美国国家公共电台 NPR--How vaccine misinformation made the COVID-19 death toll worse

How vaccine¹ misinformation made the COVID-19 death toll² worse

Transcript³

As the U.S. nears one million deaths from COVID-19, analysis finds nearly a third of those deaths could have been prevented — if people had been vaccinated⁵.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

American flags continue to fly at half staff in memory of those who've lost their lives to COVID. At one point, 1 million deaths seemed unthinkable. Now, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID tracker, we're nearly there. It comes as cases and hospitalizations are again on the rise. And what makes the number more gut-wrenching is that many of these COVID deaths were preventable. NPR's Allison Aubrey joins us now. Allison, you've covered this pandemic from the very, very start. How did we get here?

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁶: Oh, good morning. I think the great paradox⁷ is that the U.S. has played a huge role, an outsized role, in creating the vaccines⁸ and creating the medicines, the way out of the pandemic, thanks to the ingenuity⁹ of scientists and vaccine makers¹⁰. But simultaneously¹¹, we've been hit so hard due to fragmentation and inequalities in our health care system, as well as vaccine hesitancy, often fueled by politically motivated misinformation. Consider this, A - if you tally¹² up the number of unvaccinated people who died from COVID after vaccines were open to all adults last year, it's about 319,000 lives lost, according to a Brown University analysis. That is nearly one-third of all COVID deaths in the U.S., people who could be alive if they'd gotten vaccinated. I talked to a couple of doctors about this, Nicole Baldwin, a pediatrician in Cincinnati, and Calvin Johnson in Los Angeles.

NICOLE BALDWIN: It's really tragic¹³.

CALVIN JOHNSON: It's just heartbreaking, you know, when it was preventable.

BALDWIN: And I wonder if there's something else we could have done.

AUBREY: Both Baldwin and Johnson have spent a lot of time trying to tackle misinformation. Yet, they point out, only about 30% of kids aged¹⁴ 5 to 11 are fully¹⁵ vaccinated.

MART?NEZ: We heard Dr. Baldwin wondering what else could have been done. I mean, why does she think so many families are hesitant to vaccinate⁴?

AUBREY: There are multiple factors, but she points to social media. The decision to vaccinate, A, is no longer just a conversation between doctor and patient. Anti-vaccine influencers have gained so much traction¹⁶. And more people spend more time engaging with them.

BALDWIN: I think the challenge is, you can say almost anything that you want to say on social media. You can claim expertise¹⁷ in a field whether or not you have it. And the algorithms on these channels push out content that people are looking at. So it's terrifying. It's frustrating¹⁸.

AUBREY: Because, she says, the content being pushed out is often not the evidence-based or factual. It's often the more sensationalized content from influencers who intend to mislead or scare people.

MART?NEZ: All right. So who is pushing the anti-vaccine content? Who are these influencers?

AUBREY: Well, people who get attention on social media promoting anti-vaccine messages are often selling books or supplements or natural alternatives to vaccines. They scare people about vaccines because they benefit from it. Amid COVID, there's also been more politically motivated influencers, people against vaccines, because they don't want the government telling them what to do. These influencers can - have basically leveraged¹⁹ each other's networks and together have amassed²⁰ very large followings. I spoke²¹ to a mother, Lydia Greene (ph). She's the mom of three children. She says she's seen firsthand how impressionable people can be to the messages of influencers with big followings.

LYDIA GREENE: They quickly, like, pile on and give you so many reasons not to vaccinate. Like, you're poisoning your kid. Why would you poison your kid?

AUBREY: Now, it's easy to say, like, what's up here? I mean, what is the root of this distrust? Why would parents, you know, trust social media influencers over their own doctors?

MART?NEZ: Yeah. So I mean, how do parents get pulled into the web of misinformation?

AUBREY: I think it often starts very innocently. New parents are looking for support, for camaraderie²². When Lydia Greene's first child was born years ago, she found a site called mothering.com where moms would share information about breastfeeding, getting your baby to sleep. She says she was very grateful to find a group of moms to bond with.

GREENE: When I first joined Mothering, it was more liberal, educated hippy, granola moms just wanting to do the best for their children.

AUBREY: And part of what connects these moms is a sense that traditional doctors weren't really supporting them. When Lydia Greene had trouble breastfeeding, the doctor said, oh, you know, don't worry - there's formula. This created a seed of distrust with establishment or mainstream²³ medicine. And it gave an opening to alternative approaches, which Greene liked at first. But then she saw that the natural parenting world was a gateway²⁴ to the anti-vaccine world. And she says it was almost cult-like, where anti-vaccine leaders kind of lured²⁵ you in with books and seminars and natural products.

GREENE: When you're in there, you believe that they're an underdog. They're sacrificing their career and their reputation to tell the truth about vaccines.

AUBREY: When really, she says, it's all very misleading. And she distanced herself. She got her own children vaccinated and she got vaccinated. She said she saw how COVID really provided an opening for anti-vaccine platforms to expand. You know, influencers were looking to grow their networks. She says natural parenting and kind of yoga or spiritual awakening²⁶ influencers increasingly merged²⁷ their networks with those of conspiracy²⁸ theorists and groups opposed to government mandates²⁹, you know, uniting people who originally had very different reasons for opposing vaccines.

GREENE: So a lot of these yoga, granola, spiritual awakening people have now gone full conspiracy, QAnon. And it's like, wow. Oh, wow.

AUBREY: Her disbelief and her recognition of just how dangerous it is to steer³⁰ people away from vaccines led her to form a support group. It's called Back to the VAX. It provides kind of a community and support for people who have fallen for anti-vaccine propaganda.

MART?NEZ: So it sounds like she's trying to help other parents kind of see through the misinformation.

AUBREY: That's right. And this comes at a time when pediatricians worry that the anti-vaccine sentiment is growing in certain circles. The most recent CDC data shows the number of kindergartners who don't have basic vaccines when they enter school has fallen slightly. So this worries pediatricians. And doctors and advocates, including Lydia Greene, say there's a lot more work to be done here.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Allison Aubrey. Allison, thanks a lot.

AUBREY: Thank you, A.

(SOUNDBITE OF LYMBYC SYSTYM'S "1000 ARMS")

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

8 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

9 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

10 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

12 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

13 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

14 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

15 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

16 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

17 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

18 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 leveraged   

促使…改变( leverage的过去式和过去分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• Chrysler has traditionally been a highly leveraged company. 克莱斯勒一向是一家周转十分灵活的公司。
• Leveraged recaps have become popular for a number of reasons. 杠杆资本重组的大行其道有好几个原因。

20 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

23 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

24 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

25 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

26 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

27 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

28 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

29 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

30 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。