ELIZABETH COOPER
Observer-Dispatch

Patrice Bogan and Claudia Held, who Tuesday were the first people in Oneida County to be vaccinated for smallpox under a new government initiative, say they are feeling just fine.

"I was very confident with my decision (to be inoculated)," Bogan said. "It was similar to getting blood taken, there's that little fear of the pain."

Bogan, the acting director of Oneida County Clinical Services, and Held, the county's immunization coordinator, were among about 100 people from county health departments across the state to receive the smallpox inoculation and learn how to vaccinate others at a clinic in Albany.

The initiative is part of the nationwide smallpox preparedness program led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The immunizations took place amid heightened security at an undisclosed location, to ensure the safety of participants and the vaccination supply.

"It only takes one person with an opposing view to cause a problem," Bogan said. "Better safe than sorry."

She said the vaccine was transported to the site by state police, and Albany County and local police were present throughout the day.

Bogan and Held said they experienced some anxiety over their inoculations -- which cause life-threatening side effects in a small number of recipients -- but are glad they went through with it.

"I was relieved once it was over," Held said, adding that a few other potential candidates for the vaccination changed their minds at the last minute and left the clinic.

She said the vaccination was not painful and described the sensation as "just a tap," adding the unusual two-pronged needle only pricks the skin -- unlike other vaccines, which must go deeper in order to be effective.

During the next 28 days, Bogan and Held will keep diaries monitoring their condition and describing the area around the punctures at the request of the state Health Department.

"It's still early, but in days four through seven I may feel some minimal reaction," Bogan said.

Normal reactions include some itching and swelling around the vaccinated area, tenderness in the lymph nodes under the arm, low-grade fever and mild malaise.

Extreme manifestations of any of those symptoms would be cause for concern, Bogan said.

Since the punctured area can in rare instances infect others with vaccinia, the virus contained in the vaccine, Held said she is keeping her laundry separate from that of the rest of her family. The scab that forms over the punctures also is contagious.

"I'll feel better when the scab is zipped up and thrown away in a bio-hazard bag," she said.