American vaccines that transformed public health over 250 years: 'Outweighs harm'

The United States has developed vaccines for smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, and COVID-19 over the past 250 years. Smallpox vaccination campaigns led to the disease's eradication globally in 1980. The polio vaccine, introduced in the 1950s, reduced cases from thousands annually to near-zero in the U.S. by the 1970s. COVID-19 vaccines were developed and authorized for emergency use beginning in December 2020.

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