The exclusive story of the greatest scientific breakthrough of the 21st century - the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. 

In mid-January 2020, scientists Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci learned of how a new virus that had emerged in Wuhan, China, was spreading. Recognising the threat at once, they dropped everything and committed themselves to developing a vaccine against the disease that would soon be known as COVID-19. 

No one believed it was possible. But by December, the revolutionary BioNTech-Pfizer mRNA inoculation became the first clinically approved COVID-19 vaccine. Soon it was being injected into the arms of millions, turning the tide on the deadliest pandemic in living memory. 

Vaccine is the story of this race against time. Written by Joe Miller, the Financial Times’ correspondent who covered the team’s COVID-19 project in real time, and based off more than 150 hours of interviews with Sahin and Türeci, as well with scientists, politicians, and public health officials, it offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes account of this extraordinary breakthrough. 

Cutting-edge science that feels like a thriller, this is an historic account of the triumph of human endeavour in a time of adversity. 

Includes exclusive interview with Joe Miller, Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci.