The Military Vaccine Action Committee, LLC

Randi Airola,Executive Director: randi@mvacpac.org or 517-819-5926

Kathy Hubbell, President: kathy@mvacpac.org or 406-531-9355

For complete, up-to-date information, resources and assistance concerning the military's anthrax and smallpox vaccines, visit http://www.milvacs.org, The Military Vaccine Education Center, Inc.

Fast Facts: Writing and Talking Points: Anthrax and Smallpox Vaccines

Introduction:Members of the Armed Forces face mandatory vaccines when they are deployed to certain areas around the world.  A refusal to take these vaccines constitutes a refusal to follow a direct order.  The consequences, depending upon the individual commander’s decision, can be a court martial, fine, time in a military prison, and a dishonorable discharge with a felony conviction. 

This is not lawful.  The anthrax vaccine in particular, according to federal Judge Emmett Sullivan (see point # 2 below) was forced upon the troops illegally until December, 2003; there is still a final decision pending in the lawsuit that brought about that judgment.  By law, our troops are supposed to be given informed consent before taking these vaccines.  Not only have they never been given that constitutional right – a right they did not give up when joining the military – but the smallpox vaccine is deemed too dangerous for the civilian population, but not too dangerous to force upon our troops.

When a service member does become ill from the vaccines, too often he or she is blamed for it, or is called a malingerer, one of the worst insults that can be leveled at our men and women in uniform.  Too often adequate medical care is either denied or severely delayed; too often our troops are medical-boarded out of the service, and may face up to two years or more of paying for their own medical expenses if the VA does not respond in a timely and adequate fashion.  The result can be loss of a job, a home, a car – and the destruction of a family, which breaks apart under the stress. 

HR 5166 seeks to redress these wrongs, and we urge your outspoken support of this bill.  You can find it online at http://www.milvacs.org/Shays.pdf.  Please contact your Congressional delegation urging support of this bill.  You can find your Senator or Representative at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress

Here are some fast facts about the anthrax vaccine and the smallpox vaccine to help you in your letter writing and in speaking with others:

Anthrax Vaccine Absorbed (AVA)

1.       The FDA's new label (2002) on the anthrax vaccine admits to a systemic averse reaction rate of between 5% and 35% - whereas previously, the DoD claimed it was a mere .02%. Since then, the GAO (Government Accounting Office, a watch-dog agency) has come out with a new report estimating the systemic adverse reaction rate is probably as high as 85%. In addition, it is known that women have twice the adverse reaction rate as men. The GAO also issued a 2001 report that of the Guard and Reserve units forced to take the vaccine, fully 25% of the pilots resigned or obtained transfers out of their units rather than take the vaccine and jeopardize their civilian flying careers.

2.       The anthrax vaccine was never licensed for use against aerosolized anthrax, and thus was used on our troops illegally up until December, 2003. Just eight days after the Dec. 22, 2003 decision by federal Judge Emmett Sullivan's that orders to take the vaccine were illegal, the FDA issued a ruling that it was both legal and safe - based on animal data.

3.       The anthrax vaccine was originally licensed based on data from a different vaccine. The only safety/efficacy study ever done on human beings was done on that different vaccine. The FDA and DoD have also previously admitted that efficacy based on animal studies against inhalation is problematic because no proven correlate of immunity between animals and humans exists for anthrax infection.

4.       The anthrax vaccine protocol originally called for 3 shots only; the change to a series of 6 shots with annual boosters was done with no foundation in research or fact. The label was actually changed to reflect the protocol then in practice; the protocol was not dictated by instructions on the label.

5.       BioPort, the original manufacturer of the vaccine, changed its filtering and fermenting equipment in 1991 without notifying the FDA. The result was a 100-fold increase in the potency of the vaccine. It was used anyway. BioPort also produced non-sterile and contaminated vaccine and changed expiration dates on labels of some of the vaccine lots to portray false expiration dates. BioPort was issued a new contract with the government to produce more anthrax vaccine in the week between Judge Sullivan’s ruling and the FDA declaration that the vaccine is legal. Other companies such as VacGen have recently been awarded huge government contracts to manufacture a new anthrax vaccine.

6.       A Kansas State University Study has definitely pointed to the anthrax vaccine as one of the major components of Gulf War Syndrome.

Smallpox Vaccine

Smallpox, one of the deadliest diseases to hit mankind, was eradicated by 1977. Many credit the smallpox vaccine, although the disease was on the decline before the vaccine was introduced, and the vaccine itself is known to be dangerously reactive. Again, there is a debate as to how much of a threat smallpox may be, when used as a biological weapon - and just who may have the capabilities of using it.

The Department of Defense now makes the smallpox vaccine another mandatory vaccine for our troops facing certain deployments. And yet...

1. the old vaccine was never subjected to controlled clinical trials
2. the new vaccine will not have to be proven effective in humans
3. standards for safety will be lowered to fast-track production
4. vaccine manufacturers, as well as healthcare providers -- physicians -- will be protected from liability for any vaccine-induced injuries or deaths, which are likely to occur

These four points come from the National Vaccine Information Center

A final point to make is that the military’s practice of administering multiple vaccines in one day compounds the problem.  There must be some acknowledgement of the limits of the human immune system – and acknowledgement the military is reluctant to make.

Please help us fight for the rights of our troops: for their right NOT to be used as medical experiments, and for their rights to fast, adequate medical care; and for the rights for those who have refused the unlawful orders to take these vaccines to have their names cleared.  Thank you.

The Military Vaccine Action Committee, LLC

Randi Airola,Executive Director: randi@mvacpac.org or 517-819-5926

Kathy Hubbell, President: kathy@mvacpac.org or 406-531-9355

Military Vaccine Action Committee, LLC

P.O. Box 8168 – Missoula, MT 59807

PH: (406) 728-4595

e-mail: kathy@mvacpac.org, randi@mvacpac.org

web site: www.mvacpac.org