Sky News Daily

The historic vaccination programme in the fight against COVID-19 gets going this week after doses started arriving at hospitals. But as the NHS embarks on the largest public health drive it’s ever seen, we have been told the vaccine alone won’t end the pandemic any time soon.So how and when might the world get rid of COVID-19?On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, we examine the success and challenges around eradication programmes – from eliminating smallpox globally to ridding Africa of polio.We are joined by infectious disease experts Dr Larry Brilliant, who worked with the World Health Organisation to eradicate smallpox, plus Professor Rose Leke talks about the fight against polio in Africa after Nigeria became the last nation on the continent to wipe it out this year.We also discuss why the development of COVID vaccines could lead to a major breakthrough in tackling some other diseases and ask: should a COVID-size effort be made to deal with malaria?Daily podcast team:Podcast