Vaccination and religion Vaccination and religion Vaccination and religion have interrelations of varying kinds. Almost no religions object to vaccination, and some parents either fake religious adherence or invent fake religions to provide exemption. The influential Massachusetts preacher Cotton Mather was the first known person to attempt smallpox inoculation on a large scale, inoculating himself and over 200 members of his congregation with the help of a local doctor. While his view became standard, he also caused the first reaction against the practice. Rowland Hill (1744–1833) was a popular English preacher acquainted with Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination, and he encouraged
Smallpox vaccine in Koltsovo, Russia. These states report that their repositories are for possible antibioweaponry research and insurance if some obscure reservoir of natural smallpox is discovered in the future. The word "vaccine" is derived from "Variolae vaccinae" (i.e. smallpox of the cow), the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox and used in the long title of his "An enquiry into the causes and effects of Variolae vaccinae, known by the name of cow pox". Vaccination, the term which soon replaced "cowpox inoculation" and "vaccine inoculation", was first used in print by Jenner's friend, Richard Dunning in 1800. Initially, the terms