Anyone here remember the mass polio vaccination?

I was born in 1951 and I remember lots of ‘jabs’ as I grew up! I think I was given the sugar lump for polio. What a lucky generation we were being able to be inoculated against so many serious illnesses. I’m waiting patiently for my call up for the covid jab!

Yes, I had the smallpox jab in 1966, as I was going on holiday, and Switzerland, I think, insisted, although the cases had been in Glasgow, and we lived in
Kent.
I still have an unsightly scar on my arm, very irritating, tho smallpox would have been worse.

When I started at the grammar school back in 1964, a girl in the 5th Form was in a wheelchair as a result of polio when younger.

We little ones looked upon her as a sort of What Katy Did character, the school entrance had steep steps, and the 6th Form boys used to help lift her wheelchair in. We thought it looked quite romantic and heroic somehow.

That was back in the day before disabled access, don’t know how she managed the stairs and steps, or the loo, as not much wheelchair room.

Had all vaccinations as told to by my parents who trusted our Doctor! Had a horrible experience when one of the girls in our class contracted polio & we were taken to ‘cheer her up’ in hospital. We could not see or talk to her properly as she was in one of the scary iron lungs. Scared most of us stupid for weeks but knew most of us would not get it thanks to the vaccine. When/if my turn comes for this vaccine then I will be there in a flash. Anti Vaxxers are pathetic not trusting vaccines. A lot of them would not be here causing trouble spreading ridiculous rumours if not for all the successful vaccines already having been used!

Aged 3 I was playing with a friend at close quarters as toddlers do. When she developed polio my mum had an anxious few weeks. The girl in question spent the rest of her life with metal splints on her legs.It was the sugar lump for me with mum watching me like a hawk to make sure I didn’t spit it out. It put me off sugar and sweet things for good.

My friend's older sister had polio and walked with a limp ever after. I remember having the jab around 1957. After seeing the pictures of children in iron lungs we never considered refusing it.

I remember queuing for the polio injection with all our neighbours. My mum asked the nurse if I could have the jab in my right arm as I'm left handed. She refused!

Children in Edinburgh were vaccinated en masse in the High Street. It was a long wait and I was scared. It did hurt but it was more the fear of the needle than the actual pain. The grandson of a neighbour was in callipers. It was more my mum than me that was terrified. Nancy Rioch was a Scottish swimming star who died and her very name seemed to have a mournful and dreadful ring to me. A friend has been paralysed all her life and uses a wheelchair. They realised she was paralysed as a baby when she couldn’t stand up from her potty. However vaccines can damage some people. They are not universally harmless. Particularly people with compromised immune systems are very vulnerable. But it can be unpredictable even in healthy people. Some types of vaccine are more dangerous than others. A friend lost her baby when he was given multiple vaccines at a time when he also had a snuffle. They don’t give these now. Some people here are too ready to cast scorn and contempt on anyone who voices concerns and call them idiots. Like many things vaccination has potential benefits and potential threats. There are also huge amounts of money to be made which always skews things.

Great that others remember queing for this Salk jab.

Diptheria was a very frightening part of my infancy - so pleased when they managed to get out a vaccine against that.

When I had my own children, I was so pleased at the really wonderful vaccination programme, which took away so many of the past childhood illness worries.

I have my sleeve rolled up so that as soon as I am called, I will be there to present it for this latest vaccination, sending a heartfelt thanks to the wonderful scientists who invented it.

My daughter had a mild dose of polio Fortunately with no ill effects. Her school friend was in an iron lung and her left arm was affected and didn’t grow any more.
I had the smallpox vaccination in the 1930s and it left a scar of rings three quarters of an inch across on my arm. Fortunately grew out over the years.

I had both polio vaccines. The reason being that shortly after I had my injection Hull was gripped by a massive polio outbreak and the oral vaccine was used there for the first time. I was quite narked because I'd just had the injection the year before. One thing I do know that differs with this mass vaccination, the whole of the population of Hull was vaccinated in a very short time, so the disease was stopped abruptly. I'm a bit worried about this system of vaccinating only a few then a few more.

Chaitriona , always one with negativity!!

I remember loads of jabs in the 50s when I was a child, including polio. I was terrified of it after seeing a Danny Kaye film, the Five Pennies I think, where his daughter caught polio and was in an iron lung.

I had non-paralytic polio aged 8, I was very ill and in hospital in isolation for a week. Thankfully no paralysis.
Gave me a fear of hospitals and ambulances.

I recovered and forgot about it until an osteopath commented that despite appearances I had a fragile frame, I then said I had had this as a child which he thought it explained it. I occasionally think about it and before moving here had a conversation with the British Polio Society, who gave me good advice and said I was doing the right thing moving to southern France. This has reminded me to mention it to current osteopath who is the latest person to start to sort out artho dystrophy in my leg after a knee replacement eighteen months ago. Anyone out there had the same problem with knee?

I had what they called the primary disease of TB when my father had it and was in hospital for weeks. I was three, not ill but when it came to BCG vaccinations I reacted hugely and had a big scar on my arm after the injection for many years. the Heaf test pinpricks have only disappeared in recent year!

I remember the summer of '59 when we were suddenly all sent for a polio booster. I think the full programme was (by then) 4 lots of vaccine. I had another booster when taking my first child for her shot too as it's a live vaccine and apparently could be excreted and there was a nappy-change risk. Very slight, but all the same.
My grandfather was an anti-vaxxer but my mother disagreed and I had the diphtheria shots, but never the smallpox one. I'm very keen on getting the Covid one - bring it on, as soon as possible!

I’m now wondering what has happened to all the polio victims we used to see? Many of them in callipers back then. They would be our age now, but I never see a pensioner in callipers...Did they eventually grow stronger again? Or have they ALL passed away? Interested to know.......

I had every jab going when I was a child - I don't think my parents even considered refusing.

I can understand and sympathise with people who are nervous about having the covid vaccine. However the ones that annoy me are those who spread unfounded rumours about it and other vaccines.

Locally there is a rumour that the flu jab being given to 2 and 3 year olds has live covid virus in it ? - as a result the takeup of the flu jab for small children has dropped off considerably.

Granny23, my father, aged 16, was at the Sutton Coldfield scouting jamboree. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the movement. My son, aged fourteen, was at the Chelmsford jamboree in 2007, which was the hundredth anniversary of scouting.
That aside, we always had all the vaccines offered, except for the rubella vaccine, as l had had German Measles about six months prior to this. Even so, l had my immunity checked for this when l got married and would have had the vaccine if I had needed it. My mother had had the smallpox vaccine during the scare that was mentioned earlier. I had the vaccine two or three times but it would not take. When l was eight l had chickenpox very badly and l remember the doctor coming to the house and making sure it was not smallpox. Thankfully it wasn't but l was away from school for about a month.

I am genuinely curious as to why if the vaccine was developed by the Germans and the Americans why their own people did not get it first, why us?

In the late sixties we lived in a boarding school and our GP suggested that our two small children (2 and 4) had the very new measles immunisation. One reacted badly to it, which suggests that he would have had a bad dose of measles. Now of course part of the MMR jab, not invented then, so we had mumps and rubella as well as chicken pox. I have no patience at all with the very selfish people who rely on other people being vaccinated in order to protect them. There are enough people who cannot be vaccinated without adding the ill informed and self centred to that number.

Yes! I had the sugar cube, and I remember my mother being very excited for me to have it, as she knew people who had suffered with polio, and was happy that I would be protected. (I assume the rest of the family had the vaccine as well??)

I remember our class being let out of school to go down to the local health clinic for the polio jab. It was near the seafront and we sloped off afterwards onto the beach.

I suppose I must have had the polio vaccination, but I don’t remember it. In my early teens it was discovered I had what was called “a shadow on the lung”, in other words the beginnings of TB. It wasn’t active, and I wasn’t infectious, but nevertheless had a year off school, mostly in bed, and streptomycin injections every day. I have fond memories of the lovely district nurse who did them. So you see, a few more injections would have been barely noticeable to me.

My parents were quite scared by my illness, but I never was. I quite enjoyed it! I think they were also a bit ashamed, because to them TB was associated with poverty and poor diet, neither of which applied to us.

I was born in 1944 but don’t really remember a polio vaccination. I remember. BCG ? In secondary school. Was that for TB ? When I was at college there were three students in my year with callipers.

I remember having the Polio jab very clearly. We went as a family to the Dr., my brother and I were done first then my mum. My dad was last and came over all peculiar and had to sit down for ages. Luckily in those days the Dr was a family friend but I recall mum being very embarrassed about it all.

I had them all as well, smallpox, TB polio etc. In later life I also had hepatitis B jab and regular tetanus shots. The group of people I worked with were more prone to these diseases. I don't need any more tetanus shots now as I am protected for life they tell me.
I shall be having the Covid vaccine, there should be plenty available here as the French are generally anti vaxxers. They say that only 46% of French people will have the vaccine.