Vaccines are the tugboats of preventive health.

In the voice of William Foege, the healer who helped lead humanity’s triumph over smallpox, there resounds a metaphor of both elegance and truth: “Vaccines are the tugboats of preventive health.” To the unreflective mind, these words seem simple, even quaint. Yet within them lies a profound philosophy — one that binds science to the spirit of service. For just as the tugboat guides vast ships through perilous waters, unseen yet essential, so do vaccines guide the fragile vessel of mankind toward safety, steering it away from the storms of disease before they strike.

In ancient times, before such knowledge was known, pestilence swept across empires like an invisible fire. Kings and peasants alike fell to plagues that spared no one, for death does not honor crowns. The Black Death, the pox, the fevers — these were the trials that humbled humanity. The great cities of Europe and Asia trembled, and prayers rose like smoke into the heavens. Yet it was not until the age of science that humankind learned how to command its own destiny — not by pleading with the gods, but by understanding their laws.

Foege, who witnessed the eradication of smallpox, understood that such triumphs did not come through glory or spectacle. The tugboat is not majestic; it does not dazzle the eye. But it works quietly, tirelessly, turning chaos into order. So too do vaccines, humble yet mighty, move unseen through the harbors of human life, pulling entire generations toward safety. They prevent the sinking of civilizations before the storm even forms. To those who understand the art of prevention, the tugboat is the symbol of foresight — the wisdom to act before crisis comes.

There was a time, not long ago, when smallpox raged like a curse upon humanity. It blinded the young, scarred the beautiful, and killed without mercy. Yet through the work of healers like Foege, and the vision of those who carried the torch of science, the disease was not merely subdued — it was vanquished. A plague that had claimed hundreds of millions vanished from the earth, not through the sword, but through a needle. The tugboat had done its work; the great ship of civilization sailed onward, freer than before.

To call vaccines the tugboats of preventive health is to honor the quiet heroism of prevention itself — the wisdom that spares us suffering by anticipating it. We praise the firefighter when the flames are seen, but rarely the builder who made the house flameproof. Yet which is the greater protector? The one who reacts to disaster, or the one who prevents it from being born? The ancients said that the greatest physician is the one who keeps his people well, not the one who treats their illness. Vaccines, then, are the fulfillment of that ancient ideal — a triumph of mind over misery, of reason over ruin.

Still, there are those who doubt, who forget the invisible blessings that surround them. They cannot see the diseases that vaccines have banished, and so they take their safety for granted. But wisdom teaches us to honor what we do not see. Just as we trust the hidden roots that hold the tree upright, so must we trust the unseen guardians that preserve our collective life. Gratitude is the companion of enlightenment; ignorance, the twin of peril.

The lesson, therefore, is clear: cherish the guardians of prevention. Support the healers, the scientists, the teachers who pull humanity forward through unseen labor. Do not wait for the storm to honor the tugboat; give thanks for its watchful service when the waters are calm. Teach your children that health is not merely the absence of illness, but the result of countless acts of foresight, cooperation, and faith in knowledge.

Thus, let Foege’s words be remembered as both wisdom and warning: that vaccines, like tugboats, do not seek praise — yet without them, the mighty vessels of nations would drift helplessly into ruin. Their work is quiet, their power immense, their purpose divine. So may we, too, live as they do — guiding gently, protecting steadily, and serving humbly — for in such unseen labor lies the greatness of humankind.