VOA慢速英语--两家制药公司将开发针对COVID-19变种的疫苗

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says it will team up with a German company to develop new vaccines² to target variants⁴ of the new coronavirus.

The announcement comes as concern grows that some changes, or mutations, in the virus that causes COVID-19 are making the health crisis harder to fight.

GSK plans to invest $181 million to support research efforts of Germany's CureVac, which is developing vaccines that use messenger RNA, or mRNA, to attack the virus.

GSK said it will also help make up to 100 million doses of the company's existing COVID-19 vaccine¹ candidate this year.

In a recent statement, the companies said there is a need to increase efforts against new variants "to keep one step ahead of the pandemic."

The announcement comes as public health officials around the world raise concerns about new virus variants that may spread faster or resist existing vaccines.

While viruses continually change, most of the changes cause little concern. But scientists are closely following new mutations in an effort to quickly identify new variants that might cause problems.

Officials in England are carrying out special coronavirus testing in targeted communities. The move is aimed at stopping a new variant³ before it spreads widely and hurts a nationwide vaccination⁶ program. The variant was first identified in South Africa.

The British testing effort, involving about 80,000 people, will center on eight areas where the variant is believed to be spreading. A number of cases were found in people who had no contact with South Africa or anyone who traveled there.

Public health officials are concerned about the variant first identified in South Africa because it contains a mutation⁵ of the virus' spike⁷ protein. The spike protein is targeted by existing vaccines. The mutation may mean the vaccines offer less protection against the variant.

"We believe that next generation vaccines will be crucial in the continued fight against COVID-19," GSK Chief Executive Emma Walmsley said in the statement. Crucial is a term that means very important.

Walmsley added in the statement, "we [GSK and CureVac] will combine our scientific expertise⁸ in mRNA and vaccine development to advance and accelerate the development of new COVID-19 vaccine candidates.''

Words in This Story

variant – n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

dose – n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

spike protein – n. a kind of protein that protrudes⁹ from some viruses

advance – v. to move forward

accelerate – v. to move faster : to gain speed

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 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。

3 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。

4 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

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 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

7 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。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 protrudes   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My part that protrudes from the gum has a'skin" of enamel. 在我突出于齿龈的部分有一层珐琅“皮”。 来自辞典例句
• Hyperplasia median lobe of the prostate produces a polypoid mass that protrudes in the bladder lumen. 前列腺中叶异常增生，表现为息肉样肿物，突入膀胱腔内。 来自互联网