Slice of History - Polio Vaccinations at JPL

JPL’s long history of participating in local and public health campaigns has included raising money with United Way, hosting regular blood drives, and bringing visiting chest X-rays onsite. And in 1957, JPL continued to contribute to public health causes by providing staffers with voluntary Polio vaccinations. In 1954, Fred Vogel (Transportation Section), became ill with spinal polio, and was confined to an iron lung at Los Angeles County General Hospital.

Because of the prevalence of polio during this time, and how close to home it became, the May 1957 issue of Lab-Oratory reports that “In response to employee requests, JPL [provided] the opportunity for personnel to obtain Salk polio vaccine at $2 a shot. Over 600 [employees] have signed up with Marie Jarvis, Nurse. 370 injections have been made so far. Further shots are awaiting arrival of more vaccine.” This photo, taken 1957-04-04, shows one of those JPLers receiving a polio shot. CL#21-5366