Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Violence has followed last month's disputed election in Ivory Coast, but it's just the

latest example of an African strong man who simply didn't want to leave office. We take

a look at a troubling democracy-bending trend across the continent. And India's got a case

of refurb madness. Accusations are flying that Bollywood types are corrupting the culture

with their weed habits. It's a surprising flashpoint. India has a long, unbroken and altogether

pretty chill relationship with marijuana. But first, during a year blighted by the pandemic

through difficult days of isolation, fear, loss, one hope has seemed forever distant,

a vaccine to provide immunity from the coronavirus. Some promising news brings that hope

closer. Yesterday, Pfizer and BeyondTech, two pharmaceutical firms, announced that their

candidate vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19.

The results are based on an interim analysis of a trial on 43,000 people, a trial that's still

underway. That hint that life might soon return to something like normal, electrified the markets.

Positive news on a COVID-19 vaccine trial injected a jolt of energy into stocks,

driving the Dow up more than 800 points Monday. Plenty of questions remain about the vaccine,

about its safety, who it most helps, and for how long. Then there are far bigger,

logistical questions about distributing it. But what's clear is that this is a major milestone,

the beginning perhaps, of the end of the pandemic. This is a really exciting moment.

It's what we've been waiting for all year. Natasha Loder is our health policy editor.

Not only do we have a vaccine that seems to be effective, it's highly effective.

And this is according to what Pfizer has said. None of us had dared to hope for a vaccine that was

...