This is an unmissable insider view into how the Vaccine Taskforce beat the odds and delivered the scientific miracle we all waited for.

Covid is still spreading, probably mutating and just waiting for the next advantageous circumstance to jump back into wider global populations. This is a brilliant account of the UK's world-beating COVID-19 vaccine project and makes excellent reading for anyone wanting to understand both the story of the UK COVID-19 vaccine programme and also how a successful large-scale project is delivered.As the book comes toward its end Bingham highlights the failure of the Government to establish a clear industrial strategy for vaccines and put in place measures and facilities to counter any future pandemics. I sympathise greatly with her thoughts on the internal politics within HMG: private sector and public sector are like oil and water - they don't mix well. She is Managing Partner at life sciences venture capital firm SV Health Investors where she co-leads SV’s biotech franchise which has a long history of developing transformational new medicines. Kate Bingham’s new book, The Long Shot, is a gripping account of the UK Government Vaccine Task Force’s response to the pandemic by a remarkable, determined, thoughtful, and practical individual who was at the heart of the critical decisions that had to be made.

Interesting insider insights contained in the book are: Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove do not come off badly in this book. The Long Shot is published as readers appear to have tired of Covid-19 and the miraculous vaccines have become more of a seasonal chore. On 3 April 2020, Kate Bingham was told that the likelihood of any Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best.No and the book argues that Britain will probably be less prepared than it was for the covid pandemic. Written with compelling verve and complete authority, this book describes how Kate Bingham ensured that Covid-19 vaccines would be made available to the UK. Johnson is benignly hands-off til he has to become positively hands-on in reigning in spinning misinformation about the VTF coming out of Number 10. Dame Kate Bingham served as the Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, on a seven-month unpaid secondment, steering a team of experts to deliver the world’s fastest Covid-19 vaccination programme. Fast-paced and very compelling… The Vaccine Taskforce will always be remembered as British science at its very best.

Bingham’s eclectic team secured the first vaccine doses administered in the West, saving thousands of lives in the UK as new variants struck. An excellent read… Capturing the exceptional pace and energy of everyone involved in discovering and producing effective therapies against Covid-19. I understand why she did this as the reason the vaccine task force succeeded was because Bingham created a high-performance team and she had to describe how this was done as such teams do not materialise of their own accord.

Now nearly every adult in Britain has had a jab, lockdowns have ended and we can finally live with Covid. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.