Smallpox Vaccination Plans
A plan for vaccinating
300,000 Boulder County residents against smallpox was finalized and sent
to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. While there is no indication that a threat of smallpox is
imminent in Boulder County or elsewhere in the U.S., the plan was written
to comply with a state emergency preparedness directive.
The plan is strictly a
precautionary measure and is part of the department’s ongoing
bioterrorism and emergency preparedness activities, which have been
underway since 1998. If a case of
smallpox were to be diagnosed in the state and a mass vaccination of
residents was ordered, staff could vaccinate Boulder County residents in
five days or less. While the plan focuses on emergency planning for a
smallpox outbreak the plan is flexible enough to respond to any disaster
requiring rapid distribution of medications or vaccines.
The plan utilizes teams of
public health, medical staff, and volunteers at four locations in clinics
operating around the clock for three to five days. About 2,000 volunteers (both medical and non-medical) will be
needed to help staff these four sites within the county. Completion of the
written plan coincides with the immunization of the first health care
workers in Boulder County. Locally,
a small number of public health and Boulder Community Hospital staff were
immunized in the first phase of smallpox vaccinations and have not
reported any serious side effects. Health
care teams have been vaccinated at this time so that they will be ready to
vaccinate and care for others, and to investigate a smallpox disease
outbreak in the unlikely event one occurs.
The selected vaccination
sites include: The University
of Colorado, Seagate Corporation, LifeBridge Church in Longmont, and
Storage Technology Corporation in Louisville. The mass immunization plan is a cooperative effort between local
public health and the medical community, police, fire, and other emergency
organizations, businesses, service clubs, churches, and educational
partners. Every agency will
have a critical role in making sure the people of the community are served
quickly and safely in an emergency. The
plan utilizes zip code locations to direct residents to their nearest
clinic site. Residents would be notified of the location to receive their
vaccination by the 911 call-back system, TV, radio, Internet, and the
newspapers. Information to
the public will be available in English and Spanish.
Public health staff will
also focus efforts on the educational and recruitment part of the plan. Community groups and potential volunteers will receive basic
smallpox information through formal training sessions, and will learn
their specific tasks in clinics that will be assembled quickly in the
event of an emergency.
Still undetermined is the
decision to immunize volunteers from local first responders such as fire,
police, and paramedics. Staff
is waiting for direction from the State Health Department before planning
to immunize emergency personnel. At
the earliest, this phase is not expected to occur before summer.
Less than 200 health care
workers have been immunized in Colorado, well below the predicted 1,800
individuals for the state. Nationally,
less than 13,000 health care volunteers have been immunized. The Bush Administration target was 500,000. Side effects of the smallpox vaccination carry certain health
risks. Vaccinations are not
given to individuals with health conditions that put them at risk for more
serious health problems. It
is believed that some groups have been reluctant to receive the
vaccination due to concerns about financial compensation for those who
miss work and the cost of medical treatment if they or a close contact
experienced side effects to the vaccine.
Despite considerable
publicity about smallpox vaccination in the past year, government
officials do not recommend smallpox immunization of the general public.
In the past, between 14-52 individuals out of 1,000,000 vaccinated
developed life-threatening reactions, and 1-2 of those died.
Emergency Preparedness Program
Boulder County Public Health
3450 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304
(303) 413-7500
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