The successes and failures of past vaccination campaigns in the U.S. could offer lessons relevant to the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine rollout, The New York Times reports.
Insights from four of the country's major vaccine drives:
1. 1947: Smallpox. Earlier smallpox outbreaks were generally contained, but in 1947 an outbreak in New York City emerged. Israel Weinstein, the city's health commissioner, immediately encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, even if they received the vaccine as children. Within a month, more than six million city residents were vaccinated. Volunteers and healthcare providers went to schools to vaccinate students and helped facilitate a smooth vaccination drive.
2. 1955: Polio. In April 1955, the U.S. licensed the first polio vaccine. State and local officials then moved quickly to administer the vaccine to children. The rollout was suspended when early reports surfaced of children contracting polio after receiving the vaccine. It was eventually reported that more than 250 children contracted polio associated with the vaccine. The faulty vaccines prompted stronger regulatory requirements and the vaccine rollout picked back up that fall.
3. 1976: Swine flu. When the first U.S. case of a swine flu similar to the one responsible for a 1918 outbreak was reported in 1976, the federal government quickly responded by purchasing 200 million vaccine doses. The roll out was rocky, with reports of some people dying shortly after receiving the vaccine, as well as reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Vaccinations were halted and the virus was never detected outside of Fort Dix, N.J., where the first case was reported.
4. 2009: H1N1. The H1N1 influenza virus emerged in Mexico in spring 2009, and since few virus-related deaths were reported by late summer, many Americans avoided getting the vaccine when it was ready in the fall. Children, young adults and pregnant women seemed to be particularly vulnerable to the virus and were among the first groups to be vaccinated after healthcare workers.
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