In spite of what appears to be a large effort on the part of the U.S. government to prepare against bioterrorism, many have claimed that the government’s plans are falling short. Much of the current criticism is aimed at Project Bioshield, the aim of which is to prepare vaccines in case of a bioweapons attack. Opponents of the program claim that, “The program has failed to entice drug companies to develop such products, scaring away potential manufacturers with slow contract processes and few incentives. Critics say the program takes time and money away from more critical public health issues.” (Source)

Meanwhile, the government-funded maker of an anthrax vaccine has shown signs of incompetence: “Federal drug regulators have accused a California company [VaxGen] of breaking the law by making exaggerated claims about the purity and effectiveness of a new vaccine for anthrax, a fresh blow for a troubled $1 billion program at the center of the government's plans to counter bioterrorism.” In fact, “VaxGen has been struggling to fulfill $1 billion worth of federal contracts to make 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine, enough to immunize 25 million people, a population roughly the size of the combined New York and Washington metropolitan areas. The vaccine would most likely be used after a large-scale anthrax attack to immunize people exposed to the germ, whose spores can take months to germinate, causing a deadly lung infection.” (Source)

As for bioweapons other than anthrax, the government’s preparedness remains in question; in regards to smallpox, there are still stores of the vaccine, but the actual ability of the government to handle a large-scale bioterrorist attack is unknown, especially since the current administration “dropped the ball” after the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. We do know, however, that the United States remains vulnerable to attack, and that much of the money spent to prepare local governments against attack (part of the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act) has been spent unwisely. On a more positive note, however, the CDC has certain stores of anti-toxins, strong antibiotics, and immunizations, and it definitely has a vast amount of knowledge on the subject of bioweapons.

Back