Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - in the dark｜又中又英

Last week I took my fifth coronavirus vaccine. I had my first two Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in Hong Kong, followed by two booster shots in the US. The Pfizer-BioNTech shot I took last week was different from the previous four vaccines. It's a new one called a bivalent vaccine. The word“bivalent”has different meanings but in simple terms it means having two parts. In medical terms a bivalent vaccine means having protection for two different types of disease or a virus with two different strains. The bivalent vaccine I took has protection for the original coronavirus and also the newest omicron versions.

When I told my Hong Kong friends that I had a fifth shot some asked if having so many would be detrimental to health. I told them I have a flu shot every year and it's not been detrimental to my health. I took my flu shot two weeks ago. If something is detrimental to your health it means it causes harm or damage to your health. The US government has authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine for people aged 12 and older and a bivalent vaccine by Moderna for people aged 18 and older.

A survey showed nearly half of American adults are in the dark about the new vaccine. If you are in the dark about something it means you are not informed about something that is useful for you to know. Most in the survey said they were only slightly aware of the new vaccine while some said they didn't know it had been approved. Older Americans were not in the dark about the vaccine. Unlike in Hong Kong, they are the most willing to be vaccinated.
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上星期我打了第五针新冠病毒疫苗。我在香港打了首两针辉瑞复必泰疫苗，然后在美国打了两针加强剂。我上星期打的辉瑞复必泰疫苗，跟之前四针有所不同，新的这支叫作bivalent vaccine。Bivalent一字有不同的意思，但简单来说，是指有两部份的。以医学用词来说，a bivalent vaccine则是指二价疫苗，可预防两种不同的疾病，又或一个病毒有两个不同的类型或变种病毒株。我刚接种的二价疫苗，就能预防原始新冠病毒株，以及最新的omicron变种。

当我告诉我的香港朋友，我打了第五针后，有些朋友问我打这么多针会否对健康有害（detrimental）？我跟他们说，我每年都打流感针，对健康也没有损害啊。我两个星期前，就打了流感针。若某事物是detrimental to your health，意即它对你的健康不利、有害。美国政府已批准，十二岁或以上人士，可接种辉瑞复必泰的二价疫苗，而十八岁或以上人士，就可接种莫德纳的二价疫苗。

有调查显示，有接近一半的美国成年人对于新疫苗是in the dark——若你是in the dark about something，那即是说你对于某件对你有用的资讯毫不知情、一无所知。大部份调查受访者均表示，他们只是稍微知悉有新疫苗面世，另一些人则说他们不知道它已经获得批准。老一辈的美国人对于疫苗，却并非浑然不知（in the dark）；不像香港，他们倒是最愿意接种疫苗的。

中译：七刻Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁