1921

BCG vaccine

First human BCG vaccination administered to a newborn in Paris

The first BCG recipient did not get a shot. The newborn swallowed three doses mixed into milk.

Three doses in milk

At Paris's Hôpital de la Charité in July 1921, the paediatrician Benjamin Weill-Hallé, assisted by Raymond Turpin, began the first human administration of the BCG tuberculosis vaccine to a newborn boy.

Unlike modern BCG vaccination, the treatment was given orally rather than by intradermal injection: three doses of 2 milligrams each, suspended in milk.

Follow-up reported neither disease nor adverse events over the next five and a half years.

Why this infant

The baby's mother had died of tuberculosis shortly after delivery, and the child was expected to live with a grandmother who was also seriously infected. The perceived exposure risk was unusually high.

Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin had attenuated a strain derived from Mycobacterium bovis through 230 serial passages and believed it was safe enough for a human trial.

The developers and the bedside physicians were different people: Calmette and Guérin made the vaccine, while the administration is generally credited to Weill-Hallé with Turpin's assistance.

The day itself is not settled

The year and the Paris setting are secure; the exact day is not. Several modern scholarly reviews give 18 July 1921, a 2022 symposium paper gives 3 July, and a 1964 WHO magazine account gives 1 July.

Sources also differ over whether 18 July marks the first dose or the whole course, so the safest wording is that the first human BCG administration occurred in Paris in July 1921.

The survival of one highly exposed infant encouraged further trials — 120 more infants had been vaccinated by July 1922 — but did not by itself prove the vaccine worked.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at 1921-07-18.

What the sources leave uncertain

The year and Paris setting are secure, but published histories disagree on the exact day. Several modern scholarly reviews give 18 July 1921; a 2022 symposium paper gives 3 July, and a 1964 WHO magazine account gives 1 July.
Sources also vary in describing whether 18 July marks the first dose or the vaccination course. The safest wording is that the first human BCG administration occurred in Paris in July 1921.
Calmette and Guérin developed the vaccine, but the bedside administration is generally credited to Weill-Hallé with Turpin’s assistance.