April 29, 2025

From Smallpox to COVID: What Vaccines Have Taught Us

Vaccines are one of the biggest achievements in health care. Thanks to vaccines, smallpox, a disease that once killed hundreds of millions, is gone, and we are close to getting rid of polio, too. Vaccines have also helped protect kids from serious illnesses like measles, mumps, and whooping cough, lowering the number of people getting diseases that they can prevent, making kids healthier. Not all disease impacts are measurable in the illness itself. All of them require strict isolation. Many of us can’t afford to be at home with children who are getting one preventable childhood disease after another. Despite these successes, there is a growing number of people who have doubts about vaccines, leading to mistrust of public health and medicine.  

Vaccinations Over the Years

Vaccines have always had their critics. From the smallpox vaccine in the 18th century to concerns in the mid-20th century, society generally trusted vaccines and how well they worked. When we begin to see a major shift in beliefs about vaccines is the beginning of COVID-19. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a steady increase in vaccine hesitancy, with a huge influence from the media and the rapid spread of misinformation. With the newness of the vaccine, people were influenced by what was reported on the news and social media. 

It also made it easier to become vaccine-hesitant when trusted organizations, such as the CDC and WHO, began to take down their educational materials. People started to trust less when these organizations seemed to change their advice many times. Some people thought these changes were because of politics, not just science.

This loss of trust shows how important it is for all organizations to share clear, honest, and science-based information. Healthcare providers must also establish a trusting and comfortable relationship with their patients to answer their concerns about vaccines. These conversations take time, which is in short supply in the modern doctor’s office. This can help people feel more confident about vaccines again. 

Reaching Herd Immunity

There are many reasons why some people feel unsure about vaccines. Some of this comes from real and painful history, like unethical medical experiments that caused some communities to stop trusting doctors and healthcare. Others worry about what’s in vaccines, side effects, or believe it’s better to fight sickness naturally. These are all understandable feelings. Unfortunately, what we think we know is not always based on fact, pro and con. 

We live in a connected world, and the choices we make affect others. Ebola. HIV. Drug-resistant tuberculosis. Common, highly infectious diseases like measles and mumps, which used to be rare, are starting to come back. Common does not mean that they can’t be dangerous. That’s why it’s important to think about how our actions can help keep everyone safe.

We cannot afford to be individualistic with once-uncommon diseases coming back. 

Vaccine policies have always been centered around the greater good. Immunizations don’t protect just you, but also the community around you. It is done by herd immunity. Herd immunity happens when enough people in a group are protected from a virus, so it has a hard time spreading. People can become protected in different ways: getting sick and getting better, getting a vaccine, or getting protection from someone else. Getting vaccinated is the safest and best way.

Each person who is protected helps stop the virus from spreading to others. If you’re vaccinated, the virus has a harder time using you to spread or change into a new version. When a virus spreads easily, even more people need to be protected to stop it. 

Some people believe that herd immunity can be reached without vaccines. If we tried to get herd immunity by letting people catch a disease, a lot of people will get really sick, and some will even die. Some will be disabled for life. That’s not a safe way to protect everyone. It’s easy. It’s tempting to forget that not all of us are equally able to resist a natural disease. Do you know someone who has arthritis who has special medication, or someone with HIV? 

None of these people will do well in an unvaccinated society. Are we going to ask them to imprison themselves for life to minimize contact with these wild viruses? It is not just a matter of contact with people, but also surfaces. These viruses live a long time. 

Vaccines have helped us for many years. They protect us from the illness itself, possible dire consequences of the illness, and preventable death. As they protect people from getting sick, they also help protect others around them, like babies and grandparents, people who can’t get vaccinated, or those with weak immune systems. Many people count on the rest of us to get vaccinated so they can stay safe too.