VOA慢速英语2021--非洲仍然面临着新冠疫苗的严重短缺

In the worldwide race to vaccinate¹ people against COVID-19, Africa is falling way behind. The continent of 1.3 billion people faces a severe shortage of vaccines³ just as a new wave of infections rises across Africa.

In South Africa, just 0.8 percent of the population is fully⁴ vaccinated⁵, information collected by Johns Hopkins University shows. South Africa has the continent's strongest economy and its biggest coronavirus caseload. Hundreds of thousands of the country's health workers -- many of whom come face-to-face with the virus every day -- are still waiting for their shots.

In Nigeria, Africa's biggest country with more than 200 million people, only 0.1 percent of the people are fully protected. Kenya, with 50 million people, is even lower. Uganda has withdrawn⁶ vaccine² injections from rural areas and brought them to cities because supplies are low.

Chad just started giving out its first vaccine shots this past weekend. And at least five other African nations have not yet given any vaccinations⁷, reports the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Africa has a shortfall of 700 million COVID-19 injections. It said last week that vaccine shipments to the continent had come to a "near halt."

The WHO says the severe shortage comes at the same time that virus infections are rising across Africa.

"It is extremely concerning and at times frustrating⁸," said Africa CDC Director Dr. John Nkengasong. He is a virus expert from Cameroon who is trying to make sure that some of the world's poorest nations get a fair share of vaccines. Nkengasong said such nations cannot possibly compete with other countries in the international marketplace for vaccines.

By comparison, the United States and Britain have fully vaccinated more than 40 percent of their populations. Countries in Europe are near or past 20 percent coverage⁹. The U.S., France and Germany are even offering shots to young people, who are at very low risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

Poorer countries had long warned of vaccine inequality, saying they feared rich nations would keep building up supplies of vaccine doses.

Nkengasong called on the leaders of wealthy nations meeting this week at the Group of Seven to share available vaccine supplies.

"I'd like to believe that the G7 countries, most of them having kept excess doses of vaccines, want to be on the right side of history," he said. "We need to actually see these vaccines, not just ... promises and goodwill¹⁰."

Others have been even more outspoken¹¹ about the need for action. South African human rights lawyer Fatima Hasan is an activist¹² for equality in health care. She wrote in a series of text messages: "People are dying. Time is against us. This IS INSANE."

British billionaire philanthropist Mo Ibrahim, who was born in Sudan, added his voice to the issue. Speaking to The Associated Press, he criticized the worldwide "competition" for vaccines. He added that the phrase "nobody is safe until everybody is safe" -- often repeated by leaders of wealthy nations -- is meaningless unless they share their excess vaccine.

"They say that while they are hoarding¹⁴ the vaccine," Ibrahim said. "Can you walk the talk? Stop just talking like parrots ... do you really mean what you said?"

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden made its first move to ease the crisis last week. It announced it would share 25 million vaccine excess doses with in-need countries in South and Central America, Asia and Africa.

The U.S. is also expected to donate 500 million more vaccine doses around the world over the next year. That would be in addition to 80 million doses already promised.

Words in This Story

frustrating – adj. making someone feel frustrated¹⁵: annoyed because things are not happening the way you want

dose – n. the amount of medication to be taken at one time

excess – adj. more of something than is normal or needed

insane – adj. shocking or outrageous¹⁶

hoard¹³ – v. to collect and story a large supply of something

1 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

7 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

11 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

12 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

13 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

14 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

15 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。