USA Pledges 20 Million Doses of Smallpox Vaccine to Global Stockpile

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US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson announced that the United States is pledging 20 million doses of smallpox vaccine to the global stockpile managed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The United States donation is by far the largest contribution to date to the global stockpile.

"The United States is proud to make a significant contribution to a global stockpile that will serve as a critical line of defense in the event of a smallpox attack anywhere in the world," Secretary Thompson said. "This is an important step toward ensuring the health and safety of the American people."

Secretary Thompson also thanked and congratulated the governments of Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for their pledges to the stockpile.

At a 2003 Ministerial Meeting of the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI), the United States encouraged its international partners to develop the WHO Smallpox Vaccine Bank, which would consist of a physical stockpile in Geneva and a virtual global stockpile of pledged vaccine stocks from around the world. This vaccine stockpile could quickly dispatch vaccine to any country that might be experiencing an outbreak of smallpox.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=17668&nfid=rssfeeds

[gordianot]

1. That will just about cover everyone won't it?

[Newsjock]

2. Now that the selection is over ...

... I guess we don't need to keep scaring people by hanging on to them here, so hey, what the heck, let other world leaders have fun with fear for a while.

[quaoar]

3. Let's see....

Smallpox has been eradicated so we need millions of doses of vaccine.

The flu is everywhere, so we need to maje sure we are millions of doses of vaccine short of the need.

[dbt]

5. We have a winner here.

No more calls, please.

;-)
dbt

[Javaman]

4. Read the book "demon in the freezer" then think about the shot...

Any smallpox that may or may not be released upon the population will be bio-engineered, thus any vacine they come up with will be more than likely have little to no effect.
Also, if you choose to get a shot, wait untill the very last minute. The strength of any vacine against small pox that is put out by the US gov't will generally have it's maximum strength between 48 and 72 hours, after that, it's effectivness quickly goes down.

[Sinistrous]

6. Wow! That sure is one nice big Christmas present for one of

bushbaby's pharmaceutical buddies.