WASHINGTON — A growing number of U.S. sailors in the Persian Gulf are refusing to be vaccinated against the deadly biological agent anthrax out of concern about possible side effects and long-term health risks, according to family members and their advocates.
The Pentagon last year announced that it would require, over a six-year period, that every member of the armed forces--1.4 million active-duty personnel and 1 million reservists--be vaccinated against anthrax. Troops in the Gulf are receiving the first vaccinations because Iraq is thought to have stockpiled enough anthrax for germ warfare.
Pentagon officials insist they are not concerned that some personnel are balking at the vaccine, because those resisting are few. Still, Pentagon efforts are underway to have senior officers and medical personnel counsel enlistees.
The Navy has disciplined 14 sailors on two carriers, the John C. Stennis and the Independence, officials said, for rejecting the first of six vaccination shots ordered by the Pentagon.
A second round of shots was to begin Friday on the Independence, and at least five other sailors are refusing, said Lori Greenleaf of Morrison, Colo. Among them is her son Erik T. Julius, a 22-year-old aviation boatswain's mate third class, who Greenleaf said had heard rumors about ill effects from the vaccine.
Mark S. Zaid, a lawyer for 11 Independence sailors, said the protest was expanding to another ship, the USS O'Brien.
While experts say there are no known serious risks from the vaccine, in some cases it does produce headaches or other minor ailments. But Zaid and others say there has been little detailed study of the vaccine, which some suspect may be linked to Gulf War Syndrome, the mysterious illnesses reported by some who served in the Persian Gulf War.
In addition to the 14 sailors who refused the vaccine, two Air Force enlistees have refused to take the shots and are being disciplined. No Army or Marine Corps personnel are known to have declined the vaccine, said Col. Richard Bridges, a Pentagon spokesman.
"There's nothing to fear from this particular vaccine," Bridges said, noting that it has been in use since the 1970s. "It's fully licensed and approved by the FDA."
Bridges said that 31,478 of the estimated 36,000 troops in the Gulf have received the first vaccine and that 21,371 have received the second of six vaccines, which are given over an 18-month period. A yearly booster shot is also required.
