MEDICINE 1955: It Works: Salk Polio Vaccine

It Works

The big news came in three words:

"The vaccine works."

That was how the University of Michigan started off its terse summary of the verdict on the Salk polio vaccine. The reading of the report itself took longer, and the setting in the university's Rickham auditorium was elaborate. Under the klieg lights set up for TV and newsreel cameras, surrounded by microphones and 150 reporters, sat the unquestioned hero of the occasion: Dr. Jonas Edward Salk, 40, the determined, youthful-looking virologist who for five years had battled in his University of Pittsburgh...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!