Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program

The Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP), is the name of the policy set forth by the U.S. federal government to immunize its military and certain civilian personnel with BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine manufactured by Emergent BioSolutions Inc. It was set up by the Clinton administration.

"AVIP" redirects here. For the Russian male first name, see Avip.

In June 2001, the program was halted by the DoD due to changes in the manufacturing process not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the wake of the 2001 anthrax attacks and long after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, all military personnel were required to receive the anthrax vaccine. In Court, it was ruled that vaccination could not be forced on military personnel without a special order by the president. Thereafter it ran into and judicial obstacles (mainly concerning the methods and viability of the vaccine).

Between March 1998 and December 2008, nearly 8 million doses of BioThrax were administered to over 2 million U.S. military personnel as part of the program. In December 2008, the FDA approved a new version of BioThrax which requires five intramuscular doses instead of six subcutaneous doses.

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