These beautiful Barbies are inspired by the brilliant women fighting the battle against Covid-19

Peering over the rim of her distinctive black-rimmed glasses, Professor Sarah Gilbert, the co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, remarks, “It’s a very strange concept.”

The professor, whose Covid-19 vaccine is the most widely used around the globe, is not examining a deadly new mutation of the virus that’s ravaged the world – she’s looking at a Barbie doll that looks a lot like her. 

In fact, with its red hair, black-rimmed spectacles and a dark business suit, it’s the spitting image of Sarah, a veteran vaccinologist.