I don't have the data to definitively suggest that the epidemics could have been eradicated by methods other than vaccine. Its entirely possible that they could

I don't have the data to definitively suggest that the epidemics could have been eradicated by methods other than vaccine. Its entirely possible that they could. But while we're talking about vaccines and personal freedoms and all that yap, do lets remember that some of those other methods they were using to combat these epidemics back then were forced quarantines on pain of arrest, interstate travel restrictions, and the closing of public buildings like pools, libraries and schools.