A priority list of people will have to get smallpox or anthrax vaccines to be prepared in the event of a bio-terrorism threat, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Dr Tom Moffatt, indicated yesterday.
Dr Moffatt explained that the measures were being taken by the Government even though there was no specific threat of bio-terrorism in Ireland.
Members of the Defence Forces would get priority, as would members of the Government.
However, not everybody might want the smallpox vaccine. "Some may want to take it, others not. There can be side-effects," the Minister warned.
The priority list would be decided on shortly, Dr. Moffatt said, and a plan of action put into operation in the event of a smallpox outbreak.
Supplies of smallpox vaccine will be distributed to the country's eight health boards and it will be up to the chief medical officers to decide how it should be distributed.
In the event of a smallpox outbreak anywhere in the world, there would be severe restrictions on travel because the disease is highly contagious, Dr Moffatt said.
He stressed there was no specific threat of bio-terrorism in Ireland or Europe. The movement on medicines was being taken as a purely precautionary measure.