The vaccine is still available in extremely limited supply, controlled by the government since there isn't very much of it in stock. Generally it's approved for people who work in virology labs with cowpox and other pox viruses, which is why I got it about 20 years ago.
The smallpox vaccine is given by making some small scratches or punctures on your arm (think allergy testing and you'll get the concept) and then putting the liquid vaccine on the scratches to let it penetrate the skin. It's a technique called 'scarification'. You will have pustules form after a few days that will drain, and you are NOT supposed to allow others to come into contact with the material that is draining because it is full of virus and HIGHLY infectious. We were told to NOT get it wet, so to carefully cover it when showering and not to take a bath until it healed. I had a very mild reaction with just a couple of tiny pustules, and I kept it completely covered under a large square bandage with no problem so that I didn't expose my wife and children by accident. One of my bosses who was old enough to have had it as a child took it again and had a HORRIBLE reaction where his arm swelled up very painfully, turned beet red all over, and he had a huge number of very large painful pustules. He said afterwards that he shouldn't have taken it again because that kind of reaction is common in people who had it as a child and then take the vaccine again, but he was afraid that maybe his immunity might have weakened. I believe the vaccine uses an attenuated (weakened) pox virus that will not cause smallpox because it is a different pox virus that confers cross-reactive immunity, but if the vaccine or the pus from the lesions gets in a person's eyes or mouth/nose it can cause real problems including possible blindness or problems with breathing and swallowing because it will form pustules in a localized area where it infects.
The government could easily set up and begin producing more smallpox vaccine if they wanted to, but I sure as hell wouldn't trust any vaccine manufactured these days because they could add all of the same deadly ingredients that are in the clot shots if they wanted to and you wouldn't know until it was too late.
The vaccine is still available in extremely limited supply, controlled by the government since there isn't very much of it in stock. Generally it's approved for people who work in virology labs with cowpox and other pox viruses, which is why I got it about 20 years ago.
The smallpox vaccine is given by making some small scratches or punctures on your arm (think allergy testing and you'll get the concept) and then putting the liquid vaccine on the scratches to let it penetrate the skin. It's a technique called 'scarification'. You will have pustules form after a few days that will drain, and you are NOT supposed to allow others to come into contact with the material that is draining because it is full of virus and HIGHLY infectious. We were told to NOT get it wet, so to carefully cover it when showering and not to take a bath until it healed. I had a very mild reaction with just a couple of tiny pustules, and I kept it completely covered under a large square bandage with no problem so that I didn't expose my wife and children by accident. One of my bosses who was old enough to have had it as a child took it again and had a HORRIBLE reaction where his arm swelled up very painfully, turned beet red all over, and he had a huge number of very large painful pustules. He said afterwards that he shouldn't have taken it again because that kind of reaction is common in people who had it as a child and then take the vaccine again, but he was afraid that maybe his immunity might have weakened. I believe the vaccine uses an attenuated (weakened) pox virus that will not cause smallpox because it is a different pox virus that confers cross-reactive immunity, but if the vaccine or the pus from the lesions gets in a person's eyes or mouth/nose it can cause real problems including possible blindness or problems with breathing and swallowing because it will form pustules in a localized area where it infects.
The government could easily set up and begin producing more smallpox vaccine if they wanted to, but I sure as hell wouldn't trust any vaccine manufactured these days because they could add all of the same deadly ingredients that are in the clot shots if they wanted to and you wouldn't know until it was too late.