--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reply when questioned on the safety of…" description: "\"Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.\" — Jonas Salk" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg" --- # Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine… ![“Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.” quote by Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg) > “Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.” [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Salk asserts the polio vaccine is extremely safe, using hyperbole to emphasize confidence in its safety profile. **In simple terms:** Vaccine is ultra‑safe. Key Takeaway Safety is paramount and assured. Themes public health vaccination risk communication Mood confident reassuring Type scientific quote When to use this quote - medical briefings - parental counseling - policy advocacy Key Concepts risk perception Practical Applications - communicate safety data clearly - address vaccine hesitancy Questions to Reflect On - How to balance confidence with transparency? - What evidence supports the safety claim? A Different Perspective Absolute safety claims can backfire if rare adverse events occur. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Polio vaccine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polio-vaccine/) [Safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Vaccine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vaccine/) [Vaccines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vaccines/) ## Related quotes > [ When I worked on the polio vaccine, I had a theory. I guided each \[experiment\] by imagining myself in the phenomenon in which I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/when-i-worked-on-the-polio-vaccine-i-had-a-theory-i-guided-each/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [When you inoculate children with a polio vaccine, you don't sleep well for two or three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/when-you-inoculate-children-with-a-polio-vaccine-you-don-t-sleep-well/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [That is why we have the polio vaccine. People are blazing their own trial. That is what seems to be important. I don't care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-threadgill/that-is-why-we-have-the-polio-vaccine-people-are-blazing-their-own/) [Henry Threadgill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-threadgill/) > [Provocation polio. That is the truth about those outbreaks of polio. And I offer a well considered personal opinion that polio is a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viera-scheibner/provocation-polio-that-is-the-truth-about-those-outbreaks-of-polio/) [Viera Scheibner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viera-scheibner/) > [I have studied the effects of our new lots of polio vaccine in 100 adult volunteers and during the next few days shall give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-sabin/i-have-studied-the-effects-of-our-new-lots-of-polio-vaccine-in-100/) [Albert Sabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-sabin/) > [The main problem, certainly, for the people who will not get vaccinated with Thimerosal, which was put into polio vaccine. And the belief was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oshinsky/the-main-problem-certainly-for-the-people-who-will-not-get-vaccinated/) [David Oshinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oshinsky/) > [Even to this day, the government, the FDA is refusing to use the sophisticated biotechnology to evaluate the contaminants in the vaccines such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-horowitz/even-to-this-day-the-government-the-fda-is-refusing-to-use-the/) Leonard Horowitz > [Every child is a gift of Allah, and every child in Pakistan, to me, is like my own child, so I will do my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-afridi/every-child-is-a-gift-of-allah-and-every-child-in-pakistan-to-me-is/) [Shahid Afridi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-afridi/) > [My two Jamaican cousins ... were studying engineering. 'That's where the money is,' Mom advised. ... I was to be an engineering major, despite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/my-two-jamaican-cousins-were-studying-engineering-that-s-where-the/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [But cancer can also be fun with its luncheons, theatre parties, and fund raising luaus. ...What will they all do if a cure comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-berman/but-cancer-can-also-be-fun-with-its-luncheons-theatre-parties-and/) Edgar Berman > [We have yet to beat our drums for birth control in the way we beat them for polio vaccine. We are still unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-calderone/we-have-yet-to-beat-our-drums-for-birth-control-in-the-way-we-beat/) [Mary Calderone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-calderone/) > [“The drops (polio vaccine) were designed,said these believers. Their intention and effect was genocidal. Nobody was to swallow them, or administer them to infants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-drops-polio-vaccine-were-designed-said-these-believers-their/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Except for the people who were there that one day they discovered the polio vaccine, being part of history is rarely a good idea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/except-for-the-people-who-were-there-that-one-day-they-discovered-the/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [I am no saviour. I’m absolutely the last person on the planet who can practically help. I don’t know how to make the different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/i-am-no-saviour-i-m-absolutely-the-last-person-on-the-planet-who-can/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [Meat and poultry is safe. It's safer than it's probably ever been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-glickman/meat-and-poultry-is-safe-it-s-safer-than-it-s-probably-ever-been/) [Dan Glickman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-glickman/) ## More by Jonas Salk > [Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/hope-lies-in-dreams-in-imagination-and-in-the-courage-of-those-who/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/nothing-happens-quite-by-chance-it-s-a-question-of-accretion-of/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [It is courage based on confidence, not daring, and it is confidence based on experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/it-is-courage-based-on-confidence-not-daring-and-it-is-confidence/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [When things get bad enough, then something happens to correct the course. And it's for that reason that I speak about evolution as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/when-things-get-bad-enough-then-something-happens-to-correct-the/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/i-have-had-dreams-and-i-have-had-nightmares-but-i-have-conquered-my/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [Are we being good ancestors?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/are-we-being-good-ancestors/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [My life is pretty well at peace, and the profession is more of an avocation. It's a calling, if you like, rather than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/my-life-is-pretty-well-at-peace-and-the-profession-is-more-of-an/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [As a child I was not interested in science. I was merely interested in things human, the human side of nature, if you like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/as-a-child-i-was-not-interested-in-science-i-was-merely-interested-in/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [“There is no patent. Could you patent the Sun?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/there-is-no-patent-could-you-patent-the-sun/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [My ambition was to bring to bear on medicine a chemical approach. I did that by chemical manipulation of viruses and chemical ways of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/my-ambition-was-to-bring-to-bear-on-medicine-a-chemical-approach-i/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [The worst tragedy that could have befallen me was my success. I knew right away that I was through - cast out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/the-worst-tragedy-that-could-have-befallen-me-was-my-success-i-knew/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [I look upon ourselves as partners in all of this, and that each of us contributes and does what he can do best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/i-look-upon-ourselves-as-partners-in-all-of-this-and-that-each-of-us/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [Risks, I like to say, always pay off. You learn what to do, or what not to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/risks-i-like-to-say-always-pay-off-you-learn-what-to-do-or-what-not/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [If humankind would accept and acknowledge this responsibility and become creatively engaged in the process of evolution, consciously as well as unconsciously, a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/if-humankind-would-accept-and-acknowledge-this-responsibility-and/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) > [I do what I feel impelled to do, as an artist would. Scientists function in the same way. I see all these as creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/i-do-what-i-feel-impelled-to-do-as-an-artist-would-scientists/) [Jonas Salk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) [Explore all 74 Jonas Salk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/) ## More Polio quotes > [If you give us a safe vaccine, we'll use it. It shouldn't be polio versus autism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/if-you-give-us-a-safe-vaccine-we-ll-use-it-it-shouldn-t-be-polio/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [Because I could dance, my folks went through hell so I could be in movies. But I didn't dance in pictures. I cried! At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holt/because-i-could-dance-my-folks-went-through-hell-so-i-could-be-in/) David Holt > [I am the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. My mother is a survivor of both polio and of the Igbo genocide during her country's civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzo-aduba/i-am-the-daughter-of-nigerian-immigrants-my-mother-is-a-survivor-of/) [Uzo Aduba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzo-aduba/) > [Ninety percent of the cases of polio are in security-vulnerable areas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/ninety-percent-of-the-cases-of-polio-are-in-security-vulnerable-areas/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [We are ever on the threshold of new journeys and new discoveries. Can you imagine the excitement of the Wright brothers on the morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/we-are-ever-on-the-threshold-of-new-journeys-and-new-discoveries-can/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [Fear is the polio of the soul. Faith is the life based on unseen realities; it is the word become flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-jordan/fear-is-the-polio-of-the-soul-faith-is-the-life-based-on-unseen/) [Clarence Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-jordan/) > [That is why we have the polio vaccine. People are blazing their own trial. That is what seems to be important. I don't care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-threadgill/that-is-why-we-have-the-polio-vaccine-people-are-blazing-their-own/) [Henry Threadgill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-threadgill/) > [Having children made us look differently at all these things that we take for granted, like taking your child to get a vaccine against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melinda-gates/having-children-made-us-look-differently-at-all-these-things-that-we/) [Melinda Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melinda-gates/) > [If somebody is working on a new medicine, computer science helps us model those things. We have a whole group here in Seattle called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-somebody-is-working-on-a-new-medicine-computer-science-helps-us/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [I do not argue that nature is sacrosanct in the sense that we must never tamper with nature. That would disempower, really, all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sandel/i-do-not-argue-that-nature-is-sacrosanct-in-the-sense-that-we-must/) [Michael Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sandel/) > [So, obviously, autism - which is the key in this - is a very big problem. We need more studies about it. We certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oshinsky/so-obviously-autism-which-is-the-key-in-this-is-a-very-big-problem-we/) [David Oshinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oshinsky/) > [There are very few issues that lie specifically in one region now. Polio in Syria doesn't affect Syria alone. I don't think any issue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/there-are-very-few-issues-that-lie-specifically-in-one-region-now/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [We've actually eliminated Type II polio in the world, at least as far as we can tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-berkley/we-ve-actually-eliminated-type-ii-polio-in-the-world-at-least-as-far/) [Seth Berkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-berkley/) > [Polio's pretty special because once you get an eradication, you no longer have to spend money on it; it's just there as a gift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/polio-s-pretty-special-because-once-you-get-an-eradication-you-no/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The March of Dimes turned a disease not nearly as prevalent as childhood cancer into a national crusade. Polio was not that widespread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oshinsky/the-march-of-dimes-turned-a-disease-not-nearly-as-prevalent-as/) [David Oshinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oshinsky/) Browse all 99 Polio quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonas Salk" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-the-polio-vaccine-he-developed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Polio" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-the-polio-vaccine-he-developed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/jonas-salk-9307_polio_reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-t_101316.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer…” — Jonas Salk", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jonas Salk", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-salk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Reply when questioned on the safety...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-the-polio-vaccine-he-developed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-salk/reply-when-questioned-on-the-safety-of-the-polio-vaccine-he-developed/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```