又中又英 | Flu season | 褚簡寧

　　Most people who catch the flu feel like death warmed over. I always feel like death warmed over when I have the flu. I sometimes have a frog in my throat. If you feel like death warmed over, it means you feel extremely ill. If you have a frog in your throat, it means you find it difficult to speak or have lost your voice because of an illness such as flu. It often takes people with the flu about two weeks to return to tip-top shape. If you are in tip-top shape, it means you are in excellent condition. Athletes must be in tip-top shape to compete. 

　　We are now entering the flu season. After catching the flu several times during my younger years, I now get a flu shot every year. I believe in vaccines because I feel they can help prevent infections such as Covid and influenza. There is no guarantee that everyone who gets vaccinated will be totally safe. A small number of vaccinated people could still get Covid, flu, or other viruses but their symptoms will be mild, unlike unvaccinated people. US President Donald Trump has appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr, son of the assassinated 1968 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, the Health Secretary.

　　Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic, which means he doesn't believe in vaccines. He is skeptical about the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and has fired many experts at his department who believe vaccines are effective. Kennedy has made it harder for Americans to get vaccinated and wants to change decades-old rules that require newborns and young children to get vaccinated against various diseases, such as measles. Experts have accused him of endangering the health of the country.

　　許多人患感冒的時候都感覺像death warmed over。當我感冒時就常常感覺像death warmed over，有時也有「青蛙卡在喉嚨間」（a frog in your throat）。若你感覺像death warmed over，意即你病得很重。若你有a frog in your throat，意即你因為患病例如感冒，而難以發聲又或失聲。患上感冒通常需要差不多兩星期才能恢復至tip-top shape—若你是in tip-top shape，意即你是在最佳狀態。運動員出賽必須保持最佳狀態（tip-top shape）。

　　我們已經進入了流感季節。我年輕時幾度感染流感後，我每年都會打流感疫苗。我相信疫苗，因為我覺得它們能幫助我避免患上新冠肺炎與流感這些傳染病。沒有人能保證所有接受疫苗的人是完全安全的。一小部分打了針的人還是會感染新冠肺炎、流感或其他病毒，只是他們的病徵會較輕微，不像沒有打針的人群。美國總統唐納德．特朗普就任命了小羅拔．甘迺迪為美國衞生部部長，他是1968年遇刺身亡的民主黨總統候選人羅拔．甘迺迪的兒子。 

　　甘迺迪是個vaccine skeptic，意即他並不相信疫苗。他對於新冠肺炎疫苗的成效抱懷疑態度，並已將他部門內相信疫苗有效的許多專家炒掉了。甘迺迪令美國人更難打疫苗針，亦意圖改變存在了數十年的固有規定，就是要求新生嬰兒及幼童接種疫苗，防範像麻疹的各種疾病。專家們指責他危害整個國家的衞生健康。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻