Scientists are racing to develop potential vaccines. Labs are preparing for widespread testing. Families are desperate for an answer to a public health crisis.
This was the story in 1954, when a new vaccine to prevent polio persuaded the parents of more than a million children to join a nationwide trial. Ed Ayers, host of The Future of America's Past, learns from a polio survivor, an epidemiologist, and a scholar about the successes and challenges of distributing a new vaccine.