My father was a scientist. His specialties were microbiology, hematology and immunology, so I was raised in a home where the value of vaccines was something we understood, even from a young age.
Since my dad was influential in the medical community we often entertained guests in our home. One of those guests was Dr. Jonas Salk.
For those who might not know, Dr. Salk developed the first vaccine against poliomyelitis. That was a topic near and dear to my father, who had contracted polio as a child and luckily lived through it.
Dr. Salk gave his vaccine to the world, making the patent available for free. The campaign to vaccinate against polio virtually eliminated the virus during my lifetime and the last case was seen in 1979.