Please Note: This program has a rescheduled date (originally June 14, 2022).

Humanity has benefited from vaccines for more than two centuries. Yet the pathway to effective vaccines has been neither neat nor direct. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, explores the history of vaccines and immunization, beginning with Edward Jenner's creation of the world's first vaccine for smallpox in the 1790s.

Markel dives into the many issues salient in Jenner's era, such as the need for secure funding mechanisms, streamlined manufacturing and safety concerns, and deep-seated public fears of inoculating agents, and how those have frequently reappeared and have often dominated vaccine policies up to the modern day. He suggests that understanding this historical significance may help inform viable long-term solutions to contemporary problems with vaccine research, production, and supplies.

Patron Information

• If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
• Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
• Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
• Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
• View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.