Vaccine Revolt (1904)

The Vaccine Revolt was a popular rebellion against the smallpox vaccine, which took place in Rio de Janeiro in November 1904.

Summary:Causes and Consequences

When President Rodrigues Alves took office in 1902, tons of rubbish piled up on the streets of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

In this way, the smallpox virus spread. Rats and mosquitoes, transmitting fatal diseases such as the bubonic plague and yellow fever, proliferated, killing thousands of people annually.

Determined to re-urbanize and clean up the city, Rodrigues Alves appointed engineer Pereira Passos as mayor and doctor Oswaldo Cruz as Director of Public Health. With that, he began the construction of large public works, the widening of streets, avenues and the fight against diseases.

The redevelopment of Rio de Janeiro, however, sacrificed the poorest strata of the city, who were displaced, as their huts and tenements were demolished. The population was forced to move away from work and to the hills, increasing the construction of favelas.

As a result of the demolitions, rents rose in price, leaving the population increasingly outraged.

Charge:The Mandatory Vaccination Law lights the revolution's fuse while politicians and Oswaldo Cruz (dressed as a doctor) are terrified

It was necessary to fight the mosquito and the rat, transmitters of the main diseases. Therefore, the central objective of the campaign was precisely to eliminate the outbreaks of diseases and the garbage accumulated by the city.

First, the government announced that it would pay the population for every mouse that was handed over to the authorities. The result was the emergence of breeders of these rodents in order to earn extra income.

Charge from Jornal do Brasil. August 11, 1904, criticizing those who took advantage to breed mice just to receive compensation

Due to the frauds, the government suspended the reward for apprehending the rats.

However, the sanitation campaign was carried out with authoritarianism, where houses were invaded and searched. No clarification was made on the importance of vaccination or hygiene.

At a time when people wore full-body clothing, showing their arms to get the vaccine was seen as "immoral". Thus, the population's dissatisfaction against the government was widespread, triggering "The Vaccine Revolt".

Mandatory vaccination

The doctor Oswaldo Cruz (1872-1917), hired to fight diseases, imposed mandatory vaccination against smallpox for all Brazilians over six months of age.

Politicians, opposition military and the city's population opposed the vaccine. The press did not forgive Oswaldo Cruz, dedicating cruel cartoons to him mocking the effectiveness of the medicine.

Charge portraying scientist Oswaldo Cruz as a "skinner" of Zé Povo

Agitators incited the urban mass to confront the Public Health workers who, protected by the police, invaded homes and vaccinated people by force. The most radical ones preached bullet resistance, claiming that the citizen had the right to preserve his own body and not accept that unknown liquid.

Dissatisfaction became widespread, adding to housing problems and the high cost of living, resulting in the Mandatory Vaccine Revolt. Between November 10 and 16, 1904, the popular layers of Rio de Janeiro took to the streets to confront Public Health agents and the police.

The center of Rio de Janeiro was transformed into a war square with overturned trams, depredated buildings and a lot of confusion on Avenida Central (now Avenida Rio Branco). The popular uprising was supported by the military who tried to use the dissatisfied mass to unsuccessfully overthrow President Rodrigues Alves.

The rebel movement was dominated by the government, which arrested and sent some people to Acre. Then, the Mandatory Vaccination Law was modified, making its use optional.

Curiosity about the Vaccine Revolt

The Vaccine Revolt inspired soap operas, miniseries and even opera. The work "The Scientist ", by Brazilian conductor Sílvio Barbato, tells the life of Oswaldo Cruz and dedicates an entire scene to the event.

Read more:

• First Republic
• Revolt of the Whip
• Black Plague
• Brazil