VOA慢速英语2021 研究称辉瑞公司疫苗对新冠病毒变种同样有效（在线收听）

A new study suggests that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is effective against new forms of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa.

一项新研究称，辉瑞公司的新冠肺炎疫苗可以有效抵抗在英国和南非发现的新类型的新冠病毒。

Researchers say they collected blood from 20 people who received the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Antibodies from those individuals were found to work against the coronavirus in laboratory experiments.

研究人员表示，他们采集了20名接种过辉瑞公司及其德国合作伙伴BioNTech公司联合开发疫苗的人士的血液。在实验室的实验中发现这些人的抗体可以抵抗新冠病毒。

Mutated versions, or variants, of the coronavirus first appeared in Britain and South Africa. The two variants have caused concern among world health experts because they appear to spread more easily than the first version. The mutated variant found in Britain has also appeared in the United States and other countries.

新冠病毒变种最早出现在英国和南非。这两种变种引起了全球卫生专家的关注，因为它似乎比第一代病毒更容易传播。在英国发现的病毒变种也出现在美国和其它国家。

The study looked at a change in the so-called "spike" protein that permits the virus to infect human cells. Both new coronavirus variants share the change.

这项研究着眼于使得该病毒得以感染人类细胞的所谓“尖峰蛋白”的变化。两种新冠病毒变种都有这种变化。

Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch carried out the new research. Information about the study was recently published online. But outside experts have not yet examined the findings.

辉瑞公司和得克萨斯大学医学分部的科学家进行了这项研究。该研究的有关信息最近在网上发布。但是外部专家尚未对该研究结果进行审查。

The research is limited because it did not examine the full set of mutations in either form of the new variants. However, University of Pennsylvania virus expert Dr. Frederic Bushman told The Associated Press it is likely the new vaccines will work just as well on the virus variants.

该研究具有局限性，因为它并未审查任何新变种的完整突变。然而，宾夕法尼亚大学病毒专家弗雷德里克·布什曼博士对美联社表示，新疫苗可能对该病毒变种同样有效。

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first to receive approval for emergency use in the United States. Pfizer has said early trials suggested the vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. The vaccine developed by American drug-maker Moderna and one developed by Oxford University and Britain's AstraZeneca have also been approved for use in some Western countries.

辉瑞和BioNTech联合开发疫苗是美国首个获得紧急使用授权的疫苗。辉瑞公司表示，早期试验表明该疫苗的有效率在90%以上。由美国制药商莫德纳公司开发的疫苗以及由牛津大学和英国阿斯利康公司联合开发的疫苗也在一些西方国家获得了批准。

Bushman, who was not part of the Pfizer study, said the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are also being tested against the new variants. He said he expects similar results in those studies. This is because all the vaccines are designed to cause the body to produce antibodies against several parts of the spike protein that covers the virus.

布什曼并未参与辉瑞公司的这项研究，他说莫德纳公司和阿斯利康公司的疫苗也正在进行针对新变种的试验。他称预期这些试验会有类似结果。这是因为所有疫苗都旨在使人体产生针对覆盖病毒的刺突蛋白的几个部位的抗体。

"A mutation will change one little place, but it's not going to disrupt binding to all of them," Bushman said.

布什曼表示：“突变只会改变一个小地方，但是不会破坏所有结合。”

Philip Dormitzer is the chief scientific officer for Pfizer. He called findings of the new study "reassuring." He said the research shows the mutation "does not seem to be a problem" for the vaccine.

菲利普·多米策是辉瑞公司的首席科学官。他称这项研究结果“令人放心。”他说研究表明这种突变对该疫苗来说似乎不算问题。

Dormitzer said the company has tested 16 different virus mutations. So far, none have shown resistance to the vaccine.

多米策表示，该公司已经测试了16种不同的病毒突变。到目前为止它们都没有显示出对该疫苗的耐药性。

Some scientists have expressed greater concern about the new variant found in South Africa.

一些科学家对南非发现的新变种表达了极大关注。

Simon Clarke is a professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading in Britain. He told the Reuters news agency that the South Africa variant "has a number of additional mutations." They include more complex changes to the spike protein.

西蒙·克拉克是英国雷丁大学细胞微生物学教授。他对路透社表示，南非变种有其它许多突变。它们包括对刺突蛋白的更复杂改变。

Such mutations could someday create a need to make changes to the COVID-19 vaccines, just like flu shots must be changed most years.

这种突变可能某天会导致需要对新冠疫苗进行改造，就像大多数年份里必须改造流感疫苗一样。

However, health experts note that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are made with a piece of virus genetic code that is simple to change. Scientists have suggested such changes could be made in as little as six weeks.

然而，健康专家指出，辉瑞和BioNTech公司联合开发疫苗以及莫德纳疫苗都是用一部分易于更改的病毒遗传密码所制成的。科学家们提出，这种改造可以在短短6周内完成。