An inactivated vaccine (or killed vaccine) is a type of vaccine that contains pathogens (such as virus or bacteria) that have been killed or rendered inactive, so they cannot replicate or cause disease. In contrast, live vaccines use pathogens that are still alive (but are almost always attenuated, that is, weakened). Pathogens for inactivated vaccines are grown under controlled conditions and are killed as a means to reduce infectivity and thus prevent infection from the vaccine.
Inactivated vaccines were first developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s for cholera, plague, and typhoid. In 1897, Waldemar Haffkine, who developed the vaccine for cholera, also successfully created the first vaccine for the plague in 1897. In the 1950s, Jonas Salk created an inactivated vaccine for the poliovirus, creating the first vaccine that was both safe and effective against polio. Today, inactivated vaccines exist for many pathogens, including influenza, polio (IPV), rabies, hepatitis A, CoronaVac, Covaxin and pertussis.
