State and local health officials were in charge of the rollout to children, who were most at risk of contracting the disease.
“Young, African-American kids were getting hit, but they were not at the top of the priority list because of the social conditions at the time,” said Dr. René F. Najera, editor of the History of Vaccines project at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Noting that it was difficult for parents in working-class jobs to take off time to stand in line with children at clinics, Dr. Najera said, “You see this over and over again, history kind of repeats itself.”