“We couldn’t be here without them,” said Carol as she announced the Special Recognition award for the team of scientists who developed the Oxford coronavirus vaccine.
The six men and women representing Prof Sarah Gilbert’s team received the loudest and longest standing ovation of the night, as the audience applauded them for nearly two minutes.
The team worked throughout lockdown, working 18-hour days with some juggling home schooling with their vital research as they created the world’s most potent weapon against Covid in record time.
By the end of July 2021, a billion doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine had been delivered to more than 170 countries.
They received their gong from TV icon Stephen Fry, who said he “would have walked 100 miles over broken glass barefoot to present the award”.
Afterwards, he said he was the one who was starstruck.
“I couldn’t believe I was going to speak to them. I’m never going to meet Edward Jenner, who gave the first smallpox vaccinations, or Fleming who discovered penicillin, but these people are of an equal status.
“It’s extraordinary what they did.”
Dr Catherine Green said: “It’s lovely to have the recognition of the British public. We are just doing our job but to be recognised for doing your job under extraordinary circumstances feels really momentous.”
