It's like The San Diego Union-Tribune buying libel insurance. You don't expect to libel anyone, but you can't say it's never going to happen. Other Pentagon spokesmen noted that even the most routine procedures in civilian doctors' offices usually are not done until patients sign forms acknowledging the potential for grave side effects. The Defense Department believes the armed forces face a threat from rogue nations such as Iraq that have developed weapons capable of delivering anthrax. Spokesmen have said it would be immoral to fail to provide troops with the best protection available.
Anthrax is spread by dustlike spores, which can be inhaled.
Death, from internal bleeding and inflammation, can follow within days. Those shots will be followed by an annual booster. About 220,000 men and women have been inoculated so far. Forty-two have reported adverse reactions, according to the Pentagon, but all have recovered. The reactions generally have been less serious than those caused by flu vaccines routinely given to members of the military, spokesmen said.