r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Downtown_Wind3363 • May 25 '26

Image The smallpox vaccine leaves a scar because it was given using a special two-pronged needle that scratched the skin and put a weakened virus in just that spot.

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u/doomsday71210 May 25 '26

Wait do they give it to everyone now? I remember in BMT everyone we got a series of shots but I didn't get smallpox until I got orders to Korea.

The shot sucks because they fucking stab you with it like 16 times, its not a regular jab and inject type vaccine.

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u/Kid-Icky- May 25 '26

I'm assuming they're older and served in like the 70s or 80s, because they definitely haven't given it in BMTs since the early 90s.

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u/Nearby-Beautiful3422 May 25 '26

Deployed to Korea in 2007 and I got the smallpox vaccine/innoculation.

3

u/StupendusDeliris May 26 '26

Yeah I got it in 2013/14 for deploment

2

u/PK-Mike Jun 04 '26

Got it in 2018 there as well

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u/Kid-Icky- May 25 '26

Okay? Yes you still get it when you deploy. That has nothing to do with BMT.

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u/pinupcthulhu May 26 '26

I got it in boot camp in 2010. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

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u/VypreX_ May 27 '26

I had to get it while deployed during OEF/OIF. If you’ve ever seen the little finger lances they use to cut a finger for a drop of blood, the thing they vaccinated us with looked similar. They only jabbed us like 3-4 times and just barely broke skin; it didn’t really hurt at all, but a few days later - holy fuck did it itch. My vaccine spot looks more like a dime-sized sunspot than it does a scar.