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

Product Information

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. When we get past the introductory chapters, we get a really good insight into how by adopting a venture capitalist business type approach with a clear focus on outputs - in contrast to the Civil Service's focus on process – the vaccine task force was a success.

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. From a cottage miles away from Westminster, Bingham juggled vaccine suppliers, Whitehall, the media circus – and her daughter’s exams. From a cottage miles away from Westminster, Bingham juggled vaccine suppliers, Whitehall, the media circus - and her daughter's exams. With regards to the briefings against Bingham, one of the revelations I found most shocking was how Lee Cain, the Number 10 Director of Communications was briefing against her and the vaccine task force, despite the vaccine project being a flagship initiative of the Johnson government and one that was initiated and championed by Boris himself. One of the most notable is where she highlights the lack of relevant skills in the Civil Service and highlights the '.Bingham’s eclectic team secured the first vaccine doses administered in the West, saving thousands of lives in the UK as new variants struck. For example, the vaccine task force was not able to build a bulk mRNA manufacturing capability in the UK.

As an outsider rooted in business, she offers strong and specific recommendations for transforming government. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.

Interesting insider insights contained in the book are: Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove do not come off badly in this book. On 3 April 2020, Kate Bingham was told that the likelihood of any Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best. I fear it's impossible to reconcile the needs of government - paralysis inducing transparency, accountability and risk reduction - with private sector practice, which has similar needs but somehow much less paralysing. He was a lecturer in Politics at Oxford University 1989–96, specialising in American and British Government.

nearly complete absence in the civil service of scientific, industrial, commercial and manufacturing skills'. It appears that the Government has lost interest in both vaccines and pandemic preparedness, but it is also an example of the usual story of Government not learning from its mistakes. Her clarity of thought and action in a such a dark and turbulent time is a seam running through the book, and I know for certain that her efforts saved many lives. The book does start rather slowly with Bingham using the first four chapters to set the scene and explaining how the task force was put together and its members selected. She is a board member of the Francis Crick Institute and was awarded a DBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services as Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce.Now nearly every adult in Britain has had a jab, lockdowns have ended and we can finally live with Covid. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

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. Matt Hancock eventually recognises that the Department of Health was not up to the job of hosting the Vaccine Task Force; Michael Gove appears (surprisingly) as a more results-orientated minister than a spin-orientated minister. But with the UK government in turmoil, this compelling book may be most valuable as a fresh vision for how to lead in a crisis. The book warns this kind of success is not likely to be repeated without mass production facilities in Britain. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.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. The author proceeds will be donated to the new university The New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) and early years education, development and advocacy charity Kindred Squared. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. This is the insider view into how the Vaccine Taskforce beat those long odds and delivered a scientific miracle. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.