Smallpox vaccinations for Kansas front-line health workers will be available in a few weeks, but some who qualify for the inoculation in Lawrence say they’ll think twice before baring their upper arms.

About 50 people at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Douglas County emergency responders are eligible for the vaccine, which was discontinued in 1972 when smallpox was considered eradicated. The vaccine is being used and licensed again because of the potential threat of bioterrorism.

The vaccine has several side effects and in rare cases can be fatal, causing some health-care workers to carefully weigh their decisions about the vaccination.

Mark Bradford, deputy chief at Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical, said he didn’t plan to be vaccinated, in part because if he were to ever be exposed there is a three-day window for vaccination.

Among his co-workers, opinions about the vaccine are divided. Some said they would decline the vaccine, figuring chances are slim a biological attack would ever occur. Others said they want all the protection they can get.

Registered nurse Karen Shumate said the inoculations she received as a child would not last forever and she planned to be vaccinated again.

Because of the vaccine’s risks, it is only being offered on a volunteer basis to health-care workers who pass a medical screening.

“By protecting those persons who would first respond to a suspected case of smallpox, the ability to protect the public is strengthened,” said Gianfranco Pezzino, state epidemiologist.

After the first phase of vaccinations, the second phase will include additional health-care workers such as EMS and ambulance personnel. The third phase will include the general public, but only after the first two phases are completed and a new vaccine has been licensed.

Aside from the vaccination, other precautions are being taken at the hospital and staff members are being educated.

The state also is giving caretakers a list of specific symptoms that can help rule out the disease. Kansas health officials are formalizing a battle plan in the event an actual smallpox case occurs here.