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. 2011 Nov 4;11(12):865–872. doi: 10.1038/nri3085

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© Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved. 2011

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

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The graph shows the increase in life expectancy that occurred in the countries with longest lifespans^1,2,3 from 1750 to the present day and also the projected increase in longevity for this century. The average life expectancy for individuals in the society for which most vaccines were developed was 60–65 years. This society was characterized by a high proportion of children and young people, and is quite different from today's society, which is characterized by a high proportion of elderly people and a life expectancy of more than 80 years.