又中又英——Under The Weather

　　Last Tuesday morning I had a feeling of foreboding mixed with euphoria. The feeling of foreboding and euphoria stayed with me as I went to St. Paul’s Hospital. I had to be there by 10.30 for my second Pfizer/Biontech shot. I had a sense of foreboding before my first shot but it went away after I took it. The word “foreboding” means feeling something bad will happen. The word “euphoria” means feeling great excitement and happiness. My first shot only gave me a slightly sore (painful) arm around the injection area. The soreness (pain) went away after one day.
　　I had a sense of foreboding for my second shot because I had read a second shot sometimes causes more side effects, such as fever and a sore arm. Most people do not have this sense of foreboding when taking a shot, but I am a worrier! At the same time, I had a feeling of euphoria because I knew after two shots I am well protected against the virus. The nurse who gave me the shot told me the second shot usually has more side effects. I again had a sore arm and felt a bit under the weather, which means feeling ill, but it went away after less than two days. I feel Hong Kong people should not mistrust the vaccine. Everyone should get vaccinated.
　　But it should be a personal choice. The government is forcing all 370,000 foreign domestic helpers to get tested and said they must get vaccinated before renewing their contracts just because two caught a mutant virus. No one knows how they got infected. A local could have infected them. But Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong said helpers are high risk because they meet friends during their days off. Even locals meet friends during their days off! Law Chi-kwong said helpers don’t have to work here if they refuse vaccinations because they are not residents. This is an arrogant threat. He should know Hong Kong’s economy will be seriously affected if large numbers of helpers left.
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　　上星期二早上，我心情興奮（euphoria），夾雜着某種不祥的預感（foreboding），一直到我去聖保祿醫院時，那種興奮（euphoria）又帶不祥預兆（foreboding）的感覺仍然伴隨着我。當天我要在十時半到達醫院，去打我第二針的輝瑞「復必泰」疫苗。我打第一針之前，也有過這種不祥預感（foreboding），但打過針以後那種感覺就消失了。Foreboding是指有預感不好的事情會發生；euphoria是指亢奮、狂喜、興高采烈的。第一劑只令我手臂打針的位置有輕微疼痛（sore），過了一天那痛楚（soreness）便已消失。
　　我對於第二針注射有不好的預感（foreboding），因為我讀到有人說，第二針有時會引起更多副作用，例如發燒和手臂疼痛。大部份人打針都不會有這種不祥預感（foreboding），但我是個杞人憂天的人！與此同時，我感到興奮（euphoria），是因為我知道打了兩針過後，我就有良好的防護去抵抗新冠肺炎。給我打針的護士告訴我，第二針通常有較多副作用。我再次感到手臂疼痛（sore），也感到有點under the weather，意即身體有點不舒服，但在不到兩天之後，那些症狀亦已消散。我覺得香港人不應該不信任疫苗，人人都當接種疫苗。
　　然而，這應該是個人的抉擇。只不過因為有兩名外傭感染了變種病毒，政府便強制全部三十七萬外籍家傭檢測，並說他們在續約之前必須接種疫苗。沒有人知道這兩名外傭是如何感染到的，或許是一個本地人傳染給他們。但勞福局局長羅致光說，家傭有更高風險，因為他們會在放假的日子見朋友。即使本地人也會在放假的時候見朋友吧！羅致光說，若外傭拒絕接種疫苗，大可以不在這裏工作，因為他們不是香港居民。這是個傲慢的威嚇。他應該知道，若有大量外傭離港，香港經濟將會遭受沉重的打擊。中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧