VOA慢速英语2020 牛津大学新冠疫苗传出好消息（在线收听）

Scientists at the University of Oxford say their experimental COVID-19 vaccine shows a strong immune response among older people. The early results raise hopes that the vaccine can protect the people most at risk of getting severely ill from the new coronavirus.

牛津大学科学家称其实验性新冠肺炎疫苗在老年人当中表现出强烈的免疫反应。这一早期结果提升了疫苗能够保护最有可能感染新冠病毒重症人群的希望。

Dr. Andrew Pollard leads the University of Oxford study. He told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday that he was "delighted" that early results show a strong immune response "even in those over 70 years of age."

安德鲁·波拉德博士领导了牛津大学的这项研究。他周四对英国广播公司表示，他很高兴早期结果表明，即使70岁以上人群也能表现出强烈的免疫反应。

Dr Maheshi Ramasamy of the Oxford Vaccine Group added that the next step will be to see if the immune response means protection from the disease itself.

牛津疫苗小组的马哈希·拉马萨米补充说，下一步是看看这种免疫反应是否意味着可以预防这种疾病。

The results came from a Phase 2 study of 560 volunteers, including 240 people aged 70 or older. One group of the volunteers was given two treatments of the vaccine, called ChAdOx1. The other group was given a placebo – a shot with an inactive substance.

该结果来自于对560名志愿者的第二阶段研究，其中包括240名年龄不小于70岁的志愿者。一组志愿者接种了两次名为ChAdOx1的疫苗。另一组接种了安慰剂，即注射了非活性物质。

Findings from the study were published Thursday in the medical paper The Lancet for scientific review.

这项研究结果发表在《柳叶刀》医学杂志上以供科学审查。

The Oxford vaccine uses a harmless, weakened adenovirus to carry genetic material from the new coronavirus into the body. The human cells will then create proteins to develop antibodies against the coronavirus. These so-called adenovirus vector vaccines are not known to cause any serious health concerns.

牛津大学使用无害的弱化腺病毒将新冠病毒的遗传物质带入体内。然后，人类细胞将会产生蛋白质发展成针对新冠病毒的抗体。众所周知，这些所谓的腺病毒载体疫苗不会引发任何严重的健康问题。

Working with drug-maker AstraZeneca, Oxford is currently carrying out its Phase 3 study. The study includes 60,000 volunteers from Britain, the United States, Russia and Brazil, among other countries.

牛津大学同制药商阿斯利康公司合作，目前正在进行第3阶段研究。这项研究涉及来自英国、美国、俄罗斯和巴西等国家的6万名志愿者。

The Oxford study was briefly suspended in September because of an unexplained illness in a volunteer. Pollard said he expects to release all data from the Phase 3 study by late December.

牛津大学的这项研究曾于9月份暂停，原因是一名志愿者出现无法解释的疾病。波拉德博士表示，他预计将在12月下旬发布第3期研究的所有数据。

Earlier this week, two American drug-makers announced that their separate COVID-19 vaccine candidates were 95 percent effective against the disease. The companies, Moderna and Pfizer, have said they will seek emergency use authorization for their vaccines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Pfizer developed its vaccine with German partner BioNTech.

本周早些时候，两家美国制药商宣布他们各自的新冠肺炎候选疫苗的有效率是95%。莫德纳和辉瑞这两家公司都表示，他们将申请美国食品和药品管理局对各自的疫苗进行紧急使用授权。辉瑞公司与德国合作伙伴BioNTech合作开发了这种疫苗。

Moderna and Pfizer have not yet published results from their studies in medical papers for review.

莫德纳和辉瑞公司尚未将他们的研究结果发表到医学杂志上以供审查。

Pollard said there was "no competition" with other vaccines. He said, "We will need all of them to protect people around the globe."

波拉德表示他们与其它疫苗没有竞争关系。他说：“我们将会需要所有疫苗来保护全世界人民。”