The Red Phone

The Red Phone is what Joe DeRisi calls his telephone. In 2003, he was seen as just another young biochemist. Over the course of the next decade, his research and technologies gained attention. He began receiving calls from around the country when agencies and individuals faced unsolvable problems, particularly regarding mysterious diseases. Because of these calls, he started calling his phone the Red Phone. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe received a call from the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, regarding COVID testing problems. The call made Joe realize that although the phone was an ineffective way of solving problems efficiently, it had the power to expose greater systemic problems.

Wolverines

The Wolverines was the name given to Rajeev Venkayya's pandemic planning group. Among its team members were Richard Hatchett and Carter Mecher. The team worked on developing a preemptive plan should the United...