“the thimble ...”
I’m pretty sure that’s from the small pox vax. I’m old enough to have one of those.
I am 100% sure there were TB shots, although you are probably right about that stupid thimble. I saw my childhood innoculation record and TB was on it.
But my reading says that we are now finding they were not that useful since TB appears to co-evolve with humans.
I suspect it was done in fits and starts — so maybe I was during the “on” period in California.