Introduction + Research Arc 1: Social Contexts of Polio and Covid
In early 2020, the rapid spread of the covid virus left the entire world scrambling, the United States included. From the onset of the virus to November 2022, there have been over one million deaths from the virus and nearly 100 million confirmed cases total in America alone (CDC). The covid pandemic in America has been notorious for the debate over vaccinations. From the emergence of the vaccine to November 2022, 266,000,000 individuals have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which gives a rate of 80.4%. For individuals who have received all doses of the vaccine, the rate drops to 68.6% (CDC). The virus is transmitted through close contact with infected individuals through droplets, making the disease very easy to spread and difficult to detect until the symptoms begin emerging. This viral infection is not the first type of large-scale disease that the United States has faced–in the past, one particular epidemic stands out bearing resemblance to the covid pandemic: polio. The virus hit America hard twice: once in 1916 and once in 1952. The worst outbreak was faced in 1952, where there were over 57,000 cases, 21,000 of those resulting in paralysis and 3,000 deaths. Similarities polio bears to covid includes how it is easily transmitted through the respiratory system (Larsen). One stark difference between the two diseases, however, is the vaccination rate for polio. Resistance against the polio vaccine was not as strong as the resistance against the covid vaccine. Today, 92.5% of children before the age of two have received the full polio vaccine dosage (“Immunization”). Through comparisons between the recent covid pandemic to the historical polio epidemics in America, I aim to show how sociopolitical contexts and governmental and organizational responses encouraged polio vaccination, and discouraged (intentionally or unintentionally) covid vaccination in America. Vaccine resistance and lower vaccination rates are dangerous because it leaves a community more exposed to diseases that could be fatal. Both polio and covid have shown to be severe and potentially fatal–but it is ultimately their outcomes that differ.
The main social contexts that shaped the population’s attitude towards polio were the anti-vaccination sentiments and the at-risk population, which counter-balanced the anti-vaccination sentiments. This type of misinformation surrounding the vaccine was spread, most notably, from Walter Winchell, the modern day equivalent of a Fox News broadcaster and most popular columnist at the time. In an article published in the Chicago Sun Times, author Neil Steinberg quotes Winchell’s booming words to America on the morning of April 4, 1954. Winchell reported that there was “‘a new polio vaccine claimed to be a cure. It may be a killer.’ The vaccine hadn’t even been tested yet. Authorities, Winchell claimed, wrongly, were stockpiling “little white coffins” to handle the vaccine’s victims. That week, 150,000 children were yanked out of the vaccine trial” (Steinberg). The American peoples’ response to Winchell’s baseless claims demonstrate the power that misinformation and vaccine fears hold. Winchell’s claims were proven to be false by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP), the organization that conducted vaccine trials. A 1954 issue of the Scientific American journal reported that the NFIP pointed out that of over 4,000 children who had received Jonas Salk’s live virus vaccine, none of them showed any effects (Scientific American). Despite claims about the dangers of the polio vaccine, parents rushed to vaccinate their children anyways, most likely due to the at-risk population target of polio. Children had the highest chance of contracting polio, and parents were so desperate to protect their children that many parents were very willing to get their children vaccinated, according to Emory University historian Elena Conis (Conis). As a result of this desperation, it was much less likely that parents would listen to the voices of anti-vaccine movement leaders such as Winchell. Regardless of the desperation, it was also important that parents would feel reassured about the vaccine, and the NFIP did just that–particularly during vaccine trials which recruited 1.8 million children to participate in (Larsen). In David Oshinksky’s book Polio: An American Story, he elaborated that the NFIP explained to parents how the vaccine had already been proved to be safe on over 5,000 volunteers, with none-to-minimal side effects (Oshinsky). Thus, from efforts to calm questioning parents to the parental desire to protect their children, the social environment guided the population towards vaccinations, muffling the anti-vaccination cries and vaccinations proceeded forward.
For the covid pandemic, Americans faced similar social contexts as polio: anti-vaccination movements and an at-risk population. However, instead of counterbalancing each other, both factors worked together to become a strong competitor towards vaccination rates. An article published in the Microbes and Infection journal articulates some of the outrageous claims that anti-vaccine movements have created, including ones such as Bill Gates created the virus, covid viruses contain microchips to track individuals, 5G networks in China weakened immune systems so that citizens would become infected. Other protests include lobbying against social distancing, contact tracing, and wearing masks (Hotez). In comparison to the polio social context, the amount of conspiracy theories that have emerged and spread from covid are greater than polio. One reason for this abundance is due to the internet and the availability of misinformation. Professors at the University of Iowa explain in an article published in the Wiley Public Health Emergency Collection how in the spring of 2020, covid-related Google searches spiked and tweets related to the virus hit over 500 million. However, around 50% of the American population encountered false information about covid, and many people unsurprisingly bought into it (Wang). Out of the abundance of misinformation, anti-vaccination sentiments and conspiracies were certainly shared among people, only fueling the movements against vaccines. Another factor that the population faces in terms of becoming vaccinated is the at-risk group for the covid virus. The majority of deaths from covid fall under people age 50 and older, according to data from the CDC. As a result, vaccination rates are among the lowest in young adults ages 24 and under (CDC). In one abcnews article, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security scholar Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana states that the reason for the low rates among young adults is because of their “‘lingering perception that 'I am young, I am strong, I can fight this thing off…So there's that youthful sense of invincibility that was reinforced early on when we had less vaccine available’” (Deliso). The result of the low vaccination rates emerges among social pressures: if less teenagers and young adults feel the need to get vaccinated, they are less likely to encourage their peers to vaccinate as well, or even pressure their friends against getting vaccinated because of their sense of invincibility. These opinions, combined with misinformation and conspiracy theories created by anti-vaxxers, result in strong reasons to not get vaccinated for those who believe it.
The main social contexts that shaped the population’s attitude towards polio were the anti-vaccination sentiments and the at-risk population, which counter-balanced the anti-vaccination sentiments. This type of misinformation surrounding the vaccine was spread, most notably, from Walter Winchell, the modern day equivalent of a Fox News broadcaster and most popular columnist at the time. In an article published in the Chicago Sun Times, author Neil Steinberg quotes Winchell’s booming words to America on the morning of April 4, 1954. Winchell reported that there was “‘a new polio vaccine claimed to be a cure. It may be a killer.’ The vaccine hadn’t even been tested yet. Authorities, Winchell claimed, wrongly, were stockpiling “little white coffins” to handle the vaccine’s victims. That week, 150,000 children were yanked out of the vaccine trial” (Steinberg). The American peoples’ response to Winchell’s baseless claims demonstrate the power that misinformation and vaccine fears hold. Winchell’s claims were proven to be false by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP), the organization that conducted vaccine trials. A 1954 issue of the Scientific American journal reported that the NFIP pointed out that of over 4,000 children who had received Jonas Salk’s live virus vaccine, none of them showed any effects (Scientific American). Despite claims about the dangers of the polio vaccine, parents rushed to vaccinate their children anyways, most likely due to the at-risk population target of polio. Children had the highest chance of contracting polio, and parents were so desperate to protect their children that many parents were very willing to get their children vaccinated, according to Emory University historian Elena Conis (Conis). As a result of this desperation, it was much less likely that parents would listen to the voices of anti-vaccine movement leaders such as Winchell. Regardless of the desperation, it was also important that parents would feel reassured about the vaccine, and the NFIP did just that–particularly during vaccine trials which recruited 1.8 million children to participate in (Larsen). In David Oshinksky’s book Polio: An American Story, he elaborated that the NFIP explained to parents how the vaccine had already been proved to be safe on over 5,000 volunteers, with none-to-minimal side effects (Oshinsky). Thus, from efforts to calm questioning parents to the parental desire to protect their children, the social environment guided the population towards vaccinations, muffling the anti-vaccination cries and vaccinations proceeded forward.
For the covid pandemic, Americans faced similar social contexts as polio: anti-vaccination movements and an at-risk population. However, instead of counterbalancing each other, both factors worked together to become a strong competitor towards vaccination rates. An article published in the Microbes and Infection journal articulates some of the outrageous claims that anti-vaccine movements have created, including ones such as Bill Gates created the virus, covid viruses contain microchips to track individuals, 5G networks in China weakened immune systems so that citizens would become infected. Other protests include lobbying against social distancing, contact tracing, and wearing masks (Hotez). In comparison to the polio social context, the amount of conspiracy theories that have emerged and spread from covid are greater than polio. One reason for this abundance is due to the internet and the availability of misinformation. Professors at the University of Iowa explain in an article published in the Wiley Public Health Emergency Collection how in the spring of 2020, covid-related Google searches spiked and tweets related to the virus hit over 500 million. However, around 50% of the American population encountered false information about covid, and many people unsurprisingly bought into it (Wang). Out of the abundance of misinformation, anti-vaccination sentiments and conspiracies were certainly shared among people, only fueling the movements against vaccines. Another factor that the population faces in terms of becoming vaccinated is the at-risk group for the covid virus. The majority of deaths from covid fall under people age 50 and older, according to data from the CDC. As a result, vaccination rates are among the lowest in young adults ages 24 and under (CDC). In one abcnews article, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security scholar Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana states that the reason for the low rates among young adults is because of their “‘lingering perception that 'I am young, I am strong, I can fight this thing off…So there's that youthful sense of invincibility that was reinforced early on when we had less vaccine available’” (Deliso). The result of the low vaccination rates emerges among social pressures: if less teenagers and young adults feel the need to get vaccinated, they are less likely to encourage their peers to vaccinate as well, or even pressure their friends against getting vaccinated because of their sense of invincibility. These opinions, combined with misinformation and conspiracy theories created by anti-vaxxers, result in strong reasons to not get vaccinated for those who believe it.
In Progress Works Cited
Brink, Susan. "Can't Help Falling In Love With A Vaccine: How Polio Campaign Beat Vaccine Hesitancy." NPR.org, 3 May 2021, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/03/988756973/cant-help-falling-in-love-with-a-vaccine-how-polio-campaign-beat-vaccine-hesitan.
CDC. "COVID Data Tracker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics.
CDC. "COVID Data Tracker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_totalcases_select_00.
Clausen, John A., et al. "Parent Attitudes Toward Participation of Their Children in Polio Vaccine Trials." American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, vol. 44, no. 12, 1954, pp. 1526-1536. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.44.12.1526
Conis, Elena. "Vaccination Resistance in Historical Perspective." Organization of American Historians, www.oah.org/tah/issues/2015/august/vaccination-resistance/.
Deliso, Meredith. "What's Fueling COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Young Adults?" ABC News, 16 July 2021, abcnews.go.com/Health/young-adults-remain-hesitant-covid-19-vaccine/story?id=78828317.
Dorfman, Robert G., et al. "Dr. Polio: Revisiting FDR's Medical Legacy." Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, vol. 35 no. 1, 2018, p. 160-192. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/695810.
Hotez, Peter J. "COVID19 meets the antivaccine movement." Microbes and Infection, vol. 22, no. 4-5, 2020, pp. 162-164.
"Immunization." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Oct. 2022, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm#:~:text=Polio%20(3%2B%20doses)%3A%2092.5,(1%2B%20doses)%3A%2090.8%25.
Kuznetsova L. COVID-19: The World Community Expects the World Health Organization to Play a Stronger Leadership and Coordination Role in Pandemics Control. Front Public Health. 2020 Sep 8;8:470. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00470. PMID: 33014970; PMCID: PMC7505920.
Larsen, Dawn. "The March of Dimes and Polio: Lessons in Vaccine Advocacy for Health Educators." American Journal of Health Education, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 47-54, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ978264. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ978264.pdf
Lee, Bruce Y. "Did Marjorie Taylor Greene Compare Polio And Covid-19 Vaccines? Here’s The Problem." Forbes, 21 Dec. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/12/21/did-marjorie-taylor-greene-compare-polio-and-covid-19-vaccines-heres-the-problem/?sh=57caa4551033.
Meyers, K., Thomasson, M.A. Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916. Cliometrica 15, 231–265 (2021). https://doi-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3
Moran, Padraig. "Polio Vaccine Set off Wave of Relief, and a Wave of Resistance. COVID-19 Era May Be Similar, Says Jill Lepore." CBC, 15 Dec. 2020, www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-june-9-2020-1.5604421/polio-vaccine-set-off-wave-of-relief-and-a-wave-of-resistance-covid-19-era-may-be-similar-says-jill-lepore-1.5604925.
Omer, Saad B., et al. "Promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance: recommendations from the Lancet Commission on Vaccine Refusal, Acceptance, and Demand in the USA." The Lancet, vol. 398, no. 10317, 2021, pp. 2186-2192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02507-1
Oshinsky, David M.. Polio : An American Story, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/berkeley-ebooks/detail.action?docID=279565.
Schupmann, Will D. "Human Experimentation in Public Schools: How Schools Served as Sites of Vaccine Trials in the 20th Century." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 108, no. 8, 2018, pp. 1015-1022. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=phr
Scientific American. "Paranoid Gossip About Polio Vaccine." Scientific American, 13 Apr. 2020, www.scientificamerican.com/article/paranoid-gossip-about-polio-vaccine/.
Steinberg, Neil. "Americans Were Scared of Polio Vaccine Too." Chicago Sun-Times, 31 Aug. 2021, chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/8/31/22626790/coronavirus-vaccine-anti-vaxxers-polio-winchell-steinberg.
Stephen E. Mawdsley (2016) ‘Salk Hops’: Teen Health Activism and the Fight against Polio, 1955 – 1960, Cultural and Social History, 13:2, 249-265, DOI: 10.1080/14780038.2016.1145393
Thompson, Kimberly M., and Radboud J.Duintjer Tebbens. “Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Polio Vaccination in the United States.” Risk Analysis: An International Journal, vol. 26, no. 6, Dec. 2006, pp. 1423–40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00831.x.
Wang, Xiangyu et al. “Understanding the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on social media: The effects of topics and a political leader's nudge.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology vol. 73,5 (2022): 726-737. doi:10.1002/asi.24576
Yeracaris, Constantine A. “The Acceptance of Polio Vaccine: An Hypothesis.” The American Catholic Sociological Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 1961, pp. 299–305. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3708037. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.
CDC. "COVID Data Tracker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics.
CDC. "COVID Data Tracker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_totalcases_select_00.
Clausen, John A., et al. "Parent Attitudes Toward Participation of Their Children in Polio Vaccine Trials." American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, vol. 44, no. 12, 1954, pp. 1526-1536. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.44.12.1526
Conis, Elena. "Vaccination Resistance in Historical Perspective." Organization of American Historians, www.oah.org/tah/issues/2015/august/vaccination-resistance/.
Deliso, Meredith. "What's Fueling COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Young Adults?" ABC News, 16 July 2021, abcnews.go.com/Health/young-adults-remain-hesitant-covid-19-vaccine/story?id=78828317.
Dorfman, Robert G., et al. "Dr. Polio: Revisiting FDR's Medical Legacy." Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, vol. 35 no. 1, 2018, p. 160-192. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/695810.
Hotez, Peter J. "COVID19 meets the antivaccine movement." Microbes and Infection, vol. 22, no. 4-5, 2020, pp. 162-164.
"Immunization." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Oct. 2022, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm#:~:text=Polio%20(3%2B%20doses)%3A%2092.5,(1%2B%20doses)%3A%2090.8%25.
Kuznetsova L. COVID-19: The World Community Expects the World Health Organization to Play a Stronger Leadership and Coordination Role in Pandemics Control. Front Public Health. 2020 Sep 8;8:470. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00470. PMID: 33014970; PMCID: PMC7505920.
Larsen, Dawn. "The March of Dimes and Polio: Lessons in Vaccine Advocacy for Health Educators." American Journal of Health Education, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 47-54, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ978264. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ978264.pdf
Lee, Bruce Y. "Did Marjorie Taylor Greene Compare Polio And Covid-19 Vaccines? Here’s The Problem." Forbes, 21 Dec. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/12/21/did-marjorie-taylor-greene-compare-polio-and-covid-19-vaccines-heres-the-problem/?sh=57caa4551033.
Meyers, K., Thomasson, M.A. Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916. Cliometrica 15, 231–265 (2021). https://doi-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3
Moran, Padraig. "Polio Vaccine Set off Wave of Relief, and a Wave of Resistance. COVID-19 Era May Be Similar, Says Jill Lepore." CBC, 15 Dec. 2020, www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-june-9-2020-1.5604421/polio-vaccine-set-off-wave-of-relief-and-a-wave-of-resistance-covid-19-era-may-be-similar-says-jill-lepore-1.5604925.
Omer, Saad B., et al. "Promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance: recommendations from the Lancet Commission on Vaccine Refusal, Acceptance, and Demand in the USA." The Lancet, vol. 398, no. 10317, 2021, pp. 2186-2192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02507-1
Oshinsky, David M.. Polio : An American Story, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/berkeley-ebooks/detail.action?docID=279565.
Schupmann, Will D. "Human Experimentation in Public Schools: How Schools Served as Sites of Vaccine Trials in the 20th Century." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 108, no. 8, 2018, pp. 1015-1022. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=phr
Scientific American. "Paranoid Gossip About Polio Vaccine." Scientific American, 13 Apr. 2020, www.scientificamerican.com/article/paranoid-gossip-about-polio-vaccine/.
Steinberg, Neil. "Americans Were Scared of Polio Vaccine Too." Chicago Sun-Times, 31 Aug. 2021, chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/8/31/22626790/coronavirus-vaccine-anti-vaxxers-polio-winchell-steinberg.
Stephen E. Mawdsley (2016) ‘Salk Hops’: Teen Health Activism and the Fight against Polio, 1955 – 1960, Cultural and Social History, 13:2, 249-265, DOI: 10.1080/14780038.2016.1145393
Thompson, Kimberly M., and Radboud J.Duintjer Tebbens. “Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Polio Vaccination in the United States.” Risk Analysis: An International Journal, vol. 26, no. 6, Dec. 2006, pp. 1423–40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00831.x.
Wang, Xiangyu et al. “Understanding the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on social media: The effects of topics and a political leader's nudge.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology vol. 73,5 (2022): 726-737. doi:10.1002/asi.24576
Yeracaris, Constantine A. “The Acceptance of Polio Vaccine: An Hypothesis.” The American Catholic Sociological Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 1961, pp. 299–305. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3708037. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.