Africa, Continent with Monkeypox Deaths, Has No Vaccine

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Africa, Continent with Monkeypox Deaths, Has No Vaccine¹

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared monkeypox a "public health emergency of international concern."

The health organization said, "there are now more than 16 thousand reported cases from 75 countries and territories and five deaths." The five documented deaths are in Africa, the one continent without a single shot of vaccine against monkeypox. The numbers center on cases of the outbreak since May.

Ahmed Ogwell is the acting² head of the Africa Centers for Disease³ Control and Prevention or Africa CDC. Since the start of 2022, he said, more than 2,100 cases of the disease have been reported in Africa, resulting in 75 deaths.

Ogwell noted⁴ that the African continent of 1.3 billion people is again being left behind in access to vaccines⁵ as it was during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said, "let us get vaccines onto the continent."

Monkeypox has been reported in parts of Africa for many years. But the virus did not spread widely outside the continent. Last May, health organizations began reporting cases of monkeypox in the U.S., Europe and many other countries. That started a rush to get vaccines for the disease.

The European Commission⁶ said it will purchase 160,000 doses of the vaccine. And health officials in the U.S. said 800,000 doses will be available to doctors around the country after a few weeks of delays. The two-shot vaccine is manufactured⁸ at Bavarian Nordic's plant in Denmark.

But Ogwell said the Africa CDC cannot make similar statements. He said he hopes to have "good news" in the coming days but did not know when the shots would be available. He said smallpox⁹ vaccines, which can work against monkeypox, are not available, either.

Ogwell reminded the international health community that unless Africa is safe from disease, "the rest of the world is not safe."

After seeing the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with wealthy nations spending money for vaccines and treatments, Ogwell said: "the solutions need to be global in nature."

The WHO said it is creating a vaccine-sharing system for monkeypox, but not much information has come out. In addition, no countries have agreed yet to share vaccines with the WHO.

Words in This Story

response–n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

dose⁷ –n. an amount of medicine to be taken at one time

access–n. the chance to get something, the availability of an item

rush –v. to move very fast

global –adj. involving the entire world

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

7 dose   

n.(药的)剂量，一服；v.给(药)；(给…)服药

参考例句：

• In the accident,the workers received a heavy dose of radiation.在那次事故中，工人受到大剂量的辐射。
• He gave me a dose of medicine for my cold.他给我开了一剂治感冒的药。

8 manufactured   

adj.人造的v.（大规模）制造( manufacture的过去式和过去分词 )；捏造；加工；粗制滥造（文学作品）

参考例句：

• a news story manufactured by an unscrupulous journalist 一位不道德的记者编造的一篇报道
• We want the machine manufactured to our own spec. 我们要求这台机器按我们自己的规格来制造。

9 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？