據外媒報道，美國政府將斥資近20億美元購買1億劑由美國制藥巨頭輝瑞公司和德國BioNTech公司合作研發的新冠肺炎疫苗。這些疫苗可供5000萬人接種。如果疫苗最終證明是安全有效的，美國可以根據該協議再購買5億劑。

The US government will pay nearly $2 billion to buy enough of a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech SE to innoculate 50 million people if it proves to be safe and effective, the companies said on Wednesday.

輝瑞公司和德國生物技術公司BioNTech本周三（7月22日）表示，美國政府將支付近20億美元（約合人民幣140億元）用于購買大量由上述兩家公司研發的新冠肺炎疫苗，如果該疫苗被證明安全有效，將用于5000萬人接種。

The contract for 100 million doses of the vaccine amounts to a $39 price tag for what is likely to be a two-dose course of treatment.

這份疫苗合同數量為1億劑，每人可能需要接種兩次，每個療程相當于39美元。

The contract is the most the United States has agreed to spend on a vaccine, although previous deals with other vaccine makers were intended to also help pay for development costs.

這份合同是美國購買疫苗的最高總價，之前美國與其他疫苗制造商的交易還包括幫助支付研發成本。

Pfizer and BioNTech will not receive any money from the government unless their vaccine succeeds in large clinical trials and can be successfully manufactured, according to a Pfizer spokeswoman.

據輝瑞公司一位發言人說，除非疫苗在大規模臨床試驗中獲得成功并能夠成功生產，否則輝瑞公司和BioNTech公司將不會從美國政府獲得任何資金。

Under the agreement, the government would also have an option to procure an additional 500 million doses. Pfizer said the price for the additional doses would be negotiated separately if the US orders them.

根據協議，美國政府還可以選擇再采購5億劑疫苗。輝瑞公司表示，如果美國再次訂購，價格將另行協商。

The vaccine, if successful, will be made available to Americans at no cost, although their health insurance may be charged, the US department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said.

美國衛生與公眾服務部表示，如果疫苗研制成功，美國人將免費接種，不過可能需要醫療保險付費。

Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla has said the company intends to make a profit on the vaccine. He has also said that spending its own money, rather than government money to develop the vaccine should help speed the process.

輝瑞首席執行官阿爾伯特·布拉曾表示，公司打算從這種疫苗上獲利。他還說，花公司的錢來研發疫苗應該比花政府的錢更有助于加快這一進程。

Pfizer hopes to start its pivotal late-stage trial of the vaccine as early as next week, pending regulatory approvals, Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in an interview.

輝瑞首席科學官麥凱·多斯滕在接受采訪時表示，該公司希望最早于下周開始關鍵的疫苗后期試驗，目前正在等待監管部門的批準。

“We’re already starting to the process of allocating vaccine vials to a variety of different clinical sites in the US and elsewhere,” Dolsten said. “We’re looking at the map and getting good advice from the CDC. Where do we have the greatest incidence of COVID-19 disease?”

多斯滕說：“我們已經開始將疫苗分配到美國和其他地方的不同臨床地點。我們正在尋找合適的地點，并從美國疾病預防控制中心得到好的建議。哪里的新冠肺炎發病率最高？”

vial [?va??l]：n.小瓶；藥水瓶

Vaccine trials are more efficient if conducted in areas where high rates of active infection are prevelant.

如果在活動性感染率高的地區進行，疫苗試驗將更高效。

The vaccine has already shown promise in early-stage small studies in humans, producing the type of neutralizing antibodies needed to fight the virus. In those trials, subjects received two doses of the vaccine.

這種疫苗已經在早期的小規模人體研究中顯示出了積極結果，可以產生對抗病毒所需的中和抗體。在這些試驗中，受試者接種了兩劑疫苗。

The Pfizer/BioNTech candidate is one of the most advanced of over 150 vaccines being developed against COVID-19, which has claimed more than 600,000 lives globally and crippled economies.

這種候選疫苗是正在研發的150多種新冠肺炎疫苗中最先進的一種。新冠肺炎已經在全球奪去了60多萬人的生命，并給經濟造成嚴重影響。

The vaccine utilizes the chemical messenger RNA to instruct cells to make proteins that mimic the surface of the coronavirus, which the immune system sees as a foreign invader and mounts an attack. Although the technology has been around for years, there has never been an approved messenger RNA (mRNA)vaccine.

這種疫苗利用化學信使RNA來命令細胞制造模仿冠狀病毒表面的蛋白質，免疫系統將其視為外來入侵者并發動攻擊。盡管這項技術已經存在多年，但還沒有一種被批準的信使RNA疫苗。

The Trump administration has agreed to spend billions of dollars for the development and procurement of potential vaccines under its Operation Warp Speed program.

特朗普政府已經同意花費數十億美元通過“曲速行動”項目來研發和采購潛在的疫苗。

The aim is to produce vaccines that can end the pandemic by protecting billions of people from infection or severe illness, and governments have signed deals with drugmakers to secure supplies of various candidates. Whether any will succeed remains far from clear.

這樣做的目的是生產疫苗，保護數十億人免受感染或患上嚴重疾病，從而結束疫情。多國政府已與制藥商簽署協議，以確保各種候選疫苗的供應。然而是否有哪種疫苗會成功還遠不清楚。

Other vaccine makers that have signed deals to receive US government funding for their efforts include Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Novavax Inc.

其他已簽署協議接受美國政府資助的疫苗生產商包括Moderna、阿斯利康和Novavax.。

Pfizer said it will deliver the doses if the product receives emergency use authorization or US approval as early as October after demonstrating safety and efficacy in a large Phase III clinical trial involving up to 30,000 subjects.

輝瑞公司表示，如果該產品在涉及3萬名受試者的大型三期臨床試驗中證明其安全性和有效性，將最早在10月份獲得緊急使用許可或美國批準，并提供疫苗產品。

Pfizer and BioNTech currently expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses globally by the end of 2020, and potentially more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021, subject to final dose selection from their clinical trial.

預計到2020年底，輝瑞公司和BioNTech公司將可生產1億劑疫苗，到2021年底可能生產超過13億劑，這取決于臨床試驗的最終劑量選擇。

On Monday, the companies agreed to supply the United Kingdom with 30 million doses of the vaccine candidate, but did not disclose a price.

周一，兩家公司同意向英國供應3000萬劑候選疫苗，但沒有透露價格。

Pfizer shares were up nearly 5%, while BioNTech’s US-listed shares were up 13%.

輝瑞股價上漲近5%，而BioNTech公司在美國上市的股票價格上漲13%。

英文來源：路透社

翻譯&編輯：yaning