Emergency medical units get smallpox jabs

Britain is to become the first country in the world to vaccinate frontline health workers against smallpox.

The vaccine will be given to 700 key medical staff in the NHS and the Ministry of Defence who would be deployed in the event of an attack. But the Government also disclosed yesterday that it was seeking enough vaccine to inoculate the entire population "should this be deemed necessary". The plans would mean doubling the estimated 30 million doses of vaccine currently stocked.

Ministers stressed last night that there was no evidence of a specific threat against the armed forces or the UK but, as a precaution, small teams of health workers were being prepared to deal with any outbreak. Twelve teams will be set up around the UK, comprising doctors, virologists, nurses and occupational health staff. In addition, Army medical staff and members of the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment will also be vaccinated.

Their job will be to "ring vaccinate" people around any outbreak. This strategy is thought to be more effective than mass vaccination of the population, which some estimates suggest could kill 60 people and harm many more from the side-effects. Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government's chief medical officer, said yesterday that Britain was leading the way in emergency planning. "The public should be reassured that we have a very effective plan in place should the worst happen," he said.

A Health Department spokesman said: "The US has plans to mount its own vaccination programme. But I think we are the first." Vaccination is expected to be complete by late January. It is the first time it will have been used against smallpox since the disease was declared eradicated by the World Health Organisation in 1980. In unvaccinated people, smallpox kills three people in 10.

The shadow Health Secretary, Liam Fox, said: "It is essential that the Government is honest with the public about the scale of any potential risk."