As many of you know, we are now in the process of inoculating our Total Force against anthrax. Since childhood, all of us have received vaccines to protect us against many diseases, from typhoid to yellow fever, from smallpox to polio. The anthrax vaccine will protect our troops from another disease a disease that will kill, a disease that can be used as a weapon. Between now and 2003, the entire force will begin receiving the six-shot series of the anthrax vaccination. We have an obligation to protect our forces from any threats and the threat of anthrax is a very real one.
Anthrax is the number one weapon of choice in biological weapons for germ warfare.
And it is very effective as a weapon, and very easy to weaponize. If inhaled by an uninnoculated person, anthrax spores are almost always deadly. We know our potential adversaries are developing anthrax as a weapon of warfare. The anthrax vaccine has had an excellent safety record for the past 29 years it was licensed and approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 1970. The vaccine has no long-term side effects.