The First Shots, Brendan Borrell
The First Shots, Brendan Borrell
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The First Shots
The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine

Author: Brendan Borrell

Narrator: Dan Woren

Unabridged: 11 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Mariner Books

Published: 10/26/2021


Synopsis

The full inside story of the high-stakes, global race for the lifesaving vaccine to end the pandemic

Heroic science. Chaotic politics. Billionaire entrepreneurs. Award-winning journalist Brendan Borrell brings the defining story of our times alive through compulsively readable, first-time reporting on the players leading the fight against a vicious virus. The First Shots, soon to be the subject of an HBO limited series with superstar director and producer Adam McKay (Succession, Vice, The Big Short), draws on exclusive, high-level access to weave together the intense vaccine-race conflicts among hard-driving, heroic scientists and the epic rivalries among Washington power players that shaped 18 months of fear, resolve, and triumph.

From infectious disease expert Michael Callahan, an American doctor secretly on the ground in Wuhan in January 2020 to gauge the terrifying ravages of Disease X; to Robert (Dr. Bob) Kadlec, one of Operation Warp Speed’s architects, whose audacious plans for the American people run straight into the buzz saw of the Trump White House factions; to Stéphane Bancel of upstart Moderna Therapeutics going toe-to-toe with pharma behemoth Pfizer, The First Shots lays bare, in a way we have not seen, the full stunning story behind the medical science “moon shot” of our lifetimes.

About Brendan Borrell

BRENDAN BORRELL is a biologist-turned-journalist, who has written on science, health, and business for The Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek, National Geographic, Outside, Wired, and the New York Times. Borrell lives in Los Angeles, and The First Shots is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on January 16, 2022

This is a must-read for those who read Michael Lewis' "Premonition" as it continues the story of the Wolverines. Though the writing is a bit dry in places, the author does a good job of explaining to the general reader the science behind the various vaccines candidates. Apart from a few comments (suc......more

Goodreads review by Julie on February 02, 2022

A fascinating companion to one of my favorite books of 2021, Michael Lewis’s The Premonition: A Pandemic Story. Brendan Borrell focuses on the people and events that led to the successful, lightening-fast effort to develop COVID vaccines in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. I especially......more

Goodreads review by Miroslav on November 28, 2021

Really excellent on the politics and management of the vaccine race......more

Goodreads review by Kayes Ahmed on January 02, 2022

like a thriller This is a great book. Fast paced and full of interesting information and personalities. The book would have been better if the author detailed the inner workings at Pfizer. That behemoth was mentioned in passing. Still, as one of the first books on Covid19 vaccine this is great read.......more

Goodreads review by Blaine on October 31, 2021

I got this as soon as it was published, and it was a real page-turner! It gets into some detail about the science but is still very readable by the layperson.......more