"Finally the cataclysm began – the monstrous headache, the enfeebling exhaustion, the severe nausea, the raging fever, the unbearable muscle ache, followed in another forty-eight hours by the paralysis."
--from "Nemesis" by Philip Roth
This is what parents everywhere feared throughout the first half of the 20th century. Polio, the scourge of children, was rare prior to 1900, when epidemics began to occur in Europe and soon after, in the United States. By 1910, frequent epidemics became regular events throughout the developed world primarily in cities during the summer months. At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, polio would paralyze or kill over half a million people worldwide every year. No one knew who would or wouldn't get the disease. And no one knew what the damage would ultimately be.
"Polio was a plague. One day you had a headache and an hour later you were paralyzed. How far the virus crept up your spine determined whether you could walk afterward or even breathe. Parents waited fearfully every summer to see if it would strike. One case turned up and then another. The count began to climb. The city closed the swimming pools and we all stayed home, cooped indoors, shunning other children. Summer seemed like winter then." --from "A Hole In The World" by Richard Rhodes
While various treatments and therapies were developed over time, there was no cure for polio. Annual epidemics continued to increase in both frequency and severity. In the United States, the 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation's history. Of the 57,628 cases reported that year, 3,145 died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis.
In 1955 the World could begin to breathe a little easier. That year, the first effective polio vaccine was licensed for use in the United States and elsewhere. Developed by Dr Jonas Salk, the vaccine, or inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), consists of an injected dose of killed poliovirus. In 1954, the vaccine was tested for its ability to prevent polio; its field trials grew to be the largest medical experiment in history. In 1955, it was chosen for use throughout the United States. By 1957, following mass immunizations promoted by the March of Dimes, the annual number of polio cases in the United States was reduced, from the 1952 peak to just 5,600 cases. By 1962 a second vaccine, developed by Dr Albert Sabin, was licensed. This oral vaccine was made from a live, but weakened, form of the virus. Mass immunizations using both the Salk and Sabin vaccines brought the incidence of the virus lower and lower. The last polio outbreak in the United States occurred in 1979.
There still is no cure for polio. But thanks to the Salk and Sabin vaccines, polio has been virtually eradicated around the World. It is currently known to exist, in the wild, in only Afghanistan and Pakistan. Viruses do not respect boundaries. Without continued vaccination efforts, a reemergence of the annual epidemics is still possible.
People of a certain age can still remember waiting in line to get a sugar cube that contained the polio vaccine. Some may even remember that their parents seemed less worried if we had a headache or a cold in the Summer. Younger folks may have never even heard of "pandemics" or "quarantines" until about a year ago. That's when the worst disease outbreak in a century took hold the world over. Just like before, no one knew who would get sick and no one knew what the outcome of the illness would be. The COVID-19 pandemic is still going on. New cases are still emerging and people are still dying every day. Through an unprecedented worldwide effort, several vaccines have been developed that have high effectiveness in preventing the disease or at least lessening the severity for those who get infected. Also just like before, people are lining up to get their shots. But not everyone.
Where in the 1950s and 1960s people saw the polio vaccines as a deliverance from a vicious debilitating, and sometimes fatal, disease, today, hundreds of thousands see the COVID-19 vaccines as some kind of infringement on their rights. Despite more than 31 million cases, resulting in more than half a million dead in the US alone, there are still those who claim the whole pandemic was a lie, some kind of plot. Large portions of this country remain under some form of lockdown. Millions are out of work. Thousands of businesses remain closed, many will never reopen. School remains "virtual" for all or part of the week for many children. And still, some refuse to either believe the virus is real while others stubbornly refuse to do the one thing that can get the country moving once again. They refuse to get vaccinated. It's not about cost, the vaccine if free to all. It's not about availability, we are less than 2 weeks from all adults being eligible for vaccination. It shouldn't even be about politics, as Donald Trump, the cult hero of many who are refusing the vaccine, has admitted to being vaccinated himself. The only possible reason seems to be a twisted need to thwart the possible success of the current administration.
The Biden administration hit the ground running immediately after the inauguration to implement a plan to address the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, every goal that was set for vaccinating the American public has been met and exceeded. The goal of 100 million vaccines administered in 100 days was passed in just 50 days. Having sufficient supplies of the vaccine for the whole country would be met by the end of the year. Then by the end of Summer. Then by the end of May. Now, April 19th is the date when every adult 18 and over will be able to get their shots. Public approval of the administration's handling of the pandemic is astronomically high. Even a majority of Republicans approve. But there is still a cabal of twisted, feckless, deluded losers who can have no satisfaction in their lives unless every Democrat everywhere fails at everything. They will keep the whole country at risk of infection, keep the whole country shut down, just to make sure Joe Biden gets no credit for ending the deadliest public health crisis in 100 years. As they seem to do continuously with their votes, they will work against their own self-interest in their efforts to prove they were right all along. They will, of course, fail.
As more and more people get their shots, the virus will have fewer and fewer avenues for spread. Just like polio, there is no cure for the current disease. There may never be. We do have an effective weapon now to make the COVID-19 virus moot in all practicality. Hopefully, the mass inoculations will allow us to develop the "herd immunity" that will protect us to the extent that we can finally get on with our lives in some form or another. Sadly, the "herd" will also protect the fools who continue to deny reality. They'll get the benefit of our responsible actions. And we'll still have most of them around when the next crisis occurs. I weep for my country.