A private equity investor has paid for a book on the UK鈥檚 vaccine taskforce to be sent to every secondary school in England. Ian Armitage, who is also director at education support service The Key, said he wanted to 鈥渋nspire a few students to pursue careers in science and applied science and think more positively about the world鈥�. , written by former taskforce director Kate Bingham and former Times journalist Tim Hames, charts the success of the vaccines squad in enabling the UK to become the first country in the world to deploy approved Covid vaccines. Armitage paid Hames鈥� co-writing fee. He said the story explored 鈥渨hat鈥檚 involved in getting a drug or a vaccine approved and all the barriers faced鈥�. 鈥淲e鈥檝e forgotten vaccines, we take them for granted. In my life it鈥檚 one of the most impactful events I鈥檝e witnessed,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 thought it was a really important story and we needed a book of record.鈥� His hope now is that copies will end up in school libraries. Such an endeavour had cost 鈥渁 few bob鈥�, including in distribution fees, he said. But it鈥檚 unclear how well this message is getting across to headteachers receiving the books. An accompanying note from The Key reads: 鈥淲e hope [the book] inspires young readers to learn how to make calculated choices, to build things from scratch. 鈥淭he Long Shot is to be read and shared so that readers at your school will find something that scratches an itch鈥�.