Bush receives smallpox inoculation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush received a smallpox vaccination Saturday, one week after setting in motion the first sweeping national vaccination program in the United States in three decades.

"He feels fine and there are no side effects," White House spokeswoman Jeanne Mamo told reporters. Bush, 56, received the inoculation in his left arm before heading to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for the holidays.

The vaccination was administered by a senior immunization technician from Walter Reed Army Medical Center under the supervision of White House physician Richard Tubb.

"The president has made it clear that he was obtaining the smallpox vaccine in his position as commander in chief," Mamo said.

Bush's plan, unveiled Dec. 13, calls for making the vaccine mandatory for U.S. military personnel in risky areas around the world and voluntary for doctors and nurses who could be the first to encounter victims of a smallpox terrorist attack. This would include about 1 million people initially.

"Our government has no information that a smallpox attack is imminent," Bush said last week, "yet it is prudent to prepare for the possibility that terrorists ... who do kill indiscriminately would use disease as a weapon."

Some private citizens have been vaccinated under experimental programs, but the vaccine is not yet available to the general public.

Scientists have warned a small percentage of those inoculated will suffer severe complications, including brain inflammation, blindness and, in rare instances, death.

Smallpox as a naturally occurring disease was declared eradicated in 1980 after worldwide inoculation programs had successfully defeated it.

Bush earlier Saturday appealed for volunteerism during the holiday season in his weekly radio message.

"Our country is prosperous, yet we must also remember there are pockets of despair in America. Some men and women are facing the struggles of illness and old age with no one to help them or pray with them.

"Other Americans fight against terrible addictions. Some young men have no family but a gang. Some teenage moms are abandoned and alone. And some children wonder if anybody loves them."

Bush said people should look for opportunities to volunteer where the need is greatest to make the country a "more just and generous place" by reaching out to a neighbor in need.

The president said the nation "is also thinking at this time of year of the men and women in the military, many of whom will spend Christmas at posts and bases far from home. They stand between Americans and grave danger. They serve in the cause of peace and freedom. They wear the uniform proudly, and we are so proud of them."

Bush said he has met with the men and women of the U.S. armed services around the world. "And in every place they serve, they can know that they have the love of their families and the gratitude of their nation."