A new Covid vaccine is now available in the US. I made an appointment in advance to take the new Pfizer shot as soon as it became available in pharmacies. I was in California when it became available just one day before my flight to Hong Kong. The pharmacy confirmed my appointment, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. Taking the new vaccine would protect me from the newest Covid variant called XBB 1.5. But one day before my appointment the pharmacy emailed me to say it had not yet received supplies of the new vaccine. I was floored!
To breathe a sigh of relief means to feel comfortable after worrying about something. If you are floored, it means you are so surprised or confused that you are unable to think clearly. I checked other nearby pharmacies, but all said they had not yet received supplies. I was screwed, which means I was in a difficult situation because it became impossible for me to take the new vaccine before I left for Hong Kong. I have taken five Covid shots so far, two in Hong Kong, and two boosters and the bivalent shot in the US. The latest vaccine is a monovalent one.
A monovalent vaccine protects against just one type of virus, such as the XBB 1.5 strain. A bivalent shot protects against two virus strains. The bivalent shot I took in the US last year protected against the original coronavirus and the Omicron strain. Singapore and Japan have authorized the Pfizer monovalent shot against XBB 1.5. I hope Hong Kong will do the same.
現在有一支新的新冠疫苗在美國供應。當這支新的輝瑞疫苗一在藥房推出，我便立即預約打針。它剛好在我飛回香港的前一天供應，而我當時身處加州。藥房確認了我的預約，令我鬆一口氣（breathe a sigh of relief）。接種這個新疫苗，有助我對抗最新的新冠病毒變種 XBB 1.5。然而，就在預約時間的前一天，藥房傳電郵給我，說他們還未收到新疫苗的供貨。I was floored!
To breathe a sigh of relief是指你感到如釋重負，擔憂的事情得以緩解，終能鬆一口氣。若你是 floored，意即你感到驚惶失惜或困惑，腦袋一片混亂。我查問附近其他藥房，他們全都說未收到供貨。I was screwed，意即我在很糟糕的處境，因為這意味着在我出發回港前是不可能接種到新疫苗了。我總共接種了五支新冠肺炎疫苗，兩支在香港，另外兩支加強劑和一支二價（bivalent）疫苗在美國。而這支最新的疫苗則是單劑（monovalent）的。
一支monovalent疫苗只能保護你對抗一種病毒，例如 XBB 1.5病毒株。而 bivalent針則能對抗兩種病毒株。我上年在美國打的二價（bivalent）疫苗能對抗原始新冠病毒株和 Omicron變種。新加坡和日本都已批准輝瑞針對 XBB 1.5的單劑（monovalent）疫苗。我希望香港也能這樣。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
