Dose of live BP Trivalent (sabin type) poliomyelitis vaccine, 1 of 10 with packing box, individually sealed in small plastic tube, for oral administration to provide protection against poliomyelitis manufactured by The Wellcome Foundation Ltd, London, and supplied by Evans Medical Ltd, Leatherhead, England, 1994

This vaccine, which was made by The Wellcome Foundation Ltd, is used to protect against polio. The liquid vaccine can either be dropped on to the back of the tongue or swallowed on a sugar lump – a real life example of the old saying “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”. This vaccine is known as a Sabin vaccine, named after its inventor, the American bacteriologist Albert Sabin (1906-1993). He developed the vaccine in the 1950s. Sabin’s vaccine was seen as a safer alternative to the previous Salk polio vaccine. It was also easier to administer than the Salk version, which required an injection.