VOA慢速英语2021 越来越多美国人愿意接种新冠疫苗（在线收听）

As more Americans are being vaccinated, more people say they are now willing to get the shots than in January.

随着越来越多美国人接种疫苗，与一月份相比，有越来越多人声称他们现在愿意接种疫苗。

However, questions about side effects and how the shots were tested still hold some people back. This presents a challenge for U.S. health officials who are ready to expand vaccination to children as young as 12 years old.

然而，关于疫苗副作用及其测试方法的疑问仍然让一些人望而却步。这对准备将疫苗接种年龄扩大到12岁儿童的美国卫生官员提出了挑战。

The AP-NORC survey, released Tuesday, found 1 in 5 American adults now say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated. In January, when the shots were first given out, opinion researchers found about 1 in 3 said that they would not get vaccinated.

美联社和全美民意调查中心周二发布的调查结果显示，目前有20%的美国成年人声称他们可能或是绝对不会接种疫苗。在一月份刚开始接种疫苗时，民意调查人员发现有1/3的被调查者声称他们不会接种疫苗。

African Americans are becoming more open to the shots, with 26 percent now saying they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated compared with 41 percent in January.

非裔美国人对疫苗变得更加开放，有26%的非裔美国人现在表示他们肯定或是可能不会接种疫苗，相比之下1月份有41%。

That is similar to the 22 percent of Hispanic Americans. Among Asian Americans, just nine percent said they definitely or probably will not get the shots.

这跟22%的西班牙裔美国人情况相似。在亚裔美国人当中，只有9%的被调查者表示他们绝对或可能不会接种疫苗。

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than 150 million people — about 58 percent of all adults — have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

美国疾控中心表示，美国已经有超过1.5亿人至少接种了一剂疫苗，这占到了所有成年人的58%。

Among those who remain unvaccinated, only 34 percent of people in the study say they definitely will not get the shot. About three-fourths of those who said they are unlikely to get vaccinated have little to no confidence that the vaccines were tested enough. Some 55 percent were very concerned about side effects.

在仍未接种疫苗的群体中，只有34%的被调查者表示他们绝对不会接种疫苗。自称可能不会接种疫苗的群体当中，约有3/4的人对疫苗是否经过了足够测试几乎没有信心。大约55%的人士非常担心副作用。

The numbers, however, mean a large number of unvaccinated Americans could be persuaded to get the shots.

然而这些数字意味着有大量未接种疫苗的美国人可以被说服接种疫苗。

Kizzmekia Corbett is an immunologist with the National Institutes of Health. Corbett helped lead development of the Moderna shot. She spends hours giving answers to questions from Americans — especially African Americans like her. Her job is to fight against misinformation about the three vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S.

基兹梅基亚·科贝特是美国国立卫生研究院的免疫学家。科贝特协助领导了莫德纳疫苗的开发。她花费数小时回复了美国人，尤其是像她这样的非裔美国人的疑问。她的工作是打击那些关于美国批准用于紧急用途的3种疫苗的错误信息。

She tells people the COVID-19 vaccines will not cause inability to bear children. Also, the speedy development of vaccines does not mean they are less safe, Corbett told the AP.

她告诉人们，新冠肺炎疫苗不会导致不孕。此外，科贝特告诉美联社，疫苗的快速开发并不意味着它们的安全性降低。

Corbett has attended gatherings held by colleges, African American religious leaders, doctors, and even basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to talk about the vaccine. She said the best way to overcome distrust is to explain the science in understandable terms for strangers just like she does for her family.

科贝特参加了由大学、非遗美国人宗教领袖、医生，甚至是篮球巨星贾巴尔举办的各种聚会，以讨论疫苗。她说，克服不信任的最好办法是用可以理解的方式向陌生人做出科学解释，就像她对自己家人做的那样。

But "really, we should have started the conversations very early about what went into it," she said. This way, the public would have understood that no steps were missed in vaccine development.

她说：“但是确实我们原本应该很早就其实质展开对话。”这样，公众就能理解疫苗开发过程不会省略任何步骤。

Last month, U.S. health officials temporarily paused the use of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. They wanted to find out how to deal with a very rare risk of blood system blockages, known as blood clots. Even after that pause, overall confidence in the vaccines has increased compared with a few months ago.

上个月，美国卫生官员暂停了强生疫苗的使用。他们想要找出如何处理血栓这种极其罕见的风险。即使停顿了这段时间，与几个月前相比，人们对疫苗的总体信心还是有所提高。

Expanding shots to children

扩大对儿童接种

On Monday, U.S. health officials expanded the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12.

美国卫生官员周一将辉瑞公司的新冠疫苗的使用范围扩大到年龄低至12岁儿童。

Dr. Peter Marks is vaccine chief for the Food and Drug Administration. He said, "Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step" in the effort against COVID-19."

皮特·马克斯博士是美国食品和药品监督管理局的疫苗主管。他说：“在抗击新冠肺炎的努力中，批准用于年轻群体的疫苗是至关重要的一步。”

Approval for the shots comes before students return to school in autumn and to more normal activities. Shots could become available this week for the nation's 12 to 15-year-olds.

这些疫苗的批准发生在学生秋季返校以及回归正常生活之前。该国年龄在12到15岁的儿童可能会在本周获得疫苗。

Pfizer is not the only company seeking to lower the age limit for use of its vaccine. Moderna recently said early results from its study on 12 to 17-year-olds showed strong protection and no serious side effects. Another U.S. company, Novavax, has started studying its vaccine, which is in development, in the same age group.

辉瑞并非唯一一家希望降低其疫苗适用年龄限制的公司。莫德纳公司最近表示，该公司对12至17岁儿童的研究的早期结果显示出了强大的保护效果，并且没有发生严重副作用。另一家名为诺瓦瓦克斯的美国公司已经开始在相同年龄组中对其开发中的疫苗进行研究。

Experts say children must get the shots if the country is to vaccinate the 70 to 85 percent of the population necessary to reach what is called herd immunity. That term describes a condition where enough people have become immune to an infectious disease that it is no longer a threat to people who are not immune to it.

专家表示，如果美国想要有70%到85%的人口接种疫苗以实现群体免疫，则必须给儿童接种。群体免疫描述了一种状态，即有足够多人已经对某种传染病免疫，这种疾病不再对未免疫群体构成威胁。

Words in This Story

challenge –n. a difficult task or problem; something that is hard to do

probably –adv. something that is likely to happen

definitely –adv. without doubt; in a way that is sure or clear

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

confidence –n. a feeling of being sure that something will happen or that something is true

conversation –n. an informal talk involving two or a small group of people

authorized –n. to give legal or official approval