Posted on May 14, 2021
PHOTOS: Vaccine History Repeats Itself — Sometimes
788
5
1
3
3
0
Vaccines delivered by drones and by burros. People who shout about the danger of vaccines and refuse to get a jab. Public health campaigns to convince the vaccine hesitant. Public criticism of a failure to provide vaccines for lower-income countries and marginalized populations.
These are all part of the unprecedented world vaccination campaign now going on.
They're also the hot-button topics that go back to the very first vaccine — for smallpox in 1796.
These are all part of the unprecedented world vaccination campaign now going on.
They're also the hot-button topics that go back to the very first vaccine — for smallpox in 1796.
PHOTOS: Vaccine History Repeats Itself — Sometimes
Posted from npr.org
Pharmaceuticals
Medical
Health
World History
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 1
2
2
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"Back then, it was a painstaking process. Liquid was usually taken from an open smallpox sore, dried and mixed with water when ready to vaccinate. But transportation delays would sometimes render the vaccine ineffective (the method had a shelf life of weeks to months — not a long time considering the transport options at the time).
On Jan. 1, 1900, a young cow is tied onto a table waiting for the extraction of pox sore to be used for vaccines for smallpox.
Berliner Illustrations Gesellschaft/ullstein bild via Getty Images
The solution? Medical teams would take children (in one case, orphans were used to transport the virus from Spain to its colonies) and animals (like cows and horses) from village to village or from country to country, harvesting liquid from smallpox or cowpox sores and getting it under the skin of an unvaccinated person. But that was clearly not a sustainable practice, says Bhattacharya, for ethical and scientific reasons.
Many years of innovation later followed, including the development of freeze-dried vaccines. The COVID vaccine world is currently dependent on cold chain technology that uses super freezers to keep vaccines at temperatures as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit while they make their way on planes, trains and automobiles.
"Back then, it was a painstaking process. Liquid was usually taken from an open smallpox sore, dried and mixed with water when ready to vaccinate. But transportation delays would sometimes render the vaccine ineffective (the method had a shelf life of weeks to months — not a long time considering the transport options at the time).
On Jan. 1, 1900, a young cow is tied onto a table waiting for the extraction of pox sore to be used for vaccines for smallpox.
Berliner Illustrations Gesellschaft/ullstein bild via Getty Images
The solution? Medical teams would take children (in one case, orphans were used to transport the virus from Spain to its colonies) and animals (like cows and horses) from village to village or from country to country, harvesting liquid from smallpox or cowpox sores and getting it under the skin of an unvaccinated person. But that was clearly not a sustainable practice, says Bhattacharya, for ethical and scientific reasons.
Many years of innovation later followed, including the development of freeze-dried vaccines. The COVID vaccine world is currently dependent on cold chain technology that uses super freezers to keep vaccines at temperatures as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit while they make their way on planes, trains and automobiles.
(2)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google