VOA慢速英语2021 奥密克戎变种导致有国家关闭边境或出台限制措施（在线收听）

Many countries are closing their borders as health experts continue to study the latest version of the coronavirus, the Omicron variant.

随着卫生专家继续研究新冠病毒最新的奥密克戎变种，许多国家开始关闭边境。

On Monday, Japan became the latest country to ban all foreigners from entering the country. Over the weekend, Israel and Morocco announced that the countries are closed to all international travelers. Israeli citizens can come back to the country. But they will have to quarantine, even if fully vaccinated.

周一，日本成为最新一个禁止所有外国人入境的国家。上周末，以色列和摩洛哥宣布对所有国际旅客关闭国门。以色列公民可以回国。但是即便他们已经完全接种疫苗也必须进行隔离。

Australia said it would delay reopening the country to international students and workers for two weeks. The move came after the country reported its first cases of the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus.

澳大利亚表示，该国将推迟两周对国际学生和雇员重新开放。此举是在该国报告首例新冠病毒奥密克戎变种病例之后发生的。

Across the world, the United States, Brazil, Britain and the European Union announced travel restrictions from eight African countries where the variant was first identified. The countries are South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.

在世界范围内，美国、巴西、英国和欧盟宣布了对最初发现该变种的8个非洲国家实施旅行限制。这些国家是南非、博茨瓦纳、津巴布韦、纳米比亚、莱索托、埃斯瓦蒂尼、莫桑比克和马拉维。

New cases of Omicron infection have since been identified in Hong Kong(China), Australia, Canada, and several European countries.

在中国香港特区、澳大利亚、加拿大以及几个欧洲国家已经发现了奥密克戎新病例。

Speaking from the White House on Monday, American President Joe Biden said, "Sooner or later we're going to see cases of this new variant here in the United States. We'll have to face this new threat just as we face those that come before it."

美国总统乔·拜登周一在白宫发表讲话时说：“我们迟早会在美国看到这种新变种的病例。我们将不得不面对这种新的威胁，就像我们面对之前的威胁一样。”

The president added, "The best protection against this new variant or any of the variants out there, the ones we've been dealing with already, is getting fully vaccinated and getting a booster shot."

拜登还表示：“对抗这种新变种或任何其它变种的最好的保护措施，就是我们已经在进行的完全接种疫苗并进行加强注射。”

Variant of concern

令人关切的变种

The variant was first identified on November 9 and reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24. Two days later, the WHO designated the coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, or VOC, and gave it the name Omicron.

该变种最初发现于11月9日，并在11月24日向世卫组织报告。两天之后，世卫组织将新冠病毒B.1.1.529变种指定为令人关切的变种，并给它命名为奥密克戎。

The health organization said Omicron "has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning." A mutation is a change in the genetic material of a virus. The WHO added that early evidence suggests "an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs."

世卫组织表示，奥密克戎有大量突变，其中一些突变令人担忧。突变是指病毒遗传物质的变化。世卫组织还说，早期证据表明，与其它变种相比，这种变种的再次感染风险有所增加。

Scientists still do not know whether the mutated versions could make it more dangerous. But the WHO said, "There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants."

科学家们仍然不知道这种突变是否会让它变得更加危险。但世卫组织表示：“目前没有任何信息表明奥密克戎的相关症状与其它变种的症状有所不同。”

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a South African doctor who was one of the first to identify Omicron, spoke to Reuters. She said that symptoms of the variant were not severe and could be treated at home.

安吉丽克·库切博士接受了路透社采访，这名南非医生是最早发现奥密克戎变种的人士之一。她说，这种变种的症状并不严重，可以居家治疗。

Vaccines against Omicron

针对奥密克戎的疫苗

It is also unknown whether currently approved vaccines or treatments will protect against the variant.

目前尚不清楚已获批疫苗或治疗手段是否可以防御这种变种。

Dr. Francis Collins is head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He told Fox News Sunday, "We do know that this is a variant that has a lot of mutations – like 50 of them, and more than 30 of those in the spike protein, which is the part of the virus that attaches to your human cells if you get infected."

弗朗西斯·柯林斯博士是美国国立卫生研究院院长。他周日对福克斯新闻表示：“我们确实知道这种变种有很多突变，比如有50个突变，其中超过30个突变位于刺突蛋白上，刺突蛋白是病毒的一部分，如果你感染，它就可以附着在你身体的细胞上。”

Collins added, "It does make you worry, therefore, that it's a sufficiently different virus, that it might not respond as well to protection from the vaccines. But we don't know that."

柯林斯还表示：“因此这确实让人担忧，这是一种完全不同的病毒，它可能对疫苗保护反应不佳。但是我们对此也不清楚。”

On Friday, American drug-maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said new information would show whether their vaccine will have to be changed. The companies said, if necessary, they expect to be able to ship a new vaccine against Omicron in about 100 days. The Pfizer vaccine uses mRNA technology which uses RNA genetic material to change cells.

美国制药商辉瑞公司及其德国合作伙伴生物新科技公司周五表示，新的信息会显示出他们的疫苗是否需要做出调整。这两家公司表示，如有必要，他们预计能够在100天内推出针对奥密克戎的新疫苗。辉瑞疫苗采用 mRNA 技术，该技术使用 RNA 遗传物质来改变细胞。

Moderna is the maker of the other highly effective mRNA vaccine. It said it is working on a booster designed to protect against several variants. And Johnson & Johnson stated that it was already testing their vaccine against Omicron.

莫德纳公司是另一种高效mRNA疫苗的制造商。该公司称其正在开发一种旨在预防多个变种的加强针。强生公司宣称其已经在测试针对奥密克戎的疫苗。

Vaccines, however, are still not widely available in poor and developing countries. In Africa, where Omicron was first reported, only seven percent of the continent's 1.2 billion people have received the shots so far.

然而，疫苗在贫穷和发展中国家仍未广泛接种。在最新爆出奥密克戎变种的非洲，该大陆12亿人口迄今为止只有7%的人接种了疫苗。