Invention of Vaccination

Dr. Edward Jenner vaccinating James Phipps. Courtesy of Wellcome Collection. 

"Now supposing...every seventh child died annually of the Small Pox, vaccination has saved the lives, in this empire, of 176,514 children."

- Alexander Crighton, a Scottish physician, in a letter to the Emperor and Empress of Russia, 1812.

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Invention of Vaccination


In May 1796, Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine in Berkeley, England. Jenner noticed that milkmaids who got cowpox did not catch smallpox. He theorized that cowpox protected against smallpox, so he developed the first vaccine. Jenner proved his theory by vaccinating a boy named James Phipps, and Jenner found that his theory was successful. By 1800, the majority of Europe knew about vaccination. 

A smallpox vaccination station. Courtesy of history.com.
Collection of cowpox lymph from a calf. Courtesy of medicalheritage.org.
Tools used for vaccination. Courtesy of Dittrick Medical History Center.

Although science proved that vaccination is safe, people were worried about injecting material from animals into their bloodstream. Despite these arguments, vaccination was still popular. 

"There is no principle to be found in nature, human nature or Revelation, which underlies or justifies the practice of vaccination."

- William Hume-Rothery, 1873

The Cow Pock or the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation, 1902. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

"I would sooner that my child died from small-pox because I should feel it was the will of God, than that they should be killed by blood-poisoning (from vaccination)."

- quote from an unknown parent in Joseph Collinson's book What It Costs to be Vaccinated, published 1896