INSIDE THE GREAT VACCINE RACE
CBC TELEVISION, THE NATURE OF THINGS
2021 | 44 mins
From the streets of Brazil to the bat caves of Thailand, from the biohazard labs of China to the high security vaccine facilities of Germany, Inside the Great Vaccine Race is the inside story of the quest to save everyone on Earth.
A real life medical and investigative drama, Inside the Great Vaccine Race also chronicles the remarkable personal mission of the scientists who sacrificed everything to produce one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the century. It’s a mission that continues to this day as many countries question the value of vaccines.
With extraordinary access, Inside the Great Vaccine Race enters the labs of BioNTech, the German company that ultimately wins the race, to discover how scientists risked everything to create the world’s first RNA vaccine.
In China, the documentary gains unprecedented permission to film the team at CanSinoBIO. Backed by the Chinese military, this company pursues a unique strategy that has them leading the race after just 50 days.
And at Cambridge University in the U.K. it follows Dr. Jonathan Heeney as he chases the Holy Grail – a vaccine that protects against multiple coronaviruses. It’s a high risk strategy that is still paying dividends.
Inside the Great Vaccine Race is a riveting medical drama that follows the real mission of extraordinary scientists as they battle to create a breakthrough while millions of lives hang in the balance. It continues to resonate as we fight new and deadly viruses today with the discoveries made by these pioneers.
View Credits
Written by
Dugald Maudsley
Director
P.J. Naworynski
Executive Producer
Dugald Maudsley
Editor
Cathy Gulkin
Composer
Michelle Osis
Location Director
Edward Davies (Brazil)
George Hupka (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Hongyu Liu (China)
Paul Olding (United Kingdom)
Julian Parkinson (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Kelly Wolfert (Alberta, Canada)
Director of Photography
Edward Davies (Brazil)
Rob Goldie (United Kingdom)
George Hupka csc (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Robert Killorn (Thailand)
Julian Parkinson (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Kelly Wolfert csc (Alberta, Canada)
Additional Camera
Julio Brunet (Brazil)
André Fancio (Brazil)
Florian Kitulski (Thailand)
Mark Lange (Germany)
Trevor Thoms (Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan)
Haining Zhang (China)
Sound Recordist
Luis Boggian (Brazil)
Martin Geismann (Thailand)
Carey Opper (Alberta)
Lauren Parkinson (Nova Scotia)
William Rudolph (United Kingdom)
Marcus Uhlmann (Germany)
Lanny Westgard (Saskatchewan)
Tracy Westgard (Saskatchewan)
Jianxi Zhang (China)
Field Assistant
Nic Fieldsend (Nova Scotia)
Ning Ren (China)
Braden Rooke (Alberta)
Sophie Smith (United Kingdom)
Researcher
Monika Delmos
Production Manager
Diane Marcotte
Production Supervisor
Eric Wiegand
Production Coordinator
Gillian Main
Visual Effects Designer
Mark Alberts
Post Production Supervisor/Online Editor
Eric Wiegand
Archive Producer
Elspeth Domville
Colourist
Ken MacNeil
Re-Recording Mixer
Grant Edmonds
SFX Editor
MaryAnn Icaro
Audio Editor
Marcus Gynne Neumann
Dialogue Mixer
Patience Bradford
Publicist
David McCaughna
Archival Material Courtesy of
ALISON BURN
DR. ALYSON KELVIN
ANALOGUE CANADA
ANAND RAMAYYA
AUDIOVISUAL LIBRARY, UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS
DANNY ABRIEL
DR. BEN CHAN
BIONTECH SE
CANSINO BIOLOGICS INC.
CCTV
DEBBIE EYTON
ENTOS PHARMACEUTICAL
FT WEEKEND
GETTY IMAGES / NBC NEWS ARCHIVES
GLOBAL NEWS
HEATHER KEARNS
IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON
DR. JONATHAN HEENEY
ITV
JOURNEYMAN PICTURES LTD.
JUDE DILLABOUGH
KAREN VEINOT
KARMA FILM
KELLY BARRETT
MARK MACCHARLES
MIG VERWALTUNGS AG
NIMIA/ NINE NETWORK
PFIZER CANADA ULC
POND5/REUTERS
RON MENCHETTI
ROSANGELA TUPINELLI
DR. ROY DUNCAN
RUPTLY GMBH
STEPHAN SCHMELZER
TAMMY LLOYD
THOMAS HUNNEROTH
UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
VIDO-INTERVAC
DR. VOLKER GERDTS
DR. XUEFENG YU
Special Thanks
Dr. Tania Watts, University of Toronto
Colette Wheler
Junhong Jing
CEPIC Research Centre
Chulalongkorn Hospital Thailand
Dalhousie University
Darwin College Cambridge
IWK Health Centre
Nikki Kelvin
Staybridge Suites Saskatoon
Tracey Thue
University of Alberta
University of Cambridge
VIDO-InterVac, University of Saskatchewan
For Infield Fly Productions
Producer
Gillian Main
Dugald Maudsley
Co-Producer
Monika Delmos
Production Accountant
Rebecca Humble McCulloch
Legal Counsel
David Steinberg
Produced with the participation of
Canada Media Fund
The Rogers Documentary Fund
Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
Produced with the Cooperation of
Writers Guild of Canada
Canadian Federation of Musicians
For the CBC
General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports
Sally Catto
Executive Director, Unscripted Content
Jennifer Dettman
Senior Director, Documentary
Sandra Kleinfeld
Senior Director of Production, Unscripted Content
Alexandra Lane
Executive In Charge of Production
Sue Dando
The Nature of Things with David Suzuki
Produced by
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
www.cbc.ca/natureofthings
@2021 IF: VH Productions Inc.
“produced in association with”
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Copyright 2021)
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