National Vaccination Day 2021: Vaccination and immunization have a long history. Edward Jenner, an English country doctor from Gloucestershire, is credited with the invention of the first vaccine in 1796, when he used "cowpox material to create immunity to smallpox". Edward Jenner's pathbreaking invention underwent huge changes over the next 200 years. This later freed the world of the deadly smallpox. Louis Pasteur, often known as the 'father of vaccines', invented the rabies vaccine in 1885. On vaccination day, we remember the great scientists and immunologists, whose relentless efforts have helped the progress of humanity. National Vaccination Day s observed every year on March 16.
National Vaccination Day: India's big contribution
''India has been a world pioneer in vaccine development and caters to 60% of the world's vaccine requirement. Even to tackle COVID-19, India has emerged as the dominant supplier of vaccines that can protect people from the novel coronavirus,'' tweeted Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
''An emotional moment for the team at "SerumInstIndia as the first shipments of #Covishield finally leave for multiple locations across India,'' tweeted Adar Poonawalla, CEO and owner of Serum Institute, leading India in COVID-19 vaccination, on the day when the vaccination drive was inaugurated by PM Modi.
During the 20th century, vaccine research took giant strides. There were rapid discoveries, including the creation of vaccines for polio. and horrible childhood diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. The scope and target of vaccines have expanded to all corners of the world.
National Vaccination Day: Famous vaccine inventors
- Edward Jenner: The founder of vaccinology developed the vaccine for smallpox in 1798.
- Maurice Hilleman: An American is credited with ''saving more lives worldwide than any other medical scientist in the 20th century.'' He had invented more than 40 vaccines.
- 1880: First vaccine for cholera by Louis Pasteur
- 1885: First vaccine for rabies by Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux
- 1890: First vaccine for tetanus by Emil von Behring
- 1896: First vaccine for typhoid fever by Almroth Edward Wright, Richard Pfeiffer and Wilhelm Kolle
- 1897: First vaccine for bubonic plague by Waldemar Haffkine
- 1897: First antibiotic for typhoid fever by Ernest Duchesne.
- 1921: First vaccine for tuberculosis by Albert Calmette
- 1923: First vaccine for diphtheria by Gaston Ramon, Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburo
- 1926: First vaccine for whooping cough by Leila Denmark
- 1932: First vaccine for yellow fever by Max Theiler and Jean Laigret
- 1937: First vaccine for typhus by Rudolf Weigl, Ludwik Fleck and Hans Zinsser
