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Meet the Black, Female Scientist Behind the Covid-19 Vaccine
Corbett’s team worked with Moderna to develop one of two vaccines with an efficacy rate of more than 90%
A 34-year-old Black woman has been one of the leading players in developing a vaccine to help end the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett is one of the scientists running the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Coronavirus Vaccines and Immunopathogenesis Team. Her team at NIH has worked with the pharmaceutical company, Moderna, to develop one of two vaccines with an efficacy rate of more than 90%.
Dr. Corbett has been a visible figure in the race to develop and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine since the beginning of 2020. Before the pandemic swept the U.S., she was one of a handful of NIH scientists to meet with President Trump to discuss the impending Covid-19 crisis in early March. As ABC News reports, the young scientist made a deliberate decision to take on a more public-facing role in the NIH team.
