Smallpox Vaccine - Vaccine Stockpiles

Vaccine Stockpiles

In late 2001, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom considered stockpiling smallpox vaccines, even while assuring the public that there was no "specific or credible" threat of bioterrorism. Later, the director of State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR warned that terrorists could easily lure underpaid former Soviet researchers to turn over samples to be used as a weapon, saying "All you need is a sick fanatic to get to a populated place. The world health system is completely unprepared for this."

In the United Kingdom, controversy erupted over the company contracted to supply the vaccine due to the political connections of its owner, Paul Drayson, and questions over the choice of vaccine strain being different from that used in the United States. Plans for mass vaccinations in the United States stalled as the necessity and undesirable side-effects came into question.