Why were vaccines for plague and cholera not enough for a large biological attack?

While effective vaccines for plague and cholera have been developed and approved, they are insufficient for a large-scale biological attack primarily due to limited production. Only small quantities of these vaccines have been manufactured, which falls far short of the volume required to protect a large population in the event of a mass-casualty biological incident.1

Ensuring public safety against such threats is a critical ethical imperative, as the indiscriminate nature of biological weapons poses a severe risk to human life. Beyond the issue of supply, civil defense strategies must integrate comprehensive medical systems, including robust stockpiles, rapid detection, and emergency response planning, to effectively mitigate the impact of weaponized bacteria or other infectious agents.21