No government minister can talk about science and technology these days without a mention of the Covid vaccine taskforce. Usually several. The government’s recently unveiled Innovation Strategy refers to vaccines 34 times.
For once, the cheerleading is not empty boosterism. Ministers are right to claim that the success of the taskforce shows Britain’s strengths in science and innovation. They could hardly have imagined a better demonstration of the potential.
One of the most striking things about the vaccine project was how well Britain managed to compete with the world’s most awesome science machine — the United States. While Boris Johnson likes to talk about the UK punching above its weight in science and technology, it can appear pretty puny compared with the US. Just look
