VOA慢速英语--联合国大会领导人讨论疫苗取得不平等

Leaders at UN General Assembly Talk of Vaccine¹ Inequality

Sharing COVID-19 vaccines² has been a major subject of discussion at this year's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby and Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni were among those who spoke³ on Thursday.

Most of Thursday's speakers were leaders from African nations. Their countries are not able to get enough vaccines to protect their people.

Ramaphosa said that it is "an indictment⁴ on humanity" that more than 82 percent of the world's COVID-19 vaccines are in the hands of rich countries. He said less than one percent have gone to poor countries. He added, "nnless we address this as a matter of urgency, the pandemic will last much longer" as new forms of the virus appear.

The struggle to contain the coronavirus also has been a big issue in speeches given at the U.N. meeting.

In a statement to the U.N., Mokgweetsi Masisi, the President of Botswana said: "Botswana shares the frustration⁵ by many and strongly supports the call for the vaccines to be treated as a global public good."

On Wednesday, American President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would buy 1 billion of Pfizer's COVID-19 shots to share with the world. That was two times the amount of his earlier promise. He also said he supported a goal of vaccinating⁶ 70 percent of the world's population within the next year.

Some countries have had vaccines widely available to their populations for months. But other countries have struggled to get supplies. The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that four percent of the population is fully⁷ vaccinated⁹.

Ramaphosa took part in a meeting Wednesday that was called by Biden to talk about increasing efforts to vaccinate⁸ people all over the world. At that meeting, Biden announced the U.S. deal to buy an additional 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to send to other countries.

"Of the around 6 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, only two percent of these have been administered in Africa, a continent of more than 1.2 billion people," Ramaphosa said. "This is unjust and immoral¹⁰."

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of world leaders made video presentations instead of traveling to New York to speak in person. About half of Thursday's speeches were by video.

Speaking on video from Havana, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced the U.S. embargo¹¹ against Cuba. He said it has been made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the U.N., Panama's President Laurentino Cortizo said his country has vaccinated more than half of its population. "Thanks to this, we are only weeks away from reaching herd¹² immunity¹³," he said.

Cortizo asked for the support of the international community to deal with the large number of migrants passing through his nation. Many of the migrants are from Africa and the Caribbean islands. Cortizo said, "This is everyone's responsibility."

Words in This Story

discuss – v. to give information, ideas, opinions, etc., about (something) in writing or speech

indictment – n. an expression or statement of strong disapproval¹⁴

address – v. to give attention to (something)

frustration – n. a feeling of anger or annoyance¹⁵ caused by being unable to do something

dose – n. the amount of a medicine, drug or vitamin that is taken at one time

herd immunity – n. the situation where a large portion of a population becomes immune to an infectious disease, limiting further disease spread

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 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。

3 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。

4 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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？

10 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

11 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

12 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

13 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

14 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

15 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。