The "What Ever Happened To The Vaccine? Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol and I were discussing if and when we were vaccinated for smallpox.  She told me she was vaccinated twice; once when she was a child before entering elementary school and in 1971 when we were married and she was working for a doctor who knew that the smallpox serum could also be used to stop mouth ulcers.  Ah, I did remember the mouthful of ulcers and the remarkable recovery she made after the shot!  I told her I was vaccinated once at the age of 6 and it didn't take.  Doctor Martin, my family doctor, checked my arm where he had given me the shot, and saw that I didn't have a mark or the scab on my arm that showed where I had been vaccinated.  He said that I had a natural immunity for the virus and wouldn't need another vaccination.  He did give my mother a certificate stating that I had received the dose of serum necessary for me to attend school.  Really didn't matter anyway, since he was the school doctor at the time.   All my friends had the mark on their arm and wondered why I didn't. Well, if you were born after 1972 you more than likely didn't get the vaccination, since the United States declared that the disease had been eradicated and vaccination was no longer necessary.  Now, just why would I write about the eradication of small pox?  

Drawing of the Lancaster County Vaccine Farm.

Seems that today when I opened my email, there was a notice that someone had added a drawing and note on a Lancaster, PA Facebook page telling about the Lancaster County Vaccine Farm located at nearby Marietta, PA where in 1882 Dr. H.M. Alexander began to commercially make a vaccine for smallpox at the farm.   The smallpox vaccine that Dr. Alexander made was internationally praised for its high quality.  

This was the home of Dr. H.M. Alexander who ran the farm.

In 1895, the PA State Board of Health proclaimed that the farm was the largest and best establish- ment of its kind in the country and probably the world.  Wow, right here in Amishland.  Over the years he produced not only smallpox vaccine, but diphtheria antitoxin and, in the 1950s, polio vaccine.  In the early days, serums drawn from animals, such as horses and cows, were a key component in the manufacture of vaccines, so facilities making the serums and vaccines usually were based near or on farms.  

An old photo of the Vaccine Farm in Marietta, PA.

The Lancaster County Vaccine Farm produced their smallpox vaccine from dried calf lymph obtained from live cows.  The drawing that was shown on the website showed Dr. Edward Jenner, the 18th century pioneer in the development of smallpox vaccine, as well as the western and eastern branches of the Vaccine Farm establishment, its stables, a packing and shipping department, cattle grazing in a field, and the main operating room with an image of cattle strapped on their backs in hammocks under bright lights as lymphatic fluid is extracted.  This farm was eventually taken over by Wyeth Laboratories in Marietta.  Since smallpox vaccine is not usually administered these days, the leftover vaccine, 15 million doses to be exact, was kept in a warehouse in western Lancaster County.  

Dr. Alexander's home was later owned by the Hiestand family.
It was eventually renovated and given to the citizens of
Marietta to be used as a Community House.

Then on September 11, 2001, security was stepped up just in case the stored doses would become pivotal should terrorists decide to release the deadly smallpox. Pennsyl- vania State Troopers provided a heavy presence around the grounds of Wyeth Labs where the vacine was thought to be stored.  Eventually researchers began to determine whether those 15 million doses would be enough or should they begin to dilute them to provide 75 to 150 million doses.  Meanwhile Congress was asked for $509 million to buy 300 million doses of new vaccine so every American will be assured there is a dose available for them.  Smallpox is regarded as the planet's most efficient biological killer with the virus spreading most easily from December to April, when dry and cold air help it stay alive longer.  Smallpox kills about 30% of those who develop it, but often disfigures and blinds those who do survive.  Wyeth hasn't produced the vaccine since the 1980s, but has never destroyed the virus for fear there would be no way to make new vaccine if needed.  It was said that Moscow, as well as Saddam Hussein had access to the virus if they so desired.  The FBI and Secret Service was said to have an interest in protecting Wyeth Labs as well as the State Police.  Well, it's been 15 years since we were attacked and after reading the story and looking at the drawing on Facebook, I began to wonder what has happened to the doses since then.  So, I Googled it and found an article dated March 26, 2004 which said that Wyeth would close its manufacturing plant in Marietta, PA and lay off 440 workers who had been making flu vaccine.  There was mention in the story about the vaccine they had in storage in 2001, saying that they had eventually shipped their additional doses to the federal government.  So .... who has it now and where is it stored.  Is it important that we know and if so, why don't we know where it is and if it is still active enough to protect us if the smallpox virus is released in our country by our enemies.  And, am I still as immune to the virus as I was in 1950 and will my wife's doses still protect her.  And, how about our children and grandchildren whom never received the vaccination!  Should I worry or not?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.