美国有线新闻 CNN 早期结果显示疫苗对南非新冠变体效果不佳（在线收听）

New variants or strains of COVID-19 are appearing around the world, as it mutates like other viruses do and one big question being asked is, will existing vaccines protect people against the new versions of coronavirus?

新冠肺炎新变种或毒株正在世界各地出现，当它就像其他病毒一样发生变异时，一个重要问题是，现有疫苗能保护人们免受冠状病毒新变种的侵害吗？

The short answer is, scientists don't know yet. One of these new COVID strains was first seen in South Africa and several drugmakers say early tests indicate their vaccines aren't as effective against the South African strain as they are against the dominant strain spreading in the U.S.

简短的回答是，科学家尚不知道答案。一种新冠肺炎新毒株最早出现在南非，一些制药商表示，早期测试结果表明，他们的疫苗对南非毒株的效果不如对在美国传播的主要毒株的效果好。

Two companies, Moderna and Pfizer say they may develop booster shots if their existing vaccines don't work against new coronavirus strains.

莫德纳和辉瑞两家公司表示，如果现有疫苗对冠状病新毒株不起作用，他们可能会开发增强版疫苗。

America has seen a decrease in recent COVID-19 infections. On Sunday, just over 88,000 new positive tests were reported in the country and it was the first day this year that fewer than 100,000 were reported.

最近，美国的新冠肺炎感染人数有所减少。周日，全美报告的新增阳性检测病例仅有8.8万多例，这是今年首次日报告阳性检测数不足10万例。

But a medical expert told CNN that the U.S. could be in the eye of the hurricane — meaning a decrease in cases that's only temporary because of the new disease variants that are spreading.

但是一名医学专家对CNN表示，美国可能正处于“飓风中心”，这意味着由于新变种正在蔓延，病例的减少只是暂时的。