Kate Bingham heads up the UK Vaccine Taskforce

When venture capitalist Kate Bingham was asked to chair the UK Vaccine Taskforce, she was reluctant. Not because of the responsibility, but because “I thought it would fail,” she says. Luckily, her daughter convinced her to change her mind. Under Bingham, several successful vaccines were found and, at the time of writing, more than 87 per cent of the UK’s adult population has received a first dose. How does she feel? “Fantastic.” And confident about the future. “The vaccines work really well, but at some point we will need to be able to pivot to develop a new one. And we’re in decent shape for that,” she smiles.