Do we have a vaccine to end the pandemic?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Test results from coronavirus vaccines are fast emerging, fuelling hopes that the end of the pandemic is in sight. But are countries ready to share the vaccine fairly? Global efforts to coordinate are already gaining ground - but some are concerned the battle for who gets what will mean some lower income countries could get left behind.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the inquiry on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:04.0 | Each week one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:10.0 | It was nearly lunchtime on an autumnal Monday morning in Mainz, Germany. |
| 0:20.0 | Two scientists in their 50s who dedicated their careers to developing treatments for cancer |
| 0:26.0 | were about to find themselves at the center of a news announcement that would shake the world. Their parents had arrived from Turkey as Gasterbiters in the 1960s, |
| 0:37.0 | temporary workers who had little prospect of German citizenship. |
| 0:41.0 | But one generation on, this power couple from the medical community were amongst the richest people |
| 0:48.4 | in Germany, thanks to their medical breakthroughs. |
| 0:52.3 | Sitting in their white coats they listened as |
| 0:54.4 | news stations broadcast the news they'd celebrated over black tea the night |
| 0:59.9 | before. Test results showed that the vaccine, their company, BioNT, had developed in conjunction with American |
| 1:07.6 | firm Pfizer to stop the virus that had claimed the lives of a million and a third people the world over was over 90% effective. |
| 1:18.0 | Similar news from other vaccines developed by drug firms Moderna and AstraZeneca and another program in Russia |
| 1:25.8 | came in the following days and added to the worldwide jubilation. In this week's |
| 1:32.3 | inquiry we're asking do we have a vaccine to end the |
| 1:37.2 | pandemic. |
| 1:39.8 | Part one, The Spike. |
| 1:45.0 | I was surprised and relieved, to be honest, just because it's 20-20 and things that can go wrong do seem to go wrong. |
| 1:55.0 | Helen Branswell is a reporter for Stat News, a leading health publication produced by |
| 2:00.9 | Boston Globe Media in the US. |
| 2:03.6 | She says the Pfizer test results were good news |
| 2:06.6 | because they showed there was a good chance |
... |
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