Smallpox Vaccine Sucks as an Adult

21 days. That's how long I have to continue changing the band-aid on my upper left arm. It takes three weeks for the vaccination shot to go through its various stages and provide me with the much-touted immunity the Army so desires me to have.

This slide-set from the CDC shows the progress I should expect my site to go through over the next three weeks. So far, mine doesn't look like anything, so I've got a lot to look forward to. Like the pustule that will form and fill smallpox-laden pus. The awful scab that will daily tempt me to mess with it before finally falling off of its own accord. And finally, the scar that will forever identify me as someone who received the vaccine.

If only it were good for more than 10 years, I'd never have to worry about it again. And really: do I need to worry about it? The last reported case EVER was in 1978 in England, and that was the result of mishandled samples in a biology lab. According to wikipedia, the guy in charge of smallpox research killed himself over, which sounds like a very compelling movie plot.

So what's all the hubbub? Why are all of our service men and women in the Middle East required to be vaccinated against a disease that has been successfully eradicated in the human population? Well, apparently the Soviets developed a particularly virulent strain of the already lethal virus, produced 20 tons of it, and to this day it has not been entirely accounted for in the rest of the world.

So yeah, maybe it's reasonable in principle, but do I have to keep changing this band-aid daily? Look how much hair it took off on the first day! And they suggest that you rotate it a little bit every day so that your skin doesn't get too irritated. I'm going to have a 3" bald circle on my upper arm when this is all over...