McLean School, A Polio Vaccine Site, Now Spotlights COVID Vaccine

MCLEAN, VA — In 1954, Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean made history as the first kids began receiving the polio vaccine in a trial. The school is being spotlighted for its role in vaccination history as the effort to encourage pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations begins.

Franklin Sherman Elementary was the site of the first trials of the polio vaccine in 1954. Dr. Richard Mulvaney administered the first doses of the Salk vaccine to 114 FCPS students. Those students, largely second graders, became known as the "Polio Pioneers." Widespread polio vaccination allowed polio to be eradicated in the U.S., and officials believe the COVID-19 vaccine would work the same way if enough people are vaccinated.

First Lady Jill Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy visited the school Monday to kick off the national rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations for the newly eligible 5 to 11 children age group. Federal approvals for the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11 make an estimated 748,000 Virginia children and 28 million U.S. children eligible for the vaccine. The dosage is one-third of the dose adults and children 12 to 17 receive.

"This vaccine is the best way to protect your children against COVID-19," Biden told parents and children who just received their first vaccine dose. "It’s been thoroughly reviewed and rigorously tested, it’s free and it’s available for every child aged five and up."

Gail Adams Batt was one of the FCPS second graders at the time who received the polio vaccine trial dose at Franklin Sherman Elementary in 1954. She recalled telling herself not to cry when the needle went in her arm, and she got an ice cream sundae afterward as a reward.

"I was really honored that I was picked to be part of this group," Adams Batt told the FCPS blog. "I knew what Polio was and we children were terrified of it. There was a boy who sat next to me at school, and one day he wasn’t there. We heard he got polio and we’d walk by his house and wonder."

FCPS is partnering with the Fairfax County Health Department, Inova, and the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to expedite vaccinations for younger students. School-based vaccination clinics will soon be held on evenings, weekends and during the school day. Minors must have a parent or guardian consent to their child receiving the vaccine.

The county as a whole has a high rate of vaccinations among students who were previously eligible. The rate of vaccinated 12 to 17-year-olds in the Fairfax Health District is 85.61 percent, according to health department data. The health district includes Fairfax County, towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton, and the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax.

"Widespread vaccination is key to keeping students learning in-person and preventing school or division closures and keeping our school staff and students safe," said Superintendent Scott Brabrand. "We are proud to be leading the way in the vaccination rollout for children ages 5-11, just as we did with the Polio vaccine in 1954."

Since last month, Franklin Sherman Elementary sixth graders have been working on a research project learning about the role the school played in the U.S. eliminating polio. Learn more about Franklin Sherman Elementary's polio vaccine trial history from the Washington Post.