VOA慢速英语2020--Poor Countries Face Long Wait for Vaccines

 

Americans, Britons and Canadians are finally receiving a vaccine¹ for the new coronavirus.

It will take several months to vaccinate² everyone, but the end of the COVID-19 health crisis in these countries seems near.

But for poorer countries, the end seems far away.

The World Health Organization (WHO) created the COVAX program to provide vaccine doses to poor countries. It has, however, only secured a small percentage of the two billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year. The program has not confirmed any deals for vaccines³. It also is short of money.

COVAX is similar to the alliances GAVI and CEPI which seek to provide vaccines and other aid to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

More than 1.6 million deaths are blamed on the coronavirus. Some experts now say it is unlikely that vaccine doses will be shared between rich and poor nations.

Vaccine supplies are limited and the governments of developed countries are under a lot of pressure to vaccinate their own populations. They are buying up available doses, pointing out that their development is the result of taxes paid by their citizens.

Some poorer countries that signed up with COVAX, and expected it to represent their needs, are worried.

"It's simple math," said Arnaud Bernaert. He is head of worldwide health at the World Economic Forum⁴.

The pharmaceutical⁵ industry is expected to create about 12 billion doses next year. Of that amount, 9 billion doses have already been bought by rich countries.

"COVAX has not secured enough doses... they will probably only get these doses fairly late," Bernaert said.

COVAX's only confirmed agreement is for up to 200 million doses. It includes an option to order several hundred million more, GAVI spokesman James Fulker said. It also has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally confirmed.

The 200 million doses will come from the Serum⁶ Institute of India (SII). SII is a company that will likely make most of the vaccine headed for the developing world. SII chief Adar Poonawalla said it has a confirmed order for 100 million doses of two vaccines. Oxford⁷ University and AstraZeneca developed one and another is from Novovax.

He said COVAX's lack of confirmed orders will mean a much longer wait for people in developing countries. He also said his company's most important goal is making vaccine doses for India, which may need at least 300 million.

Asked by The Associated Press why COVAX only made a confirmed agreement with the Serum Institute for 200 million vaccines, WHO's Dr. Bruce Aylward said they would go back to the company "to make sure they have the assurances they need."

COVAX does not have the two vaccines that appear to be the most effective and are approved or near approval: the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna shots. Instead, COVAX has orders for the AstraZeneca and the Novovax vaccines. Neither has been approved.

Top officials at the WHO have also quietly agreed that the COVAX program has problems.

"The whole call for global solidarity⁸ has mostly been lost," said Dr. Katherine O'Brien, WHO's vaccines chief. Her comments were recorded during a private discussion and given to the Associated Press.

Asked about her statement, O'Brien said in an email that "every country should have access to COVID-19 vaccines, as early as feasible."

Earlier this month, O'Brien said at a news conference that COVAX still needs an additional $5 billion to buy the vaccines it needs.

John Nkengasong is director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He criticized Western countries for buying up the world's vaccine supply "in excess of their needs..."

Because there are several vaccines and it is possible that not all of them will work, some governments made several agreements. Canada, for example, bought nearly 200 million vaccines. Its population is about 38 million.

Because of fears that COVAX will fail, some countries, like Malaysia, Peru and Bangladesh, have recently made agreements with drugmakers.

Kate Elder is a vaccines policy adviser⁹ at Doctors Without Borders. She said it appears "the ship has sailed on equitable¹⁰ vaccine distribution."

Words in This Story

dose – n. the amount of a medicine or vaccine that is needed to be effective against disease

pharmaceutical – adj. related to the production and sale of drugs and medicines

option – n. one of two or more choices or possibilities

assurance – n. a strong statement that something will happen

global – adj. involving the whole world, worldwide

feasible – adj. possible, able to be done

equitable –adj. just, dealing¹¹ fairly and equally with everybody

distribution – n. the act of delivering something to people

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

6 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。