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Science and technology

A shot in the arm

Natasha Loder: health policy editor, The Economist

The largest vaccination programme in history will begin

2021 in brief

A bold conservation proposal will be put to countries gathering in Kunming in south-
west China in May for a UN summit to reverse biodiversity loss: to protect 30% of all
land and ocean by 2030. More than 60 countries have signed up to the “30x30” pledge
but they do not include Indonesia, Australia or America

IN EARLY 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic tearing across the world,

most people thought it unlikely that a vaccine would arrive any time soon.

And as work to develop vaccines began, there were dire warnings of the

difficulties ahead. That is why it is so remarkable that, heading into 2021, it

seems likely that the world is only a few months away from finding one or