Framed poster advocating vaccination against smallpox, c. 1923

This poster appeared as an article in The Times on 25 July 1923. A smallpox epidemic had been raging in Gloucester, England, and the surrounding areas since the autumn of 1922. The medical correspondent for The Times wrote a month earlier that the outbreak “need never have occurred if the population availed itself of vaccination. Few more lamentable demonstrations of the evil effects of a stupid and mischievous propaganda have ever been afforded.” Here the writer is referring to the campaigns against smallpox vaccination. Some people doubted the safety of the vaccine and believed it to cause more damage to the body than the actual disease.