Vaccine Offer Draws Few Postal Workers / Union Head Objects to Anthrax Vaccine

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Vaccine Offer Draws Few Postal Workers

Shots Available as Supplement to Drugs In Effort to Prevent Anthrax Outbreaks

By Steve Twomey

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, December 28, 2001; Page A06

The needle stung a bit, and the vaccine left his arm a tad numb, but postal

employee Danny Wiggins Sr. emerged from his place of work yesterday to

proclaim that being inoculated against anthrax was " a breeze " and his

colleagues ought to join him in accepting the government's offer of a shot of

prevention.

Only a smattering did, though, as federal health officials began making

available a vaccine as a supplement to the antibiotics intended to prevent

further outbreaks of anthrax among postal workers and others exposed to

spores shed by two terrorist letters in October.

By 5 p.m., vaccinations had been given to four workers at a facility in the

3000 block of V Street NE, one of several locations where the 2,100 employees

of Washington's main postal center, known as Brentwood, now work after it was

closed because of spore contamination.

" I feel as though the vaccine is helpful to clear the spores from your

lungs, " said Wiggins, 38, a maintenance worker who was headed home with

anthrax literature and a chart on which to keep track of any side effects

from the shot he received at V Street. He added, " More of us need to take

it. "

Vaccinations were also given to two Brentwood workers now based at a postal

facility in Hyattsville, where the federal Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention also set up shop yesterday. It will do so today at postal

facilities in Gaithersburg and Capitol Heights.

The vaccination program, announced earlier this month, was a surprise,

because workers who might have been exposed to spores were told initially

that taking antibiotics for 60 days would prevent inhalation anthrax, which

killed two postal workers and sickened two others from Brentwood after

letters bound for Capitol Hill were processed there.

But the CDC, saying it was being " extra careful " with a little-understood

disease, now wants workers to consider taking an additional 40 days of drugs

and getting vaccinated as well, because spores might survive in the lungs

longer than thought. That shift has bred suspicion and confusion, in part

because the CDC only urged workers to consider further steps, without

recommending either that they take additional antibiotics or be vaccinated.

Moreover, the vaccine has never been administered after exposure, which has

led numerous Brentwood workers to say that taking the vaccine would make them

" guinea pigs. " Federal health officials believe the vaccine is safe and are

offering extensive explanations of the benefits and risks in meetings with

postal workers.

Last week, four dozen Capitol Hill employees began receiving the anthrax

vaccine, which is administered in three shots over a month.

By 5 p.m. yesterday, 106 workers at V Street and in Hyattsville had consulted

six-person teams of CDC workers at the facilities, said CDC spokeswoman

S. . Of those, 74 had decided to take antibiotics for 40 more

days, and six had opted for both the additional drugs and the vaccination.

The rest had not made a decision and have until Jan. 7 to do so, along with

all other Brentwood workers.

At a sidewalk news conference outside the V Street facility, Jim Hayslett, a

CDC epidemic intelligence service officer, said a minority of Brentwood

workers seem wary of the new preventive program. He called the workers " a

great group of people " who had been thrust into a situation " they had no

control over " and said the CDC's goal was to give employees information to

make their own choices.

Hayslett, who took antibiotics for 60 days because he visited Brentwood

before it was closed, said he would get a shot of vaccine, whose possible

side effects include pain and swelling in the arm.

Wiggins said he had consulted with his wife and family doctor and decided to

accept more antibiotics and an inoculation, because " I'd rather be here today

than dead tomorrow. " He knew both of the postal workers who died, he said.

Steve Kapcoe, 50, a Brentwood technician, said he " religiously " took 60 days

of antibiotics and had decided to continue them, but not to receive the

vaccine. The drugs have kept him healthy, he said. " So far, so good. "

But, echoing the comments of numerous postal workers interviewed in recent

days, Delancy Praylow Jr. said he was suspicious of the vaccine and would not

take it. He said he has not taken any antibiotics, either: " I trust in God

only. "

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

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December 25, 2001

THE POSTAL WORKERS

Union Head Objects to Anthrax Vaccine Program

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/25/nyregion/25ANTH.html

By BARBARA STEWART

The president of the New York region's postal workers union said he objected

to the anthrax vaccinations that the federal government would be offering to

post office employees in a few days.

" They want to experiment on our people, " said M. , president of

the New York Metro Area Postal Workers Union, which represents 10,000 New

York employees, including the 5,500 who work at Station, the main

branch. " Those vaccinations can cause all kind of harm. Until I see the

Supreme Court and the Congress taking those vaccinations, I don't want to

them to be giving it to us. "

The vaccine will not be available until the end of the week or early next

week, according to a spokesman for the federal government.

The Centers for Disease Control has suggested that after a 60-day course of

antibiotics, anthrax vaccinations be made available to Congressional

employees and postal workers who have faced a high level of exposure to the

spores and may still be at slight risk for the disease. But it has not given

a strong recommendation for or against the treatment program.

P. Koplan, director of the C.D.C., said that the scientific

understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the treatment was too

sparse to be conclusive. In particular, the efficacy of the vaccines on

people who have been exposed and treated with antibiotics is not known. Those

who do agree to be vaccinated will be required to sign consent forms

absolving the government of liability should the treatment make them ill.

Mr. said he had heard that the anthrax vaccination had harmful side

effects and could cause serious illness. According to the federal Health and

Human Resources Department, the side effects are usually minor: they include

swelling, headaches, rashes, fever and chills. But in extremely rare cases —

in fewer than 1 in 100,000 people — the vaccine causes severe allergic

reactions.

Neither federal health officials nor postal service officials returned

repeated calls yesterday.