2021年经济学人 英国放弃抵抗,愿与病毒共存（在线收听）

Britain

英国板块

Covid-19

新冠病毒

Living with it

共存

The government accepts that it cannot defeat the virus

政府承认无法战胜病毒

Once upon a time, no speech by Boris Johnson was complete without a promise to "defeatthe coronavirus".

之前，鲍里斯·约翰逊的每一次演讲都承诺要“战胜新冠病毒”。

Yet his address on September 14th setting out his covid-19 plans for the winter ahead was a more modest affair.

然而，他在9月14日的演讲中表示，他为即将到来的冬季制定的新冠病毒计划更为温和。

The best the prime minister could come up with was a vow to "turn jabs, jabs, jabs into jobs, jobs, jobs".

这位首相能想出的最好的办法就是发誓要“把疫苗、疫苗、疫苗变成工作、工作、工作”。

Britain is no longer at war with the coronavirus.

英国已经放弃与病毒作抵抗。

Instead, it is working out how best to manage its presence.

相反，它正在研究如何最好地管理自己的存在。

Its aim is to keep the economy open while saving hospitals from being overwhelmed, which in recent months has meant accepting a high case rate.

它的目标是保持经济开放，同时避免让医院不堪重负，近几个月来这意味着让医院接受高的病例率。

That has been possible only because a quick and well-targeted vaccine roll-out has kept deaths at European rather than American levels, dampening public concern.

这之所以成为可能，只是因为快速且针对性强的疫苗的推广使死亡人数保持在欧洲水平而不是美国水平，从而减轻了公众的担忧。

According to Public Health England, immunisation has prevented nearly 25m infections and more than 110,000 deaths.

根据英国公共卫生部的数据，免疫接种已经防止了近2500万人感染和超过11万人死亡。

Despite the start of the autumn school term, and predictions that children mingling would increase infection, case numbers appear instead to be falling.

尽管秋季学期已经开始，而且有预测称儿童混在一起会增加感染人数，但病例数量似乎反而在下降。

But the worry is that they will rise once more during winter—just as the health service comes under the most pressure.

不过令人担心的是，冬季会再次上涨——就在医疗服务面临最大压力之时。

Thus the government announced tweaks to its vaccination programme: first jabs will be offered to 12- to 15-year-olds, and boosters to the vulnerable and over-50s.

因此政府宣布对其疫苗接种计划进行调整：第一批疫苗接种将提供给12至15岁的青少年，并向脆弱人群和50岁以上的老人提供增强剂疫苗。

Both calls were made later than in many other rich countries.

这两项呼吁的发出比许多其他发达国家都要晚。

The government's advisory committee on vaccination held off on recommending jabs for youngsters, arguing that although the health benefits were marginally greater than the known harms, the uncertainty was unacceptably high.

政府的疫苗接种咨询委员会推迟了鼓励青少年接种疫苗的计划，理由是尽管接种疫苗对健康的益处略大于已知的危害，但不确定性高得令人无法接受。

On September 13th Britain's chief medical officers advised the government to proceed nevertheless, because of covid-19's impact on children's education and mental health.

9月13日，鉴于新冠病毒对儿童教育和心理健康的影响，英国首席医疗官建议政府继续执行该计划。

The decision to offer booster shots was made in response to evidence of waning protection, particularly among the elderly and vulnerable.

提供增强剂疫苗的决定是为了应对保护减弱的证据，特别是在老年人和弱势群体中。

In offering top-ups, Britain joined America, Germany and Israel in ignoring the World Health Organisation, which argues that the jabs would be better used in countries where vaccination rates are low.

世界卫生组织认为增强剂疫苗的接种在疫苗接种率低的国家会更有效，但英国在提供增强剂疫苗时加入了美国、德国和以色列的行列，无视了世界卫生组织的意见。

Early evidence from Israel suggests boosters are at least successful in increasing protection.

以色列的早期证据表明，增强剂疫苗至少在增加保护方面有效。

The hope is that these decisions will enable Britain to avoid future restrictions on behaviour.

人们希望，这些决定能够使英国避免今后的出行限制。

Sajid Javid, the secretary of state for health and social care, announced that the government had rethought plans to introduce vaccine passports.

卫生和社会保障大臣赛义德·贾维德宣布政府已经重新考虑引入疫苗护照的计划。

The U-turn was not because of changing evidence regarding their effectiveness, but because of party management.

之所以出现180度大转弯，不是因为有关其有效性的证据发生了变化，而是因为党的管理。

One backbencher argued that passport swould set a "dangerous precedent for the advance of the bio-security state".

一位后座议员认为，护照将“为生物安全国家的发展树立一个危险的先例”。

Others are simply tired of covid-19 impositions.

其他人只是厌倦了新冠病毒强加的种种限制。

Ministers have, however, kept open the option of requiring passports in nightclubs and crowded stadiums, and of reintroducing compulsory masking and advisory working from home, should cases rise to dangerous levels in winter.

然而，部长们并未要求在夜总会和拥挤的体育场出示疫苗护照，也未选择在冬季病例上升到危险水平时再次强制人们戴口罩并建议在家办公。

These changes could be implemented "at short notice in response to concerning data".

这些变化可以“在接到有关数据通知后的短时间内”实施。

But the government's plans include no mention of the lockdowns that have plagued the past18 months.

但是政府的计划中没有提到过去18个月来一直困扰着我们的隔离。