the Defense Department's public statements contradicted what they knew internally." Ex-Marine corporal Jason Austin, 24, is paying a high price for saying no. Austin, who balked at the number of shots, was among five Marines in Twentynine Palms, Calif., court-martialed for refusing the vaccine.

Military officials "know good and well that a lot of controversy surrounds this shot," says a disillusioned Austin. "But their feeling is, 'Take this shot or else.' "

Austin was found guilty for refusing an order, sentenced to 30 days in a military jail and given a discharge for bad conduct. He has since returned home to Fritch, Texas, and hopes to study criminal justice in college. Amid the heightened publicity, defense officials are considering reducing the amount of shots to five. But making it voluntary is not an option. An exception: pregnant women.

For now, the battle continues.