A Shot to Save the World: The Remarkable Race and Ground-Breaking Science Behind the Covid-19 Vaccines
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- Create Date：2022-02-13 08:54:24
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Gregory Zuckerman
- ISBN：0241531713
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Summary
In the eyes of the world， efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine were a failure， as there is still no cure today。 The companies involved saw their fortunes fall as quickly as they had risen。 Under the radar， however， infectious disease scientists were learning how to isolate neutralising antibodies， how to conduct trials during international crises， and how to understand the human immune system。 These lessons would prove crucial almost forty years later， when another epidemic would spark another race to find a vaccine。
333 Days is the incredible story of the coronavirus vaccination， as you've never heard it before。 Award-winning journalist Greg Zuckerman dives into the complex history that links the AIDS and Covid-19 epidemics， and details how the lessons learned during the perceived failures of the former were the catalysts for unprecedented scientific success during the latter。 He reveals the twisting fates of the companies that were never supposed to last long enough to develop a vaccine for coronavirus， and examines the experiences of the people behind the science， and their relentless persistence in pursuit of a better world。
333 Days is the incredible story of the coronavirus vaccination， as you've never heard it before。 Award-winning journalist Greg Zuckerman dives into the complex history that links the AIDS and Covid-19 epidemics， and details how the lessons learned during the perceived failures of the former were the catalysts for unprecedented scientific success during the latter。 He reveals the twisting fates of the companies that were never supposed to last long enough to develop a vaccine for coronavirus， and examines the experiences of the people behind the science， and their relentless persistence in pursuit of a better world。
Reviews
John Crippen
，
I rarely cheer when reading a book， but by the time I got to the November 2020 chapter of this book， when the phase 3 trial results started coming in for BioNTech， Moderna， and Oxford， I was cheering and laughing every few pages。 And then a few months later when the underdog Novavax finally caught a break too。 Yay！ This became a real page-turner after the background chapters on the origins of the scientists and their companies。 As is often the case， I learned about this book through Russ Roberts I rarely cheer when reading a book， but by the time I got to the November 2020 chapter of this book， when the phase 3 trial results started coming in for BioNTech， Moderna， and Oxford， I was cheering and laughing every few pages。 And then a few months later when the underdog Novavax finally caught a break too。 Yay！ This became a real page-turner after the background chapters on the origins of the scientists and their companies。 As is often the case， I learned about this book through Russ Roberts' EconTalk interview with the author。 The book is everything that you'll be expecting after listening to that interview。 。。。more
Pete
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A Shot to Save the World : The Remarkable Race and Groundbreaking Science Behind the Covid-19 Vaccines （2021） by Gregory Zuckerman details how numerous Covid-19 vaccines were made by various companies around the world。Previous vaccines have taken 3-4 years at best to produce and test。 It is a staggering achievement of the modern pharmaceutical industry that numerous vaccines were created and tested within a year of the discovery of Covid-19。 A Shot to Save the World profiles the people， companie A Shot to Save the World : The Remarkable Race and Groundbreaking Science Behind the Covid-19 Vaccines （2021） by Gregory Zuckerman details how numerous Covid-19 vaccines were made by various companies around the world。Previous vaccines have taken 3-4 years at best to produce and test。 It is a staggering achievement of the modern pharmaceutical industry that numerous vaccines were created and tested within a year of the discovery of Covid-19。 A Shot to Save the World profiles the people， companies and some of the technology that made the Covid-19 vaccines possible。First the development of mRNA vaccines and the people who made breakthroughs in various labs around the world is described， then the companies such as BioNTech， Moderna and Novovax that worked for years with these technologies but were all in financial trouble before Covid-19 came and they had a chance to work on something that their technology was ideal for。The book gets faster and includes more laboratories and people， including the Oxford lab that created the Astra Zeneca vaccine and the people who worked on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine。 The fantastic speed with which these teams were able to create a vaccine is just amazing。A Shot to Save the World does a really good job of describing an incredible technological achievement and the people who really have saved millions of lives。 It’s a bit like writing about the Apollo team and the space race。 Zuckerman does the job very well and the book helps us appreciate just what modern science can do。 。。。more
Lisa Konet
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Fascinating and so important！ Big pharma worldwide coming together to save the world inhabitants from the Sars-Covid-2， aka coronavirus。 It was interesting to learn about the big names from each organization and differing POVs， backgrounds and their thoughts for this one goal: produce vaccination（s） for coronavirus （just as important as the receiving your flu shot IMO）。 Obviously， you all know where I stand。 Trust the science。I was fascinated and learned a lot from this。
Min Hui Chua
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I was in a hurry to read this because I wanted it to be as relevant as possible。 I guess the trouble with the pandemic is that things are changing so quickly。 This was published just as the delta variant emerged and we’re already at the next variant by the time I’m done reading。 The book was slow at the beginning， the first 70% laying down the basics and historical progress of mRNA delivery systems in general。 The last 30% was much more intense as it started digging into the series of events fro I was in a hurry to read this because I wanted it to be as relevant as possible。 I guess the trouble with the pandemic is that things are changing so quickly。 This was published just as the delta variant emerged and we’re already at the next variant by the time I’m done reading。 The book was slow at the beginning， the first 70% laying down the basics and historical progress of mRNA delivery systems in general。 The last 30% was much more intense as it started digging into the series of events from Jan 2020。 I think the lesson learnt here is this - the key reason we could get a vaccine out in record time was because of the years - in fact， decades - of work from the scientists and researchers that came before us。 Science is a funny thing。 It’s about being at the right place at the right time， while ensuring the right support system and infrastructure to further your findings。 It’s sad that many researchers in the field of mRNA research did not see it through to the end because people thought DNA was the big shiny star and neglected mRNA research。 After reading this， I can better appreciate the work behind vaccine development。 My favourite quote - Winston Churchill: Never was so much owed by so many to so few。 。。。more
Sangam Agarwal
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waste of time and money
Jeff Anders
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This was the perfect time to read the story of the Covid vaccine and the science and history behind vaccines in general， MRNA， and biotech startups。 I loved it！ The writing was narrative enough to flow but nonfiction packed enough to help me learn new information。 I hope there's a sequel about post-Delta developments。 This was the perfect time to read the story of the Covid vaccine and the science and history behind vaccines in general， MRNA， and biotech startups。 I loved it！ The writing was narrative enough to flow but nonfiction packed enough to help me learn new information。 I hope there's a sequel about post-Delta developments。 。。。more
Jodi Hawkins
，
This book is interesting and informative。 However it did not make me feel in any way that this is A Shot To Save The World as much as it is more a race to see who can stamp their company name on the shot and also to see who can make the most money。 In fact， I feel much more uncomfortable about vaccines after reading this book （I'm not against vaccines）。 The craziness and the rushed process of the people 'inventing' the vaccines 😳 WOW！ Maybe it is time to channel that inner race and push finding This book is interesting and informative。 However it did not make me feel in any way that this is A Shot To Save The World as much as it is more a race to see who can stamp their company name on the shot and also to see who can make the most money。 In fact， I feel much more uncomfortable about vaccines after reading this book （I'm not against vaccines）。 The craziness and the rushed process of the people 'inventing' the vaccines 😳 WOW！ Maybe it is time to channel that inner race and push finding a cure for cancer into hyper drive。。。。people are constantly dying of that， maybe if that became an emergency more people could be saved。 Hopefully I can read elsewhere and find a little more settling book about vaccines。 It was good to hear the history of vaccines， but the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book is what I felt like I was really interested in reading about。 。。。more
Remi
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Very well written and seems well researched。 A broad set of characters from different companies and countries。 Strange about this book is that it reports the height of all characters who are 6ft or more。 What could possibly be the intention here， except for casual heightism？ If I am supposed to get excited about the characters' bodies， then please report their waist-to-hip ratio instead。 Very well written and seems well researched。 A broad set of characters from different companies and countries。 Strange about this book is that it reports the height of all characters who are 6ft or more。 What could possibly be the intention here， except for casual heightism？ If I am supposed to get excited about the characters' bodies， then please report their waist-to-hip ratio instead。 。。。more
Kait Vanderlaan
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Parts were really interesting but it was also boring and dragged out at other parts。
Roland Glotzer
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It was a great book。 It reads like a thriller but it is the true story of the Covid19 vaccine development。 It shows the persistence of a number of people that helped protect us in this pandemic。 And that all of this was only possible because of work that had started 30 years ago when trying to develop a vaccine for HIV。
Boy Blue
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This is the latest in a particular type of narrative non-fiction possibly invented by Malcolm Gladwell and most recently taken to extremes by Johann Hari， that I'm starting to find quite tiresome。Key features of this style of writing include。1。 Reductionism: Everything is reduced to the most simple version possible。 Lather up and give your story the closest shave with Ockham's razor。 If you don't think the reader will understand or believe it， chuck it out。 2。 People as Zany Characters: Every si This is the latest in a particular type of narrative non-fiction possibly invented by Malcolm Gladwell and most recently taken to extremes by Johann Hari， that I'm starting to find quite tiresome。Key features of this style of writing include。1。 Reductionism: Everything is reduced to the most simple version possible。 Lather up and give your story the closest shave with Ockham's razor。 If you don't think the reader will understand or believe it， chuck it out。 2。 People as Zany Characters: Every single person in the narrative is introduced with a brief caricature of their physical appearance and then a couple of stories from their early lives that paint them as a whacky eccentric。3。 Incredulity: Whether it's from the characters or from the writer。 Every discovery is always a shock， it's always explosive and people are always staggering around trying to push pieces of their brain back through their ear holes。4。 Conformism = Bad: Everyone who is a "good" character has to be unconventional。 The writer will do everything to make it so。5。 Big Man in History: There is zero understanding of team work and the size of teams that make discoveries， or the sedimentary layers of research that go into the breakthroughs。 There's always one person （usually a guy） who is working 37 hours a day， until they suddenly get a passing quip from a non-genius type person that sets them off into the discovery of a lifetime。As for this particular book。There's some interesting information but my god does it take the longest run up I've ever seen。 In Australia we'd say it was off the back fence。 Excluding the prologue and introduction， it's not until about three quarters in that you come across Covid-19。 That's some serious backstory。 So then you finally do reach the section on Covid-19 and it's over in a flash， leaving you with so many unanswered questions and a new appreciation of the word bathetic。Another thing that I really struggled with was how this was clearly a Wall Street take。 It was all about financial gain and particularly American gain。 Zuckerman insisted on creating a race and once he'd built that construct everyone in the book had to conform to it。 Zuckerman seems to expect his audience to be constantly saying "show me the money"， and so he delivers more financial figures than medical ones。I've read Sarah Gilbert's book on the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and she openly says she prayed for as many different vaccines as possible， yet Zuckerman portrays her as cold， heartless bitch focused only on her financial gain and glory。 Zuckerman briefly mentions that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was not for profit but doesn't focus on it because it doesn't suit his narrative。 His consistent attacks on AstraZeneca stem entirely from his American centrism。 All the American vaccine creators are heroes and AstraZeneca are the bad guys。 He also just straight out misinforms and misleads， for some reason Oxford's intense efforts to speed up the process are seen as negligence。 Even when they did the same things as Moderna and Pfizer， such as working a step ahead despite results not coming back， they receive no praise。 He says they chose not to use the two-proline modification developed by another scientist to stabilise the protein， attributing this decision to arrogance。 Perhaps instead he should have focused on Oxford's own modification to the front end of the spike protein that was proven to generate much bigger responses in previously approved vaccines。 He also says their decision to not test on over 55's was profit motivated， which it wasn't， it was a safety concern。 They receive no praise for having a vaccine that doesn't need to be frozen yet Johnson & Johnson do， or the fact they had a viable MERS vaccine for years on the same proven technology they were going to use for Covid-19。So we do 200+ pages on the history of various types of vaccine research and then when we get to the pointy end we really don't get a huge amount of science on the Covid-19 vaccines themselves。 I would have loved some info on the Chinese vaccine or the Russian one。 Although this book would also have been improved dramatically by reducing the cast of thousands to just one or two companies。 The scattergun approach makes the narrative too hard to follow。 The comparison between the vaccines is another huge missed opportunity for the book。 J&J and AZ have similar problems， they both created blood clots in a tiny portion of patients， they also are both capable of simple refrigeration but AZ is more effective than J&J。 Why is that？ They're both Adenovirus vectors but J&J chose a human adenovirus and AZ a chimpanzee one。 The logic being that the human one is more likely to be recognised by the body and destroyed before the covid-19 component can be processed， and the results bear that out。 I'd also have loved a comparison between the mRNA vaccines， and then those compared to adenovirus vectors or Novavax's protein based one。One thing you do learn from the book is the large debt Covid-19 vaccines owe to efforts to develop a vaccine for AIDS and a cure for cancer。 It's clear that decades of research in those two fields paved the way for the rapid development and rollout of Covid-19 vaccines。There's still some good information in here， unfortunately it's just buried under a set of ridiculous cartoon characters。If you want to read a book about Covid-19 vaccines then read Vaxxers。 。。。more
Nick Lucarelli
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Interesting in spurts。 Spent too much time on the scientists and founders behind the modern vaccine development including their weird egos and rivalries for me。 When the author did delve into the science， my ears pricked up， particularly surrounding mRNA。 Learnt that most vaccine development is chronically underfunded， extremely hit and miss and almost never commercially viable， all of which makes the abundance of covid vaccines extraordinary， especially considering AZ and J&J barely survived th Interesting in spurts。 Spent too much time on the scientists and founders behind the modern vaccine development including their weird egos and rivalries for me。 When the author did delve into the science， my ears pricked up， particularly surrounding mRNA。 Learnt that most vaccine development is chronically underfunded， extremely hit and miss and almost never commercially viable， all of which makes the abundance of covid vaccines extraordinary， especially considering AZ and J&J barely survived their side effect controversies， Moderna is run by a psychopathic businessman and had never produced a vaccine before， Pfizer probably didn't know what mRNA stood for until they partnered with BioNTech， and Novavax almost went bust before getting off the ground （just #waitingforNovavax） 。。。more
Stephen Schenkenberg
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Scientific page-turner。 Gratitude generator。 Interestingly， COVID-19 doesn’t come into the book until more than halfway through。 We first learn about the decades of work done by scientists — incremental advancements; steps back， leaps forward — to get to the place where these particular vaccines could be created。 Inspiring and absorbing。
Marsha
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A comprenesive account of the decades-long work on vaccines done by scientists around the world。 Parts of it were a little wonk-y for me， but I enjoyed learning about the personalities， obsessions， and struggles of so many brilliant， interesting people。 The last 110 pages read like a thriller as scientists raced to develop a vaccine for Covid-19。 I know pharmaceutical companies are in it for profit， but there's also dedication and exhausting research by scientists who want to develop cures and v A comprenesive account of the decades-long work on vaccines done by scientists around the world。 Parts of it were a little wonk-y for me， but I enjoyed learning about the personalities， obsessions， and struggles of so many brilliant， interesting people。 The last 110 pages read like a thriller as scientists raced to develop a vaccine for Covid-19。 I know pharmaceutical companies are in it for profit， but there's also dedication and exhausting research by scientists who want to develop cures and vaccines that will save lives。 。。。more
Nidan Basheer
，
Wonderful book。 The science parts could have been more dumbed down for a general audience though。
James
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How the overnight miracle of covid vaccinations was 30 years in the making。 Well worth a read to appreciate the long term effort by many that meant we had the technology ready to go。 More of a long form journalistic article than a well crafted work， but that's absolutely fine for this。 How the overnight miracle of covid vaccinations was 30 years in the making。 Well worth a read to appreciate the long term effort by many that meant we had the technology ready to go。 More of a long form journalistic article than a well crafted work， but that's absolutely fine for this。 。。。more
Kim Scraper
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Thoroughly enjoyed this book。
Davehbo
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To me， you can start this book 2/3 of the way in。 Everything before that is telling you about the people who will become important in the last third of the book。 I'd say the last 1/3 is pretty interesting， to hear how Moderna and Pfizer became dominant with the covid vaccine for the USA。 To me， you can start this book 2/3 of the way in。 Everything before that is telling you about the people who will become important in the last third of the book。 I'd say the last 1/3 is pretty interesting， to hear how Moderna and Pfizer became dominant with the covid vaccine for the USA。 。。。more
Hanie Noor
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My one sentence review:A good back story of science behind vaccine development from the 70s until recently， specifically on few prominent figures who has worked on the COVID-19 vaccine。Intrigued to read on the back story of these vaccines tho not a complete one， it did gives a pretty decent overview。 The title is quite misleading， the only part really discusses on COVID-19 vaccine is the last 1/4 part of the book and the rest are just back story and too much on the individuals than the vaccine i My one sentence review:A good back story of science behind vaccine development from the 70s until recently， specifically on few prominent figures who has worked on the COVID-19 vaccine。Intrigued to read on the back story of these vaccines tho not a complete one， it did gives a pretty decent overview。 The title is quite misleading， the only part really discusses on COVID-19 vaccine is the last 1/4 part of the book and the rest are just back story and too much on the individuals than the vaccine itself。 Quite sad， not that I don’t want to know bout the excellent scientists but I would appreciate more context on the science breakthrough of the vaccine itself to know what gets into my body。There’s a minor part where author is being bias which created a gap on the vaccine comparison。 i。e Even now we’ve seen in the news that AZ vaccine works well even against mutation as those whose infected show less severe symptoms but the author focuses on the tiny problem faced by the institution instead of highlighting on the fact that it uses different adenovirus vectors than J&J which explains the effectiveness。Basically， the institutions uses different approach i。e; mRNA vaccines， adenovirus vectors， and protein based。 Note that Chinese and Russian vaccines aren’t discussed in this book which I was really expecting to read。Scientists are able to speed up the vaccine development effort thanks to decades of research on AIDS and cancer cure， those unfruitful tests are being used as solutions to develop vaccines for COVID-19。 Shout out to scientists who has worked hard day and night chasing rushed deadlines in the making of these vaccines。 You protected our lives。Review courtesy of Times Reads。 。。。more
Jiurong Dong
，
a really fascinating story， once I pick up the book，you can’t drop it until finish reading， particularly when the news that these three companies have very successful phase 3 test results came in， I feel excited about it！
Joanne Manaster
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Good telling of the covid-19 vaccine stories。
Becky Peters
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Interesting look at the development of vaccines。 We owe thanks to the amazing dedication of these scientists。 The book at times was a bit confusing and complicated probably a result of my minimal understanding of biology etc never-the-less enough to appreciate the time and effort behind these advancements， sometimes photo finishes！ Please keep trying so mankind can stay ahead of these devastating times。
Labyrns
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Excellent story of the successful fight to develop a vaccine against COVID-19。 Zuckerman begins in 1979 with the development of some of our most recent vaccines including Ebola， HIV， SARS， MERS and the search for vaccines to beat cancer and AIDS。 He emphasizes that the successful production of the COVID vaccines is based on decades of research and hundreds （thousands？） of scientists working long hours in barely funded laboratories。 And while the successful vaccines were produced in less than 12 Excellent story of the successful fight to develop a vaccine against COVID-19。 Zuckerman begins in 1979 with the development of some of our most recent vaccines including Ebola， HIV， SARS， MERS and the search for vaccines to beat cancer and AIDS。 He emphasizes that the successful production of the COVID vaccines is based on decades of research and hundreds （thousands？） of scientists working long hours in barely funded laboratories。 And while the successful vaccines were produced in less than 12 months （an incredible achievement by any measure）， that could not have happened without the work of the scientists in preceding decades。 The book is written for the lay audience and Zuckerman thoroughly explains terminology and the science of vaccination in detail。 My husband， a geneticist， flew through it。 I'm a historian so it took me much longer but I really appreciated Zuckerman's step by step explanations。 。。。more
Pat Nelson
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Good read， very understandable。
Rebecca Wilkins
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My son-in-law the history professor recommended this book。 It is definitely 4 stars。 Zuckerman who writes for the Wall Street Journal and appears on Fox did a surprisingly good job recording the history of the Covid 19 vaccine。 He made the people involved come alive as characters。 He gave us the science but in a way that was understandable。 He took us back to all the diseases in the past where science was working on ways to fight them that evolved around the world to come to the point in 2020-20 My son-in-law the history professor recommended this book。 It is definitely 4 stars。 Zuckerman who writes for the Wall Street Journal and appears on Fox did a surprisingly good job recording the history of the Covid 19 vaccine。 He made the people involved come alive as characters。 He gave us the science but in a way that was understandable。 He took us back to all the diseases in the past where science was working on ways to fight them that evolved around the world to come to the point in 2020-2021 that more than one vaccine was 90% or more effective against the worst pandemic in a hundred years。 He focuses on all of the major Covid 19 vaccines in the western world but does an especially in-depth study of Moderna。 The story of messenger RNA is fascinating。 We see how it is ultimately all a big business but most of the scientists seem to be in it less for the money than for the satisfaction of creating a cure and saving lives。 We are lucky that these people keep showing up at their labs every day and the government and investors keep funding them。 Now if we could only convince the average Joe who sees Zuckerman on Fox to get the jab， the world would truly be a safer place！ 。。。more
Sandeep
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Very well written and very readable。 Gregory has done a great job of taking a scientific topic but still producing a page turner。 Of course I am reading it when the 2021 winter has brought the Omicron wave and the report card on the 1st Gen vaccines is being challenged。 However， it is fascinating to read about the journey of the people and companies behind the vaccines and The kind of hard work and perseverance that goes into it。 Can’t help but wonder that for this small lot the pandemic provide Very well written and very readable。 Gregory has done a great job of taking a scientific topic but still producing a page turner。 Of course I am reading it when the 2021 winter has brought the Omicron wave and the report card on the 1st Gen vaccines is being challenged。 However， it is fascinating to read about the journey of the people and companies behind the vaccines and The kind of hard work and perseverance that goes into it。 Can’t help but wonder that for this small lot the pandemic provided an opportunity to convert their work into success， but for so many others there would only be promising work that never got fulfilled。 Gregory weaves in enough personal details of the key people and emotions to tell the story。 While the book flows very well， it does feel that there is more focus on the early days of mRNA research than on how the actual clinical trials for the vaccines played out。 Also the book is US centric but guess that was to be expected。Highly recommended overall。 。。。more
Jorge Pérez Colín
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Maravillosas historias de PhDs buscando el tenure en sus universidades， de investigadores convertidos en empresarios buscando ganancias exorbitantes， de empresarios de pharma levantando cientos de millones de dólares con un portafolio lleno de promesas; pero， ante todo， lo mejor del mundo académico y empresarial para desarrollar en tiempo record las vacunas anticovid que hoy están salvando millones de vidas。
Lynn
，
Good history of the push to develop vaccines for COVID-19。 It also chronicles the history of mRNA vaccines which most of Big Pharma had no belief in and put little money into research。 It took scientists who were considered outliers and undesirables to pursue the research that finally enabled the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines。 The story also includes J&J and AstroZeneca vaccine development。
Navdeep Pundhir
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Avoid at best。 This promises a lot and delivers， well nothing。
Ietrio
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