Vaxxers

'The inside story of the Oxford AstraZenica vaccine and the race against the virus' is the sub-title of the book, The Vaxxers, by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green. The book looks at how and why the vaccine was developed in such a short time during 2020. The laboratory at Oxford University had experience working on other coronavirus vaccines so, once the structure of the new virus was established, it was a matter of working out how the research already undertaken could possibly be successfully adapted for tackling COVID-19.

Creating a workable vaccine is only one part of the task when making a vaccine to defeat a pandemic that is killing millions of people throughout the world. Acquiring sufficient funding to develop a vaccine and then finding a pharmaceutical company able to make and distribute large quanties of the vaccine is only one part of the equation. 

The vaccine has to go through many testing procedures that take months before final approval is granted by a variety of medical boards throughout the world. Then there was the media wanting a story. One piece of bad press could destroy public support for a project as well as provide fuel for conspiracy theories circulating about vaccines throughout the world. Derogatory comments from polititians, including those from other countries, also provided issues when trying to establish public confidence in a new vaccine.

The two authors write different chapters in this reader friendly description of working on the project which took over their lives in 2020.  The chapters also often include accounts of how working on the project affected their family lives. An original premise for writing a book about the vaccine for the general public was, by explaining how the vaccine was developed, to tackle concerns of anti-vaxxers.

But the chief emphasis is on the need to defeat a pandemic. At the beginning of each chapter there is a summary of the growing number of cases and deaths up to a point in time which emphasises how rapidly the vaccine was spreading.  The authors also emphasise that the work is far from over. The vaccine is mutating and alterations to the vaccine may be needed in the future to counter variants. There is also an awareness that another disease could be around the corner and preparations need to be made to tackle the next health challenge.

This is a book that everyone should read, those of us who have been vaccinated against the virus as well as those who are hesitating.