Jonas Salk and the Invention of the Polio Vaccine

First Oral Vaccine Produced

Attenuated (weakened) live-virus vaccines were considered to be more effective but the proven safety and efficacy of the Salk vaccine to produce protective antibodies was a welcome development. One notable drawback to the Salk vaccine included the limited duration of the antibodies and the need for booster shots. There were two major advantages of an attenuated live-virus vaccine: immunity is stimulated within days rather than months, meaning this vaccine could be used to halt an ongoing epidemic and the vaccine could be administered orally which was much easier than administering a shot.

While the Salk vaccine was distributed widely, Dr. Albert Sabin continued his research with the attenuated (weakened) live-virus vaccine with the continued financial support of the March of Dimes. 

In 1956 Sabin's oral vaccine was tested in Russia with great success. A trial in the United States was launched in 1960 and later that year was approved to be licensed as a polio vaccine.

In 1961 the American Medical Association (AMA) recommended that Sabin's oral vaccine become the primary polio vaccine in the United States given its ease of administration and long-lasting effects. Campaigns were underway to encourage people, even though who had received the Salk vaccine, to take the Sabin vaccine.

By the end of the 1960's, thanks to the Salk and Sabin vaccines polio was virtually eliminated from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.

In 1972, Sabin donated his vaccine strains to the World Health Organization (WHO).

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