"Anthrax vaccine has a side-effect profile similar to that of other vaccines," said Lt. Col. John Grabenstein, one of the Pentagon's leading anthrax vaccine experts.

But vaccine experts are concerned about two issues: a number of errors that have put infants at risk for the disease, and misunderstandings over the inclusion of a chemical preservative, thimerosal, in the vaccine.

In spite of his young age, due to his long experience in the vaccine industry, he is being recognized as one of the few vaccine experts of Korea.

Several politicians and vaccine experts have called for mandatory vaccinations to be implemented.

These debates were once unheard of among vaccine experts, because most inoculations are far cheaper than the cost of treating the diseases they prevent.

The advisory committee, the government's chief panel of vaccine experts, is scheduled to spend this morning to discuss the flu crisis.

The decision, which helped to create vaccine shortages and led some babies to become infected with hepatitis B, outraged some senior vaccine experts.

But Dr. Fauci and other AIDS and vaccine experts interviewed urged caution, stressing that the possible benefit was based on preliminary statistical analyses.

Some vaccine experts questioned yesterday whether the government could count entirely on small companies to make more than 200 million doses quickly.

Dr. José Esparza, the leading vaccine expert at the United Nations AIDS agency in Geneva, said he was very encouraged by the results.