VOA慢速英语2020--俄罗斯的新冠疫苗出现混合反应

Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine¹ Gets Mixed Reaction

People in the United States and Europe welcomed the arrival of the western-made coronavirus vaccine. However, the Russian-made vaccine has not been as popular in Russia.

There are reports of empty medical centers that offer the vaccine to health care workers and teachers. These groups are the first members of the public permitted to receive it.

Russian officials and state-controlled media said the Sputnik V vaccine was a major development. It was approved on August 11. But among Russians, there is concern about the vaccine. Some fear it was hurried to the public while it was still being tested for effectiveness and safety.

Russia faced international criticism for approving a vaccine for tens of thousands of people that had not completed all its testing. Experts both in Russia and worldwide warned against its use until the tests are completed.

Russian officials started offering the vaccine to some high-risk groups, such as medical workers, within weeks of its approval. Alexander Gintsburg is the head of the Gamaleya Institute which developed the vaccine. He said recently that over 150,000 Russians have been vaccinated² with it.

One person who received the shot was Dr. Alexander Zatsepin. He is a critical care specialist in Voronezh, a city 500 kilometers south of Moscow. He received it in October.

"We've been working with COVID-19 patients since March, and every day when we come home, we worry about infecting our family members. So, when some kind of opportunity to protect them and myself appeared, I thought it should be used," he said.

He also said he still makes efforts to protect against infection because studies of the vaccine's effectiveness are not over.

"There is no absolute confidence yet," he said.

After Britain announced December 2 that it had approved a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, President Vladimir Putin told officials to start a large inoculation³ campaign. Many believe this was a sign of the government's desire to be at the front of the race against the pandemic.

Russia approved its vaccine after it was tested on only about 20 people, saying it was "the first in the world" to receive approval. Drug-makers⁴ named it "Sputnik V." Sputnik was the name given to the world's first man-made satellite launched by the former Soviet⁵ Union in 1957.

But the vaccine is about more than national pride.

Russia has had more than 2.7 million cases of COVID-19 and over 49,000 deaths. The country also wants to avoid another damaging lockdown of its economy.

On December 2, Putin announced a target of over 2 million shots in the days ahead. However, Russia's population is 146 million.

Shots are free to everyone in schools or in health centers, social and city workers, service workers and artists.

The European Medicines Agency said it has not received a request from the vaccine makers to license⁶ it for use in the European Union. The Russians did, however, share information about their vaccine with the United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO).

The Russian vaccine is reportedly under consideration for use in a worldwide effort led by the WHO to provide COVID-19 vaccines⁷ to poor countries.

Its developers have said testing suggests the vaccine was 91 percent effective. The number comes from testing on 78 infections among nearly 23,000 participants. That is far fewer cases than Western drug-makers used in testing.

Some experts say public trust may be an issue.

"I don't so much worry about Sputnik V being unsafe or less effective than we need it to be," said Judy Twigg. She is a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth⁸ University who specializes in worldwide health issues.

"I worry about whether or not people are going to be willing to take it in Russia," she said.

A study in October by the Russian Levada Center showed that 59 percent of Russians were unwilling⁹ to get the shots even if they were offered for free.

Words in This Story

absolute – adj. complete and total

inoculate¹⁰ – v. to give a person a weakened form of a disease in order to prevent infection by that disease

pride – n. a feeling of respect for yourself or your nation and a belief that such respect should be shared by others

license –v. to give officials permission to another group to use or produce something through an agreement

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 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 inoculation   

n.接芽；预防接种

参考例句：

• Travellers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 提醒旅游者接种预防黄热病的疫苗是明智的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Travelers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 旅客们被提醒，注射黄热病预防针是明智的。 来自辞典例句

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 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。

8 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

9 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

10 inoculate   

v.给...接种，给...注射疫苗

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits.一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• I was just meant to come out here and inoculate some wee babies.我是过来这边给小孩子们接种疫苗的。