VOA慢速英语2021 如何应对新冠肺炎新变种（在线收听）

As countries race to vaccinate people against COVID-19, new variants of the coronavirus are again raising concerns around the world.

各国正在竞相为本国公民接种新冠肺炎疫苗，而冠状病毒的新变种再次引起全世界的关注。

In the U.S., about 1.7 million people are receiving shots from drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna each day. The two vaccines were approved for emergency use in late 2020 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drugs have also received permission for emergency use in Europe, South Korea and Japan.

美国每天有约170万人接种辉瑞和德国生物新技术公司联合研发的疫苗以及莫德纳公司的疫苗。这两种疫苗于2020年底由美国食品和药物管理局（简称FDA）批准紧急使用。这两种疫苗在欧洲、韩国和日本也获得了紧急使用许可。

Sputnik V, a vaccine developed by Russia's Ministry of Health is being given to people in Russia, Belarus, Venezuela and other countries. China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have received emergency use permission in China, United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Egypt.

俄罗斯卫生部研制的“卫星-V”疫苗正在向俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、委内瑞拉和其他国家的民众提供。中国国药集团和科兴生物公司的疫苗已在中国、阿联酋、巴西和埃及获得紧急使用许可。

Several other vaccines, including those from drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca, are awaiting decisions from health officials in some countries. At the same time, the United Nations-backed COVAX program wants to provide 2 billion vaccine treatments to lower-income countries around the world to fight the virus.

包括药品制造商强生的疫苗和牛津-阿斯利康联合研发的疫苗在内，其他疫苗正在等待一些国家卫生官员的决定。与此同时，联合国支持的新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划（简称COVAX）希望向全球低收入国家提供20亿剂疫苗，以抗击病毒。

Worrisome variants

令人担忧的变种

周一，美国食品和药物管理局（简称FDA）表示，制药商不必为了对抗新变种而开始新的疫苗试验。这家卫生机构补充称，这些公司可以对每年的流感疫苗注射采用类似的流程，以测试更新疫苗的有效性。

Like other viruses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is always changing and has been changing all along. Sometimes new variants appear and disappear. Other times, new variants appear and spread across many countries.

与其他病毒一样，美国疾病控制和预防中心（简称CDC）表示，引发新冠肺炎的冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2总是在变化，而且一直在变化。有时，新变种出现或消失。其他时候，新变种出现并在许多国家蔓延。

The head of Britain's vaccination effort said the world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. But three variants found to have come from South Africa, Britain and Brazil are most worrisome.

英国疫苗接种工作的负责人表示，全世界面临着约4000种导致新冠肺炎的病毒变种。但最令人担忧的是，来自南非、英国和巴西的三个变种。

Drug makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech said they are developing additional booster shots to fight against the worrisome variants. Others noted their shots have shown different levels of effectiveness against the variants.

制药商莫德纳以及辉瑞和德国生物新技术公司表示，他们正在开发额外的增强剂，以对抗令人担忧的变种。其他公司指出，他们的疫苗在对抗变种方面表现出不同程度的有效性。

On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that drug makers would not have to start new trials for vaccines adapted to fight against the new variants. The health agency added that the companies could use a similar process for the yearly influenza shot to test the effectiveness of the updated vaccines.

制药商莫德纳以及辉瑞和德国生物新技术公司表示，他们正在开发额外的增强剂，以对抗令人担忧的变种。其他公司指出，他们的疫苗在对抗变种方面表现出不同程度的有效性。

Take the vaccine

接种疫苗

Dr. Gigi Gronvall is a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She spoke with reporters last week to discuss vaccines and their effectiveness against the coronavirus variants. Gronvall said some people are worried that the vaccine will not work against the variants. But she wanted people to understand that if they can get a vaccine, they should take it.

吉吉·格伦瓦尔博士是马里兰州巴尔的摩市约翰霍普金斯大学的教授。她上周接受记者采访时，谈到了疫苗及其对抗冠状病毒变种的有效性。格伦瓦尔表示，有些人担心疫苗对这些变种不起作用。但她希望人们明白，如果他们能接种疫苗，他们就应该接种。

"If you've had the vaccine and your friend has not, and you're both exposed to somebody who has the virus, the likelihood that you're going to get sick is 95 percent less, so you have a 95 percent less risk than your friend. So that's the way you should be thinking about it."

“如果你已经接种了疫苗，而你的朋友没有接种，你们二人都和病毒感染者接触过，那你生病的可能性要低95%，也就是你的风险比你的朋友低95%。你应该这样想。”

Dr. Andy Pekosz, another Johns Hopkins University professor, joined Gronvall in the video call with reporters. He noted that the variants from South Africa and Britain came when the virus was spreading easily. He said every time the virus moves to a new person, it can change slightly. So, the way to prevent more changes in the virus is to prevent it from moving to a new person through vaccination.

约翰霍普金斯大学的另一位教授安迪·佩科兹博士也加入了格伦瓦尔与记者的视频通话。他指出，来自南非和英国的变种是在病毒很容易传播的时候出现的。他表示，病毒每感染一个人，都会出现轻微变化。因此，防止病毒发生更多变化的方法是通过接种疫苗防止病毒继续感染其他人。

"That really is the critical thing. You've seen the emergence of variants during times when countries have had really peak amounts of virus spread."

“这才是关键。在一些国家的病毒传播达到峰值时，变种就已经出现。”

The two scientists added that along with vaccines, public health officials should continue to emphasize other preventive measures, including wearing face coverings and spending time in areas with good air flow.

这两位科学家补充表示，除了疫苗之外，公共卫生官员还应继续强调其他预防措施，包括佩戴口罩以及待在空气流通良好的地区。

Words in This Story

variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

income –n. money that is earned from work, investments and business; used to describe the average amount of money people make is a certain place

booster (shot) –n. an extra amount of a vaccine that is injected into a person or animal that improves or extends protection against a targeted disease

expose - v. to cause something to be affected by a virus or something that could be harmful

emphasize - v. to give special attention to something

critical - adj. extremely important

peak - adj. filled with the most activity