Vaccine provocation

That was a real vaccine made from the disease it was protecting from

Not a bogus MRNA drug that had already failed animal trials because too many animals died and they had to force it through under EUA

 

Those smallpox inoculations (variolation) did not use any vaccine, because the first vaccine for anything wasn't invented until a couple decades later. Instead they used actual live uninhibited smallpox virus, taken from patients with milder cases and administered in small doses. The mortality rate of these inoculations, while much lower than from normal transmission, was far far higher than from any modern vaccines, including mRNAs.

And now, from serendipity, we have learned that mRNA vaccines -- any of them, not just versions meant for the purpose -- significantly boost certain treatments for a few cancers.

 

Please define "boost"...as applied in your statement.

 

Cancer treatments may get a boost from mRNA COVID vaccines
Cancer treatments may get a boost from mRNA COVID vaccines
Patients who got the vaccine within about 3 months of immunotherapy lived longer, data show



https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03432-7
People with some cancers live longer after a COVID vaccine
mRNA vaccines seem to boost the effectiveness of an immune therapy for skin and lung cancer ― in an unexpected way.


https://www.bmj.com/content/391/bmj.r2245
Patients with cancer who received a covid mRNA vaccine within 100 days of beginning immunotherapy treatment gained significant benefit in terms of survival and disease progression, new research suggests.1


Study Finds COVID mRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Treatment
Study Finds COVID mRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Treatment


https://www.science.org/content/article/surprise-bonus-covid-19-vaccines-bolstering-cancer-treatment
A surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment
Patients who got shots of mRNA before starting a type of cancer immunotherapy lived much longer


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) extend survival in many patients with cancer but are ineffective in patients without pre-existing immunity1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Although personalized mRNA cancer vaccines sensitize tumours to ICIs by directing immune attacks against preselected antigens, personalized vaccines are limited by complex and time-intensive manufacturing processes10,11,12,13,14. Here we show that mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to ICIs. In preclinical models, SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines led to a substantial increase in type I interferon, enabling innate immune cells to prime CD8+ T cells that target tumour-associated antigens. Concomitant ICI treatment is required for maximal efficacy in immunologically cold tumours, which respond by increasing PD-L1 expression. Similar correlates of vaccination response are found in humans, including increases in type I interferon, myeloid–lymphoid activation in healthy volunteers and PD-L1 expression on tumours. Moreover, receipt of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines within 100 days of initiating ICI is associated with significantly improved median and three-year overall survival in multiple large retrospective cohorts. This benefit is similar among patients with immunologically cold tumours. Together, these results demonstrate that clinically available mRNA vaccines targeting non-tumour-related antigens are potent immune modulators capable of sensitizing tumours to ICIs.