Back in the early days of vaccines they had to be tested for years after some missteps cost lives.
"In 1955, some batches of polio vaccine given to the public contained live polio virus, even though they had passed required safety testing. Over 250 cases of polio were attributed to vaccines produced by one company: Cutter Laboratories. This case, which came to be known as the Cutter Incident, resulted in many cases of paralysis. The vaccine was recalled as soon as cases of polio were detected.
The Cutter Incident was a defining moment in the history of vaccine manufacturing and government oversight of vaccines, and led to the creation of a better system of regulating vaccines. After the government improved this process and increased oversight, polio vaccinations resumed in the fall of 1955.
At the time, there was no system in place to compensate people who might have been harmed by a vaccine. Today we have the
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Programexternal icon (VICP), which uses scientific evidence to determine whether a vaccine might be the cause of an illness or injury, and provides compensation to individuals found to have been harmed by a vaccine. The VICP remains a model method for ensuring that all persons harmed by vaccines are compensated quickly and fairly, while also protecting companies that make lifesaving products from financially unsustainable liability claims through the tort system."
Read more about past vaccine safety concerns, how they have been resolved, and what we have learned.
www.cdc.gov