Chinese health authorities have given approval to a domestic company to mass produce a vaccine for the H1N1 strain of flu. Unlike other vaccines, this one does not require multiple doses.
中国卫生当局批准一家国内公司批量生产甲型H1N1流感病毒株疫苗。这种疫苗与其他疫苗不同，它不需要多次注射。
The Chinese bio-technology company Sinovac says its H1N1 vaccine only requires one shot to be effective. This defies previous expectations that vaccines against the so-called swine flu would need two doses to work.
中国生物技术公司北京科兴生物制品有限公司说，该公司的H1N1疫苗只需一针即可见效。这打破了先前所谓的这种流感的疫苗需要两针见效的预计。
Wang Nan, vice-general manager at Sinovac, says the company began research on the vaccine in early June.
科兴生物制品公司的副总经理王楠说，该公司今年6月开始研究这种疫苗。
Wang says 21 days after giving subjects the first injections, experimenters tested their blood and discovered that one dose provided the expected level of protection.
王楠说：“接种第一针疫苗以后21天对受试者采血。然后对这些采血的结果进行分析，就发现一针以后的效果就可以达到预期的对受试者人群的保护。”
Wang says Sinovac will focus on China's market first, but is also interested in selling the vaccine internationally. Sinovac can produce 30 million doses of the vaccine a year.
王楠说，科兴生物制品公司将首先专注于中国市场，不过对在国际间出售这种疫苗也有兴趣。科兴生物制品公司每年能生产3000万剂这种疫苗。
The Chinese government plans to vaccinate 65 million people against H1N1 this year. The World Health Organization says countries in the northern hemisphere already have ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine.
中国政府计划今年让6500万人接种这种疫苗。世界卫生组织说，北半球国家已经订购超过10亿剂甲型流感疫苗。
Vivian Tan, the spokeswoman for the WHO in China, says the main benefit of a one-dose vaccine is that it is possible to vaccinate twice as many people. But she says the approval of the Sinovac vaccine does not mean supplies will be sufficient.
世界卫生组织驻中国发言人陈蔚云(Vivian Tan)说，一针式疫苗的主要好处是它可能给多出一倍的人接种疫苗。不过她说，科兴生物制品公司的疫苗获得批准并不意味着有足够的供应。
"Generally in the initial months there will not be enough vaccine produced for the world, that's for sure, because the global production capacity of vaccines just cannot meet the need as we stand today," Tan said. "That's why it's really important for countries to prioritize the groups that should receive the vaccine first."
陈蔚云说：“一般来说，在最初的几个月，肯定不会有足够的疫苗生产出来供全世界使用，因为全球的疫苗生产能力不能满足我们今天的需要。这就是为什么各国优先对待应该首先获得这种疫苗的群体是至关重要的。”
Tan says the WHO suggests health care workers should be among the first vaccinated, because they are on the front-line of fighting the virus. Other priority groups include people with underlying chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma or cardiovascular problems. Pregnant women also seem to be more vulnerable to H1N1.
陈蔚云说，世卫组织建议健康医疗工作者应该首先接种疫苗，因为他们处于抗击这种病毒的前线。其他优先群体包括那些患有潜伏的慢性病的人，诸如糖尿病人，哮喘病人或者心血管病人等。孕妇也似乎更加容易感染H1N1病毒。
China's State Food and Drug Administration says trials of Sinovac's vaccine shows it is "very safe." The regulatory agency is expected to decide by mid-September whether to approve applications from nine other companies developing H1N1 vaccines.
中国国家食品药品管理局说，科兴生物制品公司的疫苗显示，该疫苗“很安全”。这个管理机构预期将在9月中旬决定是否批准研制H1N1疫苗的9家其他公司的申请。
China is a global manufacturing center for pharmaceuticals, but there have been cases when companies substituted cheaper or even lethal ingredients. Tan says as long as proper procedures are followed to ensure the safety and efficacy of Sinovac's vaccine there should be no reason to worry.
"That said, I think it's very important to continue to monitor the situation once mass vaccination starts because so far the vaccine has only been tested in small groups and clinical trials," she said.
Tan says there are over 3,000 cases of H1N1 in China but no fatalities, so she thinks health authorities are handling the situation well.
This strain of flu has appeared in almost every country since being identified earlier this year. The WHO estimates 2,185 people have died of the virus. |