Navy adds to the list of those in Pacific who must get anthrax vaccinations

[babylonsister]

Hmmm, I wonder why.

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44357

Navy adds to the list of those in Pacific who must get anthrax vaccinations


By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, March 17, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — Sailors in Japan are again required to get mandatory anthrax vaccinations, the Navy has announced.

Sailors who previously received anthrax vaccine can elect to continue “to complete their initial series and/or receive their annual booster,” according to an e-mailed response to questions from the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

In a recent NAVADMIN (Navy Administrative Message), the Navy announced the following sailors and Marines will also have to get the anthrax shots: “U.S. Pacific Command forward deployed naval forces and III Marine Expeditionary Force assigned or designated as early deployers to the Korean peninsula.”

The Navy said the move would affect sailors on ships forward-deployed to Japan including:

* The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, with a crew of 3,000 sailors and an additional 2,000 air crew.
* The amphibious assault ship USS Essex, with a crew of 950 and the capacity to hold 1,073 troops
* The cruiser USS Shiloh, with a crew of 387.
* The destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, with a crew of 303.

The move would not affect most sailors in Guam, said Navy spokeswoman Lt. Ligia Cohen.

“The sailors in Guam are not considered forward deployed except a few units with special missions,” Cohen said in a Thursday e-mail to Stars and Stripes.

The Marine Corps would not say Thursday how many Marines on Okinawa would have to get the anthrax regimen.

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