Plaque dedicated to vaccine pioneer Edward Jenner unveiled

Edward Jenner was born in Gloucestershire

A plaque dedicated to vaccine pioneer Edward Jenner has been unveiled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his death.

It stands outside The Old School, on Park Lane, Cirencester, where he was a pupil at the former grammar school.

Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, attended a ceremony at the Jenner Museum to celebrate the unveiling.

"Mr Jenner contributed extraordinarily to vaccine technology," he said.

Prof Whitty was one of the key players in the UK's response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

"During the pandemic, people forget what an emotional moment it was when vaccines were first rolled out - they would go on to save millions of lives," he said.

"Mr Jenner's legacy of vaccine technology really came through for us all."

Chris Whitty said Edward Jenner "contributed extraordinarily to vaccine technology"

Mr Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, in 1749, and he became an English doctor and scientist who created the world's first vaccine, in the bid to eradicate smallpox.

One of history's deadliest diseases, smallpox is estimated to have killed more than 300 million people in the world, according to National Geographic.

However, a global vaccination campaign put an end to the disease by the 1980s.