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Sailors, Marines on USS Tarawa Receive Smallpox Vaccine

2/13/2003

By Chief Journalist William Polson, USS Tarawa Public Affairs
Story Number: NNS030213-07

ABOARD USS TARAWA, At Sea (NNS) -- With white T-shirts on and sleeves rolled up, Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tarawa (LHA 1) lined up Feb. 13 for smallpox vaccinations as the ship continued its trek towards the Arabian Gulf on a six-month deployment.

More than 2,500 Sailors and Marines embarked on the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship received the shots over a three-day period.

Tarawa's medical department began the immunizations against the deadly disease - smallpox can be fatal in three out of 10 cases - as part of a much larger Department of Defense campaign. The shots are provided to U.S. service members who potentially could be exposed to the smallpox virus in the form of a biological weapon wielded by terrorists or governments hostile to the United States.

"We want everyone to be prepared before we go into the Arabian Gulf, where the possibility of such biological weapons exists," said Tarawa Medical Officer Lt. Cmdr. Steven Gabele. "This provides our shipmates the best possible protection we can offer for their health and safety."

During the first day, Tarawa's medical triage space was a blur of activity that almost looked like boot camp. At any given time, a line of Sailors could be seen waiting to run the gamut of five processing stations, ending with a hospital corpsman and his or her vaccination equipment. In the line, no one seemed too concerned over getting the vaccine.

"It doesn't bother me much. I had it back in school, so it's something I've already been through," said Disbursing Clerk 3rd Class Raymond Alston, who received a smallpox vaccination in the early 1970s during his elementary school days in Emporia, Va.

"It doesn't bother me, either. I'm glad we're doing it," said Aviation Storekeeper 1st Class Laurel Cornelison, as she stood in line. "I feel a lot better knowing that if something's going to happen, we'll be protected."

Meanwhile, a proverbial fleet of 45 healthcare providers - Sailors and Marines, nurses and doctors, corpsmen and Sailors in the process of becoming corpsman - cruised through the crowd to help the patients, process related paperwork and give shots.

"No one likes to get shots, but any risks associated with this vaccine are a lot less than the risk of getting the disease if we were exposed to the virus through a biological attack," said Tarawa Medical Administrator Lt. Jerry Bailey, who helped coordinate the event. "We just want to let everyone know that we've gone to great lengths to make sure that these immunizations are as thorough and as safe as possible."