The Threat Is Real: Vaccinate the Public

Re “Before It’s Too Late, Vaccinate Against Bioterror,” Commentary, Oct. 1: I strongly agree with Louis Warren’s warning that we must not delay vaccinating the public. The only place to correctly “store” vaccines is in the public. Smallpox, anthrax and other terrorist-caused diseases will spread too rapidly for us to depend on storage facilities located anywhere but within our bodies.

How many of us are up to date on our “routine” immunizations against tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis (A and B) and other immunization-preventable illnesses that could become rampant among us in case of further disasters?

Burton Sokoloff MD

Tarzana

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To put it bluntly, what are we waiting for? Let’s put the brightest minds in science and medicine together to speed up the production of smallpox and anthrax vaccines. This should be a top governmental priority. I would gladly contribute this year’s tax refund toward funding this endeavor. The threat is real; the solution is out there. Let’s get going on inoculating the U.S. population against these known bioterror threats. At least then, we’d have a little bit less to worry about.

Felice Sussman

Los Alamitos