In this country, we think the Food and Drug Administration is about to approve a new set of COVID-19 booster shots.
美国食品药品监督管理局(FDA)将批准一组新的新冠疫苗加强针。
And this brings up a lot of questions.
这就带来了很多问题。
Who should get another booster? When? And how well will the new shots work?
哪些人应该再注射一次加强针? 什么时候注射? 新加强针的效果如何?
NPR health correspondent Rob Stein has answers, as best we know them. Hey there, Rob.
NPR健康记者罗布·斯坦将尽我们所知,给出答案。你好,罗伯。
Hey there, Steve.
你好,史蒂夫。
I just want to note I had to, like, kind of scratch my head and try even to remember when I got the last COVID booster.
我只是想指出,我有点儿摸头犯愁,试图回忆起我最后一次打新冠加强针的时间。
Can you remind us how this one fits in?
你能提醒我们一下打针的时间安排吗?
Yeah, yeah. I totally lost count of how many shots I've gotten and when.
是啊。我完全记不清打了多少针,什么时候打的针。
The new boosters are updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
这次新加强针是莫德纳和辉瑞-BioNTech疫苗的升级版。
They're formulated to help people fight off a relatively recent Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.5.
配制这些疫苗是为了帮助人们对抗一种相对较新的名为XBB.1.5的奥密克戎亚型病毒。
The idea is the new shots will shore up people's fading immunity as we head into the winter.
这次的想法是,随着我们步入冬季,新疫苗将增强人们下降的免疫力。
And thanks for the reminder.
谢谢提醒。
When you said fading immunity, it's thought that the shots that people have gotten in the past don't last forever.
当你说免疫力减弱时,也就是说,过去接种的疫苗不会永远持续有效。
The immunity you get from a past case of COVID doesn't last forever.
你从过去感染新冠中获得的免疫力也不会永远持续有效。
So who should get another shot?
那么,哪些人应该再接种一次呢?
Yeah. So the FDA is expected to OK the new boosters any day now for the same people who've been eligible for the COVID shots - anyone aged 6 months and older.
预计美国食品药品监督管理局将会随时批准新的加强针,接种对象为符合条件(6个月及以上的婴幼儿和成人)接种新冠疫苗的人群。
Then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would very quickly issue recommendations for exactly who should get boosted.
随后,美国疾病控制和预防中心会很快发布建议,明确哪些人应该注射加强针。
You know, Steve, it seems pretty likely that the CDC will recommend the shots for those COVID can really be the most dangerous, like, you know, older people and those with other health problems.
史蒂夫,看起来疾病控制和预防中心很有可能建议高危人群--老年人以及有健康问题的人--注射新冠加强针。
We'll have to see what the CDC says about younger or otherwise healthy people, including kids.
我们得看看疾病控制和预防中心对包括儿童在内的年轻人或其他健康人群是怎么说的。
Some outside experts I've been talking to say everyone should get another booster, you know, to cut their chances of getting COVID and the risk of winding up in the hospital or dying.
我采访的一些外部专家表示,每个人都应该再打一针加强针,以减少感染新冠的机会,最终减少住院或死亡的风险。
Here's Deepta Bhattacharya from the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
以下是亚利桑那大学医学院迪普塔·巴塔查里亚的发言。
COVID-19 is not a pleasant thing to get, even if you're not at particularly high risk of getting really sick.
感染新冠并不是一件令人愉快的事情,即使你患重病的风险不是特别高。
And so to the extent that the vaccines reduce that chance - and I'm pretty sure they will - then again, unless you have got some really compelling reason not to get it, you should probably go ahead and get it.
在某种程度上,疫苗减少了这种可能性——我很确定疫苗会——再次强调,除非你有一些非常令人信服的理由不接种疫苗,否则你可能应该继续接种。
Others say the focus should really be on those most vulnerable and just be an option for everyone else, since most people are still pretty well protected against getting seriously ill from COVID.
其他人表示,接种重点应该放在那些最脆弱的人群身上,接种只是其他人的一个选择,因为大多数人仍然能很好地保护自己,避免因感染新冠而患上重病。
But, you know, Steve, one big question is how popular will these new shots be. Most people never got the last one.
不过,史蒂夫,一个大问题是这些新疫苗的人气会有多高。大多数人从未接种最后一针。
You just said most people. A majority of people did not get the last round of shots?
你刚刚说大多数人。大多数人没有打上最后一针?
That's right. That's right. This last booster - you know, there wasn't a lot of uptake.
对,对。最后一针加强针,没有很多人接种。