VOA慢速英语--辉瑞公司研究以色列的新冠病毒疫苗接种运动

Israel's fast vaccination¹ effort is providing important information about drug company Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine².

Reporters with the Reuters news agency spoke³ to leading scientists in Israel and other places, Israeli health officials, hospital heads and two of the country's largest healthcare providers. The aim was to find the latest information about the country's especially fast vaccination campaign.

About 3.5 million Israelis have been fully⁴ or partly vaccinated⁵. That is more than half of people who are in groups that are supposed to be vaccinated first. These groups are showing a sharp drop in infections.

Eran Segal is a data scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. He said there was a 53 percent reduction in new cases in the first fully vaccinated group. In addition, there were 39 percent fewer hospitalizations and a 31 percent drop in severe illnesses from the middle of January until February 6, Segal said.

More information will be known in two weeks, as teams study the vaccine's effectiveness in younger groups of Israelis and people with certain conditions.

"We need to have enough variety of people in that subgroup and enough follow-up time so you can make the right conclusions, and we are getting to that point," said Ran Balicer. He is an official with the Israeli health services provider Clalit.

Pfizer is watching the Israeli effort each week to understand more about the vaccine and how it is working.

Israel's campaign provides Pfizer and its partner, Germany's BioNTech, with an unusual chance. The small country has healthcare for all its citizens, and the ability to gather and study data. Israel also has quickly provided the vaccine to its citizens.

Israel still faces struggles in its effort to fight the virus. The country's third national lockdown has not slowed the spread of COVID-19. A fast-spreading variant⁶ of the virus that was first found in Britain is now spreading in Israel. So far, the Pfizer/BioNTech shot appears to be effective against it.

"We've so far identified the same 90 percent to 95 percent efficacy against the British strain," said Hezi Levi. He is a director-general of the Israeli Health Ministry⁷.

The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, or shots, to be effective. For this reason, Levi said it is too early to know about levels of protection because many people only received the second dose in the last week. He added that it is still too early to know whether the vaccine is effective against another fast-spreading virus variant that began in South Africa.

Good results so far

Israel began its vaccination program on December 19. It paid a high price for supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Four days later, the fast-spreading British variant was found in four people in Israel.

After that, Israel decided⁸ to begin giving shots to people over the age of 60. Over time, it has opened the program to the rest of the population.

Information gathered by Israeli healthcare provider Maccabi shows that only six out of every 10,000 people got infected with COVID-19 one week after receiving their second Pfizer dose. By 22 days after full vaccination, no infections were recorded.

Pfizer says its vaccine's effectiveness starts one week after the second dose is given.

One important question is whether vaccines⁹ can end the pandemic. Michal Linial is a professor of molecular¹⁰ biology and bioinformatics at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. She said data from the past suggests that viruses become endemic and seasonal¹¹.

She predicted the coronavirus would become far less aggressive, possibly requiring an additional shot within three years.

She added, "The virus is not going anywhere."

Words in This Story

variety –n. a number or collection of different things or people

conclusion –n. a final opinion or judgement

strain –n. a group of closely related living things

dose –n. the amount of medicine or vaccine needed to cure or help a condition

contagious¹² –adj. able to be passed from one person or animal to another

endemic –n. common to a place

1 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。

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 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？

6 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。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 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。

10 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

11 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

12 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。