Here’s a fact that’s hard to believe: At this time two months ago, the world did not yet know about the omicron variant.
这是一个令人难以置信的事实：两个月前的这个时候，世界还不知道奥密克戎变异毒株。
It’s both remarkable and horrifying how quickly omicron has become the dominant cause of COVID-19 in many countries. In just seven weeks, it has led to record-high case numbers and hospitalizations around the world. I’m still optimistic that the pandemic can come to an end sometime in 2022, but first we have to contend with a virus that’s spreading faster than any other in history. (I recently had a good discussion about this with global health Professor Devi Sridhar.)
The omicron surge has been an unfortunate reminder that the only way to eliminate the threat of COVID-19 somewhere is to eliminate it everywhere. As long as the virus continues to circulate at a high level in some parts of the world, we’ll always be at risk for another devastating variant. Game-changing innovations—including vaccines and new antivirals—will save lives but won’t truly accelerate the end of the pandemic until they’re accessible to everyone.
奥密克戎的暴发以一种不幸的方式提醒了我们：消除新冠威胁的唯一办法就是在所有地方都消除它。只要这种病毒还在世界某些地区高水平传播，我们就会持续处于另一种可怕的变异毒株传播的风险之中。改变游戏规则的创新，包括疫苗和新的抗病毒药物，能挽救生命，但只有每个人都能获得它们，才能真正终结新冠大流行。
That’s why the Gates Foundation is renewing its investment in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI. I’m excited to announce a new $150 million commitment to its future work on COVID and beyond.
这就是盖茨基金会再次加大对流行病防范创新联盟（CEPI）的投资的原因。我很高兴地宣布向CEPI再提供1.5亿美元，支持其未来在新冠及更多领域的工作。
Our foundation helped create CEPI in 2017 to accelerate work on vaccines against new infectious diseases and make sure those vaccines reach people in the poorest countries. The organization has played an invaluable role in the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the leaders of COVAX, the global effort to get vaccines out to low- and middle-income countries.
我们的基金会在2017年帮助创建了CEPI，加速研发针对新传染病的疫苗，并确保这些疫苗能惠及最贫困国家的人们。作为新冠大流行中致力于向中低收入国家提供疫苗的全球行动“新冠疫苗实施计划”（COVAX）的领导者之一，CEPI发挥了极为重要的作用。
As with malaria, polio, and many other diseases that our foundation works on, the key to pandemic prevention and preparedness is to keep on innovating. This pandemic’s most significant innovation is mRNA vaccines, which were available less than a year after the virus that causes COVID was identified. CEPI began funding efforts to develop mRNA vaccines for COVID just days after the virus was detected outside of China. (One of the candidates CEPI backed in January 2020 was Moderna.)
就像疟疾、脊髓灰质炎和我们基金会致力于消除的许多其他疾病一样，防治大流行的关键是不断创新。新冠大流行期间最重要的创新是mRNA疫苗，这种疫苗在发现新冠病毒后不到一年的时间就问世了。在中国大陆以外地区发现新冠病毒的几天后，CEPI就开始资助研发新冠mRNA疫苗。（CEPI在2020年1月支持的候选疫苗之一就是莫德纳的mRNA疫苗。）
But CEPI’s support for research on mRNA vaccines predates COVID-19—which is one of the reasons the approach was successful. The groundwork had been laid years before by investments from governments, pharmaceutical companies, and (more recently) CEPI. And the progress they’ve supported will continue to pay dividends long after the COVID pandemic ends. The mRNA platform is already being used to test new vaccines for TB and malaria diseases. Scientists are hard at work formulating next-generation vaccines that don’t require as many doses and don’t need to be kept frozen.
但实际上，CEPI早在新冠暴发前就开始支持对mRNA疫苗的研究，这是这一创新技术最终取得成功的重要原因之一。多年以来，政府、制药企业和CEPI（近几年）的投资为mRNA疫苗的成功奠定了基础。在他们的支持下所取得的进展将在新冠大流行结束后很长一段时间内继续带来回报。mRNA平台已被用于测试结核病和疟疾的新疫苗。科学家们正努力研制不需要多剂量，也无需冷冻保存的新一代疫苗。
Altogether, CEPI has invested in 14 COVID vaccine candidates and it continues to work on variants of concern and develop next-generation vaccines that could protect against all coronaviruses. It is also focusing on six other diseases of epidemic potential.
CEPI总共投资了14种新冠候选疫苗，并且在继续研究值得关注的新变异毒株，研发可预防所有冠状病毒的新一代疫苗。CEPI还在重点研究其他六种有流行风险的疾病。
But creating new vaccines isn’t enough. We also have to make sure that everyone who can benefit from vaccines has access to them, and that’s where the world has collectively failed in its response to COVID. While at least 9 billion doses were distributed in the past year, less than one percent went to people in low-income countries. It doesn’t make sense that so many people at lower risk of infection in wealthier countries got vaccinated before we reached the most vulnerable people, including the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions, and healthcare workers.
但仅仅研发出新的疫苗是不够的。我们还必须确保每个能受益于疫苗的人都能获得疫苗，而这正是世界在应对新冠时集体失败的地方。尽管去年至少分发了90亿剂新冠疫苗，但其中只有不到1%分配给了低收入国家的人。在我们为最脆弱人群（包括老人、有基础疾病的人和医务工作者）接种疫苗之前，富裕国家有那么多处于低感染风险的人接种了疫苗，这不合理。
We need to do better the next time the world faces a pathogen that has the potential to spark a pandemic. (I’m currently writing a book about what the world needs to do to prevent the next pandemic, which will come out later this year.) I believe that the world can and should be ready to develop a new vaccine and make enough for everyone in the world within six months of detecting a potential pandemic—and CEPI will play a crucial role in achieving that. It is one example of how we need to be making investments now to support innovations that will prevent disasters in the future. For example, the organization is supporting efforts to increase manufacturing capacity and recently released a study that provides valuable insights into how we can improve the world’s production capabilities. This is the type of investment we need to make now to prevent disasters in the future.
当世界再一次面临可能引发大流行的病原体时，我们需要做得更好。（我正在写的一本书是关于世界需要做些什么来防止下一次大流行病，它将于今年晚些时候出版。）我认为，世界能够而且应该准备好开发一种新疫苗，并在发现潜在大流行病的六个月内生产出足够世界上每个人接种的疫苗——CEPI将在实现这一目标方面发挥关键作用。这个例子说明了我们现在需要如何投资来支持创新，以防止未来灾难的发生。例如，CEPI正在支持提高产能的办法，并在最近发布了一项研究，为我们如何提高全球产能提供了有价值的见解。这就是我们现在需要做的投资，以防止未来灾难的发生。
And because CEPI is a global institution rather than a national one, it can focus on providing access for everyone, alongside other effective global institutions that have saved millions of lives like WHO, Gavi, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. These groups will help make sure that vaccines don’t just go to the highest bidders.
由于CEPI是一个全球组织，而不是某个国家机构，它能和世界卫生组织、全球疫苗免疫联盟（Gavi）以及全球基金（全称“抗击艾滋病、结核病和疟疾全球基金”）这些已经挽救了数百万人生命的全球机构一道，致力于让世界上的每一个人都能获益于挽救生命的创新。这些组织将帮助确保疫苗不会只落入出价最高的买家手中。
Imagine how different the last two years would’ve been if everyone in the world had had access to safe, effective COVID vaccines within six months. I know it’s hard to think about the next pandemic as the omicron variant surges around the world, but we have an opportunity to make sure the world never experiences this hardship again. Investing in organizations like CEPI is an important step that moves us closer to a world without pandemics.
想象一下，如果世界上的每个人都能在6个月内获得安全有效的新冠疫苗，过去两年的情况会有多么不同。我知道在奥密克戎于世界各地暴发的当下，很难去考虑下一次大流行病，但我们有机会确保世界不再经历这样的痛苦。投资于CEPI这样的组织让我们向着一个没有大流行病的世界，迈出了重要一步。
