DOD’s mandatory anthrax immunization program has started up again after being shut down in 2004 by a US District Court judge. The program resumed Oct. 16 for military and DOD civilian personnel deployed to US Central Command areas of responsibility and South Korea, William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of health affairs, told reporters Monday. The FDA issued its “final” final order approving the immunization program late last year, but the legal situation prompted the Pentagon to keep the program on a voluntary basis—until Monday.
The Air National Guardsman who was arrested last year for sharing hundreds of top secret and classified documents to online chatrooms was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Nov. 12 after pleading guilty to several charges this March.