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Get a smallpox shot?
	YES	NO
All	50%	41
Age 18-34	43	51
Age 55-64	58	33
Southerners	56	36
Midwesterners	43	48
Democrats	56	37
Republicans	52	39
Independents	44	50

Health experts say the vaccine could kill one in 500,000 people and make one in 150,000 seriously ill. As the poll posed it, "Some people say all Americans should be vaccinated against smallpox to protect them in case terrorists try to spread the disease. Others say the chance that terrorists could get ahold of smallpox is too slight to justify the risk of the vaccine itself."

Groups most likely to say they'd decline the shot include young adults (under age 35) and political independents. Those most likely to say they'd get a smallpox shot include middle-aged people, Southerners and Democrats.

Feds to Boost Vaccine Stocks

Federal authorities last week said they would stockpile the vaccine, announcing a $428 million contract to buy 155 million doses, but would not undertake "indiscriminate mass vaccination campaigns."

The CDC's Smallpox Response Plan says "ring vaccination" — identifying and vaccinating people with possible exposure — is preferable, given factors including the vaccine's risks. It works even if administered a few days after exposure.

"The reason not to just immunize everyone has to do with the reactogenicity of the vaccine," says John D. Clements, an immunologist at Tulane University School of Medicine. "If everyone were immunized, based on our previous experience with this vaccine, you would expect to see 300 to 600 deaths and approximately 2,000 cases of encephalitis. This vaccine has more potentially deadly side effects than any vaccine currently in use. That's why the decision was made to stop using it."

Methodology

This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone November 28-Dec. 2, 2001, among a random national sample of 1,022 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.