Day 674
The entire lab is sitting in stunned silence, watching the newscaster. Just two minutes ago, one of the lab techs, Maddy, yelled, “There’s a vaccine! Oh my God, there’s a vaccine!” We switched on the TV in George’s office and now we sit, listening to the news presenter say the words we’ve all been waiting nearly two years for her to say.
Of course, we all imagined she’d be saying our names and announcing our discovery. But it’s okay, that’s not what matters. We’re so, so close but not close enough. The important thing is that there’s a vaccine. The important thing is that the world is saved.
“It was announced a few minutes ago, at a small press conference held at the University of Toronto, that Dr. Lisa Michael, the head of the Virology Department at the university, has discovered a vaccine for the Plague. A vaccine has been found. We’re now going to show you some footage from the announcement.”
The screen cuts to three women, freezing outside a grand, wooden door set in a beautiful, stone building. I recognize the woman in the middle. She’s the Canadian prime minister, Oona Green. “It is the greatest honor of my life to announce here today that Dr. Lisa Michael and her team here at the University of Toronto have discovered a vaccine that protects men from the Plague virus. Dr. Michael will work with my colleagues in government to negotiate the sale of the vaccine to countries around the world.”
A chatter of voices erupts in George’s office like a spark across dry brush. Did she say sale? Does that mean what I think it means?
“The Canadian government will negotiate carefully the license of the MP-1 vaccine, so named after the Male Plague, as we call the disease here in Canada, to countries for a fee. This is valuable intellectual property with the potential to save many lives and, if abused, to cause great harm. We intend to treat it with the care and respect it deserves. We won’t be taking any questions at this time.”
Silence falls across the room as the screen cuts back to the news presenter who repeats the news over and over again for anyone tuning in. A vaccine has been discovered. It will be sold by the Canadian government. Dr. Lisa Michael at the University of Toronto is credited with its discovery. More details to follow when we know more.
Oh my God, she’s selling it. I have failed. We all have. I look around the room and I see so many emotions—delight, anger, relief, exhaustion, outrage—but I don’t see the one I feel so deeply it’s as if my spine is dissolving and it’s taking all my effort just to stay upright. Shame. This woman is going to hold the world to ransom and she wouldn’t have the chance if we had got there first. We failed at this final, important hurdle. We identified the genes. We created the immunity test and then, when we were needed most, we failed and Lisa Michael has skipped into the sunset with a vaccine, the acclaim. More important, she has allowed herself to be pushed into selling it. Surely, she can’t want to sell it. I can’t fathom how a doctor who has spent the last two years working on a vaccine to save men, to return us to normalcy, could show it to the world and then say, “Now pay up.” She must be scared and pushed around. The government must have forced her to do this. Surely, it can’t be her.
AMANDA
Glasgow, the Independent Republic of Scotland
Day 675
I’m very glad I’m Canadian for a start.” The woman on the TV laughs. She’s dressed simply in a black blazer, black trousers and a white shirt. She’s laughing. Laughing. What the fuck is wrong with her?
“Let’s be honest, if I was from one of many other countries, there’s no way in hell it would have been my decision to make. Lots of governments would have happily shot me in my sleep to avoid the annoyance of being legally required to pay me for my work.”
The interviewer, the journalist Maria Ferreira whose writing about the Plague has hooked the world, looks shell-shocked. She looks the way I feel.
“And do you feel comfortable with your decision to require payment for the MP-1 vaccine? You could save billions of lives—”