How the Polio Vaccine got funded
Featuring Elvis!
Hi there!
Some stories inspire, delight, and warm your heart,
Recently I came across the story of the polio vaccine and how it was funded and became popular, which did all three.
Here it is.
In 1916, more than 27,000 children were infected with polio.
The onset of polio was sudden and devastating. More than 6,000 children died, and a big chunk of survivors were disabled for life.
No one knew how polio was transmitted or contracted.
People believed polio was spread by cats, and over 70,000 cats were killed in New York in a single month.
Tens of thousands fled New York City, which was one of the worst-hit areas.
Then, as summer faded, so did the disease, only to reappear in other parts of the country.
Polio was indiscriminate infecting rich and poor alike.
One summer, it infected Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the future president of the US, who was 39 years old at the time. He lost the use of his legs and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
A solution to the disease had to be found before it debilitated an entire generation of Americans.
FDR set up a foundation to combat polio, but who would fund the research?
The US government didn’t believe in investing in public health, instead they expected the private market to invest in finding a cure.
So, FDR turned to the people of the United States.
At one fundraiser, singer Eddie Cantor asked the public to send dimes—a tenth of a dollar—to the White House to fund a cure and the people listened. They sent in donations. One dime at a time. In envelope after envelope. Donations poured in from all across the country.
How many dimes? Over $25.5 million!
The foundation used these donations to fund research for a cure.
In April 1955, they finally found success.
Jonas Salk developed a vaccine to combat Polio. He was felicitated by the scientific community for his incredible breakthrough!
However, despite the crippling effects of the virus and the promising results of the vaccination, many Americans simply weren’t getting vaccinated.
People did not trust the vaccine. Immunization levels among American teens were at an abysmal 0.6%.
Enter Elvis Presley
In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸, in front of the press & TV cameras, Presley let a New York state official stick a needle loaded up with the polio vaccine in his arm.
Watching a star take the vaccine was the spark the immunization program desperately needed.
Presley's performance led to the vaccination rates among American youth to skyrocket to 80% after just six months of his appearance.
It turned the tide and the vaccine saved countless lives.
Stories like these remind us how we have fought and won against the epidemics of the past and the need for us to band together to keep diseases at bay.
For more details on this story please read,
https://the-ken.com/the-nutgraf/the-66-year-old-forgotten-story/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-elvis-got-americans-to-accept-the-polio-vaccine/
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Filtered Kapi. Do let me know if something struck a chord with you.
Filtered Kapi #34 Someone sent you this?
good to have you back.