How to Survive a Pandemic (2022) - full transcript

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[birds chirping]

[creaking]

[footsteps]

- Oh, God.

Oof.

[keys clacking]

I'm sorry.

Can I just--I'll just--

can we wordsmith
for a second together?



"This evening, the FDA issued
an Emergency Use Authorization

"for the COVID-19 vaccine
for the prevention of COVID-19,

"the first
in the United States.

"This is a critical step

to bringing the pandemic
under control."

You can go ahead
and send that now.

It's late.
People are exhausted.

- All right, there it goes.
- Perfect.

Okay, perfect.
Thank you so much.

Thank you, guys.
Have a good night.

[line ringing]

- General Perna.
- Hi, General Perna.

This is Peter Marks.
How are you doing?

- Peter, how are you?



- Very well.
- I just saw.

- Hey, I know we
originally expected

to be doing this
probably tomorrow morning,

but instead it's this evening.

They just pushed send
on the email just now,

so congratulations.

It is so exciting
to have the first--

the first authorized vaccine.

It's really exciting.

- Sorry you had to go through
all that political crap.

- I'm glad it's over with,

and I'm glad
we're gonna have this out.

It'll give you
a little more time.

Everything should hopefully
get organized.

- It will,
and I'm telling you,

vaccines
will be moving tomorrow.

[soft vocalizing]

♪ ♪

[siren blaring]

♪ ♪

[siren blaring]

- We cannot
say this loudly enough.

All countries can still change

the course of this pandemic.

Every individual

must be involved in the fight.

The worst is yet to come
if we don't rush

to ensure unity.

♪ ♪

- It's the biggest crisis
in the world,

and it's a crisis that needs
a science solution.

♪ ♪

- The pressure of the world
came down on us.

♪ ♪

- We're going to defeat this
with vaccine strategies

that have never
been used before.

♪ ♪

We've never created
a new vaccine

in less than five years.

- We do have to face
the possibility

that it could be never.

- The world
as we know it died,

and we have to create
a new world,

and that new world
has to have a vaccine.

♪ ♪

- To vaccinate the world,
what are you gonna need?

A billion doses,
three billion?

The world has never provided

more than 1/2 billion doses
of any vaccine

in a year for anything.

- Unless we can get rid of it
as a human species,

it's going to continue
to reinfect,

and it will continue
to be a global threat.

♪ ♪

- Tools to prevent, detect,
and treat COVID-19

are global public goods

that must be accessible

by all people.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

[upbeat piano music playing]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Call it stormy Monday ♪

♪ ♪

♪ But Tuesday's just as bad ♪

♪ ♪

♪ They call it stormy Monday ♪

♪ ♪

♪ But Tuesday's just as bad ♪

♪ ♪

♪ And Wednesday is worse ♪

♪ ♪

♪ And Thursday's also sad ♪

♪ ♪

Conventional wisdom
is that a vaccine for COVID-19

is at least a year away.

But the organizers
of Warp Speed

have little use
for that conventional wisdom.

- It's called
Operation Warp Speed.

That means big,
and it means fast.

Its objective
is to finish developing

and then to manufacture
and distribute

a proven coronavirus vaccine.

Operation Warp Speed's
chief scientist

will be Dr. Moncef Slaoui.

- I am really confident
that our team

across the many
governmental agencies

that are involved
in these efforts,

the NIH, the CDC, the FDA,

and our partners
in the private sector

will be able
to deliver these objectives.

- Many scientists worry that
the U.S. presidential election

and the need
to resuscitate economies

could lead to premature
and dangerous approvals.

[indistinct chatter]

- Great meeting.
- What a great meeting.

Do you guys wanna
come take a seat?

- So you're thinking
over the next few months,

you think
you can have a vaccine?

- Pardon?
- No, we'll face the--

- Yeah?
- You won't have a vaccine.

You'll have a vaccine
to go into testing.

- Yeah.

- Ready to use when,
would you say?

Ready to use?

- Would you make sure you get
the president the information

that a vaccine that you make
and start testing

in a year is not a vaccine
that's deployable,

and that is gonna be,
at the earliest,

a year to a year and a half
no matter how fast you go.

- You think that's right?

I mean, I like the sound
of a couple of months better,

would be nice, to be honest.

[dramatic music]

- The project's gonna pour

essentially
limitless resources

into a diverse set of vaccine
candidates and platforms.

♪ ♪

Warp Speed hopes
to have a proven product

and 300 million doses
by January 2021.

Scientists contend they're
better prepared than ever

to produce a vaccine
at Hollywood speed.

♪ ♪

Couldn't tell you the stories
I've filed this week.

- I, too, have been busier
than I've ever been.

Really, ever than I have
ever been in my life.

- I just think we're fucked
on so many levels.

We all have
exactly the same goal:

get me a safe
and effective vaccine

as quickly as possible.

We're just scared that science
will be steamrolled.

- For good reason.

Yeah, because we have
so many examples

of it heading into this.

Take your pick.

The institutions which you
have previously trusted,

the EPA, for example,
is willing

to take climate change
off its website.

The administration can perturb
those federal agencies,

so why not the FDA?

There are a lot of people
worried about this, Jon.

I mean, there are people
who you would be surprised

they're that worried
because they're very close

to the administration.

- So one hopeful sign to me
is that we have Peter Marks

at the top at FDA,

who's committed
to playing by the rules

and not letting politics
trample science.

- And, you know,
I think he's worried

about some of the things
going on there.

[doorbell rings]

- We can set up out here
any way you'd like here.

- Okay.
- It's safe.

- Really appreciate it.

- I'm trying to capture
a behind-the-scenes feeling

of this for the future.

So I hope
you can speak more freely

about some things because
we're talking in the future.

- Yeah, yep.

- And I'd like
to learn the story

of how you became involved
with Warp Speed.

- I watched too much
"Star Trek" when I was a kid.

It was--the idea
was doing things precisely,

accurately, quickly.

That's why I just thought
of Warp Speed,

was just finding ways
that we could remove dead space

from the vaccine
development process

and try to engage
the vaccine manufacturers more.

- You have a lot of pride
in the FDA, obviously,

and its reputation.
- Yeah.

- My sense is you also feel
a sense of responsibility

to be the guardian at the gate
and to not let things through

that shouldn't get through,
and you have this possibility

that if a company asks for
an Emergency Use Authorization

for a vaccine, Trump is gonna
give it to them overnight,

and the FDA isn't--

- It ain't gonna happen
overnight.

It ain't gonna happen
on my watch.

We can't just, like,
rush a vaccine along.

That could be really dangerous.

- So if Trump takes over
and says,

"To hell with the FDA.
This is ready.

Let's go."
What are you gonna do?

- What would I do?

Probably hand in my resignation

with a letter basically saying
that this is just not possible.

- I hope you'd come to me also
and let me do a story...

[chuckles]
To break the story.

- You can be my guest.
- My selfish interest.

- Yeah, well,
but that's why I've been--

that's why I've been willing
to be a little bit risky here

if they try
to jack anything through.

- Yeah.

- We're trying to make sure
that the public has confidence

as much as they can.

Public health agencies
are dropping like flies

in the United States,
and I think we're trying

to do a reasonable job here
of building the FDA

as a place where anything
that comes through our process

is safe and effective,
because if people aren't--

if they're not
feeling comfortable enough

to roll up their sleeve
at the end of the day,

any vaccine is a failure.

We care about making sure

that the right thing
happens here.

Look, we're here in large part
because of science,

and if we continue to exist
on this Earth,

it's going to be
because of science.

♪ ♪

- China has shared
the genetic sequence

of the novel coronavirus

at the heart
of the outbreak in Wuhan.

- Once China released

the genetic sequence
of the virus,

it unleashed research
around the world.

♪ ♪

- Which way should I go?

[indistinct chatter]

Okay.

♪ ♪

I remember waking up

to an alert about the sequence

of the coronavirus coming out.

From that point on,
from January 10th on,

it became a nonstop race.

At the NIH,
we have this collaboration

with Moderna
where we've been looking

at the coronavirus family
for years,

so the same day
that the sequences came out,

we could immediately say,

"This is the vaccine
that we're gonna make."

♪ ♪

There are about 200
different vaccine candidates

across the world.

♪ ♪

They all approach the virus
in various different ways,

but with the one common goal
of training your antibodies

to know exactly
what the virus looks like

and kill that virus before it
can infect your cells.

♪ ♪

This is exactly

what your immune system
should be doing.

It just needs a little help.

♪ ♪

Moderna and Pfizer both use

similar
messenger RNA platforms

for this vaccine.

♪ ♪

This is a way to send
essentially a telegram

to your body's cells.

Your cells open that message,

see exactly
what needs to be read,

and then
that message goes away.

♪ ♪

And then your cells
make the protein

that that message
said to make.

♪ ♪

For the COVID-19 vaccines,

that is the spike protein.

♪ ♪

It does not take long at all
for your immune system

to activate
and start to build up

the type of immune response
that you need

to be protected
against COVID-19.

♪ ♪

If we're gonna solve
this problem,

it definitely
has to be a global effort.

♪ ♪

So I was actually
very relieved

to start to see
other vaccine platforms

starting to come out.

[dramatic vocalizing]

♪ ♪

- Behind the chairs.

- Okay.
So strike a pose.

Right there.

Ready.
- Okay.

Let's get started then.

All right, it's my pleasure
to introduce a speaker

who needs no introduction.

Dan Barouch.

- The question of whether

so-called
natural immunity exists

is really critical
for the entire

COVID-19 vaccine effort.

It's also critical
for epidemiologic modelling

of herd immunity...

- Every day, the first thing
he does when he wakes up

is he checks to see
how many cases there are

in the U.S., in the world,
how many fatalities,

and that's what motivates him.

Hey, sweetie.
You want some--want a snack?

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

- Yeah.
- What would you like?

We're gonna have lunch soon,
but what would you like?

- I don't know.
- Want some fruit?

- Mm, sure.
- Fruit, yeah?

He thought that this
was gonna be a major pandemic.

He said, "I think I should
make a vaccine against this."

And I said, "You--you need to.
You have the expertise."

"You've been building
a platform for years,

"and with your HIV work,
it'll hopefully translate well

to this other disease."

And so it's been crazy busy.

- Okay.
- Sandwich.

- Bye.
- Bye. Have a good day.

- Bye.
- Good luck.

See you later.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- So right now,
I am adding serum,

and then after that,
we add virus,

and we'll see
what dilution of the serum

is able to neutralize
the virus.

- So I'm measuring
nanodrop RNA concentrations,

and so far, these are actually
looking pretty good.

So, see, this is exactly
what we want to see.

- These are the mouse samples,
right?

- That's right.

- This is just
three weeks after one shot,

and we're getting
antibody responses

that are going down
the whole plate.

- It will remain to be seen
in a clinical trial

how well this extends
to humans, but I mean,

this is
unambiguously good news.

♪ ♪

- I'm cautiously optimistic.

This vaccine
might actually work.

♪ ♪

Our vaccine is
a viral vector-based vaccine.

It's the COVID-19
spike protein DNA

rather than RNA,
and it's delivered into cells

by the common cold virus.

♪ ♪

We've shown
that our vaccine candidate

appears to protect in animals,
but we don't yet have

the critical proof of concept
in humans.

So that's the big unknown.

The fastest way
to get the answer

as to whether the vaccine

is safe, immunogenic,
and effective

is to do
formal clinical trials.

The phase one clinical trial

is the initial test
of a new vaccine or a new drug.

It's often done in
a small number of individuals.

The primary goal is to show
that the new intervention

is safe and raises
the type of immune responses

that we believe are important.

If that hurdle is cleared,
then there will be permission

to expand
into larger-scale studies.

- Large numbers of volunteers,
1,000 or tens of thousands,

are broken into two groups.

One gets a placebo.

The other gets
the experimental vaccine.

Both groups are then told
to live normally,

and a few volunteers may come
into contact with the virus

to see if the vaccine
really works.

- Americans of every race,
location,

and medical condition
have stepped up

to help fight COVID-19
by being a part

of the vaccine
clinical trials.

- Pfizer and its
German partner BioNTech,

they're going to enroll
up to 30,000 participants

in this trial,
which started yesterday

in the United States.

- We will continue
following our patients

for safety
or any other reasons,

also to see how durable
their response will be

for up to two years.

♪ ♪

- Last month,
clinical trials began

for a COVID-19 vaccine
in Brazil.

- AstraZeneca said trials
of its experimental drug

developed with
Oxford University

are underway.

- A lot of frontline workers
are volunteers

in major vaccine trials.

More out of
the University of Oxford.

[siren blaring]

♪ ♪

- The country
is second to the U.S.

in COVID-19 illnesses
and deaths.

♪ ♪

Medical researchers say Brazil
is a crucial testing ground

for a coronavirus vaccine.

That's because it may show
whether a potential cure

can work
amidst such a vast presence

and spread of the virus.

[dramatic vocalizing]

♪ ♪

[siren blaring]

♪ ♪

- [speaking Portuguese]

- [speaking Portuguese]

[siren blaring]

- We started our trial
in Brazil at the end of May.

Our vaccine uses
the viral vector approach.

We really do want our vaccine
to be seen to be the best.

We don't know if it is.
We'd like it to be.

We want there to be
many winners.

We don't want
to be out there on our own,

not least because
no one company is gonna be able

to vaccinate 5 billion people.

[soft music]

We were looking
for a manufacturer

who could supply the world.

The Serum Institute of India,

which is the world's
largest vaccine manufacturer,

took on making
a billion doses themselves,

manufacturing at risk

to be able
to go full steam ahead

once we have
an efficacy result.

So in India
at the Serum Institute,

they've been working hard
on their manufacturing process.

All of that sounds encouraging.

We, the University of Oxford,
will not make a profit

from this vaccine
during the pandemic.

Provision of vaccines
to low-income countries

is really important,

so we wanted that
to be understood

because it
was very clear to us

that the world
would need this,

and we were worried that,
as with

some previous vaccines,
it might be the rich world

that got priority.

- Well done, everybody.

Enjoy the weekend,
those of you

who are not working
this weekend.

See you next week.
- Bye.

- Bye.

♪ ♪

- How much money is at stake?

I mean, this vaccine, is it,
like, this billion dollar race?

- This is not a time
to make money.

I think this is a time
to address

a huge public health crisis,

and we should make it
affordable and accessible

to as many people as possible,

especially in
the underprivileged countries

who need it the most.

- As case numbers spike
around the world,

the race to find a COVID-19
vaccine is gaining pace,

but there are fears,
as soon as one is found,

a limited supply will be met
by overwhelming global demand.

The WHO is calling
for countries

to sign up to its
development program COVAX.

- COVAX focuses on little
and lower-income countries

that cannot fully afford
COVID-19 vaccines.

- We must all pull together

because we
cannot afford to fail.

- The fastest route
to ending the pandemic

and accelerating
the global economic recovery

is to ensure some people
are vaccinated

in all countries,

not all people
in some countries.

[dramatic orchestral music]

The overarching goal
of the COVAX facility

is to ensure
that all countries

have access to vaccines
at the same time,

as soon as there is supply of
a safe and effective vaccine.

♪ ♪

And that priority
is given to health workers,

older people, and others
at the highest risk.

The COVAX facility
will save lives

and ensure
that the race for vaccines

is a collaboration,
not a contest.

♪ ♪

- So tell me about COVAX.

Where is it at right now?

- So the goal is to try
to have 20% coverage

across the world,
and the idea there

is that if you
could get to 20% coverage,

you would stabilize
the health care system

because you would be able
to, you know,

go to the high-risk people

who would be most likely
to go in.

You would deal with
all the health care workers.

That should be enough
to at least dampen

the pandemic
by the end of 2021.

So we're asking
the wealthy countries

to subsidize their doses
and making sure

that there
would be adequate doses

not just
for the high-income countries,

but for low-income countries.

- So one of the things
I'm curious, Seth,

is, you know,
when we met in Chiang Mai

in '95--I think we
had met before then--

but we were at this meeting
in Chiang Mai,

this AIDS vaccine meeting.
- I remember.

And I talked to you about--
I think it was

live attenuated vaccines
or something,

and I didn't know the answer,
and I tried to bullshit it,

and you caught me on it
and nailed me to the tree,

and afterwards,
I was very embarrassed.

It's 30 years ago, right?
And I still remember.

- Don't bullshit me, man.
- [laughs]

- So what are you doing
this time differently

based on what you've learned

about starting things
in the past?

We don't want
to wait five years

for a COVID-19 vaccine
to get to Zimbabwe.

- Well, I mean,
the real message

we're trying to get across
is that

if all you care about
is yourself,

so you're only interested
in self-interest,

vaccinating
your population alone

doesn't get you
to what you want.

If you want to go back
to commerce, tourism, trade,

movement, students coming in,
et cetera,

you will not be able to do that

if the epidemic's raging
in other countries.

What we have to get people
to understand

is that it's in
their national interest

to try to make sure
we have the vaccine

across the world.

As you know, there are people
in the HIV community

who feel particularly strong
about that.

♪ ♪

- Jon Cohen began writing
for science in 1990,

becoming one of the world's
leading AIDS reporters.

- AIDS has one of the highest
infection rates in the world.

I think the world
is waking up to that,

that this is not something
that happened and is done.

This virus is spreading
in real time.

♪ ♪

For many years, there were
no good drugs for HIV.

And then, in 1996,
excellent treatments

became available, and people
got out of their deathbeds

and went back to work
and lived their lives,

but not in sub-Saharan Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa,
those drugs didn't get there

until 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.

♪ ♪

People died
who didn't need to die,

and we let that happen
on our watch.

♪ ♪

The failures
to help people access drugs

was just profoundly wrong.

I wanted to show
this terrible side

of humans, really.

We really are capable
of turning a blind eye.

♪ ♪

The challenge with HIV

and the challenge
with COVID-19

is it's not simply
about science.

It's about politics.

♪ ♪

There's so much we learned
about how societies

and communities
and governments reacted

that's happening now.

The community of people

who've been working together
for decades

don't want to see
this disaster happen again.

♪ ♪

- How do you justify
the U.S. not joining

the WHO-led COVAX effort
to provide a vaccine globally

when more than 170
other countries have joined?

- There is no nation
that has been or will be

as deeply committed
to delivering vaccines

all around the world as
the United States of America,

not just in terms of dollars.

We will dwarf every nation

in terms of
the financial resources,

the goodness
of the American people

to give our money to make sure
that these vaccines

are delivered all around--
no nation will match us.

It won't even be close.

But it is also imperative
that when we do that,

we need to do so
in a way that's effective.

It's not political.
It is science-based.

And what we
have seen demonstrated

from
the World Health Organization,

that it is not that.

[siren blaring]

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- Please don't politicize
this virus.

It exploits the differences
you have at the national level.

- We are by far
the largest contributor

to WHO, World Health, and...

they misled us.

I don't know.

They must have known
more than they knew.

- When there are cracks
at national level

and global level,
that's when the virus succeeds.

♪ ♪

- It is now official.

The Trump administration

has taken
the unprecedented step

of formally pulling
the United States

out of
the World Health Organization.

♪ ♪

- For God's sake,

we have lost citizens
of the world.

Even 1% is precious.

♪ ♪

- COVID-19 is forcing
all of us to live in new ways,

but it is also exposing
longstanding rifts

in American society.

- According to a recent
"New York Times" analysis,

African Americans and Latinos

have been
disproportionally hit

by COVID-19.

- Black and brown communities
across the country

being hit harder,
in greater numbers,

and with fewer resources
to save them.

- My aunt couldn't breathe.

You're not breathing right.

Like, you know, you're not--
something's wrong.

And they called the ambulance,

and they took her
to the hospital.

- Okay.

- And we found out
she was COVID positive.

- Oh.
- It was surreal.

And it still is surreal to
have someone here one moment,

and then the next moment,
it's almost like

it was all a dream.

- He died at the hospital.

He went into
respiratory distress

earlier that evening,

out having a good time
with his kids.

That sudden.

We're just gonna try to keep
as many as people as possible

from catching it.

That's all we can do.

- It infected
my brother-in-law,

my mother-in-law,
my father-in-law,

my husband, his sister,
her husband,

and then my husband
brought it home unknowingly,

and it infected both me
and my two children.

♪ ♪

My father-in-law was so ill,

he wasn't even able
to make it out of the hospital

to attend his wife
and his son's funeral.

They literally were gasping
for their last breath.

♪ ♪

- This disease rips
through our communities.

- Yes.

- This pain
that the disease leaves

in its wake,
we just cannot ignore it.

- Mm-hmm.
- This has changed everything.

♪ ♪

- In March, it was
something in New York...

- Yes.
- But now...

- Right.
- It's with us.

- Right.

- It's--let me just start
with this.

Allegheny County
reported 1,470 new cases

over the last 48 hours.

So we're accounting
for nearly half

of what the state
is experiencing.

In other words,
we're breaking records

in all the ways
we don't want to.

- That's a wake-up call.
- So here's the thing.

Do we have a breakdown
in neighborhoods?

We have to look
at these communities

that have these increasing,
you know,

positive test rates,
and you have to have

community members,
even if they're not docs,

even if they're
not first responders,

we have to have
some community members

to take action where government
has failed to get a handle

on this community spread,
these outbreaks...

- Right.
- In these communities.

This is all part
of our reality now.

[indistinct chatter]

It is time to...
[speaking indistinctly]

[horns honking]

[indistinct chatter]

Happy people,
hungry people, angry people.

Who cares? Doesn't matter!

- Why not?
Why not?

- Yeah.

- I mean, nepotism!
Gruesome Newsom!

- Why?

Why say fuck a doctor
who's telling--

- He is a doctor.

- No, I'm not talking about--

He's wearing
a "Fuck Dr. Fauci" hat.

I'm asking him why.

- Why do you say it?
Why don't you--

- He's politically motivated.

- What about all the other...

- He's wearing a hat
that says that.

Don't tell me that.
Talk to him.

- Talk to him.

- These kids can read.
Shame on him.

- Whoo!
- Whoo!

Latinos for Trump!
You know how it goes.

We want four more years.
Four more.

- Fauci's a disaster.

I mean, this guy--every time
he goes on television,

there's always a bomb.

He called
every one of them wrong.

People are tired
of hearing Fauci.

They say, "You know,
he's a wonderful guy."

And he is a wonderful guy.
I like him.

He just happens
to have a very bad arm.

[laughter]

[cheers and applause]

He has a bad arm.

- Arrest Fauci!
Arrest Fauci!

Arrest Fauci!

- Well, this
is just disturbing to hear.

Dr. Anthony Fauci,
a key member

of the White House
Coronavirus Task Force,

he is now facing
death threats.

- This war on science,
Dr. Fauci.

You are the face of science
for so many right now,

not just here
in the United States,

but around the world.

- I wouldn't have imagined
in my wildest dreams

that people don't like
what I say,

namely in the word of science,

that they
actually threaten you.

I mean, that, to me,
is just strange.

- Oh, that's kind of you.
Thank you.

- Okay.

- And I'm gonna turn on
my recorder.

So this is an attempt
to make a time capsule,

to capture something
for history.

What's happening right now
so that we can look back on it

and understand, you know,
this really intense time?

- The problem is,
is that I'm walking a fine line

of being the only one

in that task force
who's not afraid

to tell the president
or the vice president

what they don't want to hear.

I mean, I'm not trying
to undermine the president,

but there is something
that's called reality.

- Yeah, sure.

- So that when you have,
you know,

40,000 infections a day

or goes up to 70,000 infections

and then plateaus at 44,000,

that's not good news.
- Yeah.

- The president goes around,
and he'll ask something,

and I'll say,
"No, absolutely not."

And everybody goes, "Eeeh!"

You know, how could you
possibly say that?

Some people,
no names being named,

get really awestruck

by the Oval Office
and awestruck by the West Wing

and awestruck by the cars
coming in and out

and the Secret Service,
you know, with their guns

and all that sort of stuff,

and then you say to yourself,
"Gee, this is really cool."

And you hesitate to really say

what you think of something.

I have not hesitated at all.

- I know it's late for you,
and it's been a very long day.

What do you think
about the possibility--

you know, China has three
inactivated vaccines.

In a world where people
work together...

- Right.

- Warp Speed could have said,
"Let's make a Chinese vaccine

one of the candidates
that we're going to evaluate."

- Yeah, you know,
to be honest with you, Jon,

you're gonna have
to ask Moncef that.

I mean, that's the--
you have a history

of asking me about things
that I don't have control over.

- [laughs]

- You've been asking me
these questions for decades.

- In the United States,
the Trump administration's

$10.8 billion operation,
Warp Speed,

accelerated vaccine R&D faster

than many researchers
thought possible.

An equally massive effort
unfolded in China.

But China is not waiting
for the results

before widely using
the vaccines at home.

Hundreds of thousands
of people

have received its vaccines.

- China has really tried
aggressively

to enter this space
in this pandemic

both to reverse the narrative
about itself

in this pandemic,
but also to put itself

as a innovator and a country

that can master
this technology.

- The country
where the pandemic begun

has done a thorough job
suppressing transmissions

by forcing entire cities
to quarantine.

In countries unable
or unwilling to impose

such hardline restrictions,

the pandemic is burning
out of control.

- The United States
leads the world in cases,

followed by India and Brazil,

while the UK and Europe

also report new waves
of mortalities.

With winter weather
pushing people

to socialize indoors,
the virus could spread

even more rapidly.

- Johnson & Johnson's
vaccine trial

just reached phase three
with the largest group

of participants
so far of any trial

at 60,000 participants.

- The study will be run
mainly in the U.S.

but also in South America
in six countries,

as well as South Africa.

- It's a study
of importance level

that cannot even be measured.

- There is an electricity
in the air right now

with our volunteers
who are just not doing this

for themselves,
but for the bigger picture.

- J&J has committed
to mass producing

and delivering this vaccine
on a nonprofit basis.

You absolutely are welcome
to emphasize that

with the participants.

- That's certainly something
our participants

always want to talk about
because they're not doing this

for themselves.
- That is public knowledge.

- They're doing it for
the global public health.

I talk to them sometimes,
and I say, you know,

"You are gonna help us
figure out

"what dose we might use
in the vaccine

that might end up going
to a billion people."

Like, just think about that.

Like, you as an individual,
we may never have

this much impact
in our lives again.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- We don't have any data yet
from them, of course.

The trials are ongoing,

but we think
a single shot vaccine

is a very promising option.

Just imagine
how much easier it would be

to go to your local doctor
or your local pharmacy,

get a one shot,
and you're done.

That would be
substantially more feasible

for global pandemic control.

We are anxiously awaiting
the results.

[dramatic orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- More than 2 million people
are infected

with the virus in Brazil.

A vaccine is crucial
to help save lives.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- [speaking Portuguese]

- [speaking Portuguese]

[somber vocalizing]

♪ ♪

[both speaking Portuguese]

- [whistles]

- [speaking Portuguese]

- Morning, little bud.
How you doing?

- Want to say good morning?

- [softly]
Good morning.

- [gasps]
Good morning.

- Good morning.

- How you doing, little bud?
How'd you sleep?

Did you sleep good?

Do you want to say,
"Good morning, baby sister"?

Do you want to give her a kiss?

- Yeah.
- That's right, bud.

In the name of the Father,
and the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, amen,
glory to Thee, our God.

Glory to Thee,
O Heavenly King,

O Comforter, Spirit of Truth,

Who art in all places
and fillest all things.

As we arise from sleep,
we fall down

before Thee, O Good One,
and we cry unto Thee

with the hymn of the angels,
O Mighty One.

Holy, holy, holy art Thou,
O God.

Through the Theotokos,
have mercy on us.

Glory to the Father,
and to the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Lord have mercy.
Have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

So great seeing you.
How are you?

How are you?
- Fine.

- Good.

All right.

- Let's have a seat, and we're
gonna get started, guys.

- All right,
we're gonna get started.

And I want to begin by saying
welcome to the movement.

We are facing
a great mountain right now

that is killing
our brothers and sisters

by the thousands.

You ever hear people say,
"Well, I can't wait

to get back to normal"?

And I think, "Well, what normal
we want to go back to?"

We want to go back
to the normal

of failing schools?

We want to get back
to the normal of, you know,

not enough housing
for homeless folks?

We're gonna go back
to the normal of violence

on our streets?

And, you know,
institutional racism,

is this the normal
we want to get back to?

COVID disrupted everything.

There's a major
opportunity there.

Father, if you would please,
the next slide.

The work that you all are doing
is to go out

into our communities
and try to save lives,

and nothing short of it.

♪ ♪

The three primary objectives
that we have,

the first is to combat
the spread of COVID-19.

♪ ♪

- And this is some information

that you could share
or you could use for yourself

as people of color.

Well, you know, sometimes
we get left behind.

- That's right.
- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Second, discover and respond

to basic needs
in the community.

♪ ♪

- And have you had
a coronavirus test?

They have a testing site

at the corner
of Charles Street.

- Thirdly, we want to support
the mental health

of the community.

- Hi.
- Hi.

How you all doing?
- How are you?

- Stay safe.

♪ ♪

- It's like we're
starting to know people

who, you know, who have
been infected with COVID.

- Yeah.
- Right.

- Yes, has COVID.
- Is that really right?

- Yes.

♪ ♪

- And if we do this right,
it won't only be

about the well-being
of our generation,

but it will be about
the well-being

of our children,
of our children's children,

and our children's
children children.

♪ ♪

- Mr. President, the FDA
is reportedly considering

stricter guidelines
for the emergency authorization

of a COVID vaccine.

Are you okay with that?

- Well, I tell you what,
we're looking at that,

and that has to be approved
by the White House.

We may or may not approve it.

That sounds
like a political move

because when you have Pfizer,
Johnson & Johnson, Moderna,

these great companies
coming up with these--

the vaccines,
and they've done testing

and everything else,

"I'm saying, "Why would they
have to be, you know,

adding great length
to the process?"

I don't see any reason why
it should be delayed further.

- The president's patience
seems to be wearing thin.

He was tweeting this morning,
complaining about the FDA

and telling them to
"get the damn vaccines out."

- Ladies and gentlemen,
a warm welcome

to all the attendees
in today's symposium

on protecting the integrity

of the COVID vaccine
development effort.

- So I'll turn to Dr. Marks.

I hope you're able to comment
on what you would say

to people
who are concerned about

FDA's ability
to maintain integrity

in this process.

- Our process must end up
ultimately increasing trust

in vaccines and--
because without

that vaccine confidence,
we're not gonna get

to where we need to.

Without getting to the point
of having a large fraction

of the population vaccinated

with a reasonably
effective vaccine,

we're gonna continue
to be in places

like my basement right now
where we'll be working

from home for long periods
of time.

So we need to get back
to normal lives.

♪ ♪

- Last night,
the president again

promising
a COVID vaccine soon.

- We're gonna have a vaccine
very soon,

maybe even before
a very special date.

You know what date
I'm talking about.

- We will make sure
that they meet

the quality
manufacturing standards

that we've set and the safety
and efficacy standards.

- The FDA is proposing
stricter guidelines

for approval
of a COVID vaccine.

Do you support
that new FDA guidance?

- Oh, I definitely
support the FDA.

- The guidelines call for
checking on adverse reactions

for at least two months

after phase three trials
are completed.

- For a vaccine,
most adverse events

occurred by
two to three months,

and obviously we're not gonna
allow anything to proceed

that we have any
significant concerns

for safety on.

- The White House
has blocked new guidelines

from the FDA that could have
made COVID-19 vaccines safer.

- He's trying to now bully
the FDA into approving

a vaccine or vaccines

before they've been
adequately tested.

That is a major mistake.

- We do need to make sure
that people trust in this

and feel confident that what
comes through our process

is something--because
we at FDA are comfortable

giving that vaccine
to our families,

they will feel comfortable
giving it

to their families,
and I'll stop there.

♪ ♪

Cans get to go back
to their home...

For another day.

And we're done, thankfully.
[chuckles]

- Scientist who does
a lot of work

with getting information...

- I have my wife doing--

she's teaching
an art class upstairs,

so if you hear a little--
her getting a little loud,

she occasionally may--
hopefully you won't hear a lot.

- So what happened?

- I don't under--I mean,
I wake up in the morning

every day now, and I'm,
like, amazed at what happens.

Basically,
sometime midmorning today,

the White House about-faced.

They said, "You should get it
out as quickly as possible."

So we did.
The guidance is out.

- So in effect, this means
it can't possibly be

before the election, right?

- It's very hard to imagine
that we could have

a submission,
get through the process,

and have a vaccine
before the election.

- Well, are you glad
that you're not being called

to go to the White House
routinely now?

[laughter]

- [mouthing words]

So I have been told by my wife

that if I set foot
in the White House,

I'll be sleeping on the street,
so I won't be going

to the White House...
[laughs]

For the near future, okay?

And I don't blame her, right?

We're not going
to the local hot zone here.

- Across the nation,
in red states and blue states

and swing states,
voters are delivering

their verdict
on a norm-shattering president

and two
starkly different visions

of America's future.

- Oh, this is
the big countdown moment, Jen.

Here we go.
[phone rings]

- Pennsylvania!
Oh.

I know it's only 4%--
hey!

14%.
- So far it looks okay.

You know,
they never show California.

- Well, no, because the polls
are still open.

They close at 8:00.
- Yeah, call me when he loses.

He has to lose.
He can't win.

- Yeah.
- When--

- Well, it said it won't
be over until real late.

- You'll be up for a while.
- I know.

I'll call you
before I go to bed.
- Yeah.
- I promise.

- Okay, bye.

- You think they'll know
by then?

- No, but I'll just check in
before we go to bed.

I promise.
- Okay.

I'm gonna hang up on you now.
- Well, I'm gonna--huh?

- I'ma hang up on you.
- I know.

You always do.
- Yeah.

- Thank you very much.
- All right, bye.

- Buckle up
for a suspenseful night.

Voters in all 50 states
are having their say

in the heated fight
for 270 electoral votes,

the number needed
to win the White House.

[birds chirping]

- Right here.
- Where do you want me?

- You--one over.
- Twice again.

- Let's get the cameras
going here.

- Hold on, quiet.

- So this is the moment
we've been waiting for

since Albert put us
on a journey in March.

- I'm getting superstitious.
Let's not talk...

- Okay.
- About when or what.

- Be strong.
- Be strong, huh?

[phone chirps]

- Yeah, hello, everybody.
- Hi, Bill.

Hi, Katherine.
- There's Bill.

[cheers and applause]

- Oh, wow.

- Whoo-hoo!
- [screams]

[bottle pops]

[cheers and applause]

- To life!

all: To life!

- To breakthroughs.
- Actually.

- Breakthroughs.

- This celebration
is really to life.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- It's 5:59, and I just woke up

to Slack messages, emails,

that Pfizer has reported
its first analysis,

and they found 95% efficacy,

which is startlingly high.

- Okay, it's an amazing moment
for science.

What can we say, you know?

Shit, you come up
with a vaccine in, you know,

11 months after the description
of the virus.

I mean, you know, never
in the history of anything

has that been done.

Just a revelation of science
that we're able to do this.

♪ ♪

- Dr. Fauci.

- This is insane.

- What a whirlwind, huh?
- Wow.

[laughs]

- I'm happy and reassured...

that we are seeing a return
to being guided by science.

We're all breathing easier,
I think.

- Are you referring
to the vaccine

or the election or both?
[laughs]

[dramatic orchestral music]

- We already started
the manufacturing

sometime back, and as I said,
we believe we should be able

to have
up to 50 million this year.

There's no time
to be lost here.

♪ ♪

- Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer
will apply

for FDA emergency use approval
within days.

- The type of vaccine
that it is, an mRNA vaccine,

that is not the only company
that has it.

There's another company,
Moderna,

which has a vaccine

very similar,
if not identical to this.

Their results
will be coming out soon,

so it's likely
that we're gonna have

more than one vaccine
that's effective.

♪ ♪

- Mm, I--like, I--

♪ ♪

I've already, like, shed,
like, a million tears.

Like, this is--oh.

- We're getting Moderna's
phase three interim results.

94.5% efficacy
for their COVID-19 vaccine.

The bar was set very high
by Pfizer last week at 90%.

This met it.

♪ ♪

- You know, that moment was--

I was--I--it was the first time

that I was able to have
any real happy tears

in this entire thing.

Science really spoke
in that moment.

♪ ♪

It was--
that moment was beyond...

Beyond the race, for me.

- We now have two safe
and highly effective vaccines

that could be authorized

by the Food and Drug
Administration

and ready to distribute
within weeks.

♪ ♪

- We have some breaking news
for you.

The first coronavirus vaccine
has been approved

for use in the UK.

- This has been manufactured

by the U.S.
pharmaceutical company Pfizer

and its partner BioNTech.

- 90-year-old Margaret Keenan
making history

as the first person in England
and indeed the world

to receive
the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

outside a trial.

- The president's been venting
because he's seeing

other countries
roll out their vaccines

and their citizens
getting shots in their arms,

and so he's been
incredibly frustrated

that the emergency use
has not been granted here

for Pfizer's vaccine,
despite how it's been

in the works for several days.

- The president has been
putting extreme pressure

on his closest advisors to
get the vaccine out the door.

- A key FDA committee

going to go over
the submission

from Pfizer and BioNTech.

- A group of outside,
independent medical experts

who will discuss
all of this data,

and then they will vote
at the end of the day.

- Could we bring up
the voting question?

Based on the totality of
scientific evidence available,

do the benefits

of the Pfizer-BioNTech
COVID-19 vaccine

outweigh its risks

for use in individuals

16 years of age and older?

Okay?

- Doctor,
16 and 17-year-old children

do not have high rates
of disease,

so it becomes
a risk benefit balance

that worries me.

- Arnold, at some point,
as another pediatrician,

I'd like to chime in

as a last pediatrician
to chime in.

- Okay.
- Here's what I would say.

I think I support
the statement,

actually, as written.

I think it's never an issue
of when do you know everything.

The question is,
when do you know enough?

We certainly know
that this vaccine

is highly effective
for three months

after dose one.

We have clear evidence
of a benefit,

and all we have
on the other side

is theoretical risk,
so I, frankly,

would support this as written,
and I agree with Dr. Rubin.

- Okay, I think
we are going to vote.

- You'll have two minutes
to cast your vote

after the question is read,

and all votes
will be considered final.

Go ahead
and please cast your vote.

Please close the vote
and broadcast the result.

So we do have
a favorable vote,

and that concludes
this portion of the meeting,

so I will now hand the meeting
back over to Dr. Monto.

Thank you, everybody.

- And therefore,

our work for the day is done.

Goodnight, and see you soon.

- I have to give you a hug.
[chuckles]

I got a little teary.
- Did you really?

- I did. Just did.

- Really?
- It felt really emotion--

it's a big--it's hard
to get a feel for that

'cause you're sitting
in this chair

and at your computer,

but that was, like,
a big, big deal.

- Yeah.
- Wasn't it?

- That's teary, cool.
- I guess.

- All right.
- All right.

[line ringing]

- General Perna.
- Hi, General Perna.

This is Peter Marks.
How are you doing?

- Peter, how are you?

- Very well.
- I just saw.

- Hey, I know we
originally expected

to be doing this
probably tomorrow morning,

but instead it's this evening.

So congratulations.

It is so exciting
to have the first--

the first authorized vaccine.

It's really exciting.

- Sorry you had to go through
all that political crap.

- I'm glad it's over with,

and I'm glad
we're gonna have this out.

It'll give you
a little more time.

Everything should hopefully
get organized.

- It will,
and I'm telling you,

vaccines
will be moving tomorrow.

[dramatic orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- Within the next 24 hours,

they will begin moving vaccine

from the Pfizer
manufacturing facility

to the UPS and FedEx hubs.

And then
it will go out nationwide.

We have realized the greatest
public-private partnership

in modern times.

Doctors, scientists,
researchers, factory workers,

logisticians,
and hundreds more

have all come together
for a singular purpose:

save lives
and end the pandemic.

♪ ♪

[beeping]
- I'm bringing a load over.

- Overnight,
a potential turning point

in the COVID crisis.

The first doses are now
being prepared to roll out

from this Pfizer plant
in Michigan.

- From the production line
to the arm.

- Getting this vaccine out
to at least 70%

of the 330 million people
in this country

is gonna be
one of the biggest tasks

we've ever undertaken.

♪ ♪

- Lifesaving vaccines
have been developed.

Sharing vaccines now
is essential

for ending the acute phase
of the pandemic.

We're asking all countries
to be part of a global effort

to suppress
the virus everywhere.

♪ ♪

What happens next is up to us.

♪ ♪

[siren chirping]

♪ ♪

[applause]

♪ ♪

[siren beeping]

- UPS and FedEx
trucks and planes

will soon start rushing
this vaccine

across the country,
some shipments

escorted by U.S. Marshals.

We expect
the first vaccinations

as early as Monday.

♪ ♪

- I...

think it's perfectly normal

not to be excited
about taking a vaccine.

Father and I,
we're old soldiers.

You know when they had--
we had vaccine day in the army?

Nobody woke up going,
"It's vaccine day!

"I'm so excited!

I can't wait
to go get me shot up."

But, you know, we do it

because we know
it's good for us.

We know that we cannot wait
until vaccines

get into the community to
begin talking about vaccines.

Did you see this?

Did you hear that
an African-American woman

developed the Moderna vaccine?

It's very encouraging,
and I think, in a way,

very fitting.

Would you get
the COVID vaccine?

You want it?

- No.
- No?

- Oh, you wouldn't take it?
- Mm-mm.

- The sooner
that we talk about vaccine,

the more time people have
to warm up to the idea,

to work
through their own issues

until they have
the comfort they need

to really get this.
- I don't know what it is.

I don't have corona,
so I don't know,

so...
- Uh-huh.

- I try to stay away
from people who have it

so I don't have to worry
about a vaccine.

- Okay.
[laughs]

- When people say--
you know, I see this.

I'm watching the TV,
and they say, "Oh, you know,

Black folks don't trust
because of Tuskegee."

- Right, right.
- Yes, Tuskegee was horrible.

It's also
not only about Tuskegee.

That's the reality.

[somber music]

When the crisis is all over,

you know, and it will end
one day,

we've got to come together
and point this out.

♪ ♪

We just want to remind you

that when we needed
testing sites,

there wasn't
any testing sites.

We just want to remind you
that there was a time

where you told some folks
to get on a bus

for three hours
if they had COVID symptoms

to come to a testing site.

We just want
to remind you all that,

and we want to know

how you're gonna get right
with what you did.

♪ ♪

- Would you consider
taking the vaccine?

- Oh, no,
I don't want to take it.

I don't know.
I wouldn't ever--

I just--I'm not gonna take it.
[laughs]

- Okay.

- Would you read
some information about it?

- Oh, yes, I will.

- Well, I think--
'cause that'd be a great start.

- Okay.
- See?

We have to have
that conversation

because all of that
influences attitudes

about the vaccine.

'Cause that wasn't
somebody else

that did all that.

That was the very same people
that are telling us now

we need to get vaccinated.

[indistinct chatter]

[line ringing]

[phone beeps]

- Hi, Ron, just checking to see

if there was
any adds overnight.

We had scheduled
some clinics today.

Trying to make
our contingency plans

if we don't
receive vaccine today.

- Delivering the COVID vaccine

is being called the biggest
logistical challenge

in a generation.

- State and local
health officials

were left to piece together
a massively complicated

rollout operation
without federal guidance

or additional resources.

- Coast to coast,
many areas dealing

with a shortage
of vaccine supply.

- The slow rollout
of the vaccine comes

as the U.S. approaches
400,000 deaths.

- Phone lines ring busy.
Websites are crashing.

In Florida, first come,
first serve for seniors

led to long lines
and frustration.

- We've seen senior citizens

waiting overnight
for the vaccine.

- Why did that happen?

- That's my question
to you, Governor.

You're the governor
of this state.

I'm not the governor
of this state.

- We were promised
20 million doses

by the end of 2020.

The federal government
came nowhere close

to meeting that mark.

[tense music]

- We were expecting to receive
a vaccine shipment today.

I just have clinics scheduled.

That's why I'm trying
to figure out

how to notify people.

♪ ♪

- It is essential that,
in the waning days

of this current administration

and the incoming
administration,

that they step up
those efforts

and deliver on the promises,

because lives
are hanging in the balance.

♪ ♪

- Well, we are focused,
frankly, on making sure

that the vaccines
are made available

as quickly as possible
and distributed

as efficiently as possible.

- How much are you concerned
about the lack of communication

with the Biden transition team?

- Of course, we would hope
that transition happen quietly

and smoothly, and we're here
to serve the American people--

- Have you had any contact

with members
of the Biden transition?

- No, no contact.

- AstraZeneca announcing
late stage data shows

its vaccine was, on average,
70% effective

at preventing the virus,
but that's not the whole story.

- The team carried out trials

using different amounts
of the vaccine.

For those who received
two full doses

four weeks apart,
it was found to have

62% efficacy,
but counterintuitively,

for those who received
an initial half dose

followed by a full dose
a month later,

it was found
to be 90% effective.

- Well, AstraZeneca
and Oxford University

acknowledged
a manufacturing error.

- The half dose
was never supposed to happen

in the first place.

It was actually an error,
one that turned out

to be a very fortunate one.

- There was no mistake.

We knew exactly
what we were doing.

There was no error
by the investigating team.

- Well, the paper itself,
Adrian,

says there
was a miscalculation,

so I think you're--

- No, it absolutely does not
say there was a miscalculation.

There was no miscalculation.
There was no error.

- Adrian, I have to hold you
accountable for a second.

You guys have been difficult.
You haven't been transparent.

The company
doesn't let you speak.

The company doesn't speak.

The Italian company
sends me cryptic messages.

Nobody wants to, like,
honestly say,

"Here's what happened."

- I would argue
that it is there in the paper,

and we wrote it down, and--
- It's a different study.

- No, it's not.
No it's not.

- And to blend them...
- No, no.

- It's not kosher.
- No, no, no.

We don't care
whether it's kosher or not.

We don't follow that.

Look, it's simply
what we thought was sensible

and reasonable,
and we proposed to regulators,

and they said,
"Yeah, that sounds fine."

- All right, I think you were--
I'm gonna tell you my opinion.

I think you were naive
to not anticipate criticism

for doing that,
because it's far afield

from what
the standards are elsewhere.

- We make no apology for doing
multiple different groups

for safety, immunogenicity,
and efficacy

in a pandemic, and if there's
a different pandemic next year,

we will do the same thing.
- Okay.

We don't need
to argue about it.

I'm just telling you
why that criticism exists.

- Yeah, I know, okay,
and I'm telling you

we're not contrite, and we
would do the same again.

- [laughing]
- Seriously.

- The AstraZeneca vaccine
is a good vaccine.

WHO is now finishing
the prequalification

for that product.

In fact, we plan to roll out
about 350 million doses

of that vaccine
in the first half of the year.

- The center
where I'm getting jabbed

is currently using
the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

for those receiving
their first dose,

and that is the one
I'll be having.

It's so important
that we all get our jabs

when asked to do so.

- Relived to be getting
your jab, Prime Minister?

- Very pleased, very pleased.
How are you?

See you in a few now.

[spirited orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- You lock it?
There.

- Okay, it's locked.
- All right.

♪ ♪

Okay.

♪ ♪

- I can't see.
- It gets foggy.

- I took my glasses off
because it's too foggy.

- Yeah--oh, where'd I
put my glasses?

Oh, I got 'em in my pocket.

I'm like you.
I'm like an old person.

- Yeah.
- I can't find anything.

- [laughs]

♪ ♪

- One, two, three.

♪ ♪

- You did it?
I didn't even feel it.

- There you go.

♪ ♪

- We're now on track
to have enough vaccine supply

for all Americans
by the end of July.

- I don't trust the vaccine.

- I'm not getting the vaccine

because I'm honestly
not scared of the virus.

- A new poll finds nearly half
of Trump voters

do not plan
to get the vaccine.

- What if Trump came out
and said,

"Please, please
take this vaccine."

- No, I don't believe
he'll take it.

- Vaccine hesitancy
is on the rise

in European
and Asian countries.

- Vaccines are safe.

Please, for yourself,
your family, your community,

this country, take the vaccine

when it's your turn
and available.

That's how to beat
this pandemic.

- Dr. Slaoui,

thank you so much
for agreeing to do this.

You started on May 15th
technically.

Did you ever meet one-on-one
with Donald Trump

and have a conversation
with him?

- We met many times,
but never one-on-one.

- Can you remember
anything that was said

at any of those
that sticks in your mind?

- I can.
- [laughs]

Tell me.
- [laughs]

We were in the Oval Office.
Happened twice.

Twice.

And he would,
at some moment, do this.

"It's oval here.
This is the Oval Office.

I'm the president."

- He would just say that
out of the blue?

- Out of the blue, I swear,
and, like, honestly,

the first time,
I was like, "Oh, my God."

- Did he ever confront you
and say,

"You're a Democrat.
You didn't vote for me.

Are you--are you working
behind my back?"

He never got in your face?
- Absolutely not.

And frankly, Jon, my preference

is, even after the fact,
not to politicize this.

I worked so hard
to stay out of any politics.

- You have a sense
that you accomplished

what you set out to do.

- Honestly, yesterday,
I was surprised.

We got an email saying,
"As of tomorrow,

you cannot use the word
Operation Warp Speed anymore."

I told myself...

"Why? What's the added value?"

Because, in a way,
everybody that's worked

under Operation Warp Speed,
it feels like,

"What did we do wrong?"
- Yeah.

- Why?

And I'm not married
to that name.

Frankly, I don't care.

Honestly, I feel...

I feel so fortunate and happy

to have served and helped.

That's all that counts.

I say two vaccines approved--
by all standards,

this is absolutely exceptional.

Absolutely exceptional.

And I think
it was done uniquely

on the basis of science,
of data,

of commitment to hard work
and transparency.

This all has been achieved
between May and now.

We're not done.

There is still
a lot to be done.

- Do you think that Trump's
failure to concede

and refusal to concede
made it more difficult

to transition the information
to the next team?

- For sure.

Very, at least, unfortunate.
Polite word.

- Yeah.

- You know, I look forward--
you know,

I'm super happy looking back.

I will redo it in an eye--
you know, in a blink.

Please next pandemic virus,
please do not come

during an election year.

- It's the number one story
on CNN right now.

Breaking news.

It's in an article in
"The Boston Globe" now, Chloe.

It really is
the number one news story

in every single
news organization

in the world now.

"J&J trial shows 66% efficacy
in global trial,

"85% efficacy
against severe disease,

and 100% efficacy against
hospitalization and death."

So it's an incredible day.
It's an amazing day today.

Hello, good morning, everyone.

[indistinct greetings]

- Morning, Dan.

- It's really been a privilege
working with all of you

over the last year.

Many of you worked
on this project

in different forms,
and it's not often

that I have the privilege
of telling you guys

in lab meeting
that our vaccine worked,

and it's really amazing.

It's a good day.

[serene music]

It's a good day for the world.

♪ ♪

- The U.S. could approve

a third
coronavirus vaccine soon.

- Johnson & Johnson
asking the FDA to authorize

its one-dose shot
for emergency use.

- This is an incredibly stable
vaccine to use,

especially in
developing countries

where freezers, frankly,
are just not practical.

- Intends to distribute
the vaccine in the U.S.

immediately following
authorization

and expects a supply
of 100 million doses

to the U.S.
in the first half of 2021.

♪ ♪

- All right,
so today and tomorrow

are gonna be two
extremely busy days.

The health department,
as I'm told,

had 2,000 extra doses
of vaccine,

and they cannot get
any new vaccine

until they get rid
of these 2,000,

so as many of you know,

we received
this emergency phone call

saying that there is gonna be
this pop-up vaccination clinic,

at which point we can get
1,000 people vaccinated

in our community,
another thousand in Homewood.

They said we need a gym.

We'd get us a big gym
to do this in.

Of course, we don't have that
in our community.

What we do have
is an abandoned grocery store

that's shutting down on us.

We have right now over 600--
right, Angela?

Over 600 names of people
who had signed up.

We have to try
and get to 1,000 names today

because the vaccination
will happen tomorrow.

Sound good?
- Yeah.

- All right.
- Let's go to work.

[line ringing]

- Your call has been forwarded

to an automated
voice message--

- Hello.
- Hi, good morning.

Is this Mrs. Allen?

- All right, and I'm
just calling to make sure

that you--they're
gonna give you a slot

for you to come down
to Shop 'n Save tomorrow.

- Are you calling to give me
a date to get my shot?

- Yes, I am.

- Well, I'm just so relieved

because it seemed like
it was going to be months.

- Are you still interested in
receiving the vaccine, ma'am?

- My husband and I both.

- Let me go ahead
and put you in then.

- Angela, how many do we have
at this particular moment?

- 804.
- 804.

- Yes.
- That's just wonderful.

Thank you so much.
- Yeah, you're welcome.

- Microchips?
- That's what he said.

- There's no microchips
in there.

What is it, Lay's, Doritos?
What is it?

[laughter]

You know,
that's that QAnon stuff.

We're not into that.
- No.

- We just watched "The Net."

- Can I get you an answer
from the Bible on this?

- Mm-hmm.
- This is what it says.

"Honor the physician

"with the honor due him

"and also according
to your need of him,

for the Lord created him."

- Hi, we wanted to know
if you're interested

in getting a COVID vaccine.

- Huh?
- For the 65 and over.

- We can sign you up
right here.

- I know, but no thank you.
Not at this time.

- You're not interested?
- No.

- "The Lord created medicines
from the earth,

and a sensible man
will not loathe them."

- That's right.

- "The druggist
making a compound of them.

God's works
are never finished."

How about this?

What if we signed you up,

and then someone
could call you and see

if a time worked for you?

Does that sound good?

- Sounds all right to me.
- All right.

"My son, do not be negligent
when you are sick,

"but pray to the Lord,
and he will heal you.

Keep in touch
with your physician..."

"For the Lord created him."

- All the shots
are accounted for.

They are ecstatic
that we found over 1,000 people

in less than 24 hours,

so they're setting up
right now.

There are two police
that are here on station.

They'll be both in and out
just to make sure

everything is copacetic,
I assume.

So you're ready
to rock and roll.

- Sir, how you doing?
It's so good to see you.

- Hey.
- Yeah, Ms. Diane, thank you.

Hey, Riv, how you doing?
It's so good to see you.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- You're clinical review ten.

We don't have that quite yet,

so you're hanging out
with David

until we tell you
what else you're doing.

- I can do that.
- All right.

- If they don't have
an appointment,

find a yellow vest.
- Okay.

- 'Cause we gotta defuse
the situation.

- The older adults
will probably laugh at you

when you ask them
if they're gonna be pregnant.

You have to ask everybody.
Don't make assumptions.

♪ ♪

- You got
an appointment, right?

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Good morning, everyone.

Happy vaccine day to you,
one and all.

[uplifting music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- Life is slowly
returning to normal

as more people
around the world

are receiving
their COVID-19 vaccine.

- Restrictions are now lifted

for social
and recreational areas,

and businesses will no longer
have to follow

social distancing rules
or limit how many people

they can allow inside.

- On July 4,

we're gonna celebrate
our independence from the virus

as we celebrate
our independence of our nation.

- Americans are embracing
pre-pandemic life

even though the Delta variant

poses a great threat
to the unvaccinated.

- 2%?
I mean, that's not like--

- Have you seen
the variant report from the UK?

Yeah, so all of that--
yeah, all of that in the UK.

- And then--hang on--
South Africa down there.

- What we are seeing now is
the emergence of new variants.

Some are more transmissible
and maybe even have

slightly increased mortality.

That's obviously
very, very concerning.

Others might be more to do
with their ability

to evade immunity,
which we have seen

with some of the vaccines now,
and that's, of course,

very worrisome.

Why are we seeing them now
and not--

I mean, we're looking more now,
and we have had more cases,

but there's also just more time
that has lapsed.

- Well, and there is,
like, more immune pressure

right, in the public?
- Well, that's the question.

This is clearly a bigger threat

than what was before it.

This is one of
the biggest warning signs

of the entire pandemic.

[soft dramatic music]

The virus is changing
all the time, right?

I mean, that's what viruses do.

♪ ♪

Viruses mutate...

♪ ♪

And sometimes they end up
being more transmissible.

Those are the ones that are
gonna end up dominating.

You have a lot
of vaccinations,

but you have clusters
in which the virus

will continue to circulate

because the vaccination
is low.

That means that the virus
gets a chance all the time

to sort of break through
in the population

where they are vaccinated

because the virus
keeps circulating.

If we just let the virus
run out in a community,

it is gonna evade
more vaccines in the future.

That is exactly what we are
seeing in India right now

with the Delta variant.

It's capable of evading
some level of immunity...

♪ ♪

And it's spreading
across the world

pretty quickly.

- The inequitable distribution
of vaccines

has allowed the virus
to continue spreading,

increasing the chances
of a variant emerging

that renders vaccines
less effective.

- We are going to be
in a situation

in which new variants
will emerge

in areas of the world
where vaccine coverage

is much lower
'cause they don't have access

to the vaccine.

In South Africa, that's what
we are seeing right now.

We need to get very serious
about saying,

"How do we get the vaccines
to Africa?"

A concerted effort to
really get worldwide control

of the pandemic
is what our goal should be,

and I'm not sure
that it is right now.

♪ ♪

- South Africa is the world's
fifth worst effected country.

- South African hospitals
are overwhelmed,

mortuaries overcrowded,

and burial plots
in short supply.

- So we are very worried.

This is a second wave,
and the wave is being fueled

by this new variant.

The new variant seems
to be much more infectious,

and obviously,
the more the virus evolves,

the more we have to evaluate
whether that is impacting

on vaccine efficacy.

You know,
Janette died from COVID,

and our HR person also.
- Really?

- Yeah.
- Really?

- Yeah, I think this morning.

She's been in ICU
for three weeks.

- Really?
- Yeah, that's horrible.

- It is.
- I know.

We're in big trouble.

Our health care workers
are dying.

We can't let them go
back into a third wave

without a vaccine.

Our president worked with
the Serum Institute of India

to secure doses
of AstraZeneca,

and thank God,
that vaccine started

to make its way
into South Africa.

♪ ♪

- The arrival
of these vaccines

contains the promise
that we can turn the tide

on this disease that has
caused so much devastation

and hardship
in our country

and across the world.

♪ ♪

- The weekend the vaccine
is arriving,

Michael is analyzing his data,

and he's getting
more and more catatonic.

He kept on saying to me,
"Glenda, I'm worried

"about the vaccine efficacy
for AstraZeneca

against our
South African variant."

It's not gonna work.

♪ ♪

The only plan B I knew about
was the vaccine from J&J.

We knew it worked
against our variant.

♪ ♪

We have a longstanding
relationship with J&J.

We're working
on an HIV vaccine together.

♪ ♪

So we're working
in a kind of gray zone here.

I've emailed,
and I've asked them

if they've got some
spare vaccine lying around.

We have to vaccinate
health care workers

in South Africa.

Can you help us?

And they agreed.

♪ ♪

Had a whole lot
of research vials

all over the world, so they
started to do an inventory,

and they found
half a million doses.

♪ ♪

[laughter]

Can't believe it.
We've pulled it off.

♪ ♪

Vaccination signs.
Oh, that's cool.

- Yeah, I think that's there.

- The country is euphoric.

We can vaccinate almost half
of the health care workers.

♪ ♪

Ian's just phoned me,

and he says
that there's a riot.

They've had to pull in
the police at Berea,

and we worry
that we're gonna run out

of vaccines there.

♪ ♪

There's a lot of them.
It's, like, crowded.

Like, now they're
starting to queue.

Police everywhere.

That's insane.

Well, you know, we only have
a limited amount

of doses left.

[indistinct chatter]

- In South Africa,
we're in this pandemic

for three years or more.
- Yeah.

- We are fucked.
We are fucked.

- Why?

Why are you--
why is it so bleak?

- We underestimated the virus.

COVID-19 is actually now
the leading cause of death

in South Africa
over HIV and TB.

- Really? Wow, wow.

That's sobering.

- It is a logistical nightmare
to get 67%

of the population vaccinated.

- Even if you have supply,
even if you have vaccine.

- I don't think there's
gonna be an issue of demand.

It's always gonna be
an issue of supply.

♪ ♪

- I am fully immunized.
- Great, and so am I.

- What are we doing?
Is it hoarding?

Is it fair
to call it hoarding?

- It's disgraceful
that health care workers

globally do not have access
to safe and effective vaccines,

and that really represents
a collective failure.

You know, another example
of complacency

that occurred between
the last crisis and this one.

It's like a no-win situation
because if you state

that you're gonna donate
a portion of the U.S. supply,

you're gonna make
a lot of people unhappy,

and a lot of people
will expect more as well

and say, "That's not enough."

- Let's to switch
to the COVAX facility.

- The goal is 2 billion doses,
right, by the end of the year.

There has been the generosity
on the part of many countries

to providing money,
but nowhere near enough.

A lot of countries
that had the money

jumped in the queue
and placed orders for vaccines

with all of these companies.

That undercuts COVAX
because the idea is

global, equitable allocation,
and so that's been

a real frustration
that they haven't been able

to get access to vaccines yet
when other countries have.

- Why not give the vaccines
to COVAX now?

- Those decisions
are being assessed

and being assessed every day.

- Are you lobbying for that?
Do you believe in that?

- I believe in making sure
that we have as much vaccine

to get Americans vaccinated
and get the world vaccinated.

- But there's a push right now,
David.

There are doctors
and nurses dying,

and we have covered our doctors
and nurses in this country.

If they want a vaccine,
they can have a vaccine.

- Well, I want to get
to the point

where we're making vaccine
in this country for the world.

That is a goal.

- Because right now it's India

that is making vaccine
for the world.

- Right, and what did India
do today?

- They blocked exports.
- Right.

- You must be pulling
your hair out about India.

Are you gonna have trouble
hitting your target

for COVAX members?

- It is likely now
that we will.

Everybody says
they want vaccine equity,

but not everybody's acting
like they want vaccine equity.

The Serum Institute of India
did a deal with us,

I have to say, in good faith.

Unfortunately,
that's been superseded

by government controls,

so that has broken down
completely.

[dramatic orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- As India continues
its devastating battle

against a raging outbreak,
the country's prime minister

has temporarily banned exports

of COVID-19 vaccines
so that all doses

can be used in-country.

♪ ♪

- Thank you so much.
- Nice to meet you.

Thank you for having me.
It's very kind of you.

- Yes, okay.
There we go.

- Are you comfortable with me
taking my mask off?

- Please do.
- Okay, thank you.

- Go ahead.

- The government in India
said it's a short delay.

It's not an export ban.

Do you--do you agree
with this decision,

or are you being forced
to make this decision?

- These decisions
have been made

by the government of India,
which have been rightly made,

and I support those decisions
based on the need in India.

See, their perspective is

that, look,
we want to help the world.

We are helping the world,
but we need to protect

our people first.

- The government
isn't taking over the company?

- Not as yet because I've
agreed to what they want to do.

- If you disagree?

- If I disagree,
I will be nationalized,

and we don't want to do that.
- Really?

- And even they
don't want to do it.

- They could do that?
- I don't think they want to.

I'm just joking, but--

- Well, are there
government people here

making sure that you're
not exporting stuff to places?

- I won't comment on that.

I really can't,
but let's leave it at that.

- But the goal
of 274 million doses

in COVAX by the end of May--
- That's not gonna happen.

No, without me,
essentially, COVAX would fail.

We have signed contracts
of 240 million doses

for the AstraZeneca product
with COVAX.

- Mm-hmm.

- And we're in the process
of signing more contracts,

but of course,
national interest

always supersedes
all contractual obligations.

What we have to do
is in the interest

of our nation and the world,

and right now,
our nation needs us,

and I don't want that
to be the situation.

I want, and I plead with
other vaccine manufacturers

to provide more doses to COVAX

so that the pressure
for me is off.

- So what should
Pfizer and Moderna...

- Short and simple.

- What should Pfizer
and Moderna have sold it--

- Sacrifice profits.
They are for profit.

I am for profit
and philanthropy,

and that is
the distinct difference

between Serum Institute
of India

and every other vaccine company
on this planet.

That's in a nutshell.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- The public sector
has invested billions

in development
of vaccine candidates,

but it's the private sector
that will rake in the cash.

- This will be one of

the biggest
profit possibilities

in literally a generation
for these companies.

♪ ♪

- Even as vaccines
bring hope to some,

they become another brick
in the wall of inequality

between the world's haves
and have nots.

- Pfizer is forecasting
$15 billion in revenue

from its COVID vaccine.

- Moderna created three
new billionaires this year,

CEO Stéphane Bancel.

He is now worth
over $4 billion.

- Those who have vaccines are
getting better significantly,

and they're opening up
their society.

Those who don't have vaccines
are facing

serious surges in cases

and deaths due to COVID.

♪ ♪

- Companies
are rejecting requests

by manufacturers
in developing countries

to share the recipes
and know-how

so that they can solve
the severe shortages.

♪ ♪

- The fact that
the vaccine recipe is a secret

even as we are facing

unprecedented
vaccine shortages

is a moral stain.

- The differences between
the haves and the have nots

is now completely exposing
the unfairness of our world.

- There have been
unprecedented statements

said by corporations
in terms of access,

but when you
really boil it down,

it's actually
still business as usual.

- [sobbing]
- [sobbing]

- The injustice,
the inequality.

Just give us the vaccines.

♪ ♪

- Dr. Tedros.

Thank you so much for taking
the time to meet with me.

- Thank you.
Thank you for having me.

- I want to ask you
about your own vaccination.

You got your first shot when?

- You know, still I feel like

I know where I belong,

in a poor country
called Ethiopia,

in a poor continent
called Africa,

and wanted to wait until Africa
and other countries

in other regions,
low-income countries,

start vaccination.

So I was protesting,
in other words,

because we're failing.

I saw global failures like HIV,
and these are the things

I remember when we
were confronted with COVID.

- Why do you think it is that
there are so few world leaders

who are willing to say,
"I'm gonna be blunt

"and call this
a catastrophic moral failure.

"I'm going to say
it is grotesque

to have a gap between
12-year-old being vaccinated--"

and you never say,
"In the United States,"

but I can fill in the blank.
I live there.

"We must do more,"
they say or think,

but they don't call it
what it is.

Why not?

- [chuckles]

I mean, that's the question I
wanted an answer for actually

because a shared responsibility
is just something

you would expect
from a decent human being.

When the whole world
is burning,

it's about humanity.

- I imagine you have been
on the phone with leaders

of vaccine companies.

- I encourage them to help.

- And what was the reaction?

- [sighs]
It's the same response,

the same argument.

You know,
it's unprecedented actually

to have a number
of vaccines approved

in just a year,
but that still saddens me

because I know
what happened in the past,

and that's happening now
on our watch again,

and, you know,
this question comes,

"When do we learn? When?"

♪ ♪

The development and approval
of vaccines

in record time took us

to the summit
of scientific achievement.

The question that every person
on Earth is asking now

is how and when
will we end this pandemic?

We have the knowledge
and tools to do it,

including vaccines,

but around the world,
many other countries

are now facing
a surge in cases,

and they're facing it
without vaccines.

Above all,
at the root of the pandemic

is a deficit of solidarity
and sharing,

sharing of data,
sharing of information,

sharing resources,
sharing technology and tools

that every nation needs
to keep its people safe.

We're in the race of our lives,

but it's not a fair race,

and most countries have
barely left the starting line.

♪ ♪

You know, Jon Cohen,
a science journalist

is with me today,
and he was telling me about,

"Tomorrow is a long time."

I think that could be
a very important message

to do things today
and to do things now.

Tomorrow is a long time.

I think we have to do
everything with that mentality.

Thank you so much.

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