The Courage of a Modern President

Saturday, 14 December 2002

AM this morning aired a report on the latest US moves to counter terrorism by scaring the shit out of the population: mass vaccinations of front-line military personnel to counter the possibility that terrorists might use smallpox as a biological weapon against the US. Apparently there's one of those credible possibilities that some of the Russian stocks of the smallpox virus may have found their way into the hands of said terrorists. President George W Bush is to be vaccinated too, because he cannot in all conscience ask others to take a risk that he is not prepared to take himself (or something like that: as I write this today's transcript is not yet available).

So, what are the risks? According to Australia's Commonwealth Medical Officer, if the entire US population of around 200 million people were to be vaccinated, you could expect 200 to 400 deaths from the vaccine. In other words, there's a chance, somewhere between 1 in a million and 1 in 500,000 that President Bush might die and the chances that he might have some other adverse reaction to the vaccine are higher: at a rough guess, somewhere around the 1 in 10,000 mark. So, with the risk that he is taking, no doubt the White House will keep us posted on the President's health with regular bulletins.

I think the vaccination itself will provide Mr Bush with a perfect opportunity to lead by example, with extensive media coverage of the President smiling bravely as the White House's chief doctor pricks his upper arm with a sterile lancet before introducing the vaccine. Later press briefings will inform the broader public that the President's vaccination site has formed a nice clean scab and the prognosis for a complete recovery is good, as long as he keeps it exposed to the air and refrains from picking at it. And finally, there will be great relief when we all learn that the scab has finally dropped off, leaving a small white mark. Sadly, this small area of skin on the Presidential bicep will be a permanent blemish on the Presidential sun tan, but this is a small price to pay when the safety of American democracy is at stake.

Only one thing bothers me: the US didn't end it's program of routine smallpox vaccinations for the entire population until 1972, a mere 30 years ago. President Bush was born in 1946. So why isn't he vaccinated already?

Update (Friday, 20 December 2002): since this item has started to attract comment, It's probably time I posted this link to the AM transcript.