No Rush for the Covid-19 Vaccine: A Similar Scene with Polio can Repeat Itself

[post_slider]

The current rush for the Covid-19 vaccine can be termed as a repeat in history. About 70 years ago, there was an almost similar rush to get the polio vaccine. Polio hit the United States quite severely in the 1950s. It wreaked havoc all over regardless of social status just like the Covid-19. In this article you will learn the history of polio vaccine. And similarity between Polio and Covid-19 diseases.

The Polio epidemic

In 1894, the first major polio epidemic in the United States hit Vermont with 132 reported cases. Later in 1916, the larger outbreak struck New York City with 27,000 recorded cases and 6,000 deaths.

Among those who contracted polio included Franklin D. Roosevelt, who assumed the presidential office while already suffering from polio. His presidential term saw polio being put on the national stage. Roosevelt together with Brian O’Connor organized ‘The March of Dimes’ – a fundraising drive to combat Polio. Funds from the drive were partly used to fund Jonas Salk’s vaccine.

President Harry Truman declared polio a threat to the United States in 1946. He called on the Americans to go out of their way to fight the virus. (A similar case being witnessed with the Covid-19, where the disease has been declared a world threat).

Some of the traditional ways that were tried to cure the virus but were slightly effective or completely ineffective include:

Red-hot poker.
Electric Shocks
Brain washout.
Vitamin C.
Cobra Venom

The Health authorities in USA used these measures. However, these were not the final solution.

Scrubbing the pavements. Likewise, many countries are currently doing this to combat Covid-19.
Using anti flies measures.
Turning against Italian immigrants. In the Covid-19 case, this can be compared to the closing of borders by various countries.
Killing of cats. This left about 70,000 cats dead after the rumor of a dollar-bounty on every cat killed went viral.

The Vaccine

The road to coming up with a polio vaccine had numerous hurdles. For example, a vaccine tested on 10,000 children by two New York University researchers provided no immunity and left 9 children dead.

Hillary Koprowski together with Tom Norton came up with a polio vaccine in 1948. The vaccine proved successful among the sample rats it was administered on. When the vaccine was administered to human samples, it got heavy critic. One of the critics, George Stick, termed it as something that goes “…in like a lamb, out like a lion…” This meant that the vaccine was unstable and therefore harmful.

Inactivated Polio Vaccine

Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) was developed by Jonas Salk in 1955.

To thoroughly test the vaccine, Jonas Salk used:

8Million Children.
200 Location, 44 States.
20,000 Doctors.
40,000 Nurses.
60,000 Teachers.
144,000,000 Pieces of data.

The pilot testing occurred between April and June 1954.

In 1955, it was declared that the IPV works and is safe. As a result, the fight for polio that had lasted for 166 years had come to an end.

Just a few days after the mass vaccination was rolled out, catastrophe struck on 24^th April 1955. Some individuals got paralysis after they were administered with the polio vaccine. But some of them died. The root cause of the unprecedented outcome was traced back to Curter Laboratories based in California. The said laboratory accidentally mixed the vaccine with the live poliovirus.

Oral Polio Vaccine

Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk sworn competitor, came up with the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). He boasted that his vaccine, unlike Salk’s, only took: 4years, 20,000 monkeys, 500 chimps, and 200 volunteers.

Due to lack of human samples, Satin tested his vaccine on prisoners. All it took was a few dollars and decreased jail term. Satin’s OPV unlike Salk’s IPV provided:

Gut immunity.
Better protection.
Was cheap.
No needles involved.

Some critics argued out that the OPV caused paralysis in one person among 500,000 persons administered with the vaccine. Satin disputed this, moreover, the odds of paralysis were minimal.

The OPV was also said to be heat intolerant thus cannot be used in the tropic regions. This was and has been countered in the tropic regions by refrigeration.

As Gareth Williams, a medicine professor put it “IPV+OPV=SUCCESS”. This marked the end of the search for the polio vaccine and both the IPV and OPV were used to combat polio. Currently, the OPV is the most prominent.

Similarities between Covid-19 and Polio

They are both caused by a virus. But Polio is caused by poliomyelitis and Covid-19 is caused by the Corona Virus.
The two are spread quite in the same manner with poor sanitation contributing greatly to their spread.
Similarly, both include isolation of the infected persons for virus containment.
Also, the victims of the two diseases end up in ventilators in severe cases.
Both also have caused global fear.
Lastly, both wreak havoc among the poor and the rich. They know no social boundary or a country’s development status.

The rush for COVID-19 Vaccine

The above similarities say a lot about the nature of the race to get a Covid-19 Vaccine. I can say that we are at a better point to get the vaccine faster due to the current technological advancement. But, this does not warrant us to give a blind eye to the time needed for proper tests to be carried out.

Certainly, we do not want a repeat of what happened at Cutter Laboratories. Haste to get the virus is needed, but precision is eminent. The road will contain hurdles. It will be test after test, as it is already being witnessed. It will entail the mobilization of resources. The icing will be us witnessing a fight for genius superiority among our scientists.

Conclusively, just as President Truman declared in the Polio epidemic case, ‘…It must be total war, in every city, town, and village throughout the land. For only with a united front can we ever hope to win a war.” I add that the total war should also be around the world and in every profession in the quest to combat this virus glaring at us.

More: