TV Footage Shows Some Of The First Polio Shots Given In The U.S.
School Polio Shot, 1955 A boy grimaces as he receives one of the first polio shots ever dispensed in Roanoke, Virginia. WSLS-TV footage archived by the University of Virginia Library A recently digitized TV news archive highlights the big points of the 1950s and 1960s: Civil Rights and the polio vaccine. In 1955, days after officials introduced the "new, wonder vaccine" against polio to Roanoke, Virginia, local news station WSLS-TV asked some parents in the street about it. Of the four adults they interviewed, three said they planned to get their children vaccinated. "I do think it's a worthwhile project and I hope it's going to be a success," one woman said. Another woman, however, seemed a bit more skeptical-a sentiment that some modern parents might recognize. "I think I shall wait until I see some of the results from the other children," she said. That old footage is now available online, thanks...