On May 14^th, 1796, Edward Jenner, a British physician studying at the University of Berkley, made a major breakthrough. He scratched infected cowpox fluid from a blister into James Phipps, an eight-year-old boy.

James contracted cowpox, a single blister popping up, but a week later, was fine. Later, on July 1^st of the same year, Jenner repeated the process, using smallpox fluid instead. No disease arose. The first vaccination was a success.

On the same day ten years later, Thomas Jefferson, President at the time, wrote to Jenner, “Having been among the early converts (Jefferson contracted smallpox at a young age), in this part of the globe, to its efficacy, I took an early part in recommending it to my countrymen…You have erased from the calendar of human afflictions one of its greatest.”

Following this in 1813, the United States Vaccine Agency was established which was headed by James Smith. Congress deemed it a required agency, saying that it was important to “preserve the genuine vaccine matter, and to furnish the same to any citizen of the United States.”

After the implantation of these ideas and agencies into society, there was a noticeable decrease in mortality that was noted in 1820. Before vaccination, 18,447 deaths were reported from smallpox. After vaccination was introduced, the death rate fell to only 7,858.

In 1855, we see Massachusetts passing the first law requiring vaccination for school children. The vaccination for smallpox improved with the so called “Animal Vaccine” thanks to Henry Austin Martin. We were now vaccinating animals.

1881 brought the Anthrax vaccine, 1885 brought the rabies vaccine, and 1894 brought the first United States polio epidemic. 1897 brings Ehrlich’s Immunity Unit that allows for measurement when developing vaccines.

1898 brings the regulation of vaccine supply in the US. Even though smallpox rates were at an all-time low, they were to still get the vaccine. Global eradication of smallpox would follow.

The Biologics Control Act is passed in 1902, the first law to require a certain quality to be present in all vaccinations, medications, and other medical supplements. 1905 sees the last North American Yellow Fever epidemic, thanks to a mosquito eradication program.

The poliovirus is identified in 1908 by Karl Landsteiner, MD, and Erwin Popper, MD.

1909- Air-dried smallpox vaccine is developed in Paris

1911- Waldemar Haffkine develops a heat-killed cholera vaccine

1914- Typhoid vaccination becomes a publically required vaccination

1916- Measles-specific antibodies are found by Charles Nicolle, MD, and Ernest Consiel, MD, prove that a serum made from these antibodies prevents measles

1921- Immunization against diphtheria is required for schoolchildren and is administered to kids in school

1922- School vaccination becomes required by Congress. Parents do not have the right to deny vaccinations

1925- Whooping cough vaccination produces first cases of success

1935- Early polio vaccine trials begin… things did not end well

1939- Whooping cough vaccine is officially deemed effective.

1944- Vaccination for Japanese encephalitis is given to thousands of US soldiers, likely saves their lives

1950- Polio vaccine is first used on children, it was 100% successful

1954- 1.3 million schoolchildren participate in polio vaccine trial

1955- It is announced that the polio trial was very successful

1960- Polio vaccine is licensed

1963- All types of polio are combined into one vaccine

1963- Measles vaccine licensed

1971- MMR vaccine is licensed

1971- Marek’s disease vaccine licensed

1976- Swine flu vaccine is licensed

1977- Pneumococcal vaccine licensed

1985- First Hib vaccine

1986- Hepatitis B vaccine licensed

1989- Large outbreak of measles because of failure to vaccinate children

1994- Polio is declared eliminated from the Americas

1995- Hepatitis A vaccine licensed

1995- Chickenpox vaccine licensed

2002- Smallpox vaccination is implemented back into some civilians’ vaccination schedules due to bioweapon threats

2005- Meningococcal vaccination is licensed

2008- Rotavirus vaccination is licensed

2010- Pneumococcal vaccine for children is expanded

2010- Sudden spike in cases of whooping cough in California due to failure to immunize

2014- Group B Meningococcal vaccine approved

2014- Highest number of measles cases since it was declared eliminated in 2000

2015- Oral polio vaccine is discontinued due to global eradication of the disease

2017- 35 deaths due to measles in Europe, thousands of cases due to failure to immunize

The science behind vaccinations has been around for over 200+ years. No doctor is out to get you and poison your kids, that’s against the oath that they take and is also illegal. We see at multiple times in history when failure to vaccinate ends in a new outbreak of a disease that was previously eradicated from the US.

When will we finally start learning from our history?

Vaccines are not bad, doctors and scientists everywhere would not recommend them so strongly if they were. Oh, they don’t cause autism by the way. That guy was stripped of his medical license for falsifying data and lying.

A child’s right to live is not more important than your right to believe falsified data and deem your knowledge on a medical subject better than that of a doctor’s who spent YEARS in school to even know these things. Doctors are not out to get you! They just want to protect your kids!

A resurgence of disease is happening, and it’s the anti-vaxxers’ fault.

Stop gambling everyone else’s life just because you can Google something and come up with an opinion. Vaccinate your damn kids.

For more information on vaccinations and their history, check out this timeline that explains it all, year to year. The CDC is another great resource for vaccinations and history of disease.