Date

Explanations

1798

Edward Jenner publishes work on smallpox vaccine, coining the terms "vaccine" and "vaccination"; by1800, smallpox vaccination becomes commonplace.

1870s-1880s

Louis Pasteur develops first live attenuated bacterial vaccine (chicken cholera) and first live attenuated viral vaccine (rabies)

1918

Spanish influenza (flu) pandemic kills 25-50 million worldwide.

1945

Inactivated influenza vaccine licensed in US.

1952

Nearly 60000 cases of polio reported in US.

1955

First polio vaccine pioneered by Jonas Salk licensed in US.

1961

Orally-administrated polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin licensed in US.

1963

Measles vaccine licensed in US.

1974

Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine licensed in US; first conjugate meningococcal vaccine licensed in US in 2005.

1980

Smallpox is the first infectious disease eradicated by vaccination

1987

First Hib conjugate vaccine licensed in US.

2000s

Measles and rubella no longer endemic in the US. First conjugate pneumococcal vaccine licensed in US.

2006

Vaccine to prevent cervical cancer due to human papillomavirus (HPV) licensed in US.

2009

Vaccines against 2009 Hemagglutinin1 Neuraminidases1 (H1N1) pandemic strain and high-dose influenza vaccine licensed in US.

2014

CDC estimates vaccines will prevent 21million hospitalizations and 732000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years alone.

2020

Several vaccines are in development stage for SARS-CoV-2, the Coronavirus that causes COVID-19. As of Jan 15,2021, nearly 2 million people worldwide have died during the pandemic and more than 94 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported which nearly 54 million people have recovered.