As the Omicron variant gains momentum in Europe and the United States, scientists are rewriting their expectations for the COVID-19 pandemic next year. Just weeks ago, disease experts were predicting that countries would begin to emerge from the pandemic in 2022 after enduring a series of surges driven by the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants. First among them would be populations with a significant amount of exposure to the coronavirus, through a combination of infections and vaccination.
In those places, COVID was expected to ease into an endemic disease, hopefully with less-severe periodic or seasonal outbreaks. Vaccines, available for much of 2021 only in wealthy nations, could reach the majority of the global population by the end of the year ahead.
But the rapid spread of the highly-mutated Omicron variant, identified in late November, and its apparent ability to reinfect people at a higher rate than its predecessors, is undermining that hope.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
Already, countries are reverting to measures used earlier in the pandemic: restricting travel, reimposing mask requirements, advising against large gatherings for the winter holidays. While it is not quite back to square one, much more of the world will need to be vaccinated or exposed to COVID to get past the worst of the pandemic, disease experts said.
More than 270 million people have been infected with COVID, according to the World Health Organization, while an estimated 57 percent of the global population has received at least one vaccine dose, representing potential protection that did not exist two years ago.
“Even if that immunity is not as good against Omicron, it doesn’t mean that it’s worthless. And that immunity is more effective against serious illness than it is against getting infected at all,” said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins.
So far, most of the studies looking at the effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron have focused on neutralizing antibodies, which latch on to the virus and prevent it from entering and infecting cells. Blood test results from fully vaccinated people show Omicron has learned to escape neutralization; a booster dose might restore that protection.
Immune system T cells, which destroy infected cells, also appear still to be able to recognize the variant. Many experts believe this second line of defense will prevent hospitalizations and deaths.
(Reuters)
變種病毒Omicron正在歐洲與美國快速傳播，科學家對明年COVID-19疫情的預期也隨之改寫。就在數週前，疾病專家預測，歷經Alpha、Beta、Gamma和Delta變種病毒所帶來的一連串病例激增後，各國將在二○二二年開始擺脫疫情。率先突圍的會是因感染及疫苗接種而大量接觸冠狀病毒的人群。
COVID在這些地方預計將減輕為一種地方流行病，週期性或季節性地流行，疫情可望不那麼嚴重。二○二一年大部分時間只有富裕國家才有的疫苗，到了明年年底，其覆蓋率或將遍及全球大多數人口。
但十一月下旬所發現高度突變的Omicron變種，它的迅速傳播，以及它明顯比前代病毒更容易讓人再度感染，正讓這個希望破滅。
各國再度實施了疫情初期所採取的措施：限制旅行、規定配戴口罩、建議寒假期間不要參加大型聚會。疾病專家表示，這雖然不是完全回到起點，但世界上有更多地方需要接種疫苗或接觸COVID，方能度過疫情最嚴峻的時期。
根據世界衛生組織的數據，超過二點七億人感染過COVID，而估計全球有百分之五十七的人口接種了至少一劑疫苗，這潛在的保護力是兩年前所沒有的。
「即便這種免疫力對Omicron不那麼有效，這並不表示它毫無價值。而且這種免疫力對於防重症比防感染更為有效」，約翰霍普金斯大學傳染流行病學家大衛‧道迪醫師表示。
到目前為止，大多數針對Omicron疫苗有效性的研究都集中在中和抗體上，這些抗體會附著在病毒上並防止其進入和感染細胞。完全接種疫苗民眾之驗血結果顯示，Omicron已學會逃避中和；注射追加劑可能會讓此保護力恢復。
摧毀受感染細胞的免疫系統T細胞似乎仍能識別Omicron變種。許多專家認為，這第二道防線可避免住院及死亡。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
A: The 62nd Golden Horse Awards ceremony is set for next weekend. So what are the nominees for Best Narrative Feature? B: The nominees are: A Foggy Tale, The Waves Will Carry Us, Left-Handed Girl, Queerpanorama and Mother Bhumi. A: What about the nominees for Best Leading ActorActress? B: Richie Koh, Will Or, Joseph Chang, Chang Chen and Lan Wei-hua are nominated for Best Leading Actor. Caitlin Fang, Rene Liu, Ariel Lin, Alexia Kao and Fan Bingbing are nominated for Best Leading Actress. A: It’s a shame that many of those movies haven’t even been released yet. Meanwhile, some blockbusters won zero nominations this
A: For next weekend’s Golden Horse Awards ceremony, the Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Chen Shu-fang. B: Didn’t Chen win both Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actress in 2023? What a talented performer she is. A: But with the debut of the world’s first AI-generated “actress,” human performers may start to worry about their jobs. B: The news says the debut of AI-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood in a recent conference attracted studio executives’ interest. A: With big stars like Robert Redford and Diane Keaton passing away one after another, could human performers gradually be replaced in the future? A: 下週末登場的金馬獎，終身成就獎將頒給陳淑芳！ B: 她前年不是同時贏得女主角、女配角獎？真是位好演員。 A: 但隨著全球首位人工智慧（AI）生成「女星」亮相，人類演員或許要開始擔心了。 B:
Have you ever felt a sudden pang of discomfort after handing over cash? That sensation is known as the pain of paying, the emotional sting that __1__ when money leaves your hands. Neuroscientific studies suggest that this pain activates the insula, an area in the brain associated with physical pain and negative emotions. This pain comes about because making a purchase forces people to __2__ the loss of financial resources, making the act of buying feel like a sacrifice. The pain intensifies under certain conditions. The more __3__ people are of the payment—its timing, amount, and method—the stronger the
1. 她把畫掛在書房牆上。 ˇ She hung the picture on her study wall. χ She hanged the picture on her study wall. 註：hanged 是 hang（吊死，絞死）的過去式。hang 作「掛」解時過去式是 hung，過去分詞也是 hung。 2. 他失去平衡，跌倒在地。 ˇ He lost his balance and fell down. χ He lost his balance and felled down. 註：felled 是動詞 fell 的過去式，作「砍倒」解，是及物動詞。這裡作「跌倒」解是 fall，過去式是 fell，過去分詞是 fallen。 3. 我剛才把照相機放在桌上。 ˇ I laid the camera on the table a moment ago. χ I lay the camera on the table a moment ago. 註：從句義可以看出動詞須用過去式「將…放、置」，動詞現在式是 lay，過去式和過去分詞都是 laid：lay, laid, laid；但 lay 也是 lie 的過去式，作「躺」解：lie, lay, lain，是不及物動詞。 注意：兩個形同義不同的 lay，不要用錯。 4. 他去過韓國。 ˇ He has been to Korea. ˇ He visited Korea some time ago. χ He has gone to Korea. 註：He has gone to Korea. 是「他已經到韓國去了」，指目前人已在韓國或在赴韓國的途中。表示「過去曾去過某處」，應用 have/has been，或用動詞的過去式和表示過去時間的副詞來表達。 5.
RSS