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Vaxxers

On sale

8th July 2021

Price: £9.99

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Selected: ebook / ISBN-13: 9781529369892

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‘Moving and awe-inspiring… The story of the decade’
Mail on Sunday

Vaxxers is so good that the book will be read for long after the pandemic is over’
Financial Times

‘The amazing tale of a vaccine that has saved so many of our lives. It’s a dramatic, page-turning read, and incredibly moving’
Chris Evans

‘I dare anyone to read this and not come away impressed’
Guardian
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The bestselling inside story of a historic moment for science and for humanity.

On 1 January 2020, Professor Sarah Gilbert read an article about four people in China with an illness of unknown cause. Within two weeks, she and her team had designed a new vaccine that would go on to save millions of lives from Covid-19.

Capturing a landmark moment, Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green reveal their story of making the pioneering Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and fighting a pandemic as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. They separate fact from fiction, they explain how they made their highly effective vaccine in record time with the eyes of the world watching, and they give us hope for the future.

Reviews

New Statesman
[Sarah Gilbert] has been the adult in the room and the accidental leadership figure the moment demands, embodying the competence, command of the detail, vision and, crucially, hope, that people have needed to see.
Mail on Sunday
Moving and awe-inspiring... The story of the decade
Sunday Times
This book is a profound success. I have read few that have given me such an immediate, eye-level view of working science - of brilliant, committed, heroic science.
Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust
This is one of the most epic and pioneering moments in human history, comparable to the race to put a man on the moon, the discovery of DNA, or the first ascent of Everest. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is a triumph and its creators are life savers. Science is the exit strategy, as long as we make that science equitably available to the world - as all the incredible people behind the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine always intended - truly the "People's Vaccine".
Rachel Clarke
What an enthralling tale of toil, tenacity and triumph this is. The authors' intelligence, idealism and sheer, bloody-minded grit shine through. The world needs all the Sarah Gilberts and Catherine Greens it can get. Just brilliant.
Observer
An extraordinary story with a remarkable beginning and an astonishing denouement
Observer
Vaxxers can be read as much as a manifesto for the importance of good science communication and an antidote to anti-vax conspiracy theories as a biomedical thriller.
Matt D'Ancona
One of the most extraordinary stories in the history of medicine
Guardian
Urgent and fascinating ... A tale of hard work and victory against steep odds, a unique insight into vaccines generally ... A gripping yarn ... I especially loved the book's personal moments ... I dare anyone to read this and not come away impressed.
Financial Times
Excellent and readable ... Vaccine production has never been explained more clearly... Green writes movingly about the difficult intersection between work and home life... Vaxxers is so good that the book will be read for long after the pandemic is over, as a vivid account of research in action and the way individuals respond in the face of a scientific emergency.
Irish Times
A most accessible read... A personal story of one of the most epic moments in human history, perfectly capturing how scientific discovery on this scale is rarely a Eureka moment for a lone genius. As a grateful recipient of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, I take my hat off in thanks to these remarkable women.