Commentary For many Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic has resurfaced fears we faced in decades past. Not long ago, parents across the nation were terrified of the possibility that their children could contract the polio virus. I wanted to talk about the eradication of polio—and the person responsible for developing its vaccine—on my latest episode of Newt’s World, because I think the history of polio is useful for understanding and ultimately eradicating COVID-19. Polio was a paralyzing disease that mostly affected children. In many ways, COVID-19 and polio present similar challenges. Like polio, COVID-19 is a highly contagious virus that can be deadly. But while COVID-19 enters the lungs through airborne particles, polio entered the body through the gastrointestinal tract, often via contaminated water. The first major polio epidemic in the United States hit Vermont in 1894 with 132 cases. A larger outbreak struck New York City in 1916, with more …