Plans to order germ warfare vaccines
The Ministry of Health will soon hold a tender for the supply of vaccines against diseases that could be used in biological warfare attacks, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. If everything proceeds according to plan, the first consignments of vaccines could be delivered by the end of this year, or the beginning of 2002 at the latest. The process is expected to be slowed down by the increased worldwide demand for such vaccines in the aftermath of the anthrax attacks in the USA. Under normal conditions, Greece imports very few to no vaccines for diseases such as anthrax and smallpox. Greek pharmaceutical firm representatives have assured Health Ministry officials that they are in a position to produce hundreds of thousands of specialized antibiotics if the need arises.
