VOA慢速英语2021 美国大部分阿米什人不信任疫苗（在线收听）

Almost 180 million Americans — about 54 percent of the population — have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Experts say low vaccination rates could permit the virus to become stronger and spread easily again.

近1.8亿美国人至少接种了第一针新冠肺炎疫苗，这大约占到了美国人口的54%。专家表示，疫苗接种率不高可能会使病毒变得更加强大，并且更容易再次传播。

Trust and use of the vaccine is less common in rural areas of the United States, especially among Amish people. They are deeply religious Christians who reject much of modern life. One large community of Amish lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

对疫苗的信任和接种在美国农村地区并不太常见，尤其是在阿米什人当中。他们是虔诚的基督徒，拒绝大部分的现代生活。其中一个阿米什人大社区位于宾夕法尼亚州兰开斯特市。

When state health care leaders began planning COVID-19 vaccine campaigns, they knew it would be a difficult to persuade the Amish to accept vaccination.

当州卫生保健负责人开始规划新冠肺炎疫苗运动时，他们知道会很难说服阿米什人接种疫苗。

Early on, health care workers placed vaccine information at farm supply stores and at places where the Amish sell their goods. They also advertised the vaccine in a newspaper widely read by the Amish.

在早期，卫生保健工作者将疫苗信息放到了农资商店以及阿米什人出售商品的地方。他们还在一份阿米什人广泛阅读的报纸上宣传疫苗。

By May, two rural vaccination centers had opened near the Amish in Lancaster. During the first six weeks, 400 people showed up for shots. Only 12 were Amish.

到了5月，兰开斯特的阿米什人社区附近开设了两处农村疫苗接种中心。在最初的六周里，有400人过来接种。其中只有12人是阿米什人。

Vaccination efforts are far behind in many Amish communities across the U.S.

美国各地许多阿米什人社区的疫苗接种工作都远远落后。

Nearly two-thirds of the estimated 345,000 Amish in the U.S live in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Ohio's Holmes County, home to the nation's largest Amish community, just 14 percent of the county's overall population is fully vaccinated.

美国预计有34.5万名阿米什人，其中近三分之二生活在印第安纳州、宾夕法尼亚州和俄亥俄州。俄亥俄州的霍姆斯县是全美最大的阿米什社区的所在地，但是该县只有14%的人口完全接种了疫苗。

Though vaccine acceptance differs among communities, the Amish often depend on family tradition and advice from clergy. A main belief of their religion is that God controls sickness and death.

尽管疫苗接受度在各个社区当中有所不同，但阿米什人通常依赖家族传统和神职人员的建议。他们宗教的一个主要信仰就是上帝控制疾病和死亡。

Alice Yoder is the director of community health at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, a medical network in Pennsylvania. She says many Amish do not think they need the COVID-19 vaccine because they have already gotten sick. They believe their communities are now protected from the disease.

爱丽丝·尤德是宾夕法尼亚大学医院兰开斯特综合卫生中心的社区卫生主管。她说许多阿米什人认为他们不需要新冠肺炎疫苗，因为他们已经感染过了。他们认为他们社区现在已经对这种疾病免疫。

Experts say the low vaccination rates are a result of both the nature of the Amish and the general vaccine disinterest found in much of rural America.

专家表示，疫苗接种率低是阿米什人特性以及美国大部分农村地区普遍对疫苗漠不关心双重作用的结果。

Public health officials have tried to fight the misinformation and disinterest.

公共卫生官员试图与错误信息以及漠不关心作斗争。

Michael Derr is the chief of public health in Holmes County, Ohio.

迈克尔·德尔是俄亥俄州霍姆斯县的公共卫生主管。

"It's not due to lack of effort," Derr said. "But this thing is so politically charged."

德尔表示：“这不是因为缺乏努力，但是这件事充满了政治色彩。”

Most experts advise that people get vaccinated even if they have had COVID-19. Researchers believe the vaccine increases protection against the coronavirus.

大多数专家建议人们接种疫苗，即使他们感染过新冠肺炎。研究人员认为疫苗可以增强对新冠病毒的防护。

Steven Nolt is a history and religion professor at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

斯蒂文·诺尔特是宾夕法尼亚州伊莉莎白敦学院再洗礼派和虔诚派研究中心的历史和宗教学教授。

Nolt said that during the first months of the pandemic, the Amish followed social distancing guidelines. They stopped gathering for religious services and funerals.

诺尔特表示，在大流行的头几个月里，阿米什人遵循了社交隔离准则。他们停止了宗教服务和葬礼的聚集。

But when non-Amish neighbors and local politicians began to protest government guidelines, the Amish began to gather again. Nolt noted that a sudden and sharp increase of COVID-19 followed in the summer.

但是当非阿米什人邻居和当地政客开始抗议政府的指导方针时，阿米什人又开始聚集。诺尔特指出，随后的夏季新冠肺炎突然急剧增长。

Most Amish now say they have already had the virus and do not see a need to get vaccinated, said Mark Raber. Raber is Amish and lives in Daviess County, Indiana, which has one of the state's lowest vaccination rates.

马克·拉伯表示，大多数阿米什人现在声称他们已经感染过病毒，没有必要再去接种疫苗。拉伯是住在印第安纳州戴维斯县的阿米什人，该县是印第安纳州接种率最低的县之一。

Raber said about the vaccine, "As long as everything stays the same, I don't think I'll get it."

拉伯在谈到疫苗时表示：“只要情况不发生变化，我认为我不会去接种疫苗。”