On Apr. 2, 1974, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed the first monovalent (group C) meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (Merck). The first polysaccharide vaccine targeting meningococcal serogroup C was developed by and tested on members of the U.S armed forces in early 1968.

The current quadrivalent A, C, Y, W-135 polysaccharide vaccine was licensed in 1978. Each dose consists of 50 mcg of each of the four purified bacterial capsular polysaccharides.