CDC Approves Kentucky Pre-Event Smallpox Vaccination Plan

FRANKFORT, KY (January 3, 2003) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved the Kentucky Department for Public Health's plan to offer smallpox vaccine to up to 8,000 health care workers and public health professionals starting as soon as next month in compliance with President Bush's national plan.

Kentucky's Pre-Event Vaccination Plan, submitted to CDC December 9, outlines procedures for offering vaccine to members of Smallpox Response Teams across the state. Individuals to be offered the vaccine have been identified by Kentucky's 55 local health departments and 103 acute care hospitals to provide medical, disease investigation and vaccination capabilities in the event of a smallpox outbreak. Vaccination will be conducted at 10-12 regional vaccination clinic sites and will be voluntary.

"Most people do not realize how much hard work has been done by so many different people to get us to this point," said Rice C. Leach, M.D. Commissioner for Public Health. "Kentucky's public health activity began in 1878 to respond to another infectious threat, yellow fever. One hundred twenty-five years later public health, private medicine, and government agencies are still working to protect folks from the microbes."

The White House plan calls for three phases of vaccinations. The first phase calls for vaccinating public health and health care workers across the nation who would be most likely to first come into contact with smallpox cases should they occur.

Phase two involves offering vaccine to first responders, such as fire fighters, emergency medical workers, law enforcement and other health care workers. The state expects the CDC to release additional supplies of the vaccine for this purpose after the completion of phase one.

Phase three would involve making the vaccine available to the general public.  However, the CDC has not released vaccine for this purpose and federal officials do not recommend immunization of the general public at this time. An executive summary of Kentucky's Pre-Event Smallpox Vaccination Plan, which relates to phase one, can be found on the web at: http://chs.state.ky.us/chs/news/newsreleases/2002/Smallpox/default.htm and additional information about smallpox and the White House plan can be found at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/smallpox.