VOA慢速英语2021 研究称辉瑞公司疫苗对新冠病毒变种同样有效

A new study suggests that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine¹ is effective against new forms of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa.

一项新研究称，辉瑞公司的新冠肺炎疫苗可以有效抵抗在英国和南非发现的新类型的新冠病毒。

Researchers say they collected blood from 20 people who received the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Antibodies from those individuals were found to work against the coronavirus in laboratory experiments.

研究人员表示，他们采集了20名接种过辉瑞公司及其德国合作伙伴BioNTech公司联合开发疫苗的人士的血液。在实验室的实验中发现这些人的抗体可以抵抗新冠病毒。

Mutated versions, or variants³, of the coronavirus first appeared in Britain and South Africa. The two variants have caused concern among world health experts because they appear to spread more easily than the first version. The mutated variant² found in Britain has also appeared in the United States and other countries.

新冠病毒变种最早出现在英国和南非。这两种变种引起了全球卫生专家的关注，因为它似乎比第一代病毒更容易传播。在英国发现的病毒变种也出现在美国和其它国家。

The study looked at a change in the so-called "spike⁴" protein that permits the virus to infect human cells. Both new coronavirus variants share the change.

这项研究着眼于使得该病毒得以感染人类细胞的所谓“尖峰蛋白”的变化。两种新冠病毒变种都有这种变化。

Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch carried out the new research. Information about the study was recently published online. But outside experts have not yet examined the findings.

辉瑞公司和得克萨斯大学医学分部的科学家进行了这项研究。该研究的有关信息最近在网上发布。但是外部专家尚未对该研究结果进行审查。

The research is limited because it did not examine the full set of mutations in either form of the new variants. However, University of Pennsylvania virus expert Dr. Frederic Bushman told The Associated Press it is likely the new vaccines⁶ will work just as well on the virus variants.

该研究具有局限性，因为它并未审查任何新变种的完整突变。然而，宾夕法尼亚大学病毒专家弗雷德里克·布什曼博士对美联社表示，新疫苗可能对该病毒变种同样有效。

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first to receive approval for emergency use in the United States. Pfizer has said early trials suggested the vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. The vaccine developed by American drug-maker Moderna and one developed by Oxford⁷ University and Britain's AstraZeneca have also been approved for use in some Western countries.

辉瑞和BioNTech联合开发疫苗是美国首个获得紧急使用授权的疫苗。辉瑞公司表示，早期试验表明该疫苗的有效率在90%以上。由美国制药商莫德纳公司开发的疫苗以及由牛津大学和英国阿斯利康公司联合开发的疫苗也在一些西方国家获得了批准。

Bushman, who was not part of the Pfizer study, said the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are also being tested against the new variants. He said he expects similar results in those studies. This is because all the vaccines are designed to cause the body to produce antibodies against several parts of the spike protein that covers the virus.

布什曼并未参与辉瑞公司的这项研究，他说莫德纳公司和阿斯利康公司的疫苗也正在进行针对新变种的试验。他称预期这些试验会有类似结果。这是因为所有疫苗都旨在使人体产生针对覆盖病毒的刺突蛋白的几个部位的抗体。

"A mutation⁵ will change one little place, but it's not going to disrupt binding⁸ to all of them," Bushman said.

布什曼表示：“突变只会改变一个小地方，但是不会破坏所有结合。”

Philip Dormitzer is the chief scientific officer for Pfizer. He called findings of the new study "reassuring⁹." He said the research shows the mutation "does not seem to be a problem" for the vaccine.

菲利普·多米策是辉瑞公司的首席科学官。他称这项研究结果“令人放心。”他说研究表明这种突变对该疫苗来说似乎不算问题。

Dormitzer said the company has tested 16 different virus mutations. So far, none have shown resistance to the vaccine.

多米策表示，该公司已经测试了16种不同的病毒突变。到目前为止它们都没有显示出对该疫苗的耐药性。

Some scientists have expressed greater concern about the new variant found in South Africa.

一些科学家对南非发现的新变种表达了极大关注。

Simon Clarke is a professor of cellular¹⁰ microbiology at the University of Reading in Britain. He told the Reuters news agency that the South Africa variant "has a number of additional mutations." They include more complex changes to the spike protein.

西蒙·克拉克是英国雷丁大学细胞微生物学教授。他对路透社表示，南非变种有其它许多突变。它们包括对刺突蛋白的更复杂改变。

Such mutations could someday create a need to make changes to the COVID-19 vaccines, just like flu shots must be changed most years.

这种突变可能某天会导致需要对新冠疫苗进行改造，就像大多数年份里必须改造流感疫苗一样。

However, health experts note that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are made with a piece of virus genetic¹¹ code that is simple to change. Scientists have suggested such changes could be made in as little as six weeks.

然而，健康专家指出，辉瑞和BioNTech公司联合开发疫苗以及莫德纳疫苗都是用一部分易于更改的病毒遗传密码所制成的。科学家们提出，这种改造可以在短短6周内完成。

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 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

3 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

6 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。

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 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

9 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

10 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

11 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。