Writing by Gia Miller
Design by Aeneas Eaton
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The first written account of of inoculation against disease dates back to 1549 in China, but many believe such practices existed centuries before in parts of Africa and Asia. Inoculations were introduced in the Western world in the early 1700s, and today, in the United States, there are 30 vaccines available to the public, preventing everything from whooping cough to shingles.
“Vaccines protect individuals from infections and secondary complications of illness,” explains Dr. Ashley Blonder of Tribeca Pediatrics in Mount Kisco. “They also help safeguard the larger community from outbreaks of disease. Herd immunity (95% vaccinated) is essential to protect our most vulnerable members, such as infants, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals who may be at increased risk of infection or unable to receive vaccinations.”
Here’s a brief timeline of ten significant vaccines that have transformed our lives.
*Each disease/vaccine has its own unique color, allowing you to track them individually throughout the years.
1721
For thousands of years, hundreds of millions died from smallpox; it killed approximately 30% of people infected, regardless of age or status. Britain’s Lady Mary Wortley Montagu brings inoculation to the western world after witnessing a group of older women in Turkey inoculating their community against smallpox a few years earlier. However, it takes time for this concept to gain public approval.
1774
British farmer Benjamin Jesty vaccinates his wife and two children against smallpox using cowpox, a bovine virus that can spread to humans.
1777
In the U.S, the smallpox mortality rate is around 50%. George Washington inoculates the Continental Army, reducing the mortality rate to less than 2%.
1796
British physician Dr. Edward Jenner discovers what Jesty discovered 22 years earlier: people infected with cowpox were immune to smallpox. He proves it by injecting an eight-year-old boy with cowpox. Jenner names his discovery “vaccination,” based on the Latin word for cowpox (vaccinia), and because he’s better at communicating his discovery to the public, he’s widely credited with the invention.
1800
Harvard professor Benjamin Waterhouse administers the first smallpox vaccinations (from Jenner) in the U.S. to his son and family members. He then introduces it to New England and convinces Thomas Jefferson to use it in Virginia.
1813
Doctors and politicians in the U.S. ardently encourage smallpox vaccination; President Madison signs ‘An Act to Encourage Vaccination.’ The intertwining of medicine, public health, military and government organizations is believed to be the main reason the disease is eventually eradicated in the U.S. and abroad.
1855
Massachusetts is the first state to require children be vaccinated for smallpox to attend school.
1894
The first polio epidemic begins.
1918-19
The Spanish Flu pandemic kills 1 in 67 US soldiers. The U.S. military makes creating a vaccine a priority, and the US Army Medical School tests two million doses; the results are inconclusive.
1939
A vaccine for whooping cough is proven to reduce the rate of infection from 15.1 per 100 children to 2.3 per 100 children.
1945
The first influenza vaccine is approved for military use.
1946
The influenza vaccine is approved for civilian use.
1948
Researcher Hilary Koprowski, M.D. creates and drinks a polio vaccine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine publish a paper identifying three types of polioviruses and state a future polio vaccine must offer immunity to all three types.
1949
Smallpox is eradicated in the U.S.
1953
Dr. Jonas Salk injects himself, his wife and their three sons with his experimental poliovirus vaccine.
1954
The Vaccine Advisory Committee approves a field test of Salk’s polio vaccine. The trial begins the next day with over 1.3 million schoolchildren.
1955
In April, Salk’s vaccine was found to be 80-90% effective against paralytic polio; the U.S. government licenses the vaccine later that same day.
1963
The measles vaccine is created and licensed for public use. Prior to this, in the U.S. nearly all children contracted measles by age 15. Annually, there were 3–4 million cases; measles caused 400–500 deaths, around 48,000 hospitalizations and 1,000 cases of encephalitis (brain swelling).
1969
The first hepatitis B vaccine is created using a heat-treated form of the virus, which can cause serious liver disease and cancer.
1971
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are combined into a single vaccination (MMR).
1976
Cases of whooping cough hit an all-time low. This success leads parents who are fearful of the rare but serious side effects to not vaccinate their children. The number of cases begins to increase.
1980
Smallpox is eradicated worldwide. The World Health Assembly declares: “The world and all its people have won freedom from smallpox, which was the most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest times, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake.”
1981
A plasma-derived inactivated hepatitis B vaccine is approved for commercial use.
1982
The first meningitis vaccine becomes available. It doesn’t protect against all types, has a short-lived immunity and is not as effective in young children.
1986
A genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine is developed.
1987
The first HIV vaccine clinical trial begins. It doesn’t work.
1991
The genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine is given to infants. It’s still in use today.
1991
Polio is eradicated in the U.S.
1998
The British medical journal Lancet publishes a study led by gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield. He and his 12 colleagues conclude that the MMR vaccination causes regressive autism. Despite the very small sample size (only 12 children) and other questionable components, the paper gains significant publicity; MMR vaccination rates begin to drop.
Click here to learn more about Andrew Wakefield and the measles vaccine.
2000
The U.S. earns its measles elimination status, which is widely considered one of the biggest public health achievements in the nation’s history.
2003
Over the past 15 years, more than 35 Phase 1 HIV vaccine trials were conducted; the vaccines were proven safe and created immunity, but they didn’t combat HIV’s high mutation rate.
2004
Ten of the 12 co-authors of the 1998 study claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and regressive autism retract their work, stating, “No causal link was established between the MMR vaccine and autism.”
2005
The second meningitis vaccine becomes available. Unlike the previous one, it offers longer-lasting immunity and is more effective.
2006
The first vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), which helps prevent six types of cervical cancer, is approved and licensed for girls & women ages 9-26.
2009
The HPV vaccine is licensed for boys & men ages 9-26.
2009
The results of the first HIV vaccine proven to have some efficacy (31%) in preventing HIV infection are announced.
2010
The British General Medical Council completes its hearing into Wakefield’s MMR study, concluding that he falsified data (including how many were diagnosed with autism), performed procedures without ethics approvals and was secretly paid by lawyers seeking to sue vaccine manufacturers. Wakefield was stripped of his medical license; the Lancet fully retracts his paper.
2012
Another meningitis vaccine is approved; it expands coverage to infants as young as two months old. It’s still widely recommended and used for preteens with a booster at 16-yrs-old.
2014
An HPV vaccine protecting against nine types of cancer is approved.
2017
Five years after the first positive results, an mRNA vaccine is tested in humans.
2018
A measles outbreak begins in NY on September 30 and lasts 11.5 months. The outbreak officially ends on September 3, 2019, thanks to almost 34,000 children receiving the MMR vaccine in highly-infected areas; 1,274 cases were reported across 31 states. It’s the highest number of cases since 1994. It almost results in the U.S losing its measles elimination status, which occurs when a virus has spread continuously for an entire year.
2018
The HPV vaccine is approved for individuals up to age 45.
2020
In December, just one year after the first COVID-19 case was detected, the first doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine, using mRNA technology, are administered.
2022
Polio returns to the U.S., primarily due to low vaccination rates in specific communities and a weakened strain from the oral vaccine.
2022
A Phase 1 trial of an HIV vaccine shows promising safety and immune responses in 97% of participants. It’s designed to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies.
2023
A Phase 1 trial of a different HIV vaccine begins in the U.S. and South Africa; it’s also designed to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies.
2023
A new, simpler meningitis vaccine is approved; it requires two doses for adolescents and young adults up to the age of 25. Note: Figures for 2024–2025 are subject to change based on new data and emerging research.
2024
Over 28,000 cases of whooping cough are reported, which is six times more than in 2023. This resurgence is attributed to a switch to a less effective vaccine and disruptions in vaccination due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2024
The percentage of people with the MMR vaccine drops below herd immunity (95%) to 92.7%. Measles outbreaks begin to rise; 285 cases are reported across 33 jurisdictions—the highest total since 2019.
2025
Cases of measles continue to rise across the U.S., with at least 916 confirmed or probable cases in 30 states as of April 18. Two children have died in Texas (the first measles-related deaths since 2015), and an adult in New Mexico. Globally, Mexico has at least 360 confirmed cases and one death as of April 17, and there’s an outbreak in Canada, mainly in Ontario, with more than 1,069 confirmed & probable cases and no reported deaths as of April 25.
Click here to learn more about Andrew Wakefield and the measles vaccine.
This article was published in the May/June 2025 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.
Gia Miller is an award-winning journalist and the editor-in-chief/co-publisher of Connect to Northern Westchester. She has a magazine journalism degree (yes, that's a real thing) from the University of Georgia and has written for countless national publications, ranging from SELF to The Washington Post. Gia desperately wishes schools still taught grammar. Also, she wants everyone to know they can delete the word "that" from about 90% of their sentences, and there's no such thing as "first annual." When she's not running her media empire, Gia enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, laughing at her crazy dog and listening to a good podcast. She thanks multiple alarms, fermented grapes and her amazing husband for helping her get through each day. Her love languages are food and humor.
Aeneas Eaton
Based in northern Westchester, Aeneas is a graphic designer, creative and artist who has a fondness for print design and bold colors. He enjoys turning the wacky and eccentric ideas that come to his mind into reality, whether it be on the computer or through painting.
