The Long View

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History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

Jonathan Freedland presents the series in which stories from the past are compared with current events.

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The Long View: The Long View of the Anti-Vaccination Movement

The Long View of the Anti-Vaccination Movement

BBC Radio 4 - The Long View, The Long View of the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Jonathan Freedland explores the roots of the anti-vaccination movement.

The anti-vaccination movement might be seen as a modern phenomenon, but the roots of today's activism lie in 19th Century Britain.

In 1798 Gloucestershire doctor Edward Jenner successfully proved that a dose of relatively mild cowpox infection gave protection from smallpox, one of the greatest killers in history. Within five years, Jenner's discovery was being used across Europe and a decade later it had gone global.
But opposition to the vaccine in Britain was fierce. By the late 19th Century, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in opposition to compulsory smallpox vaccinations. 
In this episode of The Long View, Jonathan Freedland draws parallels between the smallpox anti-vaccination movement and todays' Covid-19 anti-vaxxers.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

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