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Not every vaccine left a scar. I was vaccinated, and I have no scar.

I have read accounts that plenty of stockpiles of vaccine have been made, and now they're figuring out the best places for storage. Given any vaccine's problems, I don't think mass vaccination for smallpox a good idea. Anthrax is more likely than smallpox as a terrorist attack...

I am glad to read that the tetanus vaccine shortage is over.

some girls got immunized on their feet or legs because they didn't want the unsightly scar on their shoulder. So, some physicians immunized behind the knee or ankle. I suppose some lucky sap is going to be looking at his wife's knees and ankles now?

(Ohhh...did I say that!!! OOpsss...welll...have fun looking for scars!)

Not every vaccine left a scar. I was vaccinated, and I have no scar.

I have already said this to another American earlier, perhaps the vaccination method has changed since you had it. However, I doubt it, a scar from a Smallpox vaccination proves the vaccination worked. If you haven't got one there is an element of doubt as to whether or not you have any immunity.

Here's a quote regarding aftercare for successful Smallpox vaccination from one of my old textbooks: 'Jawetz, Melnick & Adelberg's Medical Microbiology' 20th Edition. Editors: G. F. Brooks, J. S. Butel and L. N. Ornston. Published in 1995.

'1. Primary take - In the fully susceptible person, a papule surrounded by hyperemia appears on the third or fourth day. The papule increases in size until vesiculation appears (on the fifth or sixth day). The vesicle reaches its maximum size by the ninth day and then becomes pustular, usually with some tenderness of the axillary nodes. Dessication follows and is complete in about 2 weeks, leaving a depressed pink scar that ultimately turns white. The reading of the result is usually done on the seventh day. If this reaction is not observed, vaccination should be repeated.

2. Revaccination - A successful revaccination shows in 6-8 days a vesicular or pustular lesion or an area of palpable induration surrounding a central lesion, which may be a scab or an ulcer. Only this reaction indicates with certainty that viral multiplication has taken place. Equivocal reactions may represent immunity but may also represent merely allergic reactions to a vaccine that has become inactivated. When an equivocal reaction occurs, the revaccination should be repeated using a new lot of vaccine known to give "takes" in other persons.'

This quote was from an American medical textbook, so it should be referring to reactions commonly seen in vaccinees using the standard American Smallpox vaccines.