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Prerna Singh: State, Society and Vaccines

Long Now

CHAPTER

The New Generian Vaccination

In the city of canton and imperial china, in the early nineteenth century, vaccination was willingly adopted. The local gentry endorses this new generian vaccine by imbedding it within traditional ways of thinking about and treating smallpox. In contrast, the vaccine meets with a far cooler reception in nineteenth century calcutta. An important reason is that british colonial officials do not have the same degree of trust or legitimacy as the gentry. And so varulation, which formed the basis of knowledge on which genner built, was now described by the east india company in calcutta as backward and as dangerous.

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