[Wrigley]

Anyone know how long the vacine is good for? I think some have recieved it before.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Anyone know how long the vacine is good for? I think some have recieved it before.

I don't think they know for sure - but the general school of thought is that you're probably not protected if you had it as a child.

[homeschool mama]

If you had the smallpox shot as a child you'll need another one. I heard the window is 10 years.

[Liberty Ship]

The official line is that it is good for 10 years. Unofficially, there is speculation that protection decreases lineraly after that meaning that you might get a milder case if you have ever been vaccinated than if you have never been vaccinated.

Another school of thought is that when we "conquored" smallpox THEN stopped vaccinating, we created a society with zero immunity to the disease which was worse than before.

There is no way to test these theories given that WHO decalared smallpox dead. However, I tend to agree with the DOD reps in my previous post. Better safe than sorry. At the moment we are sorry and the scramble to produce vaccine proves that those opposed to declaring victory over smallpox and making the vaccine unavaible to the public have been vindicated.

[arkfreepdom]

No one knows for sure, but there is a good chance some immunity is conferred for a lifetime. Studies done many years ago suggest that people who had had cow pox were immune their entire life.