What vaccination strategy is used in smallpox exposure to stop transmission?

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When exposure happens, the aim is to stop transmission as efficiently as possible by creating a protective buffer around each case. This is achieved with ring vaccination: vaccinating people who have been exposed or are likely to be exposed—starting with contacts and then vaccinating the contacts of those contacts. The vaccine can prevent disease when given within a short window after exposure, so immunizing this surrounding circle breaks the chains of transmission before more people become infected. This approach makes the best use of limited vaccine supplies and relies on rapid case finding and tracing to quickly surround each index case.

Mass vaccination of the entire population would be far more resource-intensive and unnecessary when a focused ring strategy can effectively interrupt spread. Vaccinating only after symptoms appear misses the opportunity to halt transmission, since people can spread infection before or around the time symptoms develop. Relying on herd immunity alone without actively vaccinating exposed individuals does not promptly stop an ongoing outbreak.