Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - in the dark|又中又英

Last week I took my fifth coronavirus vaccine. I had my first two Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in Hong Kong, followed by two booster shots in the US. The Pfizer-BioNTech shot I took last week was different from the previous four vaccines. It's a new one called a bivalent vaccine. The word“bivalent”has different meanings but in simple terms it means having two parts. In medical terms a bivalent vaccine means having protection for two different types of disease or a virus with two different strains. The bivalent vaccine I took has protection for the original coronavirus and also the newest omicron versions.

When I told my Hong Kong friends that I had a fifth shot some asked if having so many would be detrimental to health. I told them I have a flu shot every year and it's not been detrimental to my health. I took my flu shot two weeks ago. If something is detrimental to your health it means it causes harm or damage to your health. The US government has authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine for people aged 12 and older and a bivalent vaccine by Moderna for people aged 18 and older.

A survey showed nearly half of American adults are in the dark about the new vaccine. If you are in the dark about something it means you are not informed about something that is useful for you to know. Most in the survey said they were only slightly aware of the new vaccine while some said they didn't know it had been approved. Older Americans were not in the dark about the vaccine. Unlike in Hong Kong, they are the most willing to be vaccinated.





上星期我打了第五針新冠病毒疫苗。我在香港打了首兩針輝瑞復必泰疫苗,然後在美國打了兩針加強劑。我上星期打的輝瑞復必泰疫苗,跟之前四針有所不同,新的這支叫作bivalent vaccine。Bivalent一字有不同的意思,但簡單來說,是指有兩部份的。以醫學用詞來說,a bivalent vaccine則是指二價疫苗,可預防兩種不同的疾病,又或一個病毒有兩個不同的類型或變種病毒株。我剛接種的二價疫苗,就能預防原始新冠病毒株,以及最新的omicron變種。

當我告訴我的香港朋友,我打了第五針後,有些朋友問我打這麼多針會否對健康有害(detrimental)?我跟他們說,我每年都打流感針,對健康也沒有損害啊。我兩個星期前,就打了流感針。若某事物是detrimental to your health,意即它對你的健康不利、有害。美國政府已批准,十二歲或以上人士,可接種輝瑞復必泰的二價疫苗,而十八歲或以上人士,就可接種莫德納的二價疫苗。

有調查顯示,有接近一半的美國成年人對於新疫苗是in the dark——若你是in the dark about something,那即是說你對於某件對你有用的資訊毫不知情、一無所知。大部份調查受訪者均表示,他們只是稍微知悉有新疫苗面世,另一些人則說他們不知道它已經獲得批准。老一輩的美國人對於疫苗,卻並非渾然不知(in the dark);不像香港,他們倒是最願意接種疫苗的。

中譯:七刻Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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