VOA慢速英语2021 英国疫苗大臣称全球约有4000种新冠病毒变种（在线收听）

The head of Britain's vaccination deployment effort says the world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.

英国疫苗接种工作负责人表示，世界上大约有4000种新冠病毒变种。

As a result of new mutated versions, vaccine manufacturers are looking for ways to improve the shots to resist the virus variants, Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Thursday.

英国疫苗部署大臣纳迪姆·扎哈维周四表示，由于这些新变种，疫苗制造商正在寻找办法提高抵抗这些病毒变种的能力。

British researchers plan to test a mix of two vaccines - the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca injections - to see if the two together can create stronger immunity.

英国研究人员计划测试辉瑞-BioNTech以及牛津-阿斯利康这两种疫苗的混合物，看它们是否能产生更强的免疫力。

Experts say thousands of individual changes arise as the virus mutates and develops into new variants over time. However, only a small number of mutations are likely to change the virus in an important way, the British Medical Journal reports.

专家表示，随着时间推移病毒变异和发展出新变种，会出现成千上万的个体差异。然而，《英国医学杂志》报道称，只有少数变异有可能以重要方式改变病毒。

So far, the most concerning versions identified by scientists are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants, which appear to spread more quickly than others.

到目前为止，科学家发现的最引人关注的病毒版本是所谓的英国、南非和巴西变种，它们的扩散速度似乎比其它病毒变种更快。

Zahawi said it was likely that the vaccines available now will be effective against the new virus variants.

扎哈维表示，现有疫苗也许能够有效对抗这些新的病毒变种。

"It's very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants...especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalization," Zahawi told Britain's Sky News.

扎哈维对英国《天空新闻》表示：“现有疫苗对病毒变种无效的可能性很小，尤其是在严重疾病和住院治疗方面。”

He said major vaccine manufacturers are working on ways "to make sure that we are ready for any variant," adding that "there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now."

他说，主要疫苗生产商正在努力“确保我们为任何变种做好准备，”并称“现在全球大约有4000种新冠病毒变种。”

"We are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond...to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine," Zahawi said.

扎哈维表示：“我们正在保存所有变种的病毒库，以便对这种病毒可能带来的挑战做出应对，并生产出下一代疫苗。”

The coronavirus has killed 2.2 million people worldwide since it was found in late 2019, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reports.

据约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院报告称，自2019年年底发现新冠病毒以来，它已经导致全球220万人死亡。

Israel leads the world in effectively vaccinating its citizens. It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany.

以色列在全民有效接种方面领先全球。紧随其后的是阿联酋、英国、巴林、美国，然后是西班牙、意大利和德国。

Britain has begun a trial to consider the immune response that comes from using the vaccines from both Pfizer and AstraZeneca in two injections. Results of the trial are expected in June.

英国已经开始进行一项试验，查看注射两针辉瑞和阿斯利康疫苗带来的免疫反应。试验结果预计在今年6月出台。

The trial will combine an mRNA injection -- such as the one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech -- and an adenovirus viral vector vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Viral vector vaccines carry genes that prepare the body to fight against COVID-19.

这项试验将结合辉瑞和BioNtech联合开发的mRNA疫苗以及牛津大学和阿斯利康联合开发的一种腺病毒载体疫苗。腺病毒载体疫苗携带了可以让人体抵抗新冠病毒的基因。

Russia's Sputnik V is also a viral vector vaccine. In a separate trial, it is being tested in combination with AstraZeneca's vaccine.

俄罗斯的Sputnik V疫苗也是一种腺病毒载体疫苗。在另一项试验中，它正在阿斯利康的疫苗进行联合测试。

The British researchers said there are two main advantages to vaccinating people with two different vaccine versions: it may increase immune responses and it would give governments more ways to get the vaccines out to their populations.

英国研究人员表示，给人们注射两种不同版本的疫苗有两个主要优点：它可以提高免疫反应，并且将为政府提供更多将疫苗分发给民众的途径。

Matthew Snape is an Oxford vaccine expert who is leading the trial. He told reporters that using different vaccine injections had proven to be effective in fighting Ebola. He added that scientists believe the new combinations will create a "good immune response."

马修·斯内普是牛津大学的疫苗专家，他正领导这项试验。斯内普对记者表示，事实证明接种不同疫苗可以有效对抗埃博拉。他还说，科学家认为新组合将产生“良好的免疫反应。”