I won't comment about rabies, because I don't know the answer. Small pox was understood well enough, that a method of vaccination to protect against that disease was developed more than 100 years earlier. John Adams got vaccinated in 1764 and in July 1776, Abigail Adams vaccinated herself and her children, while also convincing thirty more people in Braintree Massachusetts to go to Boston to get vaccinated against Small Pox. This vaccination consisted of making a small incision and injecting the puss from a small pox sore into the cut. It was not all that safe, but it usually inoculated the patient from contracting full blown small pox. The Adam's oldest daughter had an adverse reaction to the procedure and nearly contracted full blown small pox. John, Abigail and their three other children that survived to adulthood came through the procedure with no adverse effects.
Source: "John Adams" by David McCullough 2008