Cold War tensions and the polio vaccine Sabin vaccine from the Soviet side. However other Soviet virologists argued that the Salk vaccine could be considered safe, since the Americans tested it on their own people. They considered that the Sabin vaccine must be potentially dangerous because the Americans did not wish to test it on their own society. The documented achievement of the Sabin-Chumakov collaboration eventually trumped the ideological differences of the Cold War. Their oral live-virus vaccine became federally licensed in 1962, and used for over three decades to help eliminate polio globally, replacing the Salk vaccine. Using these vaccines, the threat of polio remains only
Americans for Medical Progress issues the Albert. B. Sabin Hero of Science Award to honor leading medical scientists and advocates of biomedical research. Past recipients have included Dr. Sabin himself, Nobel laureate Joseph E. Murray, vaccine designer Maurice Hilleman, and herceptin developer Dennis Slamon, as well as opera legend Beverly Sills, actress Barbara Barrie, and former U. S. Representatives John E. Porter and Patricia Schroeder for their support and advocacy of medical research. In Spring 2008 the organization awarded Tom Holder, the spokesman for Pro-Test, the Michael D. Hayre fellowship in public outreach. This allowed Holder to move to the United States, and with