Smallpox vaccine Smallpox vaccine Smallpox vaccine, the first successful vaccine to be developed, was introduced by Edward Jenner in 1796. He followed up his observation that milkmaids who had previously caught cowpox did not later catch smallpox by showing that inoculated cowpox protected against inoculated smallpox. Dryvax is a freeze-dried calf lymph smallpox vaccine. It is the world's oldest smallpox vaccine, created in the late 19th century by American Home Products, a predecessor of Wyeth. By the 1940s, Wyeth was the leading US manufacturer of the vaccine and the only manufacturer by the 1960s. After world health authorities declared smallpox had been
1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic were critical to limiting the spread of smallpox in Canada. After the epidemic the HBC implemented a territory wide vaccination program which further reduced smallpox deaths. Unfortunately, as people entered communities with the intention of vaccinating against smallpox, they brought with them additional diseases that worked to keep mortality rates high. The epidemic would alter power structures of impacted nations. As the Assinboine and Niitsitapi did not get the opportunity for vaccination and as a result both their populations and territory shrunk considerably. The disease was particularly deadly among these people because of the denser populations. After being hit by