The fastest vaccine in history started with a swab from his daughter's throat

In 1963, Maurice Hilleman took a throat swab from his five-year-old daughter Jeryl Lynn when she woke him up sick with mumps. He cultured that sample into a weakened vaccine strain, still used today, and had it approved within four years — the fastest vaccine ever developed until COVID-19 vaccines beat the record more than 50 years later.

— Maurice Hilleman, Mumps Vaccine — Merck & Co., licensed 1967