(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Drug to Treat Coronavirus Possible ‘Before the Summer’
The European Medicines Agency predicted that there could be drugs to treat the new coronavirus in the next few months. The organization added that a vaccine might be approved in early 2021.
Dr. Marco Cavaleri heads the European regulator's vaccines department. He said Thursday that approving medicines to treat COVID-19 might be possible "before the summer" noting several current clinical trials.
A recent study in the United States suggested that the drug remdesivir could help patients recover from the coronavirus faster. Patients who received remdesivir recovered on average four days earlier than those who got the usual care. Earlier, animal studies showed remdesivir was effective against SARS and MERS, two diseases also caused by coronaviruses. It helped prevent infection and some symptoms when given early enough in the disease process.
In France, a group of hospitals reported success with use of another drug, Actemra, against COVID-19. In a study of 129 coronavirus patients, 65 were treated with the drug while the other patients received the usual care. The doctors did not release details, but said they were preparing to publish results. Actemra is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.
Doctors around the world are also trying a treatment for infections that is about 100 years old: giving blood plasma from recovered patients to sick ones. Plasma is the yellowish liquid part of blood. The blood from former patients is filled with protein molecules that fight infection. These molecules can help survivors defeat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Developing a vaccine
On Monday, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there are around seven or eight "top" candidates for a vaccine to combat COVID-19. He added work on the vaccines is being accelerated and helped with an additional $8 billion by 40 countries.
It usually takes years to develop a vaccine. But Cavaleri said that if some of the vaccines already being tested prove to be effective, they could be approved as early as the beginning of next year.
Cavaleri cautioned, however, that many experimental vaccines never make it to the end and that there are often delays.
"But we can see the possibility that if everything goes as planned, vaccines could be approved a year from now," he said.
Some experts have proposed cancelling the requirement for large, extended clinical trials. But, Cavaleri said that was not currently being considered.
He said that could change if the situation worsened. "Things may evolve as the pandemic will evolve and we will see if we need to do something else," Cavaleri said.
Some officials have warned that a vaccine for COVID-19 might never be found. They note that previous attempts to develop a vaccine against related coronaviruses like SARS and MERS have all failed. But Cavaleri believes that a vaccine could be discovered with new technologies being tried around the world.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, the chair of the African Union, said a vaccine "is our best hope of ending this pandemic."
On Thursday, he joined more than 140 world leaders and health experts calling on all countries to unite behind a "people's vaccine" against COVID-19. They asked that the vaccine be available to anyone around the world at no cost.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
重点解析
1.clinical trials 临床试验
The first clinical trials were expected to begin next year.
第一批临床实验有望明年开始。
2.pandemic 流行病
Global cooperation to prevent the spread of pandemic disease can promote public health.
全球合作预防疾病蔓延也有助于促进公共健康。
3.previous 先前的
He has no previous convictions.
他没有前科。
4.vaccine 疫苗
Seven million doses of vaccine are annually given to British children.
英国孩子每年要接种7百万剂疫苗。
5.They asked that the vaccine be available to anyone around the world at no cost.
be available to 可得到的；可利用的
This service should be available to everybody, irrespective of whether they can afford it.
这项服务应该面向所有人，不管他们是否负担得起。
The latest techniques in oceanography are now available to many more scientists.
更多的科学家现在能够接触到海洋学的最新技术。
6.They asked that the vaccine be available to anyone around the world at no cost.
at no cost 免费的
We have made a psychologist available to you at no cost.
我们也免费给您安排了一位心理学家。
If you cannot afford a website, SINA's blog will be provided to you at no cost.
如果你负担不了建网站的费用，新浪将免费为你提供一个博客。
参考译文
欧洲：治疗新冠药物或在今夏获批
欧洲药品管理局预计，未来几个月内可能会出现治疗新冠病毒的药物。该组织还补充说，疫苗可能会在2021年初获批。
马可·卡瓦列里（Marco Cavaleri）博士是欧洲监管机构的疫苗部门负责人。周四，他表示，批准治疗新冠肺炎药物可能会在夏天前实现，并指出了当前的一些临床试验。
美国最近的一项研究表明，瑞德西韦这种药物可能有助于患者更快地从新冠病毒中康复。接受瑞德西韦治疗的患者比接受常规治疗的患者平均提早4天康复。此前的动物研究表明表明，瑞德西韦对冠状病毒引起的非典和中东呼吸综合症均有效。当在病程中尽早给药时，它有助于预防感染和某些症状。
在法国，一批医院报告称，采用了一种名为Actemra的药物治疗新冠肺炎取得了成功。在一项对129例新冠病毒患者的研究中，有65人接受了这种药物治疗，其它患者则接受了常规治疗。医生们并没有透露细节，但是表示正在准备发表研究结果。Actemra用于治疗类风湿性关节炎等其他疾病。
世界各地的医生也在尝试一种已有百年历史的治疗感染的疗法：将康复患者的血浆注入患者体内。血浆是血液中呈淡黄色的液体部分。这些愈后患者的血液中含有可抵抗感染的蛋白质分子。这些蛋白质分子可以帮助幸存者抵抗新冠病毒引发的新冠肺炎。
研发疫苗
周一，世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞表示，目前大约有七八种可对抗新冠肺炎的顶级候选疫苗。他还表示，疫苗研发正在加速进行，并得到了40个国家额外提供的80亿美元的援助。
研发疫苗通常需要数年时间。但是卡瓦列里博士表示，如果一些已经经过测试的疫苗被证实有效，它们最早或在明年年初获批。
然而卡瓦列里博士警告称，许多实验性疫苗并未成功，而且常常会出现延误。
他说：“但是我们可以看到，如果一切按计划进行，疫苗可能会在一年后获批。”
一些专家提议取消大型扩展临床试验的要求。但是卡瓦列里表示，现阶段暂不考虑这一提议。
他说，如果形势恶化，不排除这一可能。卡瓦列里表示：“情况可能会随着大流行的发展而变化，我们会继续观望决定是否需要采取其他措施。”
一些官员警告称，可能永远不会找到治疗新冠肺炎的疫苗。他们指出，此前尝试研发针对非典和中东呼吸综合症等冠状病毒的疫苗均以失败告终。但是卡瓦列里认为，随着新技术在全球范围内得到应用，可能会研发出疫苗。
非盟主席兼南非总统西里尔·拉马福萨表示，疫苗是我们结束冠状病毒大流行的最大希望。
周四，他与140多位世界领导人以及卫生专家一道，呼吁所有国家要团结一致，支持一种针对新冠肺炎的“人民疫苗”。他们呼吁将疫苗免费提供给世界各地的所有人。
乔纳森·埃文斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
