This is a timeline of the development of prophylactic human vaccines. Early vaccines may be listed by the first year of development or testing, but later entries usually show the year the vaccine finished trials and became available on the market. Although vaccines exist for the diseases listed below, only smallpox has been eliminated worldwide. The other illnesses continue to causes tens of millions of deaths each year. Currently, Polio and measles are the targets of active worldwide eradication campaigns.

18th century

• 1796 First vaccine for Smallpox, first vaccine for any disease

19th century

• 1879 First vaccine for Cholera
• 1881 First vaccine for Anthrax
• 1882 First vaccine for Rabies
• 1890 First vaccine for Tetanus
• 1890 First vaccine for Diphtheria
• 1896 First vaccine for Typhoid fever
• 1897 First vaccine for Plague

20th century

• 1926 First vaccine for Pertussis (whooping cough)
• 1927 First vaccine for Tuberculosis
• 1932 First vaccine for Yellow Fever
• 1937 First vaccine for Typhus
• 1945 First vaccine for Influenza
• 1952 First vaccine for Polio
• 1954 First vaccine for Japanese encephalitis
• 1957 First vaccine for adenovirus-4 and 7
• 1962 First Oral Polio Vaccine
• 1964 First vaccine for Measles
• 1967 First vaccine for Mumps
• 1970 First vaccine for Rubella
• 1974 First vaccine for Chicken Pox
• 1977 First vaccine for Pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
• 1978 First vaccine for Meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis)
• 1981 First vaccine for Hepatitis B
• 1985 First vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae type b (HiB)
• 1992 First vaccine for Hepatitis A
• 1998 First vaccine for Lyme Disease
• 1998 First vaccine for Rotavirus