Vaxxers by Sarah Gilbert, Catherine Green
I bought Vaxxers by Sarah Gilbert, Catherine Green last year, but only recently I picked it from my bookshelves, mainly because I am doing research into vaccines and I kept pushing back reading it so it is more suitable for my studies. So, finally I read it and it’s a fascinating read indeed. Because it is written by two authors, each of them authoring a few chapters of the book, there is a slight difference in the tone. Personally I preferred Sarah Gilbert’s style. Overall I gave the book 4.5 stars because I think some aspects could have been brushed over while others should have been discussed or analysed more. The book is great and I am highly recommending it.
Vaxxers is the story of how the Oxford-AZ vaccine was made, how they got funding for it, when they started to make it, when it was ready, going through the Phases. The vaccine was made in January and in less than an year the vaccine was approved and started to be rolled out across the world. Research showed that over 6 million lives were saved thanks to the Oxford vaccine (and another 6 by the Pfizer). It is a remarkable achievement and they are sharing snippets of their lives in the book, which makes it interesting in more ways than one.
While this is specific to the Oxford vaccine, I think it’s relevant to think how universities around the world get funding and if this should be improved. For me, reading the book, it was clear that too much time was spent thinking of finance, naturally. This was in stark contrast to the situation at Pfizer, as told in Moonshot.
Vaxxers by Sarah Gilbert, Catherine Green
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My rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Hodder & Stoughton
Year it was published: 2021
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): Science
Pages: 352
About the author: Dame Sarah Catherine Gilbert DBE is an English vaccinologist who is a Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of Vaccitech. She specialises in the development of vaccines against influenza and emerging viral pathogens.
Catherine Mary Green OBE is an English biologist who is an Associate Professor in Chromosome Dynamics at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford. Her research considers chromosome stability during the replication of DNA.
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Unfortunately, money takes precedence in many aspects of society. But, In some instances I can understand why. Of the two books you’ve reviewed, I’m more interested in the Pfizer book. I’ve put it on my wishlist.
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I think, after reading the book, that funding should be streamlined for university-led researchers. Pfizer charged less for their vaccine than they could, but Oxford-AZ offered the vaccine at-cost. This could be done because of funding from government. If only these things could be discussed more in media.
I hope you’ll like Moonshot. I also bought the book by the couple at BioNTech, I will read it in January.