Smallpox Vaccinations

Mom has been offered the opportunity to get the Smallpox vaccine, but has so far turned it down. Her reasoning? She is given no assurances by anyone--the hospital, or the federal or state government--that she will be taken care of if something should go wrong. There is about a 1 in 19,000 chance that any given recipient of the vaccine will suffer serious side effects, and a 1 in 500,000 chance of dying from the vaccine.

She's not the only one who's not taking the chance: the New York Times says only 687 volunteers have received the vaccine since distribution began two weeks ago. Doesn't surprise me; I wouldn't do it in their shoes, either.

February 07, 2003 - 01:10 PM