THE END OF ROUTINE SMALLPOX VACCINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

1971 was the year in which the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, the Redbook Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Territorial Health Officers agreed that the time had come to discontinue routine primary smallpox vaccination for American children. As a result of this it may also be expected that school vaccination laws presently in effect in some 28 states will soon be repealed or will not be enforced with vigor.

The American pediatrician views these developments with mixed feelings, since there have been extensive and often spirited debates regarding the timing for discontinuation of routine smallpox vaccination.