Vaccine History: Vaccine Availability Timeline

These dates represent when vaccines first became available. Please note that if you are unsure about having received a vaccine, this table can only tell you whether the vaccine was available, but cannot confirm whether you personally had the vaccine since not everyone in the population was immunized.

Routinely recommended vaccines

1914 – Pertussis vaccine

1926 – Diphtheria vaccine

1938 – Tetanus vaccine

1945 – Inactivated influenza vaccine - trivalent (shot; not routinely recommended)

1948 – Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines combined to form DTP

1955 – Inactivated polio vaccine (shot)

1962 – Live polio vaccine (oral)

1963 – Measles vaccine

1967 – Mumps vaccine

1969- Rubella vaccine

1971 – Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines combined to form MMR

1981 – Hepatitis B vaccine (serum-derived)

1985 – Hib vaccine

1986 – Hepatitis B vaccine (recombinant)

1992 – DTaP vaccine

1995 – Varicella vaccine

1995-1996 – Hepatitis A vaccine

1998 – Rotavirus vaccine (Rotashield) (removed from market 1999)

2000 – Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

2003 – Intranasal influenza vaccine — trivalent (not recommended for use between 2016-2018)

2005 – Meningococcal (ACWY) conjugate vaccine for adolescents

2005 – Tdap vaccine for adolescents

2006 – HPV vaccine for adolescent girls (protected against 2 or 4 types of HPV)

2006 – Rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq)

2006 – Shingles vaccine (Zostavax for adults 60 years & older)

2008 – Rotavirus vaccine (RotaRix)

2009 – HPV vaccine for adolescent boys (version that protected against 4 types of HPV)

2013 – Inactivated and intranasal influenza vaccine — quadrivalent (the intranasal version was not recommended for use between 2016-2018)

2014 – Meningococcal B vaccine licensed

2014 – HPV vaccine that protects against 9 types of HPV (Gardasil 9)

2017 – Second shingles vaccine (Shingrix for adults 50 years & older)

2020 – COVID-19 vaccine

2021 – Dengue vaccine (routine recommendation for 9- to 16-year-olds)

2023 – Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (Arexvy and Abrysvo for adults 60 years and older and pregnant people)

2023 – Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (nirsevimab, monoclonal antibody for infants)

2023 – Meningococcal pentavalent vaccine (A, B, C, W and Y) (Penbraya)

Vaccines not routinely recommended

1798 – Smallpox vaccine (discontinued use for general population in US 1972)

1885 – First rabies vaccines

1896 – Typhoid fever vaccine

1927 – Tuberculosis vaccine (BCG)

1930s – Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine

1935 – Yellow fever vaccine

1954 – Anthrax vaccine

1965 – Currently used anthrax vaccine

1986 – Currently used JE vaccine

1997 – Currently used rabies vaccines

1999-2002 - Lyme disease vaccine (no longer available)

2016-2018 – Intranasal influenza vaccine

2016 – Cholera vaccine

2019 - Ebola vaccine

2019 – Dengue vaccine

2019 – Mpox/Smallpox

2021 Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)

2023 – Chikungunya vaccine