According to the CDC, 'Measles was once epidemic in the United States, with more than 55,000 cases and more than 120 deaths as recently as 1989–1991. Today, measles is no longer circulating in the United States or anywhere else in this hemisphere thanks to measles vaccine. Just two decades ago about 20,000 cases of invasive Hib disease occurred annually. A physician training in pediatrics today will likely never see a case of Hib meningitis, formerly the most common form of life-threatening bacterial meningitis in the United States. This year, rubella is no longer endemic in the U.S., but in the 1960s, many people witnessed first-hand the terrible effects of the rubella virus. During an epidemic between 1964 and 1965, about 20,000 infants were born with deafness, blindness, heart disease, mental retardation, or other birth defects because the rubella virus infected their pregnant mothers.'
| First Generation of Vaccines (pre-1950s) |
| 1798 |
Smallpox |
| 1885 |
Rabies |
| 1897 |
Plague |
| 1917 |
Cholera |
| 1917 |
Typhoid vaccine (parenteral) |
| 1923 |
Diphtheria |
| 1926 |
Pertussis |
| 1927 |
Tuberculosis (BCG) |
| 1927 |
Tetanus |
| 1935 |
Yellow Fever |
| 1940s |
DTP |
| 1945 |
The first influenza vaccines (flu) began being used. |
| 1950s-1960s |
| 1955 | Inactivated polio vaccine licensed (IPV). |
| 1955 |
Tetanus and diphtheria toxoids adsorbed (adult use, Td) |
| 1959 | World Health Assembly passes initial resolution calling for global smallpox eradication. |
| 1961 | Monovalent oral polio vaccine licensed. |
| 1963 | Trivalent oral polio vaccine licensed (OPV). |
| 1963 | The first measles vaccine licensed. |
| 1964 | Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), designed to provide CDC with recommendations on vaccine use, holds its first meeting. |
| 1964-1965 | 20,000 cases of Congenital Rubella Syndrome occurred during the largest rubella epidemic in the United States. |
| 1966 | U.S. Measles eradication goal enunciated. |
| 1967 | Mumps vaccine licensed. |
| 1969 | Rubella vaccine licensed - 57,600 rubella cases reported this year. |
| 1970s |
| 1970 |
Anthrax vaccine manufactured by the Michigan Department of Public Health. |
| 1971 | Routine smallpox vaccination ceases in the United States. |
| 1971 | Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine licensed (MMR). |
| 1976 | Swine Flu: largest public vaccination program in the United States to date; halted by association with Guillain-Barré syndrome. |
| 1977 | Last indigenous case of smallpox (Somalia). |
| 1978 |
Fluzone, the current flu vaccine that is made by Aventis pasteur, was licensed. |
| 1979 | Last case of polio, caused by wild virus, acquired in the United States. |
| 1980s |
| 1980 | Smallpox declared eradicated from the world. |
| 1981 |
Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine, groups A, C, Y, W135 combined (Menomune) |
| 1982 | Hepatitis B vaccine becomes available. |
| 1983 |
Pneumococcal vaccine, 23 valent |
| 1986 | The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act establishes a no-fault compensation system for those injured by vaccines and requires adverse health events following specific vaccinations be reported and those injured by vaccines be compensated. |
| 1988 | Worldwide Polio Eradication Initiative launched; supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, CDC and others. |
| 1989-1991 | Major resurgence of measles in the United States - 55,000 cases compared with a low of 1,497 cases in 1983. Two-dose measles vaccine (MMR) is recommended. |
| 1990s |
| 1990 | The Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS), a national program monitoring the safety of vaccines established. |
| 1990 | Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) polysaccharide conjugate vaccine licensed for infants. |
| 1990 |
Typhoid vaccine (oral) |
| 1991 | Hepatitis B vaccine recommended for all infants. |
| 1991 |
Acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) licensed for use in older children aged 15 months to six years old. |
| 1993 |
Japanese encephalitis vaccine |
| 1994 | Polio elimination certified in the Americas. |
| 1994 | Vaccines for Children (VFC) program established to provide access to free vaccines for eligible children at the site of their usual source of care. |
| 1995 | First harmonized childhood immunization schedule endorsed by ACIP, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics is published. |
| 1995 | Varicella vaccine licensed; before the vaccine an estimated 4 million infected annually in the United States. |
| 1995 | Hepatitis A vaccine licensed. |
| 1996 | Acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) licensed for use in young infants. |
| 1998 | First rotavirus vaccine licensed. |
| 1999 | Rotavirus vaccine withdrawn from the market as a result of adverse events. |
| 1999 |
Lyme disease vaccine approved by the FDA. |
| 1999 | FDA recommends removing mercury from all products, including vaccines. Efforts are begun to remove thimerosal, a mercury based additive, from vaccines. |
| 2000s |
| 2000 | Worldwide measles initiative launched; 800,000 children still die from measles annually. Measles declared no longer endemic in the United States. |
| 2000 | Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar) recommended for all young children. |
| 2001 | September 11 results in increased concern of bioterrorism. The United States establishes a plan to re-introduce smallpox vaccine if necessary, a vaccine thought never to be needed again. |
| 2002 |
Lyme disease vaccine withdrawn from the market by the manufacturer because of lawsuits and lack of demand for the vaccine. |
| 2003 | Measles declared no longer endemic in the Americas. |
| 2003 | First live attenuated influenza vaccine licensed (FluMist) for use in 5 to 49 year old persons. |
| 2003 | First Adult Immunization Schedule introduced. |
| 2004 | Inactivated influenza vaccine recommended for all children 6 to 23 months of age. |
| 2004 |
Pediarix,a vaccine that combines the DTaP, IPV, and Hep B vaccines, into one shot, is approved. |
| 2005 |
Rubella declared no longer endemic in the United States. |
| 2005 |
Boostrix and Adacel, Tdap vaccines, are approved for teens. |
| 2005 |
Menactra, a new meningococcal vaccine is approved for people between the ages of 11 to 55 years of age. |
| 2006 |
RotaTeq is a new rotavirus vaccine from Merck. |
| 2006 |
ProQuad is a new vaccine that combines the MMR and Varivax vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox into a single shot. |
| 2006 |
Gardasil, the first HPV vaccine is approved. |
| 2007 |
A booster dose of Varivax, the chickenpox vaccine, is now recommended for all children. |
| 2007 |
The recommended age for Flumist, the nasal spray flu vaccine, was lowered to two years. |
| 2008 |
Outbreaks of measles increasing across the U.S. as vaccination rates drop among some communities over vaccine safety fears. |
| 2008 |
Rotarix, a two dose rotavirus vaccine is approved. |
| 2008 |
Pentacel, a combination of DTaP, IPV and Hib is approved. |
| 2008 |
Kinrix, a combination of DTaP and IPV that can be used for children between the ages of 4 and 6 is approved. |
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