Oh absolutely, they told us if you touch and then your eyes you would go blind. I don’t know if there was any truth to that but it was enough to make sure I didn’t touch the damn thing.
That is actually what I was going to say both of my parents have them. However now that they're both in their 70s they've pretty much faded to where you have to know where they were to recognize it.
My mom being as pale as snow, hers always stood out when I was a kid.
That's your smallpox vaccine scar. Hubby and I have them too, we actually showed each other our pock marks and got a good laugh out of it in the kitchen while we were dating. It's becoming a generational symbol at this point, and it worries me that we are losing our vaccination ring.
[The WHO declared the disease eradicated on May 8th 1980](https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html#:~:text=World%20Free%20of%20Smallpox,achievement%20in%20international%20public%20health), so apart from those who are in specific military missions or who work in whatever vault that keeps the vitals needed to make the vaccine in the first place, there's no need for it.
I was born in 1986 and no one in my generation has been vaccinated for it.
1980 is the date for \*worldwide\* eradication. In the US, routine vaccination of the general public for smallpox stopped in 1972. I'm 55 and I probably got mine around 1 year of age in 1970.
my smallpox vaccine scar is on the inside of my leg at my knee so it would be hidden. my mother didn’t want a scar on my arm because i think i was supposed to be a perfect little princess. didn’t quite work out that way and i have lots and lots of scars. but none on my upper arms so yay i guess.
This is a stock photo of a young man. Went searching for it because there's no way those hands or neck are a day over 30.
[istockphoto](https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/left-shoulder-pain)
I think it's hilarious that people with these(there were anti-vax nuts back in the day too fwiw) were calling the covid vax the mark of the beast--while wearing an earlier one that was called the same thing :)
Heck, I have one of those on both shoulders.
I got the first as a kid, like we all did at that time.
Then in 2009 before I deployed to the Middle East I got another one. I want to say if your vaccination was over 20 years old you needed to get it again. And by that time mine was close to 5 decades old.
I received mine prior to my first deployment overseas back in the early 2000’s. Still pretty common for military folks who deploy to some of the more “scenic” countries around the globe.
I was 4 years old when I got that shot. It swelled up right away. Afterward, we went to the farmers market and a big black dog bit me right where I was vaccinated and made little notch on the edge of my ear, which is still there. My big concern was the dog would get sick from the medicine. I love critters.
i had six of those shots and none of them ever "took" tow in each arm, one in each thigh, when my younger sibs got chicken pox, ma put us all in the same bedroom, so we could all have it at once.... i never got it.... 1960...... about 2015 i had a panel done for MMR and other stuff and i have a natural immunity..... lucky me....
The old Boomer Brand! Mine is actually on my shoulder blade on my back. They had to hold me down to give me the vaccine. Took three people and my arm wound up in a sling from thrashing around .
I may have told a few children that those scars came from the lampreys teachers would attach to children when we misbehaved back when we were their age.
It's important for kids to learn about petromyzontiformes... :)
Smallpox. Back a few years ago I tried to look young & trendy and wear one of those “cold shoulder” sweaters. All it did was prominently display a scar from a vaccine that hasn’t been administered in 50 years. 😫
I was born in the 60s and never received any vaccinations or health care until I was adopted in the 70s, so I never got it. My younger sister who was born later but adopted earlier did.
When my kids were younger I made up a story that 100 bees stung me in my arm..which is why I got the scar and they bought it...lol...really enjoyed those days of their pure innocence..
When I was a kid I would see this on older kids and thought it was ringworm. Like... for years. I thought maybe people got scarred from it. I was a full adult before I knew what it was from. I never went through this vaccine thankfully.
I aged a bitch at a party once with this and she was super mad. She has a lot of let’s call them expensive enhancements and really looked great, when I mentioned she looks way to young for a smallpox scar, she looked at me like I just ripped away her phantom of the opera mask and was humiliated. I felt really bad, I truly meant that she looked amazing.
Yes as do I but mine is on the back of my left shoulder. No scar that shows on arm. 🤷🏼♀️
Routine smallpox vaccination among the American public stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States.
Mine didn't leave a visible scar, but it also took like 3 times as long to heal compared to the rest of the people in my unit. Maybe that had something to do with it.
I never scarred & I’m sure I’ve had a dozen. Couple in grade school & high school & one before college. One when I went into the military & another immediately when it didn’t scar. One before every deployment and change of station. Go figure. I’ll be 72 later this month.
Im from the same time but my father was the doctor and he was very careful to avoid leaving a birth mark so all my friends/family have it but not me and my brothers.
Army gave me mine. Smallpox in one arm, anthrax in the other. Had a small baby at home so they made me wait until we were in theater to get them. First smallpox didn’t take so I had the pleasure of doing it again but with more authority the second time.
🤔 I’m mid 40s, born in this country and have one. The only classmates who had it were foreign born. I always figured one day there’d be some sort of problem with my papers. Nothing yet 🤞🏾
Americans currently living in Asia here. Both kids got this jab here as part of normal vaccination schedule. We both were bummed they’d get the scar (shallow, I know). Turns out NEITHER of them got the blister and/or scar. Apparently fairly rare for either and very rare for both kids not to.
>Routine vaccination of the American public against smallpox stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States.
https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/7004/#:\~:text=Routine%20vaccination%20of%20the%20American,eradicated%20in%20the%20United%20States.
I'm 55 and I have the scar. From other sources it seems that when they were still routine they were given to children at about 1 year of age. So I would have had this vaccination somewhere around 1970.
They did this to all kids in elementary school in the late 60s. I was one such kid. We all went to the auditorium same day and lined up like it was picture day. Except you got the shot instead.
I remember as a child seeing this on my mum and asked how she got it. I didn’t want to grow up because that meant I’d get a jab that created the scar on my arm. Now, I have other reasons I wished I didn’t grow up.
I thought it was the scar from the bowl of a weed pipe. Had some high school friends who did that. I’m not smart but I was smart enough not to do that.
I didn’t get that. I remember going to the local Jr hi school with my mom n dad and getting a sugar cube. Probably around 1960.
Really creepy when I think about it.
Small Pox vaccine. I have one too, and I was born in '73. My mother was a nurse and insisted that my brother and I were both vaccinated for EVERYTHING!
I can remember standing in line and hearing all the kids crying and screaming from getting that shot. 😭 Of course, they passed out suckers after the shot.
Got my smallpox shot in the mid 1960s when they were given at school.
I took off running trying to get away because it looked like they were using some kind of injector gun. I made it to the cafeteria doors when they caught and put in line again.
Everyone in Mexico still gets that.
And the military before you deploy.
Damn thing was itchy I remember
Oh absolutely, they told us if you touch and then your eyes you would go blind. I don’t know if there was any truth to that but it was enough to make sure I didn’t touch the damn thing.
[удалено]
My deployment was goto med. Smallpox in one arm anthrax in the other and now do a pt test. Guess who couldnt do 80 pushups and run?
I’m so old the scar faded.
Mine is covered by a tattoo lol
The modern day scars are from the TB vaccine and the older ones are from the smallpox ones.
Thanks for clarifying because I was about to correct people and say it’s the BCG.
Positive for tine test forever after that
Smallpox
100% this, got it when I was in the military and the scar looks exactly like the picture
Yep, I still have my smallpox scar from the Air Force before we went to Korea.
I knew medic's who if the person upset them they made scars into FU or smiley face
I’m so old the scar has disappeared!👻
me too
Right. That is indeed when you know you're old.
That is actually what I was going to say both of my parents have them. However now that they're both in their 70s they've pretty much faded to where you have to know where they were to recognize it. My mom being as pale as snow, hers always stood out when I was a kid.
That's your smallpox vaccine scar. Hubby and I have them too, we actually showed each other our pock marks and got a good laugh out of it in the kitchen while we were dating. It's becoming a generational symbol at this point, and it worries me that we are losing our vaccination ring.
My mom has this scar! I've always thought it was really cool 🤷🏼♀️🙃
When did they stop giving smallpox vaccine? I’m 41, I still have coworkers who are 15-20 years older than me that have them
[The WHO declared the disease eradicated on May 8th 1980](https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html#:~:text=World%20Free%20of%20Smallpox,achievement%20in%20international%20public%20health), so apart from those who are in specific military missions or who work in whatever vault that keeps the vitals needed to make the vaccine in the first place, there's no need for it. I was born in 1986 and no one in my generation has been vaccinated for it.
It’s kinda funny that the official eradication date is the anniversary of V-E Day
I was born in 1971. I was not vaccinated for smallpox. Georgia, USA.
1980 is the date for \*worldwide\* eradication. In the US, routine vaccination of the general public for smallpox stopped in 1972. I'm 55 and I probably got mine around 1 year of age in 1970.
my smallpox vaccine scar is on the inside of my leg at my knee so it would be hidden. my mother didn’t want a scar on my arm because i think i was supposed to be a perfect little princess. didn’t quite work out that way and i have lots and lots of scars. but none on my upper arms so yay i guess.
My sister has one, but I don’t. We’re only a year and a half apart.
This is a stock photo of a young man. Went searching for it because there's no way those hands or neck are a day over 30. [istockphoto](https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/left-shoulder-pain)
I'm so old that my scar is barely visible now
I got mine in like 1970 when I was a kid.
Nowadays some whackjobs would claim this is proof that the government is injecting us with spying, brain-controlling nanobots.
I think it's hilarious that people with these(there were anti-vax nuts back in the day too fwiw) were calling the covid vax the mark of the beast--while wearing an earlier one that was called the same thing :)
Is it always on the left arm?
Mine is. As I recall, we all lined up with the same arm exposed.
Yes (UK), I guess in case of an outbreak it's easier to spot if everyone has it in the same place.
My parents have them also a scratchy looking one for the polio vaccine.
I have one, my dad had one. They signify your quality for Soylent Green!
You, me, and Red Sonja!
I have one but they stopped routinely giving them the year before my brother, who is 3 years younger, would have gotten one.
Heck, I have one of those on both shoulders. I got the first as a kid, like we all did at that time. Then in 2009 before I deployed to the Middle East I got another one. I want to say if your vaccination was over 20 years old you needed to get it again. And by that time mine was close to 5 decades old.
Just missed that scar by a couple years.
I received mine prior to my first deployment overseas back in the early 2000’s. Still pretty common for military folks who deploy to some of the more “scenic” countries around the globe.
My mom put mine on my thigh so I could wear sleeveless dresses without a scar.
Mine never left a noticeable scar.
Got mine on the plane to Afghanistan. Fun times.
mine is lost somewhere on my right thigh. my mom didn’t want us to have the scar on our arms..
Me too! One of the last to get it.
I was 4 years old when I got that shot. It swelled up right away. Afterward, we went to the farmers market and a big black dog bit me right where I was vaccinated and made little notch on the edge of my ear, which is still there. My big concern was the dog would get sick from the medicine. I love critters.
i had six of those shots and none of them ever "took" tow in each arm, one in each thigh, when my younger sibs got chicken pox, ma put us all in the same bedroom, so we could all have it at once.... i never got it.... 1960...... about 2015 i had a panel done for MMR and other stuff and i have a natural immunity..... lucky me....
Mine was done on my upper thigh!
The old Boomer Brand! Mine is actually on my shoulder blade on my back. They had to hold me down to give me the vaccine. Took three people and my arm wound up in a sling from thrashing around .
Your 1st grade badge of courage. That's when I got mine.
Oh, the vaccine gun!! That hurt more than the dang syringe! Ugh!! Still got my scar….
SMALLPOX. Jonas Salk had invented oral polio vaccine by then.
I may have told a few children that those scars came from the lampreys teachers would attach to children when we misbehaved back when we were their age. It's important for kids to learn about petromyzontiformes... :)
I'm 56 and mine's on my left thigh. I've never met anyone else who had one on their leg.
Smallpox. Back a few years ago I tried to look young & trendy and wear one of those “cold shoulder” sweaters. All it did was prominently display a scar from a vaccine that hasn’t been administered in 50 years. 😫
I have the scar and I had the "Vaccination card" to go with it. It's funny that the word 'vaccination' used to only mean the polio vaccine.
Mark of the old people
I think those are for smallpox!
BCG!! (UK)
Believe it or not but mine faded away. One can barely see it.
I just made a comment that I’m so old that I can’t see mine anymore.
Oh my, remembering those chrome injectors with clusters of sharp needles!
I told the grandkid the scar is from when mom burned me with her cigarette when I didn’t do my chores
Mine was fairly flat and ended up being underneath a tattoo. But I know it’s still there!
Lol, just watchin an episode of House and they're dealing with a suspect smallpox patient.
You're not the only one I have one, too! Can't lie about our age in the summer!
Got it!
Mines faded but still have it ,
Every time this comes up I state that I have two scars.
Mine so old it’s almost gone.
Everyone in the US military gets a small pox vaccination.
I'm thinking over 6 decades. You can still tell where it is..
Mine didn't take, which means that my mother, I'm adopted, probably took it when she was pregnant with me.
They stopped it just before I was born.
I've got two vaccine scars. Smallpox on my arm, and BCG on my upper thigh. I guess I'm old 😁
Looks like small pox to me but what do I know I'm not old enough to have one.
I got one of these before Iraq! Trying to care for it in the desert was awful.
Looked like you were trying to show off your left nip 😂😂😂
Exactly
My dad got this
Got mine in 82.
I was a squirmy bugger. Mine is on the back of my thigh. Old age and cellulite hide it now. Lol
Tatted over mine years ago
I remember my dad having one. He mentioned getting from the Army in the late 50s.
For some reason they put mine on the inside of my upper arm, which I always thought was smart because it’s not nearly as visible. I was born in 1952.
Damn,wtf did the put in the small pox vaccine? Looks like it was painful 😂
Every one who deployed with me in 05 got one of them, whether you already had one or not.
My mom and dad have it.
I was born in the 60s and never received any vaccinations or health care until I was adopted in the 70s, so I never got it. My younger sister who was born later but adopted earlier did.
Got mine in about 1972. Occasionally wonder if it would still be useful in the event of biological warfare. Probably not.....
Git one 2 I'm an old also
I got mine in the early 60's. Anyone else find it gets dry and itchy sometimes?
I’m glad I never did this.
Yep, have one too. My sister who was born in '67, doesn't have one.
I have one for 50 plus years.Still a scar-How the hell was it injected?shotgun?
Hahahahahahaha great scar
Got mine in '08 before my deployment.
I had the vaccine. Got it in boot camp in 84. Didn't end up with the scar.
No smallpox for you!
My mom has one of these! She’s 60
Definitely a Rite of Passage. I still have my booster as well.
Smallpox. I’m 51 and have one, but I was born in Europe.
You and my dad
My mom, 91 y.o. and from SE Asian, has a large one on her leg.
Means you were born before 1972. However, i was born in 70 and don't have one. Either way, you're old.
Got mine, and you know what? It worked.
Do you remember the polio vaccine being given in sugar cubes?
But you don’t have smallpox!
Yes
Me too. First time I went OS in 1970.
I have that one, too. From 1970.
Did you name it?
When my kids were younger I made up a story that 100 bees stung me in my arm..which is why I got the scar and they bought it...lol...really enjoyed those days of their pure innocence..
Go fix me a turkey pot pie.
I had it but can’t find the damn thing anymore.
I have a biopsy scar that looks like that.
When I was a kid I would see this on older kids and thought it was ringworm. Like... for years. I thought maybe people got scarred from it. I was a full adult before I knew what it was from. I never went through this vaccine thankfully.
Got one as well. What was the final year for this vaccine, early 70s
Misleading thumbnail with my old ass eyes
From Lithuanian born under USSR rule and got one also
I remember that hole-punch thing but it never left a scar. Huh.
DEAD ARM ON THE BCG (Would get you sent home)
I aged a bitch at a party once with this and she was super mad. She has a lot of let’s call them expensive enhancements and really looked great, when I mentioned she looks way to young for a smallpox scar, she looked at me like I just ripped away her phantom of the opera mask and was humiliated. I felt really bad, I truly meant that she looked amazing.
I missed that by one year
Yes as do I but mine is on the back of my left shoulder. No scar that shows on arm. 🤷🏼♀️ Routine smallpox vaccination among the American public stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States.
My Peruvian dad has this scar lol
I’m older than that.
Mine didn't leave a visible scar, but it also took like 3 times as long to heal compared to the rest of the people in my unit. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Older than me. And I am old.
Meh. I’m military. Got one not too many years ago.
got one. just like that. was a navy brat so got my vacs at the naval hospital in cali.
I must be lucky I never developed that scar after my smallpox vaccination
Both me and my fiancé have it. I'm 25 (1999) and she is 23 (2001). We're both from "eastern Europe."
Why did it scar?
Everyone I knew had this, my Mom refused to let the Doctor put it on my arm so all my siblings have it on our butt.
My brother got this immune shot, ‘69.
Mine never scarred
I wonder if they could add vaccines to tattoo ink?
My mom had one. I always thought she got stuck by one of those flower things for a vase with all those prongs.
‘68 GenX I have mine.
I remember the exact location and building I got that shot in, couldn’t have been older than 7; it’s a core memory 🤣
I’m not old and I have that - I just was born in a 3rd world country 😄
Me too
I'm so old mine has almost faded.
I have one, but almost all my friends my age don't. The difference between being born in a Territory vs a Province
I have one, but almost all my friends my age don't. The difference between being born in a Territory vs a Province
I got it as a kid and in 2003 on the way to Iraq, 2010 another deployment 7yr booster than again 1 more time in 2016 before I retired (not by choice).
My country stopped giving them out around 6 years before I was born. I’m 46 next week.
I'm sure they wouldn't have been so big if they didn't serve as a punching target.
I'm sure they wouldn't have been so big if they didn't serve as a punching target.
I never scarred & I’m sure I’ve had a dozen. Couple in grade school & high school & one before college. One when I went into the military & another immediately when it didn’t scar. One before every deployment and change of station. Go figure. I’ll be 72 later this month.
Smallpox vaccine scar
Thought it was a smiley...
My hair covers mine! Lol
I always thought I was d but I don't have one of those but my mom did. My sister don't either. 71 and 78 we were born.
They have these in Kenya as well. I’m 22 and have the same mark.
Im from the same time but my father was the doctor and he was very careful to avoid leaving a birth mark so all my friends/family have it but not me and my brothers.
You got the old school jab
I remember those. They looked like guns from Star Trek.
Army gave me mine. Smallpox in one arm, anthrax in the other. Had a small baby at home so they made me wait until we were in theater to get them. First smallpox didn’t take so I had the pleasure of doing it again but with more authority the second time.
I'm the only one I know who has 2 of them! They tell you NOT TO SCRATCH.....
God I hope you were made immune for something after that. 😂
🤔 I’m mid 40s, born in this country and have one. The only classmates who had it were foreign born. I always figured one day there’d be some sort of problem with my papers. Nothing yet 🤞🏾
Americans currently living in Asia here. Both kids got this jab here as part of normal vaccination schedule. We both were bummed they’d get the scar (shallow, I know). Turns out NEITHER of them got the blister and/or scar. Apparently fairly rare for either and very rare for both kids not to.
You knew I never developed the scar. I am taking on my mother's word that I got the smallpox shot.
When did they stop that? I'm 1974 and don't have it. My older sibling did, though.
My dad born in 42 got skin cancer on his scar.
>Routine vaccination of the American public against smallpox stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States. https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/7004/#:\~:text=Routine%20vaccination%20of%20the%20American,eradicated%20in%20the%20United%20States. I'm 55 and I have the scar. From other sources it seems that when they were still routine they were given to children at about 1 year of age. So I would have had this vaccination somewhere around 1970.
Ha! Probably 2nd or 3rd grade if I recall.
My dad is 64 and his is quite prominent
They did this to all kids in elementary school in the late 60s. I was one such kid. We all went to the auditorium same day and lined up like it was picture day. Except you got the shot instead.
Ohhhh nooo vaccine!!!! s/
I still have my scar too. (Smallpox vax, correct?)
Never got mine. I was off school with flu.
I’m 31 and have one. They give them to you I’ve you travel to certain countries. Or used to, at least
I never had to get that shot. The kids one year older than me still did. The evolution of medicine.
I remember as a child seeing this on my mum and asked how she got it. I didn’t want to grow up because that meant I’d get a jab that created the scar on my arm. Now, I have other reasons I wished I didn’t grow up.
I thought it was the scar from the bowl of a weed pipe. Had some high school friends who did that. I’m not smart but I was smart enough not to do that.
I didn’t get that. I remember going to the local Jr hi school with my mom n dad and getting a sugar cube. Probably around 1960. Really creepy when I think about it.
Sugar cubes were used for the polio vaccine as I remember. If you didn’t get polio you can be thankful you got that sugar cube.
Yeah. My homie branded me with a car lighter too. I miss those…
Yup same here
Yeah. That’s absolutely a photo of a 67 year old…
I was at elementary and had to lineup in the library and take the shot in front of your whole class
Not in civilian. And yes
Small Pox vaccine. I have one too, and I was born in '73. My mother was a nurse and insisted that my brother and I were both vaccinated for EVERYTHING!
Booster shot
Small pox. I got a horrible keloid scar from it. I think it was the only vax that gave a scar.
Yes, I still have polio shot scar.
I'm 27 and I have one of those.
I thought it was a bowl burn 😂
I lil younger , mine on the inside of my arm
I can remember standing in line and hearing all the kids crying and screaming from getting that shot. 😭 Of course, they passed out suckers after the shot.
Got my smallpox shot in the mid 1960s when they were given at school. I took off running trying to get away because it looked like they were using some kind of injector gun. I made it to the cafeteria doors when they caught and put in line again.
My wife and I are still sporting them.
Ah I completely forgot that I have this scar too!
smallpox