Vaccine Victory Day
Honoring lives lost. Celebrating lives saved.
Smallpox alone killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century. Vaccines ended that horror and continue to save millions of lives and billions of dollars every year. Vaccine Victory Day is a proposed national day to remember that achievement—and to help every family, including their pets, stay protected.
One of humanity’s greatest victories
If an international effort ended all wars, we would surely honor it with a holiday. Ending smallpox was a larger humanitarian victory.
Smallpox was once the most feared disease on earth. It scarred and blinded survivors and killed about one in three people it infected. In the 20th century alone, it took an estimated 300 million lives—more than all of that century’s wars and famines combined.
Through a historic global campaign led in large part by the United States, smallpox was driven to extinction. No other human disease has ever been fully eradicated. No other medical intervention has saved so many lives.
From tragedy to triumph
The story of vaccines is not just about science—it is about moral progress. It is about deciding, as a species, that mass death from preventable disease is unacceptable.
A unifying national value
Most Americans, across political and cultural lines, support vaccination for children, adults, and pets. The holiday is not about coercion; it is about celebrating a shared commitment: caring for one another by preventing avoidable suffering.
The original vaccine victory
The eradication of smallpox is the benchmark for what determined, science-guided cooperation can accomplish.
What smallpox did
Smallpox killed indiscriminately: rulers and farmers, children and grandparents, in every region of the world. In some eras, it claimed the lives of one in seven humans. It reshaped history by weakening empires, decimating Indigenous populations, and leaving deep physical and emotional scars.
What vaccines did
With the development and mass deployment of vaccines, smallpox ceased to be inevitable. What had once been accepted as fate became preventable. The final confirmed natural case was recorded in 1977. Today, no child anywhere has to fear smallpox.
Everyday vaccine victories
Smallpox eradication is the headline, but vaccines quietly prevent tragedy every day—for humans and animals alike.
People
- Polio pushed to the brink of global eradication.
- Measles, diphtheria, and tetanus drastically reduced.
- HPV vaccines prevent cervical and other cancers.
- Flu and COVID vaccines reduce hospital overload and deaths.
- Childhood vaccines prevent countless funerals that never happen.
Pets & animals
- Rabies vaccination in dogs protects families from a fatal disease.
- Parvo and distemper shots prevent devastating illness in puppies.
- Vaccines protect cats from panleukopenia and respiratory viruses.
- Livestock vaccines prevent costly outbreaks and food disruptions.
- Healthier animals mean safer, more resilient communities.
Saving lives and saving billions
The cost of under-vaccination is far greater than the cost of a new national holiday.
Under-vaccination leads to more outbreaks, more hospitalizations, more lost workdays, more emergency spending, and more animal health crises. In total, preventable disease costs the United States tens of billions of dollars each year.
A federal holiday, by contrast, is often estimated to cost less than one billion dollars annually in paid leave and related impacts. Even a modest increase in vaccination—just a few percentage points nationally—would save several times that amount in avoided illness and economic disruption.
What a single day can do
A national Vaccine Victory Day would:
- Create a predictable moment each year for clinics and veterinarians to plan outreach.
- Help working families schedule shots without losing income.
- Support schools in keeping students up to date.
- Reduce avoidable outbreaks that strain hospitals and budgets.
People + pets = shared benefit
Including pets and animals in the day’s message recognizes a simple truth: human health, animal health, and economic health are intertwined. When people and pets are vaccinated, everyone wins.
How Vaccine Victory Day would work
A day of remembrance, gratitude, and practical action—for people and pets.
On Vaccine Victory Day, communities across the country could host vaccination events, educational programs, and remembrance ceremonies. Families would use the day to:
- Update children’s routine vaccinations.
- Get seasonal flu or COVID boosters if recommended.
- Catch up on missed adult vaccines.
- Vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies and other serious diseases.
- Attend local talks on the history of smallpox and other vaccine victories.
- Thank healthcare workers and veterinarians in their communities.
Over time, Vaccine Victory Day would become a national tradition: a yearly reminder of what humanity has overcome, and a practical way to keep protecting what we love.