This was discussed in McCullough’s book John Adams.
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“The fact that we’re finding these similarities in the records of our past is a very interesting parallel,”
Smallpox has a mortality rate of about 30%, and about 80% of the survivors are marked with permanent, deep-pitted marks on their face and elsewhere.
The basics of decision making involve an assessment of likelihoods, uncertainties, and unknowns, as well as the severity of risks. But such matters may be beyond the ken of archivists and journalists with an agenda.
Benjamin Franklin lost his daughter to smallpox, he said not getting her vacinnated was one of his biggest regrets in life.
Absolutely no comparison. None whatsoever.
Interesting, thanks for posting.
Reference bump - “Boston’s Congregational Library and Archives.” I’m sure I can find some ancestral records there.
GGG?
And some few did die from the innoculation by contracting a severe case of smallpox. Not sure that happened when they switched to cowpox.
But by and large the scourge of smallpox was very much reduced and eventually eliminated.
Its a pretty big stretch to compare smallpox to a cold...and the reasons for reticence are different.