Will you get vaccinated against COVID once it's available?

[vintagetoppsguy]

And as for smallpox, do you think there could be live viruses in labs somewhere that could somehow be "let loose?"

I've also heard about somewhere (maybe it was Russia) where the tundra was thawing and they thought that it could be transmitted via frozen corpses that died a century (or more) ago as they thaw. That was a few years ago, I don't know what happened with that.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

And as for smallpox, do you think there could be live viruses in labs somewhere that could somehow be "let loose?"

I've also heard about somewhere (maybe it was Russia) where the tundra was thawing and they thought that it could be transmitted via frozen corpses that died a century (or more) ago as they thaw. That was a few years ago, I don't know what happened with that.

I would guess there is some in one or more labs, somewhere. Perhaps the CDC, perhaps Russia, perhaps both. As to whether it's a threat, I don't know.

[NiceDocter]

Smallpox is interesting as there is no animal vector..... you have to catch it from another person (or from a lab). The virus does exist in three places in the world under "ultra high security isolation measures"..... the CDC in Atlanta, Geneva, Switzerland, and Moscow, Russia. There had been serious discussion about getting rid of those but distrust among "friends" will not allow that. Plus the thought that the virus may be needed in the future to develop vaccines or for research. The sad truth is that for over 40 years if scientists wanted to create a killer virus that could wipe out most of the world they could do it in a lab with recombinant DNA. So far they have restrained themselves..... so there is one more thing to look out for like an asteroid or whatever has us in the crosshairs today!