# The vaccines that changed human history

From the smallpox vaccine Edward Jenner tested in 1796 to the polio vaccine and the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: the vaccines that saved millions of lives, in chronological order. Which do you think matters most?

- 8 votes · 18 items
- May 21, 2025 · يوسف العلوي
- https://even.best/en/l/3609/the-vaccines-that-changed-human-history

## Top 18

1. **Smallpox vaccine (1796)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The first vaccine in history, by Edward Jenner; smallpox was declared eradicated in 1979.
2. **Cholera and typhoid vaccines (1896)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Among the first vaccines against bacteria.
3. **Plague vaccine (1897)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Against the disease that terrified the world for centuries.
4. **Diphtheria toxoid (1923)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Against diphtheria, a killer of children.
5. **Salk polio vaccine (1955)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — An inactivated vaccine that cut cases astonishingly fast.
6. **Measles vaccine (1963)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Against one of the most contagious diseases.
7. **Rubella vaccine (1969)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — It protects pregnant women and their babies from birth defects.
8. **Rabies vaccine (1885)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Louis Pasteur used it to save the boy Joseph Meister.
9. **Tetanus toxoid (1924)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Against tetanus.
10. **Pertussis vaccine (1926)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Against whooping cough.
11. **BCG tuberculosis vaccine (1927)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Still given to newborns in many countries.
12. **Yellow fever vaccine (1937)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Against a mosquito-borne disease.
13. **Influenza vaccine (1943)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The first licensed flu vaccine.
14. **Mumps vaccine (1967)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Against mumps.
15. **MMR vaccine (1971)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Measles, mumps and rubella in a single shot.
16. **HPV vaccine (2006)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — It prevents cervical cancer.
17. **mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (2020)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — From Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, developed in under a year.
18. **Hepatitis B vaccine (1981)** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — The first vaccine to prevent a type of cancer.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.