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Launch of Mass Polio Vaccination

Global Health

The beginning of large scale polio vaccination in February 1954, when the inactivated poliovirus vaccine developed in the early 1950s by the American physician Jonas Salk was administered to American schoolchildren. The vaccine contained killed virus and was given by injection, and in the years that followed the incidence of polio in the United States fell from 18 cases per 100,000 people to fewer than 2 per 100,000, the opening act of the vaccination effort that later drove global eradication campaigns.

Facts
Milestone Year
1954 1
Milestone DateSourced to the subject's own account
1954-02-23 2
Location
United States 1
Classification
Type/Classification
Technological Innovation 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Credited To

Jonas Salk, Figures
Source Salk Institute Website

In Branch

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Polio vaccine
    In the following years, the incidence of polio in the United States fell from 18 cases per 100,000 people to fewer than 2 per 100,000.
  • Program classification, entity description sentence
    The beginning of large scale polio vaccination in February 1954, when the inactivated poliovirus vaccine developed in the early 1950s by the American physician Jonas Salk was administered to American schoolchildren.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Polio vaccine
WikipediaDevelopment history section
Quote, Development history section
Beginning 23 February 1954, the vaccine was tested at Arsenal Elementary School and the Watson Home for Children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
View the Source
Salk Institute Website
Salk Institute for Biological StudiesCredited To: Jonas Salk, About Jonas Salk biography, 1954 launch
Quote, Credited To: Jonas Salk, About Jonas Salk biography, 1954 launch
In 1954, national testing began on one million children, ages six to nine, who became known as the Polio Pioneers
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