Well, he is right. Think about human life expectancy since vaccines and modern medicine (it has many warts too) have come about. 500 years ago people were lucky to make it to 40.
Now whether we are better for it is a whole other argument.
I always heard from my parents how terrified people were of polio back in the 1950s before Salk. It was a miracle in their minds. I am guessing a big difference here is that it (polio) attacked children and the survivors had visible indicators of their struggle (crutches etc).