WASHINGTON — The approval of a new vaccine against smallpox was announced Saturday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which says the shots could be made quickly if the virtually extinct virus reappears. The vaccine, ACAM2000, is intended to inoculate people at high risk of exposure to smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease. The FDA said the vaccine also could be used to protect individuals and populations during a bioterrorist attack. ‘The licensure of ACAM2000 supplements our current supply of smallpox vaccine, meaning we are more prepared to protect the population should the virus ever be used as a weapon,’ said Dr. Jesse Goodman, director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Goodman said the vaccine is made using modern cell culture technology that would allow for speedy manufacturing if large quantities were needed quickly. ACAM2000 is made by Acambis Inc. of Cambridge, England, and Cambridge, Mass.. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has stockpiled 192.5 million doses of the vaccine. The United States ended routine vaccination against smallpox in 1971, and world health authorities declared the disease eradicated from the wild in 1980. The last known case was […]