VOA慢速英语2021 预期美国将批准辉瑞疫苗用于青少年

The United States is expected to approve the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine¹ for young people aged² 12 to 15 by next week.

预计美国将在下周批准辉瑞的新馆肺炎疫苗用于12-15岁青少年。

A federal official told The Associated Press that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to expand its emergency use authorization³ for Pfizer’s vaccine to the new age group.

一位联邦官员告诉美联社，美国食品药品监督管理局计划将辉瑞疫苗的紧急使用授权扩大到这一新的年龄段。

The official did not want to be identified because there has been no public announcement about Pfizer’s vaccine plans. The New York Times first reported on the expected timing⁴ of the plan.

这位官员不愿意透露姓名，因为尚未发布有关辉瑞疫苗计划的公告。《纽约时报》最先报道了该计划的预期时间。

The official said the approval is expected to come by early next week. The person added that the FDA also plans to approve Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine for even younger children later this year.

这位官员表示，预计将在下周初批准。该人士还表示，美国食品药品监督管理局计划今年晚些时候批准辉瑞的两剂疫苗用于更年幼儿童。

The FDA’s expansion of its emergency use authorization is the first step in the approval process. That action would be followed by a meeting of a federal vaccine advisory⁵ committee to discuss whether to recommend the injection for 12- to 15-year-olds.

美国食品药品监督管理局扩大其紧急使用授权是批准流程中的第一步。在此之后将举行一场联邦疫苗咨询委员会的会议，讨论是否建议为12-15岁儿童注射。

If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approves the committee’s recommendation, the shots could begin. Those steps could be completed in a matter of days.

如果美国疾病控制与预防中心批准了该委员会的建议，则开始接种。这些步骤可以在几天之内完成。

In March, Pfizer released the first results from a vaccine study involving 2,260 U.S. volunteers aged 12 to 15. The study showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully⁶ vaccinated⁷ individuals compared with 18 in the group who were given a placebo⁸, a shot of inactive substance.

3月份，辉瑞公司发布了一项涉及2260名年龄在12到15岁志愿者的疫苗研究的首批结论。该研究表明，完全接种疫苗的个人当中没有发现新冠肺炎病例，相比之下注射了安慰剂这种非活性物质的小组中有18人感染。

The 12- to 15-year-olds had side effects similar to young adults, Pfizer said. The main side effects are pain, increased temperature, tiredness and chills, especially after the second shot. The study will continue to follow test subjects for two years to gain more information about long-term protection and safety.

辉瑞称，这些12到15岁孩子的副作用与青年相似。主要副作用是疼痛、发烧、疲倦和发冷，尤其是在注射第二针之后。这项研究将继续对测试对象进行为期两年的跟踪，以获取有关长期保护和安全性的信息。

Pfizer is not the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Results are also expected by the middle of this year from a U.S. study of Moderna’s vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds.

辉瑞并非唯一一家希望降低其疫苗使用年龄限制的公司。美国对12到17岁儿童进行的莫德纳疫苗研究也有望在今年年中得出结论。

The FDA is permitting both companies to also begin U.S. studies in children 11 and younger.

美国食品药品监督管理局批准这两家公司还开始对12岁以下儿童进行研究。

More than 131 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine have already been given in the U.S., where demand for vaccines⁹ among adults has greatly slowed in recent weeks.

美国已经接种了1.31亿剂辉瑞疫苗，最近几周美国成年人对疫苗的需求已经大大放缓。

Younger people generally have a much lower risk of experiencing serious side effects from COVID-19. But they started making up a larger share of new U.S. cases as an increasing number of adults got vaccinated and some virus-related restrictions¹⁰ were eased.

青少年经历新冠肺炎严重副作用的风险通常要低很多。但是随着越来越多成年人接种疫苗以及放宽了一些新冠病毒相关限制，青少年开始在美国新增病例中占据较大份额。

Officials hope that expanding the vaccines to young people will help efforts to safely reopen schools in the autumn.

官员们希望将疫苗扩大到青少年对秋季安全地重新开放学校会有帮助。

The U.S. has ordered at least 300 million doses of the Pfizer shot by the end of July, enough to protect 150 million people.

截至7月底，美国已经订购了至少3亿剂辉瑞疫苗，足以保护1.5亿人口。

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 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。

3 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

4 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

5 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

6 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。

7 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？

8 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

9 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。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制