# Ask the guy who got the monkey pox vaccine! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446 "2022-08-10T17:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/1 "2022-08-10T17:52:26Z")
Mods, wasn’t sure if this belongs here or QZ. I’m thinking this will be a short thread. The monkey pox vaccine was given to me on Sunday, August 7 at 1700, 5 PM. I do fit the criteria for the vaccine as a man who has sex with men, that happens rarely but it is still my profile. The vaccine was painless, they pinch your left arm slightly and administer the injection, absolutely painless. It was also free even though I have excellent health insurance. The side effects were incredibly mild, just a slight soreness in my left arm. No exhaustion like after the Covid vaccines. Ask away! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/2 "2022-08-10T18:19:08Z")
Congratulations and thank you for stepping up for responsible public health measures! Do you happen to know anybody who has monkeypox? How are they handling it, and are they getting any discriminatory/phobic shit for it? (Did you get any discriminatory/phobic shit on account of your vaccination? Hope not.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/3 "2022-08-10T18:47:13Z")
Ooh, I see why they want to expand the availability of the new vaccine. I gather it is a replacement for the old smallpox vaccine (and was developed as a smallpox vaccine, but animal studies show it should also protect against monkey pox). The old smallpox vaccine made people sick, left a permanent scar, and had a high-for-a-vaccine risk of death. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/4 "2022-08-10T18:47:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > responsible public health measures! Do you happen to know anybody who has monkeypox? How are they handling it, and are they getting any discriminatory/phobic shit for it? (Did you get any discriminatory/phobic shit on account of your vaccination? Hope not.) I don’t know anyone who has monkey pox. The social shaming of ‘Market Days is a super spreader!!’ event was horrible, there’s no public sex or anything. I watched a couple of bands perform, ate some excellent Guatemalan food with my friend and then got my jab. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/5 "2022-08-10T18:52:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Ooh, I see why they want to expand the availability of the new vaccine. I gather it is a replacement for the old smallpox vaccine (and was developed as a smallpox vaccine, but animal studies show it should also protect against monkey pox). The old smallpox vaccine made people sick, left a permanent scar, and had a high-for-a-vaccine risk of death. I do wonder if I’ve had the smallpox vaccine, I don’t see it in my baby book which lists the vaccines I’ve had, but definitely isn’t exhaustive ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/6 "2022-08-10T19:52:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The old smallpox vaccine made people sick, left a permanent scar, and had a high-for-a-vaccine risk of death. Really? I still recall the day in 1947 that they took the whole elementary school out to the school yard and gave us all the smallpox vaccine (cowpox, of course). It was just a scratch on the arm, no one got sick, and it did leave a scar that I still have. But I never heard of any serious side-effects. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/7 "2022-08-10T19:59:32Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But I never heard of any serious side-effects They probably weren’t well advertised, but they did exist. Sometimes the _vaccinia_ virus spread from the inoculation site, leading to more extensive scarring. (The old vaccine was a live virus). If it spread to the eyes it could cause blindness. There were was [progressive vaccinia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_vaccinia) when the vaccine’s virus destroyed skin tissue which, as the name implies _progressed_ - sometimes over the entire body. Not as fatal as it used to be, but still requiring skin grafts to repair extensive areas of damage. People with a history of eczema are at higher risk of these side effects than the general population, as is anyone with a suppressed immune system. The old smallpox vaccine had the highest rate of adverse effects and death of any vaccine used in the 20th Century. Yes, those events were statistically rare, but still tragedies when they occurred. As someone with a history of eczema I’m quite pleased they’ve come up with a safer alternative. (For the record - I did get the old smallpox vaccine as a baby, and still have the scar to prove it, so it was not invariably a disaster when given to someone with eczema but the risks were definitely higher.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/8 "2022-08-10T20:16:00Z")
I was an infant, and don’t remember my small pox vaccine. Maybe it was uncommon to get sick from it, beyond the one pock. But when I was reading up on the shortage of the new vaccine, and about the reluctance to use the stockpiled old vaccine, I was impressed by all the issues with the old vaccine. (and the stockpiled vaccine is a little safer than the one most of us oldies had.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/9 "2022-08-10T22:11:41Z")
How old are you? My records show I got it as a baby in 1965, but I don’t have the classic arm scar. I do have a small crater on my shin, but that could also be from chicken pox. They stopped giving it routinely around 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/10 "2022-08-10T22:29:08Z")
And of course, even with the risks of the old smallpox vaccine, it was still the safe, sane, and rational course of action, compared to smallpox. We modern folks have largely forgotten what a real pestilence is like. Which is both a blessing and a curse: May we remember the real pestilence, without needing a reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/11 "2022-08-10T22:49:10Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How old are you? Old enough. Born before 1970. The level of scarring will vary from person to person. Mine is very faint now, but it is a definite smallpox vaccination scar on my upper left arm. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/12 "2022-08-10T23:52:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As someone with a history of eczema I’m quite pleased they’ve come up with a safer alternative. I didn’t know about the higher scarring risk. I’ve also wondered why I sport no vaccine scar but my older and younger siblings all have the scar. I’m guessing they skipped giving me the scar based on the history of my extensive allergies. How extensive? Rice gave me eczema as a infant/toddler. Though the allergy did disappear as I got older, it is a very rare one and it freaked out my doctors. Rice had been identified as the most non-allergenic food possible at the time. Since that time it has been identified as a possible, but still very rare, infant allergy. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/13 "2022-08-11T07:07:51Z")
I got my first MPX vax on Monday. My county only acknowledged monkeypox about two weeks ago and there’s nowhere to get the vaccine anywhere in this county. Amazing, since we’re in the San Francisco Bay Area. I managed to grab an appointment at a pharmacy a few counties away. I’ve had no reaction other than the injection site is still sore. My partner, OTOH, felt awful the next day. He got clobbered with headaches and vertigo attacks from all four of the Covid shots (Moderna then Pfizer boosters) so I’m not too surprised. The current scheme in California and some other states is to prioritize getting as many first shots into as many arms as possible then doing the second shot. There’s apparently no “penalty” for delaying the second other than not getting the full effectiveness - it’s not like we’ll need to start over again when more doses are available. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/14 "2022-08-11T07:37:34Z")
Regarding the smallpox scar…my vaccination is invisible, but my mom’s smallpox scar was (IIRC) at least an inch across, and quite noticeable if she wore sleeveless dresses. So I conclude the technology has changed over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/15 "2022-08-11T08:14:43Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I’m guessing they skipped giving me the scar based on the history of my extensive allergies. How extensive? Rice gave me eczema as a infant/toddler. Though the allergy did disappear as I got older, it is a very rare one and it freaked out my doctors. Rice had been identified as the most non-allergenic food possible at the time. Since that time it has been identified as a possible, but still very rare, infant allergy. Then you may not have been vaccinated. by the 1960’s the risk of having an eczema history was known and sometimes used as a justification for foregoing the vaccine. As smallpox had been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere by then skipping the vaccine in a few, medically justified cases posed minimal risk. The old vaccine _always_ left a scar. Sometimes it was more obvious, sometimes less, and they do fade with age, but you would have had one as a kid if you’d been vaccinated. They might have skipped you due to your medical history. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/16 "2022-08-11T14:27:07Z")
Some information, and questions, about the monkeypox vaccine > **[Your Local Epidemiologist](https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)** > > Providing a direct line of public health science to you. Click to read Your Local Epidemiologist, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of readers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/17 "2022-08-11T14:30:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > They might have skipped you due to your medical history. Yeah, my (uninformed) guess was that when carnut wrote “I’m guessing they skipped giving me the scar” she meant to write “giving me the shot”. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/18 "2022-08-11T19:18:52Z")
Regarding the scar from the smallpox vaccination, it’s much more difficult to find my husband’s scar, compared to when I first met him, more than 3 decades ago. I never got vaccinated for smallpox, as I am just a little bit too young. Oddly enough, my husband’s sister, who is younger than me, did get vaccinated. I think she got vaccinated very young. For those who were able to get the vaccination, I’ll add my congrats and thanks. Science rules! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/19 "2022-08-11T22:37:24Z")
Um, yeah, that. Even in high school, my friends noticed I didn’t have the scar but I forgot to ask my mother about whether or not I received the vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446/20 "2022-08-11T23:47:59Z")
My smallpox vax scar has disappeared but was on my thigh. My younger sister got hers as an infant on the bottom of her foot and had no scar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-got-the-monkey-pox-vaccine/969446.md?page=2)