Lessons from Smallpox Vaccination

Abstract

What lessons can we learn from the history in regards to smallpox vaccination? Can public health authorities force the public into vaccination compliance, or is compliance a function of fear of the disease itself? To help answer these questions, this paper looks at three historical sites: Milwaukee in 1894, where attempts to force vaccination resulted in riots in the streets; Boston beginning in 1901, where individual resistance led to a pivotal court case; and New York City in 1946, where a relatively small outbreak led to voluntary mass vaccination of the citizenry.