10 Things Contagion Predicted Perfectly (Or Not) About The Current Pandemic

What It Gets Right

While there is a concentration on the social and government reaction to the crisis, the film also explores the science in great detail. This includes the brave efforts of scientists Ian Sussman and Ally Hextall, the latter putting her life on the line to test a possible vaccine.

While it's hard to determine just how successful the search for a vaccine will be in reality, it is evident that researchers around the world are very much on the case. As reported by Laura Spinney on the March 30 edition of The Guardian, 'about 35 companies and academic institutions are racing to create such a vaccine, at least four of which already have candidates they have been testing in animals.'

We can only hope that like the movie, a viable option if not far away.

What It Doesn't

As has been indicated by many scientists such as Dr. Fauci and Michael Osterholm, the vaccine is unlikely to ready to be rolled out quickly, even if a vaccine is found. The Guardian article quotes Infectious disease specialist Annelies Wilder-Smith who states "like most vaccinologists, I don’t think this vaccine will be ready before 18 months."

It is impossible to tell if a similar timeframe for a rollout of vaccines would occur if the real world virus was as severe as the one depicted in Contagion, but we can be thankful that it isn't as fatal.