Highlights of Historical Events Leading to National Surveillance of Vaccination Coverage in the United States

Abstract

The articles published in this special supplement of Public Health Reports provide examples of only some of the current efforts in the United States for evaluating vaccination coverage. So, how did we get here? The history of vaccination and assessment of vaccination coverage in the U.S. has its roots in the pre-Revolutionary War era. In many cases, development of vaccines, and attention devoted to the assessment of vaccination coverage, has grown from the impact of infectious disease on major world events such as wars. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a brief overview of the key historical events in the U.S. that influenced the development of vaccines and the efforts to track vaccination coverage, which laid the foundation for contemporary vaccination assessment efforts. HISTORICAL EVENTS INFLUENCING VACCINE DEVELOPMENT Smallpox outbreaks in Boston In the budding pre-revolution American colonies, smallpox posed a serious threat to the welfare of a developing nation: mortality from smallpox disproportionately affected Native Americans, and epidemics were recorded among Anglo-Americans in 1677, 1689-1690, and 1702. 1 By 1721, the city of Boston had become a prosperous port town of 11,000 residents. Many of those who were older than 20 years of age had contracted smallpox in the epidemic of 1702 and, therefore, were conferred lifelong immunity. However, each year between 1702 and 1721 brought with it a newly born cohort of residents that had not been exposed to the epidemic of 1702, and by 1721 the percentage of Bostonian residents who were susceptible to smallpox swelled. On April 22, 1721, a British vessel arrived in Boston harbor, passed a quarantine inspection, and docked. Within one day, one of the ship's crew was diagnosed with smallpox and quarantined. By early May, nine more seamen from the ship were determined to have smallpox, and cases began to appear among Boston residents. As the number of smallpox cases mounted, approximately 1,000 residents fled Boston. Then, Onesimus, an African slave of the

Public Health Reports in 2021: Impact Factor Increase and New Article Collections on Racism and COVID-19

“…Two historic PHR articles received new media attention in 2021. An overview of the history of vaccine development and vaccination coverage in the United States (which holds the highest Altmetric score [which reflects the article's news and social media attention] of any PHR article [2763, representing the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric and falling within the 99th percentile of outputs of the same age] as of February 7, 2022) 53 was referenced several times in a Stacker timeline of US vaccines and vaccine mandates, 54 which was reproduced or cited frequently in 2021 in the 38 The photo was reproduced in a 2021 CNN article that discussed the possibility that, similarly to what happened in 1918, the supposedly temporary COVID-19 isolation measures can lead to lasting adverse social and psychological effects; for example, when choosing travel destinations, people might have considerations they may not have contemplated in the past. 39…”

“…Two historic PHR articles received new media attention in 2021. An overview of the history of vaccine development and vaccination coverage in the United States (which holds the highest Altmetric score [which reflects the article’s news and social media attention] of any PHR article [2763, representing the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric and falling within the 99th percentile of outputs of the same age] as of February 7, 2022) 53 was referenced several times in a Stacker timeline of US vaccines and vaccine mandates, 54 which was reproduced or cited frequently in 2021 in the media discussing recent COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Another, a 1962 US poliomyelitis surveillance report, 55 owes (for the most part) its relatively high Altmetric score (1245, as assessed on February 7, 2022) to its vaccine-caused deaths table being mentioned in a single tweet by Clemens of the Center for Global Development (2859 retweets; 264 quote tweets; 8081 likes as of February 7, 2022) arguing that “breakthrough cases of polio—including deaths—were common during early polio vaccination.…”

Regulating vaccination: a comparative study

“…Furthermore, in relation to communicable diseases, a state is powered with taking measures such as "quarantine, isolation and the enactment of mandatory vaccination laws" [1]. This is exemplified by the state of Massachusetts which became the first state in the United States to authorize mandatory vaccination laws in 1809 against Smallpox [2]. Boston in 1827 became the first city to introduce vaccination as a prerequisite for admission into public schools, with other cities following the same [1].…”

Right to Health Care: Some Constitutional Problems (Conflict of the Constitutional Values)

“…The Court 'by a majority, declared inadmissible the applicants' complaint under Article 9 as incompatible ratione materiae with this provision. In particular, they had not substantiated that their critical opinion on vaccination was of sufficient cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance so as to constitute a conviction or belief attracting the guarantees of Article 9' [6].…”

“…Smith, D. Wood and P.M. Darden give an example, that 'the history of vaccination and assessment of vaccination coverage in the U.S. has its roots in the pre-Revolutionary War era. In many cases, development of vaccines, and attention devoted to the assessment of vaccination coverage, has grown from the impact of infectious disease on major world events such as wars' [6].…”