雖然國際間疫苗政治競賽越來越白熱化，但疫苗背後的科學家們，其實無意和其他疫苗或科學家較量。他們唯一的初衷，就只是從死神手上，盡可能搶回性命而已...


2020年1月1日，牛津大學疫苗學教授Sarah Gilbert讀到一篇報告，上面提及在中國，有四名病患染上異常肺炎。
在世界認知到事情嚴重性之前，在短短兩周內，Gilbert教授已開始著手研發出一款針對前所未見的病原體而設計的疫苗。
其後，不到12個月，此疫苗已迅速在全球廣泛施打，成為最普及的疫苗之一，拯救數百萬人生命。


此書道出此疫苗背後的科學家們，研發的過程和艱辛。
他們原來其實都只是平凡人，但遇上百年大疫，在暴風核心的科學家們默默守住崗位，最後成就一段不平凡的故事。
在全世界期盼下，他們迅速創造一款高效疫苗；帶給當時看不到災難終點的人們，一道光，一個希望。

*BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*

'An enthralling tale of toil, tenacity and triumph' RACHEL CLARKE

This is the story of a race – not against other vaccines or other scientists, but against a deadly and devastating virus.

On 1 January 2020, Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, read an article about four people in China with a strange pneumonia. Within two weeks, she and her team had designed a vaccine against a pathogen that no one had ever seen before. Less than 12 months later, vaccination was rolled out across the world to save millions of lives from Covid-19.

In Vaxxers, we hear directly from Professor Gilbert and her colleague Dr Catherine Green as they reveal the inside story of making the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the cutting-edge science and sheer hard work behind it.

This is their story of fighting a pandemic as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Sarah and Cath share the heart-stopping moments in the eye of the storm; they separate fact from fiction; they explain how they made a highly effective vaccine in record time with the eyes of the world watching; and they give us hope for the future.

Vaxxers invites us into the lab to find out how science will save us from this pandemic, and how we can prepare for the inevitable next one.