Way cleared for military anthrax shots

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A federal judge has lifted an injunction blocking mandatory anthrax inoculations for all U.S. military personnel.

Lone exceptions are six plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the government's anthrax vaccine.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled late Wednesday after the Food and Drug Administration determined the vaccine provides effective protection against deadly anthrax bacteria, whether inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

Sullivan had issued his injunction Dec. 22 blocking mandatory anthrax inoculations, ruling the vaccine was an experimental drug "being used for an unapproved purpose."

The FDA has formally authorized its effectiveness only against anthrax spores absorbed through the skin.

With a court date in the case set for next week, neither the Justice Department nor the Pentagon had any immediate comment on Sullivan's latest ruling or the status of the suspended vaccine program, the Washington Post said.

Attorney Mark S. Zaid, who filed the suit challenging the program, called Sullivan's decision a temporary setback.