# Will Smallpox injections become mandatory? (Warning - Conspiracy Theory Ahead) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525 "2002-12-13T16:20:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/21 "2002-12-14T00:07:26Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [“Chemtrails” and contrails](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000616.html). ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/22 "2002-12-14T00:17:51Z")
Thank you **manhattan**. No other source can give such truths as **Cecil** :). I’ll be telling my SO that tonite 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/23 "2002-12-14T00:19:02Z")
I’d still like to know though, will any of you be getting the smallpox injection voluntarily? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/24 "2002-12-14T00:21:10Z")
I will be volunteering for the smallpox virus, even though I’ve already had it. Speaking of which, does anyone know if I can get it on top of the smallpox berry I already have, or will I have to get another one (or will a second vaccination even leave a berry)? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/25 "2002-12-14T00:22:07Z")
> [@](#): > > will any of you be getting the smallpox injection voluntarily? Not me. I’m just walking around in a Level Four Biosuit. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/26 "2002-12-14T02:16:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > **I will be volunteering for the smallpox virus, even though I’ve already had it.** I presume because it doesn’t last forever and you’d like a “booster” shot, right? > [@](#): > > \*\*Speaking of which, does anyone know if I can get it on top of the smallpox berry I already have, or will I have to get another one (or will a second vaccination even leave a berry)? \*\* Why does a smallpox vaccination **leave** a “berry” to begin with? (I always thought it looked less like a berry than a miniature old-fashioned telephone dial.) ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/27 "2002-12-14T02:31:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*According to the book _Teller’s War_, he actually ripped off most of his research from others. The stuff he did solo didn’t ever really pan out. His reputation as a genius, according to the authors, was carefully cultivated by Teller himself through long association with political figures and has little to do with his scientific accomplishments. Might be worth a separate thread; sorry for the hijack. \*\* My wife worked at Lawrence Radiation Lab in 1964-65. Teller, the co-founder, was still emeritus. The scientists there considered him to be absolutely brilliant. A story was that when Teller was shown a new result by some scientist, he was apt to dig out a file where he had derived that result years earlier, but not bothered to publish it. OTOH William Broad, who wrote _Teller’s War_, is certainly a highly reputable science journalist. I enjoyed one of his other books, _The Universe Below : Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea_ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/28 "2002-12-14T03:21:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by In Conceivable \* > Also, why are they waiting until 2004 to give the shots to the general public? There isn’t enough vaccine at the moment. So the military (mandatory) and emergency workers (voluntary) will get it first. As more vaccine becomes available, it will be offered to more and more people. As a side benefit(?), the delay will allow for observation and possible changes to the vaccine. In short, the military and emergency workers will also be guinea pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Azure\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@Azure\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azure_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/29 "2002-12-14T04:06:03Z")
Well, I wouldn’t voluntarily get the shot. It can have some [nasty](http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/vaccineimages2.asp)[consequences](http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/VaccineImages.asp), and IMHO, I don’t think that smallpox will be used as a biological weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/30 "2002-12-14T18:07:12Z")
Instead of making it mandatory, why not just announce that there is a shortage of vaccine, and make it available on a first-come first-served basis? The sheep will be lining up in droves. Baa-aaaa!! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/31 "2002-12-14T18:41:58Z")
Don’t you people read the news? The smallpox vaccine will be mandatory for military personell, but voluntary for the general population. Voluntary. You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to. In fact, there are NO mandatory vaccinations for adults. Nobody has to get vaccinated for anything. The only thing they can do is refuse to let unvaccinated kids attend public schools. Which seems like good public policy to me…if your kids are carriers of whatever infectious plague, I think you should have the decency to keep them home. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/32 "2002-12-14T19:16:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\* there are NO mandatory vaccinations for adults. \*\* Not yet anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/33 "2002-12-14T23:12:24Z")
Yes, I agree that if the government started rounding people up and vaccinating them forcibly, or shooting people who refuse the vaccine, that would be bad. Bad, yes. But…guess what…it hasn’t happened! And it won’t happen! We are allowed to refuse medical treatment, even it would cause our own deaths. So I really can’t see how or why we would decide to make smallpox vaccine mandatory, when there isn’t even a proven threat of a smallpox epidemic. Even if terrorists DID release smallpox and there was a smallpox epidemic, we STILL wouldn’t make the vaccine mandatory. There might be travel restrictions, where only people with proof of vaccination could pass roadblocks, but even those would be temporary until the outbreak was contained. The other thing I hate is this talk of “the government” making vaccinations mandatory. There is no such thing as “the government”. The government is US. We would decide such a thing, if it was going to be done. The people who think that we already live under a dictatorship invariably are those who want the government to do something the vast majority of the population is opposed to. Guess what? Most people in this country are satisfied with the way things are run. If you don’t like it, stop complaining that we live under a dictatorship, and start trying to change people’s minds. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/34 "2002-12-15T18:05:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > > The other thing I hate is this talk of “the government” making vaccinations mandatory. There is no such thing as “the government”. The government is US. Hehe - okaaaayyy - whatever you say. > [@](#): > > Most people in this country are satisfied with the way things are run. _Most people_ huh? You must have quite a large group of friends to conclude that. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/35 "2002-12-15T20:41:39Z")
**dreamer,** tell your SO he is not alone. I am a proud member of the John Birch Society and we beleive there is a secret society running things. How can we post this? Easy, we’re all considered crackpots, so the secret is safe. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/36 "2002-12-16T00:51:23Z")
I like your style **vanilla** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/37 "2002-12-16T02:33:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dreamer \* > Hehe - okaaaayyy - whatever you say. > > _Most people_ [are satisfied with the way things are] huh? You must have quite a large group of friends to conclude that. \*\* Most people are pissed off about something. It’s just that most of us aren’t pissed off about the same thing. As for the “secret government injections” and “chemtrails” well: BEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBL\* \*Noise that crazy people make by moving their index finger up and down their lips. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/38 "2002-12-16T03:20:32Z")
Your SO is wrong. They keep a tissue sample when they give you the smallpox vaccination, that way they have lots of samples to work with to develop a cure to the black oil and to develop alien-human hybrids. They keep all the samples in file cabinets in the side of a mountain until they need to access them. It’s the one reason I’m glad that I’m too young to have ever gotten it. [sub] stop looking at me like that, _someone_ had to connect it to the smallpox X-Files plot.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/39 "2002-12-16T03:46:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > As for the “secret government injections” and “chemtrails” well: > > BEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBLBEBL\* > > \*Noise that crazy people make by moving their index finger up and down their lips. I guess we know who the _real_ crazy ones are then 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525/40 "2002-12-16T05:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dreamer \* > \*\*Some examples… > > [Chem Trails](http://www.carnicom.com/contrails.htm) > > [Chem Trails](http://www.rense.com/politics6/chemdatapage.html) > > [Chem Trails](http://www.artbell.com/contrails2.html) > > [Not Contrails](http://www.newfrontier.com/asheville/chemtrails.htm) \*\* ELF DISRUPTTION?!?!?!! My GOD, you mean that people are putting stuff in the atmosphere that not only causes us to mindlessly agree with whatever the president mindlessly says, but it’s also going to disrupt the lives of the Fair Folk among us? Man, that’s all I need is for the Tuatha de Connecticut to get all riled up. On second thought, since I found this so funny, I probably need sleep more than anything… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-smallpox-injections-become-mandatory-warning-conspiracy-theory-ahead/142525.md?page=1)