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Hidden Histories: Elvis, Pfizer and Cork

Calls for a travel ban, hostility to visitors moving between counties, school closures, an All Ir...

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12.45 24 Jan 2021


Hidden Histories: Elvis, Pfizer and Cork


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12.45 24 Jan 2021


Calls for a travel ban, hostility to visitors moving between counties, school closures, an All Ireland Final in jeopardy. It’s not 2020 or 2021… it’s the story of the Polio epidemic in Cork in 1956.

Thankfully the mid-50s polio epidemic ended with a rapidly distributed vaccine - so maybe there’s an omen there - but it wasn’t easy to get everyone to take it. On a global level, it took celebrities like Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show to get the public behind vaccination. But the story of the Polio vaccine - involving Pfizer none the less - is one of the great success stories of the 1950s.

Gavan Reilly is joined by Donal Fallon for another episode of Hidden Histories.

Listen and subscribe to On The Record with Gavan Reilly on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

    

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Read more about

All Ireland Final Covid19 Donal Fallon Ed Sullivan Show Elvis Presley Hidden Histories Pandemic Pfizer Polio Epidemic Polio Epidemic In Cork Polio Vaccine Vaccination

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