America’s homeland defense program is spending more than $1 billion on anthrax vaccines earmarked for wide civilian use despite uncertainty about their effectiveness and an ongoing debate about potential health problems.
The vaccine stockpiling is a key element of the federal Project BioShield program, which was awarded $5.6 billion in funding in 2004 to develop drugs and vaccines to protect Americans against biological and chemical attacks. It constitutes the largest federal effort ever to protect civilians from an anthrax attack.
In May, BioPort Corp., the only manufacturer currently licensed in the United States to produce an anthrax vaccine, won a $123 million contract to make 5 million new doses for the public. And earlier this month, federal officials doubled their request.
Last November, another firm, California-based VaxGen, received an $877 million contract, plus up to $69 million in other potential fees, to manufacture 75 million doses of an updated vaccine. The product, which still lacks Food and Drug Administration approval, will not be available until 2007, company officials say.
Federal officials say an airborne anthrax attack could kill thousands of people in an urban setting and tout the vaccines as key parts of the civilian defense program.
But while a body of scientific research shows that the current vaccine is effective if administered before skin exposure to anthrax – and the rate of serious side effects is comparable to other common vaccines – several public health experts have raised questions about the vaccine’s safety.
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