Never doubt the polio vaccine

1950s: A child in an Iron Lung, a device to save the lives of those whose lungs were paralyzed by polio.
His face is reflected in a mirror to enable him to interact with people around him. (source)

“For polio specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported steep declines in case counts and deaths since the first vaccine was licensed in 1955. Around 1952, about 16,000 cases and 1,879 deaths were reported each year. That fell to fewer than 1,000 cases by 1962 and then lower, to 100 cases per year, according to the C.D.C. report.” (source)

I was in elementary school when the first polio vaccine was released. We viewed it as a miracle of medical science, and were in awe of Salk and Sabin and their colleagues who had created the vaccine. (See my previous post on this here: https://maefood.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-polio-vacccine.html)

Before that, the children with whom I went to school and all of our parents were in terror of polio. Each morning in class we would hear announcements first from the Principal and then from a child representative of each class. One news item from each class might be the name of a classmate who was absent because he or she had contracted polio. The designated announcer would express the hope from the class that the victim would recover. Some did recover. Some came back with a crippled arm or leg which over time would not grow, so that the victim would have a severe limp or inability to play ball or other disabilities. Some never came back and we never were specifically told why.

Don’t ever let anyone convince you that the polio vaccine is worse than the disease. Not for society. Not for individuals. You never want to get polio. You never want your child to get polio. Forgetting (or encouraging people to forget) the horrors of the disease seems to me to be a crime. I’m looking at Robert Kennedy.

News this week of the death of one of the last survivors who used an iron lung reminded me of these long-ago experiences. Simultaneously there is front-page news of the current administration’s war on vaccines. See https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/health/kennedy-vaccine-safety.html  and also this article from the NY Times: 

Lawyer, Author and TikTok Star Spent 72 Years in an Iron Lung

Paul Alexander, who died at 78, was paralyzed with polio at age 6 and relied on the machine to breathe.

The Polio Vacccine

Some time early in my elementary school years, our school installed a “Public Address System.” The new  PA System enabled the principal to make announcements each morning. Sometimes (I’ve forgotten how often) there would also be announcements from kids in individual classrooms. The announcement that I remember, which was made occasionally, was the statement that a member of a particular class had been diagnosed with polio, and that the class hoped that he or she would soon recover.

Some children recovered and came back to school. Others didn’t recover, or came back much later, wearing a brace or using a crutch, after a long stay in the hospital. I remember one boy whose arm didn’t grow after this illness. I remember one girl whose legs were different lengths, and how she was in a short body-cast for months, while still attending school. In retrospect, during their long absence, these kids must have been in some sort of physical therapy, but in the classrooms, we didn’t know any details. 

Jonas Salk, 1914-1995

Above all, I remember the joy with which everyone welcomed polio vaccine, and the gratitude towards the researchers who had developed this miracle.

As a preschool child, I had mumps, measles, and chickenpox. I was lucky and recovered quickly. Other kids didn’t have it so good. Vaccines meant no one had to have this experience. My mother remembered being sick with whooping cough and diphtheria as a child, and always expressed her relief at having been able to vaccinate us.

I’m thinking about this now, as our brilliant leaders are trashing public health requirements for vaccines. They have forgotten what it was like to have kids in your schoolroom disappear for weeks or for months or forever. They have forgotten my mother’s gratitude, and those other mothers’ losses. They have forgotten those crutches and body casts. We’re headed again for tragedy.

AI Summary of  Polio Vaccine Policy

POSTSCRIPT: The World Health Organization website includes a detailed history of vaccines throughout history: “A Brief History of Vaccines.”

Update: Immunization program for polio

From the Guardian December 15: polio vaccine being administered in Pakistan.
The ongoing campaign plans to immunize over 45 million children.

Blog post © 2025 mae sander