The $443 Million Smallpox Vaccine That Nobody Needs 290
Hugh Pickens writes "Once feared for its grotesque pustules and 30% death rate, smallpox was eradicated worldwide as of 1978 and is known to exist only in the locked freezers of a Russian scientific institute and the US government. There is no credible evidence that any other country or a terrorist group possesses smallpox, but if there were an attack, the government could draw on $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccine it already owns to inoculate the entire US population and quickly treat people exposed to the virus. The vaccine, which costs the government $3 per dose, can reliably prevent death when given within four days of exposure. David Williams writes that over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work. So why did the government award a "sole-source" procurement to Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, calling for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation's biodefense stockpile at a price of approximately $255 per dose. 'We've got a vaccine that I hope we never have to use — how much more do we need?' says epidemiologist Dr. Donald A. Henderson who led the global eradication of smallpox for the WHO. 'The bottom line is, we've got a limited amount of money.'"
:( And I thought (Score:3, Funny)
Time travel (Score:4, Funny)
Obviously this is proof that time travel has been discovered by the military and there is a fear that someone will bring back small pox.
Bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
The government puts the vaccine to use regularly. The fill up airplanes with it and the resulting chemtrails are what give people autism.
WAKE UP, PEOPLE.
Re:Does this really qualify for slashdot material? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Why (Score:4, Funny)
Because the Obama administration is the most corrupt presidency in modern history.
It's like he took "Can't be worse than Bush" as a challenge.
Re:AHA! I know what this is! (Score:2, Funny)
(Cheat sheet: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.)
Re:AHA! I know what this is! (Score:4, Funny)
Me too. I know a lot about this as well. If you knew what was really going on you wouldn't believe it. It's so shocking. You are all misinformed and misguided, unlike geekoid and me.