: a polio vaccine that contains three serotypes of poliovirus inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde and is administered by intramuscular injection compare sabin vaccine
Examples of Salk vaccine in a Sentence
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Restrictions were lifted in September after new cases subsided, but the city would face larger polio outbreaks in later years before the Salk vaccine became available.
—
Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 3 July 2025
In 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
—Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 12 June 2024
But there would not have been a Salk vaccine without the work of Isabel Morgan, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who discovered three subtypes of the virus and helped develop an experimental vaccine that protected monkeys against polio.
—Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Initial honorees include scientists Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk vaccine, and Donald Shiley, inventor of the prosthetic heart valve; Ambassadors Irving Salomon and Julian Nava; Glen Bell Jr., founder of the taco chain bearing his name; and Lee Atwood, head of the Apollo space program.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 July 2023
In this April 1955 file photo, first and second-graders at St. Vibiana's school in Los Angeles are inoculated against polio with the Salk vaccine.
—Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2022
Cold War tensions raised suspicion about the Sabin vaccine, but in 1961, the American Medical Association finally recommended its use over the Salk vaccine.
—Thomas Balcerski, CNN, 11 June 2021
Other, more advanced polio vaccines designed to supplement the original Salk vaccine have also failed, causing oral polio vaccine viruses to revert to wild-type and become virulent again.
—Nicolas Noulin, Scientific American, 5 May 2021
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Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 3 July 2025
In 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
—Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 12 June 2024
But there would not have been a Salk vaccine without the work of Isabel Morgan, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who discovered three subtypes of the virus and helped develop an experimental vaccine that protected monkeys against polio.
—Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Initial honorees include scientists Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk vaccine, and Donald Shiley, inventor of the prosthetic heart valve; Ambassadors Irving Salomon and Julian Nava; Glen Bell Jr., founder of the taco chain bearing his name; and Lee Atwood, head of the Apollo space program.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 July 2023
In this April 1955 file photo, first and second-graders at St. Vibiana's school in Los Angeles are inoculated against polio with the Salk vaccine.
—Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2022
Cold War tensions raised suspicion about the Sabin vaccine, but in 1961, the American Medical Association finally recommended its use over the Salk vaccine.
—Thomas Balcerski, CNN, 11 June 2021
Other, more advanced polio vaccines designed to supplement the original Salk vaccine have also failed, causing oral polio vaccine viruses to revert to wild-type and become virulent again.
—Nicolas Noulin, Scientific American, 5 May 2021
Cite this Entry
“Salk vaccine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Salk%20vaccine. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Salk vaccine
noun
: a polio vaccine that contains inactivated virus
Etymology
named for Jonas Salk died 1985 an American doctor who developed the vaccine
Medical Definition
Salk vaccine
noun
: a polio vaccine that is administered by intramuscular injection and contains the three serotypes of poliovirus inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde compare sabin vaccine
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