A Shot to Save the World: The Remarkable Race and Ground-Breaking Science Behind the Covid-19 Vaccines
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- Create Date：2021-11-23 06:51:06
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Gregory Zuckerman
- ISBN：0241531705
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Summary
'Thrilling， inspiring and informative page-turner。' Walter Isaacson， author of The Code Breaker
You know what went wrong。
This is the untold story of what went right。
Few were ready when a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan， China， in January 2020。 Politicians， government officials， business leaders and public-health professionals were unprepared for the most devastating pandemic in a century。 Many of the world's biggest drug and vaccine makers were slow to react or couldn't muster an effective response。
It was up to a small group of unlikely and untested scientists and executives to save civilization。 A French businessman dismissed by many as a fabulist。 A Turkish immigrant with little virus experience。 A quirky Midwesterner obsessed with insect cells。 A Boston scientist employing questionable techniques。 A British scientist resented by his peers。 Far from the limelight， each had spent years developing innovative vaccine approaches。 Their work was met with scepticism and scorn。 By 2020， these individuals had little proof of progress。 Yet they and their colleagues wanted to be the ones to stop a virulent virus holding the world hostage。 They scrambled to turn their life's work into life-saving vaccines in a matter of months， each gunning to make the big breakthrough - and to beat each other for the glory that a vaccine guaranteed。
A number-one New York Times bestselling author and award-winning Wall Street Journal investigative journalist， Zuckerman takes us inside the top-secret laboratories， corporate clashes and high-stakes government negotiations that led to effective shots。 Deeply reported and endlessly gripping， this is a dazzling， blow-by-blow chronicle of the most consequential scientific breakthrough of our time。 It's a story of courage， genius and heroism。 It's also a tale of heated rivalries， unbridled ambitions， crippling insecurities and unexpected drama。 A Shot to Save the World is the story of how science saved the world。
***LONGLISTED FOR THE FT MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021***
You know what went wrong。
This is the untold story of what went right。
Few were ready when a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan， China， in January 2020。 Politicians， government officials， business leaders and public-health professionals were unprepared for the most devastating pandemic in a century。 Many of the world's biggest drug and vaccine makers were slow to react or couldn't muster an effective response。
It was up to a small group of unlikely and untested scientists and executives to save civilization。 A French businessman dismissed by many as a fabulist。 A Turkish immigrant with little virus experience。 A quirky Midwesterner obsessed with insect cells。 A Boston scientist employing questionable techniques。 A British scientist resented by his peers。 Far from the limelight， each had spent years developing innovative vaccine approaches。 Their work was met with scepticism and scorn。 By 2020， these individuals had little proof of progress。 Yet they and their colleagues wanted to be the ones to stop a virulent virus holding the world hostage。 They scrambled to turn their life's work into life-saving vaccines in a matter of months， each gunning to make the big breakthrough - and to beat each other for the glory that a vaccine guaranteed。
A number-one New York Times bestselling author and award-winning Wall Street Journal investigative journalist， Zuckerman takes us inside the top-secret laboratories， corporate clashes and high-stakes government negotiations that led to effective shots。 Deeply reported and endlessly gripping， this is a dazzling， blow-by-blow chronicle of the most consequential scientific breakthrough of our time。 It's a story of courage， genius and heroism。 It's also a tale of heated rivalries， unbridled ambitions， crippling insecurities and unexpected drama。 A Shot to Save the World is the story of how science saved the world。
***LONGLISTED FOR THE FT MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021***
Reviews
Ray L。
，
A remarkable job of reporting （in essentially real time） the efforts to create a COVID vaccine that reminds us of the effort and energy and money and skill and serendipity involved in producing the various vaccines we now enjoy。 Zuckerman is able to provide enough background and context and explain the science in ways that are comprehensible without bogging down the narrative。 And to keep the story of how we arrived at this time engaging even though we already know the broad outlines of Moderna; A remarkable job of reporting （in essentially real time） the efforts to create a COVID vaccine that reminds us of the effort and energy and money and skill and serendipity involved in producing the various vaccines we now enjoy。 Zuckerman is able to provide enough background and context and explain the science in ways that are comprehensible without bogging down the narrative。 And to keep the story of how we arrived at this time engaging even though we already know the broad outlines of Moderna; BioNTech/Pfizer， J&J， Oxford/AstraZeneca， and Novavax。 。。。more
Jim Mackell
，
It's better if you skip the first 200 pages。 Then it gets interesting。 It's better if you skip the first 200 pages。 Then it gets interesting。 。。。more
Bob Eisenberg
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I could not put down the story of how scientists created the vaccines that saved us。 Imagine what the USA would be like with six million dead， which is what Covid delta would have done without the vaccines。 Zuckerman tells an entertaining and important story about the intertwined obsessions of molecular biologists struggling with each other and with molecules as they created a new technology。 Let us hope that the public comes to understand that the spectacular improvements in health， like the va I could not put down the story of how scientists created the vaccines that saved us。 Imagine what the USA would be like with six million dead， which is what Covid delta would have done without the vaccines。 Zuckerman tells an entertaining and important story about the intertwined obsessions of molecular biologists struggling with each other and with molecules as they created a new technology。 Let us hope that the public comes to understand that the spectacular improvements in health， like the vaccines that are saving us， come from a social process created and catalyzed by the NIH， much more than anyone else。 Physician scientists， and the Congress， has recognized since 1949 that the important advances almost always come from the scientists obsessed with understanding disease， even more than treating it。 They do not often write the best grants。 But they do the most important work！ Let us hope we develop such a community of scientists interested in reflecting sunlight to cool the earth， before we are warmed so much that millions of us drown。 So much carbon dioxide is already in the atmosphere and so much more is on its way as the underdeveloped world cools itself with air conditioning that nothing else will work I fear。 。。。more
Jason Senensky
，
Good！
Nayab
，
An insightful read covering not only the major Covid vaccines （moderna， Pfizer/BioNTech， AZ， Janssen and Novavax） and their developments but also the history of the technologies they are based on （starting with developments in the 80s during the HIV pandemic）。 It was interesting to learn more about the quirky personalities and the hard work of so many interesting people involved in these major breakthroughs， including academics， government scientists， people in biotech/Pharma， and investors。 Thi An insightful read covering not only the major Covid vaccines （moderna， Pfizer/BioNTech， AZ， Janssen and Novavax） and their developments but also the history of the technologies they are based on （starting with developments in the 80s during the HIV pandemic）。 It was interesting to learn more about the quirky personalities and the hard work of so many interesting people involved in these major breakthroughs， including academics， government scientists， people in biotech/Pharma， and investors。 This book is a good recap of how development these vaccines was neither easy nor did it come out of thin air; it was built on decades of hard work from hundreds of people - and it is work that’s still ongoing。 。。。more
Brad
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