The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain

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While Bingham is disappointed that Britain has been “so weak” on sharing surplus vaccines with the rest of the world, her main regret is the continued holes in future disease preparedness. From a remote cottage, Bingham juggled vaccine suppliers, Whitehall, the media circus… as deaths mounted and the world shut down. Political manoeuvring, miscommunications and administrative meddling nearly jeopardised the project. But perseverance and expertise paid off. This is a scary, engaging, no holds bar account of the project to identify and introduce the Covid-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile there was a “near total ignorance” about what vaccine manufacturing actually entailed, and a National Audit Office’s investigation that began just two months after the VTF launched was a “foolish and expensive joke”, which wasted time and resources. Brutal critique She said other cabinet members who attended the meeting approached her after the meeting. “Gove could not have looked more embarrassed. The business secretary, Alok Sharma, called me immediately afterwards to apologise. Others sent messages of support,” she said. How Covid-19 vaccines went from the laboratory to people’s arms – the inside story of an extraordinary national campaign against all oddsAt the beginning of April 2020 Bingham was told that the likelihood of a Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best. However, the first NHS patient received a vaccination on December 8 of the same year and nearly every UK resident has now had the jab. Bingham describes how she juggled suppliers, Whitehall, the media circus and the political manoeuvring and administrative meddling that nearly jeopardised the project. Bingham and Hames also look at how the effective application of science can solve the world’s problems if it is delivered with a sharp focus on outcomes. But when it came to the committee discussion itself, the health secretary had traded in Dr Jekyll for Mr Hyde.

Elias Chacour Interviewed by Diarmaid MacCulloch A Palestinian Christian Working for Peace and Reconciliation in Israel CANCELLED Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event Despite drawing up an initial terms sheet with AstraZeneca for a drug now used in at least 30 countries, the UK chose neither to buy nor to invest in facilities to manufacture antibody treatments. A managing partner at venture capital firm SV Health Investors, Bingham was hailed for her work in making sure that the UK was speedily supplied with ample doses of Covid vaccines in the middle of the pandemic. Her book, The Long Shot, is out next week with proceeds going to charity. But on occasion, something happens that reminds her of the seven-month stint in the trenches of the Government’s Covid response, the remarkable feat of pulling off the impossible – and her new position as a reluctant pandemic celebrity. He started by suddenly saying he couldn’t understand why I thought people his age – namely mid-40s – wouldn’t want, or indeed demand, a Covid vaccine for themselves,” she wrote.The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

But, as she works her way through the list, Bingham has saved her “biggest gripe” for last: leadership, expertise, and a reversion to an “adversarial” relationship with industry since her exit. Relationships within Government were also, at points, strained. Lee Cain, former Downing Street director of communications, “briefed against” Bingham in the newspapers and banned her from speaking to the media when she was publicising the Vaccine Registry. Meanwhile, cancelling the contract with Valneva just before its traditional jab was approved by UK regulators limited the diversity of Britain’s vaccine portfolio, undermined investment in a bioreactor plant in Scotland, damaged relations with industry, and limited global rollout. When I arrived, there was an Excel spreadsheet that was being filled out twice a week by the guys in BEIS [the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which hosted the VTF] to send to the Cabinet Office, so they ‘knew what we were doing’. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?It was one of the most pivotal moments in my entire time as VTF [Vaccine Taskforce] chair,” Bingham recalls in her upcoming tell-all, The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain. Roger Highfield and Peter Coveney Chaired by Irene Tracey Vice-chancellor’s Interview. Virtual You: How Building Your Digital Twin Will Revolutionise Medicine Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event Every literary festival stays in an author’s mind for slightly individual reasons. I shall remember the Oxford festival for: Abandoning the Vaccine Registry, where more than 500,000 people signed up to take part in clinical trials, was short sighted – Bingham wanted this resource to continue post-Covid.