Despite the deterioration in relations between the United States and Russia, there’s some hope that new forms of “vaccine diplomacy” may once again take hold. The June 2021 summit held in Geneva between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin suggests the two countries are open to high-level dialogue.
But, as history shows, much more could be done to strengthen ties in the name of global public health. Decades ago, in the midst of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union worked together in surprising ways to combat polio and smallpox. These collaborative efforts averted millions of deaths around the world.
Until Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, U.S.-Soviet scientific engagement remained limited, despite rising polio cases in both countries. Then, relations between the Soviet Union and the West improved during Nikita Khrushchev’s “Thaw.” Starting in the mid-1950s, Khrushchev initiated cultural and societal reform, aiming for “peaceful coexistence” with the West and the end of the repressive Stalin era.
The Thaw paved the way for greater collaboration between scientists. Albert B. Sabin was a leading American virologist. He met his Soviet counterpart Mikhail P. Chumakov in 1956, when both scientists made government-approved visits to each other’s countries to cooperate in the fight against polio. They recognized the value of working together because the perceived threat of infectious disease transcended the East-West divide.
Vaccine diplomacy between the United States and the Soviet Union took place amid and despite Cold War tensions. Certain key factors played a role in fostering scientific cooperation during the Khrushchev years. One such factor was the 1958 Lacy-Zarubin Agreement, which encouraged official bilateral exchanges in science, technology, the arts and other areas. This agreement provided crucial structure for public health engagement.
Sabin had developed an oral polio vaccine and sent his virus strains to Chumakov on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Sabin’s live vaccine had the potential to immunize millions of people at a faster rate and lower cost than Jonas Salk’s “killed” vaccine, and a partnership with Chumakov ensured that it would have a lasting global impact. Using Sabin’s strains of the virus, Chumakov produced and then tested the oral vaccine on 10 million children across the Soviet Union in 1959.
In a letter he wrote in December 1959, Chumakov began, “My dear Doctor Sabin,” reflecting the warm personal relationship between the two experts. “I am very glad to tell you that your vaccine has been winning new victories in our country. The number vaccinated is steadily increasing which reflects the simple fact — great advantages of the live oral vaccine over the killed one.” He continued, “The evidence of epidemiologic effectiveness of mass vaccinations keeps accumulating greatly.”