Public Health

Title: Vaccination Certificate
Type: Document
Date: 1891
Source: Goodhue County Historical Society

Description: Patients were given these certificates to prove that they had been vaccinated for smallpox.
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Activities:

1. Why might it be important for doctors to have a record of who has been vaccinated?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Doctors would be more able to keep track o fhow many people were left to be vaccinated and how many vaccinations actually worked. If they knew that someone had already been vaccinated, it might help them diagnose a similar condition (such as chickenpox) correctly.
2. How long did the patient have to wait to find out if the vaccination worked?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This patient was given the vaccine on July 16th, and checked again on July 22nd, so the time period was about a week long.
3. What can this document tell us about where the vaccine came from?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The note mentions that the vaccine was taken from calf No. XXXVIII. The doctors probably had specific records on each calf that was injected with the vaccine.
4. What do you think might happen if someone were exposed to smallpox right after they were vaccinated—before the vaccine had enough time to work in the body?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This happened occasionally because it took the vaccine some time to be effective in the body. Patients who got smallpox after the vaccine would have to be vaccinated again at a later date.