Here's a little thread on crappy public responses to pandemics of the past. Whenever you feel angry about the behaviour of your fellow man, remember, all this has happened before, and all this will happen again - history offers comfort. None of this is new. Enjoy.
1918 Influenza pandemic.
1885 Smallpox Pandemic (vaccinia vaccine)
1801 "La Dindonnade" - a word meaning 'turkey' and 'hoax' - the smallpox vaccine originally was taken from cowpox pustules on cows. No one believed it worked, some believed they would turn into cows.
1885 Excerpt from an antivaxxer pamphlet re Smallpox (one of the most successful vaccination strategies in the world, given we don't get smallpox now)
1802 Antivaxxer caricature of vaccinated men and women growing cow parts. (Gillray).
1885, antivaccination poster, Montreal, saying all the same things they say now (like sticking the boot into medics for imaginary kickbacks).
There are hundreds more like this. I haven't done the Chinese ephemera because I don't have the language to search for it, but if any of my Chinese colleagues could, I'd be delighted. The Chinese were hundreds of years ahead of us on variolation/vaccination.
But take heart everyone. All the arguments you see being made today have been made before. And we've prevailed through pandemics and epidemics before, and we will again. Keep speaking your truth. 🙏
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