"We will rally the great promise of American science and innovation to confront the greatest danger of our time," so said the President in response to the anthrax scare of 2001. Unfortunately, the rally has yet to occur.
First, the government can't figure out what they wish to use to confront the dangers of bioterrorism. There has been a war between the lobbyists for Emergent BioSolutions, a company that makes an existing anthrax vaccine that seems to have bad side effects, and VaxGen, a company with an 'updated' version of the same vaccine. VaxGen was originally chosen to manufacture the vaccine, but production has been slowed by both production difficulties and the lobbying of Emergent BioSolutions.
You might ask, "Why are companies I never heard of working on protecting the nation from an anthrax attack?" Why would Merck, Pfizer etal get involved in a situation where they get paid only upon delivery, the number of doses to be ordered is unknown, the companies would not be immune from lawsuits should a 'patient' die from the shots, which, by the way, need not go through the regular FDA vetting process as the situation is so acute.
Not only are we no safer today from an anthrax attack and have no idea when or whether a suitable vaccine will be available. We've also invested $5.6 billion in this fiasco.
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