#vaccines #PolioVaccine #Rotary #polio #RotaryInternational #PurplePinky
In an opinion piece, two academics from New York University’s Medical Ethics section touted the success of the polio vaccine, as it comes up against vaccine skeptics now regulating the nation’s health.
The piece, published in the April 1, 2026, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, even had a photo of Elvis Presley getting his polio vaccine shot backstage at The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
Nathaniel Mamo, MA, and Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., rightly say that polio is close to being eradicated BECAUSE of the vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk through research funding by what was then called the March of Dimes.
But, what the doctors fail to mention is the role of Rotary International in distributing the vaccine worldwide, as it still does.
By Rotary’s count, polio cases are down to a few in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As the academics point out, the vaccine skeptics argue that sanitation has improved enough to prevent an increase in cases.
Sanitation has improved, but the poliovirus can easily spread if enough people decide not to get vaccinated. By extension, they may not get their children vaccinated.
If the disease spreads, all of Rotary International’s efforts over many decades will not have been wasted, but the progress will be slowed.
Certainly, getting all those folks in all those countries vaccinated was no small task. Rotary faced all kinds of obstacles to get the vaccine into people.
In fact, on April 28, 2026, Rotary District 6780 in East Tennessee will have its annual Purple Pinky Day. Buy a box of 10 doughnuts from participating Dunkin’ stores for $25, and proceeds will be matched 7.5 times toward the eradication of polio through vaccinations.
If you live in East Tennessee and you’d like to participate, contact your local Rotary club to order your doughnuts. If you don’t like doughnuts, you can also donate money to Rotary’s Polio Plus campaign. Those donations also will be matched 7.5 times.
The clubs will be taking doughnut orders through April 9 (April 13 for some clubs), and the clubs will advise you on how you can pick up your doughnuts.
If you don’t live in East Tennessee, check your local Rotary club to find out when they will have Purple Pinky campaigns.
It’s called Purple Pinky Day because, as people got their polio vaccines, one of their pinkies was dipped in a purple dye to tell those distributing the vaccines that they had been vaccinated.
So, the NYU folks are correct. We all should be vaccinated against polio. Science has demonstrated for decades the vaccine’s effectiveness.
And, one can thank Rotary International for spearheading the campaign to help those around the world who may not have ready access to the vaccine get it.
Polio and other diseases are either preventable, or their effects can be minimized through vaccines that have been properly tested.
Those who cast doubt on proven vaccines are doing a disservice to the nation, the world and overall health.
But, creating and testing vaccines and making them available may not be enough. Organizations like Rotary have to make it their mission to make sure the vaccines are widely available.
If it succeeds in eradicating polio, Rotary undoubtedly will move on to conquering other diseases worldwide.
Distributing vaccines is the most effective and efficient way to do that.
Peter