small pox, vaccinations, and all that

[EBPierce]

Now that they seem to be ready to roll out the first smallpox vaccinations, did anyone else read the article by Holly Sklar (author of "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies that Work for All of Us") with the title "Rolling the dice: What if someone without insurance gets smallpox?" She raises some interesting points about the danger having 1 in 6 Americans under 65 uninsured at a time when there is a legitimate concern about someone using biological weapons on American soil. The link is below.

[Gromit]

being a health epidemic problem, I seriously doubt anyone will be left out if they want the vaccine, when it reaches the 'general public' phase.

the first phase will cover selected hospital and emergency personnel, and it goes from there.

In this case, it would be for the greater good to provide the vaccine to all, otherwise you will be unable to control the outbreaks. This to me, is a non-issue. The government has already made steps to cover the drug companies where this vaccine is concerned.

To wit, our hospital has already asked for volunteers for the first phase, and working in the ICU (as well as in the field in emergency services) I opted in, so if the phase gets implemented, I expect I'll be getting the vaccine. I do not choose to acquire the vaccine without a lot of thought. Plenty of down-sides to it.