Desperate EU countries hunt for more vaccines

Monday, March 1, 2021 - 01:00

Print Edition  World 

In vaccine-hungry, cash-rich Europe, the hunt for more doses has nations trading with each other, weighing purchases from Russia and China, and fielding offers from middlemen ranging from real to outright frauds.

Field：在这里是处理，应付（问题或意见）•The BBC had to field more than 300 phone calls after last night's programme. 英国广播公司在昨夜的节目播出以后，不得不答复了300多次电话

outright  adj. 完全的，彻底的；直率的；全部的；adv. 全部地；率直地；立即，当场

Amid building anger over a sluggish European Union coronavirus vaccine rollout that has left them far behind several other wealthy countries, many E.U. states are looking beyond the bloc’s joint purchasing strategy, which now seems woefully underwhelming.

sluggish  adj. /ˈslʌɡɪʃ/ 缓慢的；迟缓的；懒洋洋的 • sluggish traffic 缓缓移动的车流 • a sluggish economy 经济停滞

Rollout  n. 首次展示；[航] 滑跑（飞机着陆时在跑道上滑跑减速的阶段）

woefully/ˈwəʊfəli/  adv. 悲伤地；不幸地；使人痛苦地

underwhelming  adj. /ˌʌndəˈwelmɪŋ/ 平庸的；索然无味的

bloc  n. /blɒk/ （政治利益一致的）国家集团

Build这里是作动词， （感觉）逐渐增强

An immense black — or at least gray — market has arisen, with pitches from around the world at often exorbitant prices. Sellers have approached E.U. governments claiming to offer 460 million doses of vaccines, according to the early results of an investigation by the bloc’s anti-fraud agency that were shared with The New York Times.

Pitch有很多意思，在这里是销售方面的意思--推销的话；说教；宣传论点 •an aggressive sales pitch 强有力的推销行话

exorbitant  adj. /ɪɡˈzɔːbɪtənt/ ( formal ) (价格) 过高的；高得离谱的 • exorbitant costs/fares/fees/prices/rents 过高的花费╱交通费╱收费╱价格╱租金

While they still plan to get vaccines from the bloc, some nations are also trying to negotiate directly with drug makers and eyeing the murky open market where they are still unsure of the sellers and the products. Some have also agreed to swap vaccines with each other, deals some of them now have reason to regret.

Murky  adj.   /ˈmɜːki/  1.(液体) 浑浊的；污浊的 •She gazed into the murky depths of the water. 她注视着那幽暗的水底。2.(空气、光等) 昏暗的；阴暗的；朦胧的 •a murky night 昏暗的夜；3.( disapproving humorous ) ( 人的行为或性格 ) 隐晦的；含糊的；暧昧可疑的•He had a somewhat murky past. 他有一段不清白的过去。

The European Union last year was slow to make massive advance purchases from drug companies, acting weeks after the United States, Britain and a handful of other countries. This year, the bloc was blindsided by slower-than-expected vaccine production, and individual countries have fumbled the rollout. About 5 percent of the E.U.’s nearly 450 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, versus almost 14 percent in the United States, 27 percent in Britain and 53 percent in Israel, as of earlier this week, according to Our World in Data database and governments.

Blindside  v. /ˈblaɪndsaɪd/ 1.攻其不备；出其不意地袭击；2.使遭受意外的打击•Just when it seemed life was going well, she was blindsided by a devastating illness. 正当生活似乎一帆风顺的时候，她出人意料地得了一场重病。

fumble    /ˈfʌmbl/  1.~ (at/with/in sth) (for sth)~ 笨手笨脚地做（某事）；胡乱摸找（某物）•She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。2.笨嘴拙舌地说话；支支吾吾地说 •During the interview, she fumbled helplessly for words. 面试时她支支吾吾找不出适当的话语。3. (尤用于体育运动) 失球；接球失误；漏接

The stumbles by the world’s richest bloc of nations have turned vaccine politics toxic. Particularly galling to many Europeans is the sight of a former E.U. member, Britain, forging ahead with its vaccination and reopening plans, while E.U. societies remain under lockdown amid a new surge of dangerous variants, their economies sinking deeper into recession.

In the final months of 2020, several countries opted to forgo parts of their population-based shares of E.U.-purchased vaccines. Much of that trade involved less affluent countries, with less infrastructure and hard-to-reach populations, selling their shares of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that require ultra-cold storage and instead making the cheaper AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to handle, the centerpiece of their vaccination campaigns.

Forgo  v. /fɔːˈɡəʊ/ ( for·went /fɔːˈwent/  for·gone /fɔːˈɡɒn/  )放弃，弃绝（想做的事或想得之物）• No one was prepared to forgo their lunch hour to attend the meeting. 谁都不愿意放弃午餐时间出席会议。

affluent  adj. /ˈæfluənt/  富裕的 • affluent Western countries 富裕的西方国家

But then AstraZeneca, whose vaccine was developed with the University of Oxford, slashed its expected E.U. deliveries because of production problems. And despite experts’ assurances, many Europeans expressed doubts about it after some leaders questioned its efficacy in older age groups, which were not well represented in clinical trials. (Pfizer also suffered a supply slowdown.) A decision by any country to let go of doses is potential political dynamite, and the recriminations have begun. Poland gave up a chunk of its expensive Moderna quota expected late this year, reasoning that it would not come soon enough to make much difference, considering they were anticipating ample deliveries of AstraZeneca and potentially the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by that point.

Efficacy  /ˈefɪkəsi/（尤指药物或治疗方法的）功效，效验，效力

Dynamite  /ˈdaɪnəmaɪt/1.黄色炸药；甘油炸药；达纳炸药 •a stick of dynamite 一根达纳炸药；2.具有爆炸性的事物；（可能）引起轰动的事物；具有隐患的事物 •The abortion issue is political dynamite. 堕胎问题在政治上是个爆炸性的议题。3.轰动一时的人（或事物）•Their new album is dynamite. 他们的新唱片引起轰动；4.炸毁；爆破

recrimination  n. /rɪˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃn/ 指责；反诉；反控• bitter recriminations 激烈的反诉

Quota  n. /ˈkwəʊtə/  1.定额；限额；配额•to introduce a strict import quota on grain 严格限制谷物进口量；2.定量；定额；指标 •I'm going home now—I've done my quota of work for the day. 我现在要回家了—我已完成了今天的工作指标。3.（候选人当选所需的）规定票数，最低票数 •He was 76 votes short of the quota. 他比规定当选票数少了76票。

“I would never give up on buying what is safe and efficient,” said Andrzej Halicki, a Polish member of the European Parliament. “As a former minister I can tell you that in my view this is criminal action, this is a breach of obligations.”

A German official said the country had secured 50 million Moderna vaccine doses, a significantly larger number than it would get under its population-based allocation of the E.U. supply. E.U. officials confirmed that Germany had obtained at least some of their extra doses from other member states.

Germany also secured a controversial side-deal with Pfizer-BioNTech, for an extra 30 million doses to be delivered later in 2021, sparking anger in parts of the E.U. as the move was seen as the richest E.U. nation leading the bloc to a collective strategy and then hedging by also going at it alone.

The bloc’s fear is that such side-deals could undermine its collective purchasing power and override delivery schedules to all 27 countries.

side-deal：侧面交易; 两人在代表各自机构谈判达成合同时，两个个人为自己谋利达成私下交易

override  v. /ˌəʊvəˈraɪd/ ( over·rode /‑ˈrəʊd/  over·rid·den /‑ˈrɪdn/  )

1.（以权力）否决，推翻，不理会 •The chairman overrode the committee's objections and signed the agreement. 主席不顾委员会的反对，签署了协议。

2.比…更重要；凌驾 •Considerations of safety override all other concerns. 对安全的考虑高于一切。

3.超驰控制，超控（使自动控制暂时失效，改用手工控制） •A special code is needed to override the time lock. 这定时锁要用特定密码才能打开。

The European Commission has made it clear that E.U. countries should not be cutting separate deals with the same pharmaceutical companies that it has negotiated contracts with for the whole bloc.

The Netherlands has secured, from one or more other E.U. countries, 600,000 doses of the shot that Pfizer developed with the German company BioNTech, according to a government official who would not say which nation or nations had given them up. France has not made public any deals it has made, but Prime Minister Jean Castex said, “If vaccine doses happen to be available, the instruction is clear: France will buy immediately.”

Hungary has unilaterally approved and bought Russian and Chinese vaccines, and others, such as Croatia and the Czech Republic, are weighing similar moves. E.U. officials say they are getting calls from several other member states eager to see the bloc approve the Russian shot, Sputnik V.

Hungary /ˈhʌŋɡəri/ ：匈牙利；   Unilaterally /ˌjuːnɪˈlætrəli/ 单方面地

Croatia /krəʊˈeɪʃə/ n. 克罗地亚（南斯拉夫成员共和国名）

Czech Republic /ˌtʃek rɪˈpʌblɪk/捷克共和国

Sputnik  n. /ˈspʌtnɪk/  /ˈspʊt‑/（苏联）人造地球卫星， 人造卫星

In a troubling turn, senior government officials and even heads of government have received dozens of unsolicited offers for vaccines. Few of the sellers appear to be legitimate operators, said Ville Itala, director-general of the European Anti-Fraud office, known as OLAF.

unsolicited  adj. /ˌʌnsəˈlɪsɪtɪd/ 未经要求的；自发的；自我推荐的• unsolicited advice 主动提出的忠告

“They are offering vaccines, quite huge amounts, so far it is 460 million doses, which is around 3 billion euros,” he said in an interview this week. “So it’s not a small business, it’s a huge business, and this is growing all the time.” (NYT)

 译文

In vaccine-hungry, cash-rich Europe, the hunt for more doses has nations trading with each other, weighing purchases from Russia and China, and fielding offers from middlemen ranging from real to outright frauds.

在急需疫苗、现金充裕的欧洲，为了寻求更多的疫苗，各国之间进行了贸易，考虑从俄罗斯和中国购买疫苗，并对真假中间商的报价做出应对。

Amid building anger over a sluggish European Union coronavirus vaccine rollout that has left them far behind several other wealthy countries, many E.U. states are looking beyond the bloc’s joint purchasing strategy, which now seems woefully underwhelming.

欧盟(eu)的新冠病毒疫苗推出行动迟缓，远远落后于其他几个富裕国家，激起了欧盟内部越来越多的愤怒。在这种情况下，许多欧盟国家正在把目光投向欧盟的联合采购战略之外，该战略现在也似乎令人失望得可悲。

An immense black — or at least gray — market has arisen, with pitches from around the world at often exorbitant prices. Sellers have approached E.U. governments claiming to offer 460 million doses of vaccines, according to the early results of an investigation by the bloc’s anti-fraud agency that were shared with The New York Times.

一个巨大的黑市——或者至少是灰色市场——已经兴起，来自世界各地的推销疫苗要价高得离谱。根据欧盟反欺诈机构向《纽约时报》透露的初步调查结果，卖方已与欧盟政府接洽，声称将提供4.6亿剂疫苗。

While they still plan to get vaccines from the bloc, some nations are also trying to negotiate directly with drug makers and eyeing the murky open market where they are still unsure of the sellers and the products. Some have also agreed to swap vaccines with each other, deals some of them now have reason to regret.

尽管一些国家仍计划从欧盟获得疫苗，但它们也在试图直接与制药商谈判，并关注不透明的公开市场，在这些市场卖家和产品都不确定。一些国家还同意互相交换疫苗，现在一些国家有理由对交换疫苗交易感到后悔。

The European Union last year was slow to make massive advance purchases from drug companies, acting weeks after the United States, Britain and a handful of other countries. This year, the bloc was blindsided by slower-than-expected vaccine production, and individual countries have fumbled the rollout. About 5 percent of the E.U.’s nearly 450 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, versus almost 14 percent in the United States, 27 percent in Britain and 53 percent in Israel, as of earlier this week, according to Our World in Data database and governments.

欧盟去年在向制药公司进行大规模预购方面行动迟缓，比美国、英国和其他少数国家晚了几周。今年，欧盟被低于预期的疫苗生产速度打了个措手不及，个别国家在推出疫苗时态度暧昧。根据“我们的数据世界”(Our World in Data)的数据库和各国政府的数据，截至本周早些时候，在欧盟近4.5亿人口中，大约5%的人至少注射过一剂疫苗，而在美国，这一比例为14%，英国为27%，以色列为53%。

The stumbles by the world’s richest bloc of nations have turned vaccine politics toxic. Particularly galling to many Europeans is the sight of a former E.U. member, Britain, forging ahead with its vaccination and reopening plans, while E.U. societies remain under lockdown amid a new surge of dangerous variants, their economies sinking deeper into recession.

世界上最富有的国家集团的失误让疫苗政治变得有毒。尤其令许多欧洲人恼火的是，前欧盟成员国英国正在大力推行疫苗接种和重新开放计划，而欧盟社会由于新冠变异毒株的激增仍处于封锁状态，经济陷入更深的衰退。

In the final months of 2020, several countries opted to forgo parts of their population-based shares of E.U.-purchased vaccines. Much of that trade involved less affluent countries, with less infrastructure and hard-to-reach populations, selling their shares of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that require ultra-cold storage and instead making the cheaper AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to handle, the centerpiece of their vaccination campaigns.

在2020年的最后几个月，一些国家选择放弃部分以人口为基础分配的欧盟购买的疫苗。这些贸易大多涉及基础设施较少、人口稀疏的不太富裕国家。它们出售分配的辉瑞生物技术公司(Pfizer-BioNTech)和Moderna的疫苗，这些疫苗需要超低温储存。取而代之，生产更便宜、更易操作的阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)疫苗，则是它们疫苗接种活动的核心。

But then AstraZeneca, whose vaccine was developed with the University of Oxford, slashed its expected E.U. deliveries because of production problems. And despite experts’ assurances, many Europeans expressed doubts about it after some leaders questioned its efficacy in older age groups, which were not well represented in clinical trials. (Pfizer also suffered a supply slowdown.) A decision by any country to let go of doses is potential political dynamite, and the recriminations have begun. Poland gave up a chunk of its expensive Moderna quota expected late this year, reasoning that it would not come soon enough to make much difference, considering they were anticipating ample deliveries of AstraZeneca and potentially the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by that point.

但随后，由于生产问题，与牛津大学(University of Oxford)合作开发疫苗的阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)大幅削减了欧盟的预供货。尽管专家们做出了保证，但在一些领导人质疑它对老年群体的功效后，许多欧洲人对它表示了怀疑，因为老年群体在临床试验中没有得到很好的展现。(辉瑞也面临供应放缓。)任何一个国家放弃剂量的决定都是潜在的政治炸弹，相互指责已经开始。波兰放弃了预计将在今年晚些时候推出的一大部分昂贵的Moderna配额，原因是考虑到届时阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)和强生(Johnson & Johnson)疫苗将有充足的供货，这一配额不会很快推出，不会带来太大影响。

“I would never give up on buying what is safe and efficient,” said Andrzej Halicki, a Polish member of the European Parliament. “As a former minister I can tell you that in my view this is criminal action, this is a breach of obligations.”

“我永远不会放弃购买安全和高效的产品，”欧洲议会(European Parliament)的波兰议员安杰伊·哈利基(Andrzej Halicki)说。“作为一名前部长，我可以告诉你，在我看来，这是犯罪行为，这是违反义务的行为。”

A German official said the country had secured 50 million Moderna vaccine doses, a significantly larger number than it would get under its population-based allocation of the E.U. supply. E.U. officials confirmed that Germany had obtained at least some of their extra doses from other member states.

一名德国官员表示，德国已获得5000万Moderna剂疫苗，这一数字远高于欧盟按人口分配的供应量。欧盟官员证实，德国至少从其他成员国获得了部分额外剂量。

Germany also secured a controversial side-deal with Pfizer-BioNTech, for an extra 30 million doses to be delivered later in 2021, sparking anger in parts of the E.U. as the move was seen as the richest E.U. nation leading the bloc to a collective strategy and then hedging by also going at it alone.

德国与Pfizer-BioNTech还达成了一项有争议的协议,一个额外3000万剂将在2021年晚些时候配送德国的订单,这引发了部分欧盟成员的愤怒，此举被视为最富有的欧盟领导国（德国）在团结欧盟集体抱团对冲风险策略的同时也在私下采购。

The bloc’s fear is that such side-deals could undermine its collective purchasing power and override delivery schedules to all 27 countries.

欧盟担心的是，这类附带协议可能会削弱其集团购买力，无视对所有27个国家的发货时间表。

The European Commission has made it clear that E.U. countries should not be cutting separate deals with the same pharmaceutical companies that it has negotiated contracts with for the whole bloc.

欧盟委员会(European Commission)已经明确表示，欧盟谈判签订合同的制药公司，欧盟成员国家不应单独签订协议。

The Netherlands has secured, from one or more other E.U. countries, 600,000 doses of the shot that Pfizer developed with the German company BioNTech, according to a government official who would not say which nation or nations had given them up. France has not made public any deals it has made, but Prime Minister Jean Castex said, “If vaccine doses happen to be available, the instruction is clear: France will buy immediately.”

一名政府官员表示，荷兰已经从一个或多个欧盟国家获得了60万剂辉瑞(Pfizer)与德国生物科技公司(BioNTech)合作开发的疫苗。这名官员不愿透露是哪个国家或哪些国家放弃了这种疫苗。法国尚未公布任何已达成的协议，但法国总理让·卡斯特(Jean Castex)表示:“如果刚好有疫苗，指示很明确：法国将立即购买。”

Hungary has unilaterally approved and bought Russian and Chinese vaccines, and others, such as Croatia and the Czech Republic, are weighing similar moves. E.U. officials say they are getting calls from several other member states eager to see the bloc approve the Russian shot, Sputnik V.

匈牙利已单方面批准并购买了俄罗斯和中国的疫苗，克罗地亚和捷克共和国等其他国家也在考虑采取类似行动。欧盟官员说，他们接到其他几个成员国的电话，渴望看到欧盟批准俄罗斯疫苗--Sputnik V。

In a troubling turn, senior government officials and even heads of government have received dozens of unsolicited offers for vaccines. Few of the sellers appear to be legitimate operators, said Ville Itala, director-general of the European Anti-Fraud office, known as OLAF.

令人不安的是，高级政府官员，甚至政府首脑都收到了数十份自荐的疫苗。欧洲反欺诈办公室(OLAF)总干事维尔•伊塔拉(Ville Itala)表示，似乎很少有卖家是合法运营商。

“They are offering vaccines, quite huge amounts, so far it is 460 million doses, which is around 3 billion euros,” he said in an interview this week. “So it’s not a small business, it’s a huge business, and this is growing all the time.” (NYT)

他在本周的一次采访中说:“他们提供了大量的疫苗，到目前为止已经有4.6亿剂，大约30亿欧元。”“所以这不是一个小生意，这是一个大生意，而且一直在增长。”（纽约时报）

原文链接：http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/03/01/world/242791/desperate-eu-countries-hunt-more-vaccines