The article seems to be ignoring a critical aspect of Variolation. A quick Google on the topic indicates that it's more about being deliberately exposed to a le

The article seems to be ignoring a critical aspect of Variolation. A quick Google on the topic indicates that it's more about being deliberately exposed to a less virulent strain of a virus, rather than being exposed to a lower initial viral load (which would also seem to make sense). The term Variolation comes from the name of the Variola virus that caused Smallpox, but critically there are at least two strains of this virus: Variola Major and the less deadly Variola Minor. The Variolation practice, as I understand it, was to expose people to the Variola Minor strain, which apparently then resulted in at least some level of immunity to both strains. Unfortunately, AFAIK, so far we don't yet have a less deadly strain of SARS-CV-2. Apparently there are currently ~8 strains so far, and all appear are about the same in terms of death rate. https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20200330/8-strains-of-coronavirus-are-circling-globe-herersquos-clues-theyrsquore-giving-scientists https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20200330/8-strains-of-coronav...