There were mixed reactions to vaccination from its release until smallpox’s eradication. Some people accepted it, others were skeptical about its safety. Some thought the vaccine, coming from cowpox, would turn them into cows. Another problem was that germ theory wasn’t developed, so people would reuse the same dirty needles for vaccination. This passed tetanus, blood-borne diseases, etc, to the next person, causing distrust in vaccination. However, scientists eventually understood the problem, and how to prevent it. Some rejected vaccination for religious reasons, believing disease prevention interfered with God’s will. Others were scared they would sicken from the vaccine and thought healthy people should not risk it. People eventually accepted the vaccine after they saw evidence that it was working.

“I attained a triumph so complete that it is now rare to meet an American with marks of small pox on his face... Benefits are valuable according to their duration and extent... but the benign remedy Vaccination (sic) saves millions of lives every century, like the [gift] of the sun, universal and everlasting."

-Benjamin Waterhouse, physician 

"An advertisement for one of the smallpox vaccinations available circa 1900." (Bencks)

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Edward Jenner (American History from Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond)

“Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time.
Conscientious objectors to vaccination should stand alone, if need be, against the whole world, in defense of their conviction.”
​​​​​​​- Mahatma Gandhi

A cartoon showing what people believed would happen after getting vaccinated. (Davies)

"A cartoon from a December 1894 anti-vaccination publication" (Earl)

 "Children are fed to the disease ridden cow creature, representing vaccination." (The Past is a Foreign Pantry)

​​​​​​​ "Anti-vaccination cartoon, from the cartoon booklet, "Health in Pictures," 1930 (Grogan)