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As a recipient of a number of smallpox vaccinations, I found Jess McHugh’s Dec. 12 Washington Post article on the history of smallpox and its eradication by vaccination fascinating (“First U.S. vaccine mandate in 1809 launched 200 years of court battles”).

A long line winds toward the entrance to Morrisania Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y., where doctors were inoculating adults and children against smallpox on April 14, 1947. In an attempt to halt an outbreak of the disease, officials said city residents were being vaccinated at the rate of eight a minute. Associated Press

Vaccinating as many of the world’s population as possible is something sane members of society are trying to do. Alas, unfortunately, too many ignorant and uninformed people are making their voices heard and convincing others it’s all a hoax and fake news.

My son Paul made a comment that I found very interesting. He said, “If COVID-19 caused body lesions and scarring, as in smallpox, the pandemic would be under control because people would be rushing and fighting to get vaccinated. Religious and medical exemptions would go out the window.” That happened with smallpox when the vaccine became available.

Something to think about.

Yvonne Bytheway Dickson
Buxton

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