Mandatory Anthrax Shots Possible

The administration asked a federal appeals court last week for authority to resume mandatory anthrax inoculations for selected service members. The government appeal follows two rulings by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, first to suspend anthrax shots, then to allow inoculations to volunteers. The Defense Department started the anthrax program in 1998 but the plan was curtailed when BioPort Corporation (formerly Michigan Biologic Products Institute), the sole manufacturer of anthrax vaccine, failed to pass government inspections. Periodic troop protests also hampered the program. Nevertheless, some 1.25 million service members have received the six-shot series. Priority for the vaccine goes to troops stationed in Korea, the Middle East and South Asia.