The first Vax-Force book was created in 2018 by a medical student, Kelsey Rowe, who wanted a better way to teach kids about vaccines and address the Anti-Vax movement through education. The idea for Vax-Force started out as class project at Saint Louis University. It was then presented at SLU's 2018 Elevator Pitch Competition, a contest where ideas for products and projects are pitched to professionals.  After winning the competition, the $2500 prize money was put towards illustrating the book with Nick Davis-Iannaco, who had recently obtained his BFA in 2D animation from Rochester Institute of Technology, and publishing the book through the Friesen Press independent publishing company in 2019.   

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The Vax-Force sequel, Vax Force: The Great COVID Quest, was written by Dr. Kelsey Rowe in 2022-2023 while she was in her pediatric residency program at Cincinnati Children's Hopspital. She was inspired to write the sequel after seeing an increase in vaccine hesitancy with the COVID-19 vaccine, despite it being the best tool available to help end the pandemic and save millions of lives around the world. Due to her interests in vaccine advocacy and desire to prevent infections in children, she then went on to pursue a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases from 2023-2026. The sequel was also illustrated by Nick Davis-Iannaco, who had since become a multimedia producer for the Union of Concerned Scientists. After years of revisions and review from experts in pediatric infectious diseases, Vax Force: The Great COVID Quest will finally be published in spring of 2026. 

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