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The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine
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About This Book
The full inside story of the high-stakes, global race for the lifesaving vaccine to end the pandemic Heroic science. Chaotic politics. Billionaire entrepreneurs. Award-winning journalist Brendan Borrell brings the defining story of our times alive through compulsively readable, first-time reporting on the players leading the fight against a vicious virus. The First Shots , soon to be the subject of an HBO limited series with superstar director and producer Adam McKay ( Succession, Vice, The Big Short ), draws on exclusive, high-level access to weave together the intense vaccine-race conflicts among hard-driving, heroic scientists and the epic rivalries among Washington power players that shaped 18 months of fear, resolve, and triumph. From infectious disease expert Michael Callahan, an American doctor secretly on the ground in Wuhan in January 2020 to gauge the terrifying ravages of Disease X; to Robert (Dr. Bob) Kadlec, one of Operation Warp Speed's architects, whose audacious plans for the American people run straight into the buzz saw of the Trump White House factions; to Stéphane Bancel of upstart Moderna Therapeutics going toe-to-toe with pharma behemoth Pfizer, The First Shots lays bare, in a way we have not seen, the full stunning story behind the medical science "moon shot" of our lifetimes.
Reviews
"Borrell's granular account reveals the inspiring work of scientists, who despite the holdups, succeeded 'in spite of the politics at the time,' and were 'a testament to the grit and ingenuity of the American people.' The result is a page-turning introduction to a key part of the pandemic."
"Long ago, The First Shots was optioned by HBO, and it's not clear if readers were the intended audience or TV producers."
"government's attempts both to curtail and to downplay the impact of the pandemic."
"Drawing on extensive interviews, the author uncovers heroes and villains, works hard, if not always successfully, to explain virology and vaccine technology for a lay readership, and excels in recounting the cutthroat pharmaceutical world in which the process of developing a vaccine can bring riches or bankruptcy ..."
"British scientists, for example, appear as a 'standoffish bunch'."
"Inside sources reveal missteps, reversals, conflicts, disappointments and triumphs as career officials and scientists work sometimes in tandem with each other, politicians, and the White House, and sometimes in conflict ..."
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