Final answer:
Zabdiel Boyston gave the first American inoculations against smallpox during the 1721 epidemic in Boston.
Step-by-step explanation:
Zabdiel Boyston and the Smallpox Inoculation
During the 1721 epidemic in Boston, Zabdiel Boyston administered the first American inoculations against the eradicated disease smallpox.
These efforts were crucial in the fight against infectious diseases that ravaged populations for centuries. Smallpox has been successfully eradicated thanks to the global vaccination efforts, including a significant campaign led by the World Health Organization, with the last diagnosis in a patient occurring in 1977.
The success has paved the way for the near eradication of other diseases such as polio, which has also seen dramatic declines in incidence due to widespread vaccination campaigns.