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The smallpox vaccine left very distinctive scars on those who received it. This mark appeared because the vaccination method was different from modern techniques — a bifurcated needle was used to make multiple punctures in the skin.
Once administered, the weakened virus began to multiply, forming small bumps that turned into blisters, then scabs, and finally left a visible ring-shaped or sunken circular scar.
This vaccine was crucial in eradicating smallpox: in the United States, the disease was officially declared eliminated in 1952, and routine vaccination ended around 1972.
Today, those scars are seen as a kind of historical “immunity passport,” a visible reminder of a time when humanity fought one of the deadliest diseases ever recorded — and a lasting symbol of how science and global cooperation came together to save millions of lives.
