Smallpox vaccinations: When did they discontinue giving them in general in the US?

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

As the title says. My cursory search hasn't turned up the date when it was no longer routinely offered/expected for the general public.

[Thudlow Boink]

I was born in 1968, and I got one, but I think they stopped giving them shortly thereafter. IIRC my brother, who was born in 1971, didn't get one.

[Shagnasty]

1973 here - I didn't get one nor did any family members born after me.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Discontinued in 1972, if I'm reading this correctly.

[Skammer]

I think it varied by location. I was born in early '69 and got one; my brother was born in mid-'70 and didn't. However I know there are people younger than my brother who did get the inocculation, so I don't think it was a like a switch being turned off when it was no longer given. It seems to have been phased out over at least several months if not a few years in the early '70s.

[toadspittle]

I got one in 1974. But I think that was only because my dad is a Pediatrician.

[SmartAleq]

I got one in 1967 but that was because we were moving to Japan and it came along with immunizations for cholera, typhoid and a whole gang of other stuff that I doubt most American schoolkids got. Then I had another one done in 1969 for some reason I'm not sure of, so I actually have a smallpox vax scar on each shoulder.

[bump]

I was going to say sometime between 1972 and 1979, because I got one, and my younger brother didn't, but I suppose it's possible that I was on the extreme trailing end of the compulsory smallpox vaccinations.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

1972 it is! Thanks, Rube E. for the cite.

A tip of the hat to all the rest of you anecdotal information providers!

[Musicat]

Qadgop, the size of the scar was large long ago but much smaller before it was discontinued. I don't know why -- perhaps you do. My mother's, acquired ca. 1910, was an ugly thing about an inch across or more, typical for her peers, I believe. My own, received mid-century, is barely noticeable.