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The polio vaccine is often used to exemplify the triumph of science; and Salk is synonymous with the cure for polio. As usual, the truth is much uglier than you can ever imagine, and is full of corruption, suppression of information, and backroom deals. [549 words, 3 minutes to read]
The oral vaccine we are familiar with today was developed by Albert Bruce Sabin (SAY-bin), who refused to patent it or profit from it in any way. No wonder we don't hear about him. He is a traitor to the capitalist culture, and a threat to Big Pharma.
There were many reasons Sabin was not a household name in the McCarthy-era US -- or even today. He was an immigrant born in Poland. He lived in Israel for years. He spent time in Cuba in 1967, forging scientific collaboration between the two countries in spite of the embargo and the post-missile-crisis diplomatic break. He collaborated with Russian scientists in the 50s-early 60s, providing them with the vaccine -- and receiving the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the highest civilian honor in the USSR.
Salk, the poster boy of the polio vaccine, had developed a vaccine that was effective but did not prevent the spread of the disease by the vaccinated population. Sabin's oral vaccine was not only easier to administer but its effects lasted longer; it also made it possible to largely eradicate the virus by preventing transmission. Salk, almost a decade younger than Sabin, played the capitalist game better, and garnered the support of the industry.
The story gets really ugly. The March of Dimes Foundation successfully lobbied and effectively prevented the use of Sabin's vaccine, supporting the inferior but highly profitable Salk vaccine. Salk was busy with the planning the construction of the Salk Institute, an architectural mecca for fans of brutalism. Construction costs exceded 14 million dollars, close to a billion when adjusted for inflation - a staggering amount for the 1960s. In the meantime Sabin was not allowed to conduct trials in the US.
Other countries were not so stupid, and gladly welcomed Sabin and his cure. USSR had vaccinated its population and sent millions of doses of the vaccine to the epicenters of the desease around the world, positioning itself as a humanitarian benefactor. Few people were aware that the vaccine was developed in the US and yet was not available to US citizens!
Soon more than 100,000,000 people around the world had received Sabin's vaccine, and polio was on its way out. The US pharma-industrial complex had to grudgingly give up, and Sabin's vaccine was finally made available for a trial in Cincinnati (a staggering success). The US population was then vaccinated and (with a few snags) polio all but disappeared over the next decade.
Sabin later developed vaccines against several other viral diseases and pioneered several areas of vaccinology and epidemiology. He had steadfastly refused to patent his work, or otherwise personally profit from it, living modestly until his eventual demise in 1993. You probably won't be able to find pictures of the Sabin Vaccine Institute (I imagine the Washington DC building is modest), but it is still around continuing Sabin's legacy.
Please remember the name of Albert Bruce Sabin, and make sure that people around you hear the story of this unsung anticapitalist hero, responsible for saving uncounted lives around the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine#1961
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Sabin
https://magazine.uc.edu/issues/0408/on_campus.html
https://www.statnews.com/2018/03/01/albert-sabin-polio-vaccine/
https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/jonas-salk-and-albert-bruce-sabin
https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/soviet-trials-sabins-live-poliovirus-vaccine
https://www.virology.ws/2015/09/10/why-do-we-still-use-sabin-poliovirus-vaccine/
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/salk-institute-for-biological-studies/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salk_Institute_for_Biological_Studies
https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Eradicating-Polio-When-Two-Jewish-Researchers-Changed-the-World.html