With a history of three centuries, vaccination has wiped out deadly diseases, but even today there are anti-vaccination movements culminating in the case of the coronavirus
Since the beginning of the corona virus pandemic in many countries like in Germany a strong movement has been created that opposes health restrictions and vaccination in particular. Vaccination nevertheless has a long history of being a key weapon in the prevention of most communicable diseases known to mankind, thereby preventing millions of deaths annually. Well into the 19th century, infectious diseases and wound infections were the number one cause of death worldwide. Especially smallpox. The English historian Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859) describing the effects of the disease wrote that smallpox “filled the cemeteries with corpses and tormented for life those who had escaped”.
Since ancient times people had noticed how the plague could be fought. There are reports from India, China or Constantinople that those who survived an infectious disease were protected from further infections. The same thing happened when healthy people came into contact with weakened forms of the virus. In China, as early as 1,000 BC. dried smallpox scabs were ground in a mortar and the powder was administered as medicine.
Doctor Edward Jenner, the so-called “father” of the vaccine, discovered in 1796 that farmers who came into contact with smallpox-infected cows, which were harmless to them, became immune to human smallpox. However, it took until the 20th century for medical science to understand the mechanism of vaccines. From 1864, when the French chemist Louis Pasteur presented the germ theory to explain the transmission of epidemics, to the development of the electron microscope in 1940, the foundations were laid for the research of viruses that infect humans and subsequently the development of vaccines.
Vaccination resistance has a long tradition
In the 19th century, European states already started vaccination programs with Germany as a pioneer and specifically the region of Hesse in 1807, while in 1874 vaccination against smallpox became mandatory. From the beginning there have been concerns regarding the effectiveness of vaccines and whether they are harmful to health. The first anti-vaccination organizations in Germany were founded in 1869 in Leipzig and Stuttgart. At the time of the Weimar Republic, the Reich Union Against Vaccination (RDI) had about 300,000 members. From the creation of the first vaccines until today, many diseases are repeatedly transmitted to the vaccinated due to poor hygiene and ignorance, while allergic reactions have caused deaths. It wasn’t until the 19th century that the scientific community realized that a second vaccination was sometimes necessary.
Medical history writer Malte Thiessen notes that the idea of ​​injecting yourself with something that makes you sick to protect yourself is initially met with skepticism. Those who are wary of the benefits of vaccines worry about their safety and often end up in denial.
Anti-vaccination movements have a strong presence to this day
Conspiracy theories on the matter flourish. On the one hand, it is considered that there is the pharmaceutical industry that spreads diseases in order to benefit financially. While on the other hand there is also the alleged global conspiracy that wants to subjugate the world’s population through compulsory vaccination.
After the Second World War, the two German states followed separate paths when it came to vaccination. In East Germany people were routinely vaccinated against smallpox, measles, tuberculosis and other diseases. West Germany mainly emphasized enlightenment – according to a characteristic slogan of the time “vaccine by mouth sweet luck, polio bad luck”. German reunification also brought an end to compulsory vaccination. Only from 2020 measles vaccination is compulsory in Germany for all citizens born after 1970 who work in or are treated in community organizations. This also applies to medical institutions and rescue services.
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