Congress, White House OK Smallpox Vaccine Compensation

WASHINGTON — Congress and the White House approved a compensation package Friday for people injured by the smallpox vaccine, ending months of delay and disagreement in hopes of jump-starting the government’s stalled inoculation program.

“The plan should have gone forward long before now,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who brokered a compromise with White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. “We have no time to spare in protecting the nation from a bioterrorist attack.”

The Bush administration’s premier anti-bioterrorism program has been hobbled by the absence of a plan to pay medical expenses, lost wages and other damages to health-care workers and “first responders” harmed by the vaccine. The administration had planned to vaccinate up to 450,000 public health workers and hospital response-team members by now, but fewer than 32,000 have been inoculated since late January.

And while health-worker unions and public health agencies responded positively to the compensation plan, it remained unclear whether it alone could revive the vaccination program.

“I am not convinced that this plan ... will be enough to bump up the numbers of people volunteering for the vaccination,” said Erin McKeon, associate director of government affairs for the American Nurses Assn.

Most recently, would-be volunteers have been put off by the heart attack deaths of two health-care workers and a National Guardsman who had been vaccinated, as well as by several cases of heart inflammation.

“It’s scary,” McKeon said. “We know a lot about the threat of the smallpox vaccine but very little about the threat of a smallpox attack.”

While federal health officials said it was unlikely the vaccine caused the heart attacks, the inoculation has been known to cause heart inflammation. Uncertainty about the connection between the vaccine and various cardiac events led authorities to exclude from the program all people with a history of heart disease or risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Congressional staff members finalized the details of the compensation package in a meeting that lasted until 4:30 a.m. Friday. That enabled the House and Senate to approve the measure by voice votes on Friday, Congress’ last day in session before a two-week spring recess.

The program is not designed to help vaccine volunteers who experience minor side effects. Rather, said a Senate Democratic aide, it is “set up to catch people who would otherwise be stranded” -- the families of those who die as a result of the vaccine and volunteers who are left with major medical bills and unable to work.

The program would pay a surviving spouse a lump sum of $262,000. A surviving spouse with children could choose between that and payments of up to $50,000 a year in lost wages until the children turn 18.

In addition to full medical benefits, workers permanently disabled by the vaccine would receive up to $50,000 a year in lost wages, with no limit. For other injured workers, lifetime wage replacements would be limited to $262,000.