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Feb 2021
40m 14s

The Jab: How well will vaccines work?

The Economist
About this episode

The race between infections and injections is in its most crucial phase. What life is like on the other side of the pandemic depends on three things: how well vaccines work, whether there are enough and how many people take them.


Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who has advised President Biden, tells us the world stands at an inflection point. After getting his jab in Jerusalem, our correspondent there says the vision of the future Israel offers other countries is not as rosy as it first seemed. James Fransham from The Economist data team unpicks the vaccination numbers so far. 


Alok Jha, The Economist's science correspondent, hosts with our health policy editor, Natasha Loder. Edward Carr, The Economist's deputy editor, joins them.


For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe here: economist.com/thejabpod


Subscribe to our new weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience and data newsletter at www.economist.com/offthecharts



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