莫德纳申请其疫苗用于6岁以下儿童

American drugmaker Moderna is asking U.S. officials to approve its COVID-19 vaccine¹ for the nation's youngest children. Children under 5 are the only group in the United States not yet able to be vaccinated³.

美国制药商莫德纳要求美国官员批准其用于美国最低龄儿童的新冠疫苗。5岁以下儿童是美国唯一尚未接种疫苗的人群。

Families have been waiting a long time to protect their young children, even as people are gathering⁴ in higher numbers and wearing fewer face coverings. But coronavirus variants⁵ continue to spread.

家庭想要保护他们的幼儿已经等待了很长时间，即使聚集的人数越来越多，戴口罩的越来越少。但是新冠病毒变种还在传播。

Moderna provided its study results to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug company hopes the information proves that two low-dose shots can protect babies and young children.

莫德纳向美国食品和药品管理局提供了其研究结果。这家制药公司希望这些信息能证实两针低剂量疫苗可以保护婴幼儿。

"There is an important unmet medical need here with these youngest kids," said Dr. Paul Burton. He is Moderna's chief medical officer. Two shots for children "will safely protect them. I think it is likely that over time they will need additional doses."

保罗·伯顿博士表示：“这些幼儿存在一项未得到满足的重要医疗需求。”他是莫德纳的首席医疗官。为儿童注射两针疫苗“将护他们周全。我认为随着时间的推移，他们可以需要额外接种。”

Currently⁶, Pfizer's vaccine is the only one approved for children. But that vaccine is only for children over the age of 5. That leaves 18 million young children and babies unprotected.

辉瑞疫苗是目前唯一获准用于儿童的疫苗。但是这种疫苗只适用于5岁以上儿童。这使得1800万婴幼儿得不到保护。

Pfizer is also expected to announce whether three of its even smaller-dose shots work for very young children. The FDA said in February that the company's two doses were not strong enough.

预计辉瑞也将公布该公司三针更小剂量的疫苗是否适用于非常幼儿。美国食品和药品管理局在2月份表示，该公司两针的剂量保护力不够。

Some families have questioned why a shot for young children has taken so long.

一些家庭质疑为什么幼儿疫苗耗费了这么长时间。

FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told U.S. lawmakers this week that the FDA cannot evaluate a product until a producer completes its application. In a statement Thursday, the FDA said Moderna still must send some additional data to complete its request.

美国食品和药品管理局负责人彼得‧马克斯博士本周对美国议员表示，在生产商完成申请之前，美国食品和药品管理局无法评估其产品。美国食品和药品管理局在周四的一份声明中表示，莫德纳仍然必须发送一些额外数据以完成申请。

"It's critically important that we have the proper evaluation⁷ so that parents will have trust in any vaccines⁸ that we authorize," Marks said.

马克斯表示：“我们进行适当的评估相当重要，这样父母才会信任我们授权的任何疫苗。”

If the FDA approves Moderna's vaccine for young children and babies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would then have to recommend who needs it. It could either be for all young children or just those at higher risk from COVID-19.

如果美国食品和药品管理局批准莫德纳的婴幼儿疫苗，那么美国疾控预防中心将不得不对谁需要接种做出推荐。它可能适用于所有幼儿，也可能只适用于新冠肺炎风险较高的儿童。

The FDA will face some complex questions.

美国食品和药品管理局将面临一些复杂的问题。

The two Moderna shots for young children are each one-fourth of the normal dose for an adult. In a study of kids ages 6 months through 5 years, data showed that the doses produced high levels of virus-fighting antibodies. It was the same amount produced in young adults, Burton said. There were no serious side effects reported, and the shots resulted in fewer high body temperatures than other usual vaccines for children.

为幼儿提供的两针莫德纳疫苗每针的注射剂量均为成人正常剂量的1/4。在一项针对6个月到5岁儿童的研究中，数据显示这种剂量产生了高水平的病毒抗体。伯顿表示，这与年轻人产生的抗体水平相同。没有报告严重的副作用，与其它常用儿童疫苗相比，这些疫苗导致的发烧更少。

Moderna's vaccine proved between about 40 percent and 50 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 during the trial. Burton said the Omicron variant's ability to partly escape vaccine immunity⁹ was a reason that effectiveness was not higher.

在试验期间，经证实莫德纳的疫苗在防止新冠肺炎症状方面的有效性在40%到50%之间。伯顿表示，奥密克戎变种部分逃逸疫苗免疫能力是有效性不高的一个原因。

Moderna's COVID vaccine so far has only been available to adults in the U.S. Other countries have already been offering the shot to children as young as 6. But months ago the FDA said it had concerns about a rare heart-related side effect in teenage boys.

迄今为止，莫德纳的新冠疫苗在美国仅用于成年人。其它国家已经为年仅6岁的儿童提供疫苗。但几个月前，美国食品和药品管理局担心青少年男生会出现与罕见心脏病相关的副作用。

COVID-19 generally is not as dangerous for children as it is for adults. But a small number have become very sick or even died. About 475 children younger than 5 have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic's start, the CDC says. Child hospitalizations greatly increased during the spread of Omicron.

新冠肺炎对儿童的危害通常小于成人。但是少数儿童病得很重，甚至死亡。美国疾控预防中心表示，自大流行开始以来，约有475名5岁以下儿童死于新冠肺炎。在奥密克戎传播期间，儿童住院人数大大增加。

It is not clear how many parents plan to vaccinate² their young children and babies. Less than one-third of children ages 5 to 11 have had two vaccinations¹⁰.

目前尚不清楚有多少父母计划为婴幼儿接种疫苗。5-11岁儿童接种只有不到1/3完整接种了两针疫苗。

1 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。

2 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。

3 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？

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

6 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

7 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

8 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。

9 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

10 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》