A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine

This entry relates to Telling Covid-19 Stories project by offering a non-fictional perspective on the development of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, providing context for the interplay between scientific innovation, corporate interests, and pandemic response. Gregory Zuckerman’s book A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine (2021) focuses on the vaccine development race, emphasizing the historical and scientific groundwork that made rapid progress possible, while also addressing the financial and strategic dimensions of biotechnology. The book’s focus on mRNA vaccine development aligns with question of how COVID-19 has been narrated through individual and collective experiences, albeit from a more investment-oriented and technoscientific lens.

This text complements the Telling Covid-19 Stories project with its focus on fiction and non-fiction experiences with the vaccine by documenting the vaccine development process as both a groundbreaking scientific achievement and a case study in the commodification of medical innovation. Zuckerman’s work contrasts with more human-centered narratives, prioritizing the perspective of industry leaders and biotech investors, thus complementing the Telling COVID-19 Stories project with an account of pandemic response shaped by the intersection of science, finance, and global urgency.