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Employee health professionals will not be administering the smallpox vaccine to health care workers, but they may be among the first to receive it under a recommendation approved by two federal advisory panels. About 500,000 health care workers — around 100 per hospital — may be vaccinated under the latest plan to prepare for bioterrorism. There have been no cases of smallpox worldwide since 1977, so even a single confirmed case of smallpox would be considered a bioterrorism event.

Employee health smallpox role: Safeguard HCWs from vaccine risks