美国国家公共电台 NPR--Senators grill top health agencies on the U.S. response to monkeypox

Senators grill¹ top health agencies on the U.S. response to monkeypox

Transcript²

In the first congressional hearing on monkeypox, federal officials were criticized for being slow to act, and struggling to apply the lessons of the pandemic to the current outbreak.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The United States has now recorded more than 22,000 monkeypox cases over the past four months. That is more than any other country in the world. But it wasn't until yesterday that Congress held its first hearing on the outbreak. Senators confronted the nation's top health agencies on the U.S. response. Here's North Carolina Republican Richard Burr.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RICHARD BURR: Well, monkeypox is now a public health emergency. It didn't have to become one.

INSKEEP: NPR's Pien Huang has more.

PIEN HUANG, BYLINE³: There's testing available, but patients couldn't access it. There are treatments that could help, but mountains of paperwork that deterred⁴ doctors from prescribing them. At the hearing, Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat⁵ from Washington, said, it's great that the U.S. had these tools.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PATTY MURRAY: But it's also why the stumbles in getting these tools deployed⁶ were especially frustrating⁷ and inexcusable.

HUANG: Monkeypox vaccines⁹ should have been available, but 20 million doses in the national stockpile expired, and fresh doses sat around in a European facility delayed by an FDA inspection¹⁰. Federal health officials say many of these early problems have improved. Access to testing and treatments is better. And on the vaccine⁸ front...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAWN O'CONNELL: We now have enough vaccine supply to meet demand, so it's important that people are able to access it.

HUANG: That's Dawn O'Connell, one of the officials leading the Biden administration's response. Even though the outbreak seems to be slowing down now, there are still concerns. In recent weeks, fewer people have been showing up for testing and vaccines. Janet Hamilton is head of the Council of State and Territorial¹¹ Epidemiologists. She says the work of containing monkeypox is falling on the same public health workers who have been dealing¹² with COVID.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JANET HAMILTON: And while our workforce¹³ is resilient, it's also exhausted¹⁴, and we're continuously asked to do more with less.

HUANG: Hamilton says public health was neglected for years before COVID, leaving the nation unprepared for the pandemic. Now, with monkeypox, we need more staff and better data systems to end this outbreak and to be more ready for the next one. Pien Huang, NPR News.

1 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

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 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

11 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

12 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。

13 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

14 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。