Browse Items (22 total)

Once a disabling and life-threatening disease, polio was eradicated from the Americas by the 1990’s, with widespread distribution of vaccines such as the Sabin oral vaccine, distributed at the Campus Health Center.

In April 2019, the University Library was the site of a measles exposure which suspended operations for nearly a week until students and faculty were tested or vaccinated.

In a collaborative effort between the University, LA County, and the LA County Department of Public Health, Cal State LA was designated as a free COVID-19 testing site in May 2020, just two months after campus closure.

In a collaborative effort between the University, LA County, and the LA County Department of Public Health, Cal State LA was designated as a free COVID-19 testing site in May 2020, just two months after campus closure.

By the 1950s, polio replaced tuberculosis as the deadliest communicable disease in the United States. The first publicly available vaccine, the Salk Vaccine, was made available to the public by academic institutions such as Cal State LA. Colleges…

Cal State LA served as a vaccination site, offering free Salk vaccines to combat polio in the 1950s. Full immunity required three shots of the Salk vaccine, and despite constant re-supplying, some vaccination sites struggled to keep up with demand.

Initially offered at no cost, by 1958 Cal State LA began offering low-cost vaccinations to students and their family members under the age of 40.

By the 1960s a new type of polio vaccine was developed - the Sabin Oral Vaccine. Drops of vaccine were administered orally, dropped on a sugar cube and dissolved on the tongue. As with the Salk vaccine, the Sabin Oral Vaccine was once again…

The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine could be offered at just a 25 cent donation and was recommended to persons of all ages, even those that had previously received the Salk vaccine.

Despite the low-cost of the new Sabin Oral Vaccine, less than one-fourth of the expected number of people turned out for the first day of distribution. Only one million out of the projected 6 million Californians showed up to clinics like those held…