As a child, I noticed a distinct scar on my mother\u2019s shoulder\u2014a ring of small indents around a larger one\u2014but I forgot about it over the years.<\/p>\n
Later, seeing the same scar on an elderly woman, I called my mother, who reminded me: it was from the smallpox vaccine.<\/p>\n
Smallpox, a deadly disease killing 30% of those infected, was eradicated in the U.S. by 1952, and routine vaccination ended in 1972. Every child before then received the vaccine, leaving a scar from the two-pronged needle and resulting blisters\u2014a \u201cfirst vaccine passport\u201d that many, like my mother, still bear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"