who invented vaccinations

Edward Jenner is most widely credited with inventing vaccination through his smallpox vaccine in 1796, which is considered the first successful vaccine in history. However, forms of inoculation against smallpox existed for centuries earlier in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and figures like Benjamin Jesty also experimented with cowpox to prevent smallpox before Jenner, meaning vaccination emerged from a long, global tradition rather than a single moment.