What Next: TBD

The AstraZeneca Saga

By all accounts, Oxford and AstraZeneca made a good vaccine. So why has the path to approval been so painful?

Episode Notes

Back in April 2020, AstraZeneca was hailed as a frontrunner in the race to get an effective vaccine to market. A year later, after a series of trial pauses, communication blunders, and PR problems, the vaccine is on the cusp of FDA approval.

By all accounts, the company succeeded in making a safe, effective vaccine. So why has there been so much confusion about its rollout?

Guest:
Peter Aldhous, science reporter at Buzzfeed News

About the Show

Every Friday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in.

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Host

  • Lizzie O’Leary is the host of What Next: TBD, Slate’s show about technology, power, and the future. Previously, she created and hosted Marketplace Weekend. She has reported for CNN, Bloomberg News, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. She is also a contributing writer at the Atlantic.