That's misleading Levianon. True, they weren't "vaccinated", they were inoculated or variolated, by scratching the arm and wiping a small amount of the puss from smallpox sores into the scratch. The actual vaccine, based on the cowpox virus, came along later.
I don't know if this is true, but read that about 4% of people variolated for smallpox died from the inoculation, versus 40% of people who contracted the disease naturally. That's a good reward/risk ratio if an epidemic is raging and you believe most people will be infected. But nowhere near as good as what we've got with the COVID 19 vaccines and boosters.
Originally Posted by Tiny
for tiny and L-17:
https://wellcomecollection.org/artic...waAoHOEALw_wcB
This is how, on 14 May 1796, he (Edward Jenner) came to take fluid from a cowpox blister on Nelmes’s hand and scratch it onto the skin of James Phipps, who had previously had neither cowpox nor smallpox. As expected, Phipps contracted cowpox and, once his fever subsided, Jenner then attempted to inoculate him using live smallpox.
This technique, also known as variolation, involved deliberately infecting a patient with a mild dose of smallpox in the expectation that it would provide protection from a more severe infection. It had long been practised in China, India, the Ottoman Empire, parts of Africa, and even Pembrokeshire, and had gained popularity in Western medicine after 1721, when it was championed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Lady Mary had arranged for her children to be variolated after witnessing the practice in Turkey, and soon persuaded Caroline, Princess of Wales, to have her own children inoculated.
https://stlukesmuseum.org/edu-blog/a...an-revolution/
Elizabeth Fenn, author of
Pox Americana, notes that artists tend to flatter their subjects. This is certainly true of the portraits we are familiar with of
George Washington, our first President and the hero of the American Revolution. The reality that is overlooked in these portraits are the scars George Washington had from a bout of
smallpox he survived as a young man of 19. In 1751, he set out with his half-brother,
Lawrence, to the island of Barbados in the hopes that Lawrence’s consumption (tuberculosis) would improve in more favorable conditions. Unfortunately, this did not work and Lawrence would die of his malady the following July in 1752.
During his visit to Barbados, George contracted smallpox and was bedridden for a month combatting the high fevers, sores, rashes, and body aches that come with the dreaded virus whose technical name is Variola. This episode in young George Washington’s life would have a profound impact on history. It made Washington immune to the disease that would later devastate the North American Continent. In July of 1775, just three months into the conflict with England that would become known as the American Revolution, George Washington took command of the patriot army. He faced not only the greatest military power in the world, but also the scourge of Variola. He had a difficult decision to make: Should he inoculate the army?
George Washington was a firm believer in smallpox
inoculation, perhaps because of his history with the disease. But unlike many vaccines today, early forms of inoculation would give people a less severe form of the disease in order to create immunity. Even a minor bout with smallpox could leave a person incapacitated and Washington could not afford to have a large portion of his under-trained and inexperienced soldiers out of commission for any significant period of time.
Washington decided the best course of action was to have new soldiers inoculated upon recruitment. This decision was met with controversy and concern. Though it could (and did) save the bulk of his army, there was a 1% mortality rate due to the primitive form of inoculation used at the time. Furthermore, inoculation was not yet accepted by society and Washington faced a great deal of criticism for introducing it to the patriot army. The idea of intentionally giving someone a mild version of a disease seemed immoral to many colonists. Failing to require inoculation would have clearly had more devastating results, negatively impacting the fight for American Independence.
One may parse words as to the meaning of vaccine/vaccination. There is historical evidence that Washington did order his troops vaccinated/ inoculated against variola ( smallpox).
- links above.
