VOA慢速英语2021 美国投资3亿美元开发新冠肺炎抗病毒药物

The United States is spending $3.2 billion to develop drugs to fight COVID-19 and other viruses that could turn into pandemics.

美国将斥资32亿美元用于开发对抗新冠肺炎和其它可能演变成大流行的病毒的药物。

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the nation's top infectious disease expert. He announced the investment during a Thursday briefing at the White House. The investment is part of a new "antiviral program for pandemics" that will develop drugs to treat diseases caused by dangerous viruses like the coronavirus.

安东尼·福奇博士是美国顶级传染病专家。他在周四的白宫简报会上宣布了这项投资。这项投资是一项新的“大流行病抗病毒计划”的一部分，该计划将开发药物，用于治疗由新冠病毒等危险病毒引发的疾病。

The investment will speed up human trials of several promising¹ drugs to treat COVID-19. Some are already under development and could be ready by year's end. The money will also provide support for research, development and manufacturing.

这项投资将加速几种治疗新冠肺炎的有前景药物的人体试验。有些药物已经在开发中，可能会在年底前准备就绪。这笔资金还将为研发和生产提供支持。

Fauci said the new program would invest in "accelerating things that are already in progress" for COVID-19. He added it will also support new treatments for other viruses.

福奇表示，这项新计划将投资于加速“已经处于开发阶段的治疗新冠肺炎的项目。”他还表示该计划将用于支持针对其它病毒的新疗法。

"There are few treatments that exist for many of the viruses that have pandemic potential," said Fauci.

福奇表示：“目前对于许多具有大流行可能性的病毒几乎没有治疗办法。”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved one antiviral drug, remdesivir, against COVID-19. But the World Health Organization recommended against its use in COVID-19 patients. The drug was originally developed for the Ebola virus.

美国食品和药物管理局已经批准了瑞德西韦这种针对新冠肺炎的抗病毒药物。但是世卫组织不建议将其用于新冠肺炎患者。该药物最初是为埃博拉病毒开发的。

The health agency has also permitted emergency use of three antibody treatments to help the body fight the virus.

该卫生机构还批准了3种用于帮助身体对抗病毒的抗体疗法的紧急使用。

All the currently available treatments must be performed at hospitals or medical centers. They have mostly been shown to help patients avoid hospitalization or shorten their recovery time by several days.

目前所有可用的疗法都必须在医院或医疗中心进行。它们大多也被证实可以帮助患者避免住院或者将康复时间缩短几天。

Health experts, including Fauci, have been calling for the development of a simple drug that patients could take themselves. Several companies, including Merck, Pfizer, and Roche, are now testing such a treatment.

包括福奇在内的卫生专家一直呼吁开发一种患者可以自行服用的简单药物。包括默克、辉瑞和罗氏在内的几家公司目前都正在测试这种治疗办法。

News of the Biden administration's plans for the "antiviral program for pandemics" was first reported by The New York Times.

关于拜登政府“大流行病抗病毒计划”的消息最早由纽约时报报道出来。

The news organization said Fauci's support for the program came from his own experience fighting AIDS some thirty years ago. In the 1990s, the National Institute of Allergy² and Infectious Diseases, under Fauci, conducted research that led to some of the first antiviral drugs for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

该新闻机构表示，福奇对该计划的支持源于他30多年前抗击艾滋病的自身经验。在上世纪90年代，福奇领导下的美国国家过敏和传染病研究所进行研究，导致了最早的一些抗艾滋病毒药物的诞生。

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。