The first successful vaccine for Polio was created by US physician Jonas Salk. Salk tested his experimental vaccine on himself and his family in 1953, and then on 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the USA in 1954. The results were announced on 12 April 1955, and Salk’s inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) was licensed on the same day. Salk was committed to equitable access to his vaccine and understood that elimination efforts would not work without universal low or no-cost vaccination. Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to 6 reported cases in 2021.
Loving God
we are thankful for the development of a vaccine for polio and for other vaccines.
We give thanks for the way that they have limited the damage that can be caused by various infectious diseases.
Be with those who for various reasons are concerned about vaccines that they may recognize that, while not perfect, their overall effect has been very positive.
Amen
By Fr Pat O'Shea - Lower Hutt
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