Snapshots: Demonstrating the Safety of Vaccine, 1956

Snapshot- 1956 - Vaccine safety

Caption on the reverse of the photo: “March 13– Dr. Archibald Vinson, head of the City Health Department, administers a dosage of polio vaccine to his granddaughter, Becky Simmons, in her classroom at Calvin Coolidge Elementary School, as a demonstration of his confidence in Dr. Jonas Salk’s new creation. – Harlow Barton, Clarion-Standard

In 1956, rumors and panic were running rampant amongst parents that the polio vaccine was responsible for a spate of cases of dropsy in area schoolchildren. The real cause was a small hepatitis outbreak, traced to a heavily-polluted pond in the city’s Roxboro section.
– RJ White, Ray Ingraham

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