How British scientists realised only vaccines could stop Covid – and put the UK ahead of the game
Crucial work that made vaccination programme successful started long before the Government s official Vaccine Taskforce
Boris Johnson first sent Kate Bingham a text asking if she didn t mind him calling her. A few minutes later, on May 6, her phone rang. I want you to stop people dying, the Prime Minister told her. Ten days later, she was appointed chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, stepping down from her paid job as a biotech venture capitalist to oversee the development of a safe and effective vaccine that would inoculate the public against Covid-19.
First published in Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper
A group of South African scientists and researchers took the first steps in the elusive hunt for a vaccine in the first weeks that the Covid-19 virus started felling lives in the country in the same way it was doing in other parts of the world.
Our chase for a vaccine in a world changed by a virus represents humankind as an exquisite ecosystem, each person playing some part – not for glory or personal gain but because our very survival depends on it.
The behind-the-scenes work was completed by the first half of the year, so that by the middle of June scientists and researchers were ready with the public announcement that it was all systems go for clinical trials.
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Doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine are ready to be administered at Brigham and Women s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., December 16, 2020.
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Big Pharma’s vaccine victory lap may be cut short. The industry’s triumph in dispensing inoculations less than a year after the discovery of the deadly coronavirus has partially vindicated the business models of groups like Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. But as governments took on much of the risk, pharma groups’ pricing will remain a target after the pandemic.
Riding to the world’s rescue is a welcome corrective for the battered pharmaceutical industry. In recent years the sector has grappled with bribery scandals and accusations of aggressive pricing, exemplified by Mylan’s decision to hike the price of anti-allergy injection EpiPen by 400%.
Pat Flanagan column: Ireland should insist that those who haven t been vaccinated should not be allowed to fly irishmirror.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishmirror.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.