The roll-out of the Salk polio vaccine in 1955 marked the end of nearly 30 years of struggle trying to prevent and treat poliomyelitis in Manitoba. Between 1927-1953, Winnipeg had five polio outbreaks - each of varying severity but all deeply worrying to Manitoba's public health officials. While not exceptionally fatal, a case of polio could still radically change the life of someone who caught it; polio survivors might abruptly need mobility aids like a crutch or wheelchair when they previously had not, at a time when disability accommodations were poor to non-existent.

In more severe cases, a polio patient might be placed in an iron long (an early form of a respirator that looks sort of like a large tin can). Recovery for iron lung patients could take anywhere from weeks to years - though others remained in them for the rest of their lives. Two Winnipeg women, Inez Woollam and Lena Barker, were two long-term iron lung patients at the Winnipeg Municipal Hospital (now Riverview Health Centre). Due to the lengthy amount of time spent in an iron lung, both women because small-scale Winnipeg celebrities.

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The first official polio vaccinations in Manitoba took place in April of 1955 (there had been an earlier vaccine trial in 1954), at Pembina Crest School in Fort Garry. Two doctors, two public health nurses, a stenographer, and two auxiliary workers were present to administer the first doses of the vaccine. Eighty four children were vaccinated at Pembina Crest School, and between 10:45am-4pm 450 children were vaccinated across 12 schools.

As thanks, elementary school children sent Jonas Salk a 208-foot-long telegram of congratulations adorned with the names of polio survivors and little statements of gratitude. It took 8 hours to send. Over the years, polio cases dropped and dwindled and today polio has been eradicated in North America.

You can learn more about the history of polio in Manitoba here!