Dr. Marco Cavaleri heads the European regulator's vaccines department. He said Thursday that approving medicines to treat COVID-19 might be possible "before the summer" noting several current clinical trials.
马可·卡瓦列里博士领导着欧洲监管机构的疫苗部门。他周四表示，注意到目前一些临床试验，治疗新冠肺炎药物的获批可能会在夏天之前。
A recent study in the United States suggested that the drug remdesivir could help patients recover from the coronavirus faster. Patients who received remdesivir recovered on average four days earlier than those who got the usual care. Earlier, animal studies showed remdesivir was effective against SARS and MERS, two diseases also caused by coronaviruses. It helped prevent infection and some symptoms when given early enough in the disease process.
美国最近的一项研究表明，瑞德西韦这种药物可能有助于患者更快地从新冠病毒中康复。与接受常规治疗的患者相比，接受瑞德西韦治疗的患者平均康复时间要提早4天。此前的动物研究表明表明瑞德西韦对冠状病毒引起的非典和中东呼吸综合症这两种疾病都有效。当在病程中足够早给药时，它有助于预防感染和某些症状。
In France, a group of hospitals reported success with use of another drug, Actemra, against COVID-19. In a study of 129 coronavirus patients, 65 were treated with the drug while the other patients received the usual care. The doctors did not release details, but said they were preparing to publish results. Actemra is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.
法国的一批医院报告称采用另一种名为Actemra的药物治疗新冠肺炎取得了成功。在一项对129例新冠病毒患者的研究中，有65人使用这种药物治疗，其它患者则接受了常规治疗。医生们并没有透露细节，但是表示他们正在准备发表研究结果。Actemra用于治疗类风湿性关节炎等疾病。
Doctors around the world are also trying a treatment for infections that is about 100 years old: giving blood plasma from recovered patients to sick ones. Plasma is the yellowish liquid part of blood. The blood from former patients is filled with protein molecules that fight infection. These molecules can help survivors defeat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
世界各地的医生也在尝试一种已有百年历史的治疗感染的疗法：将来自康复者的血浆注入患者体内。血浆是血液中呈淡黄色的液体部分。这些来自前患者的血液中含有可以抵抗感染的蛋白质分子。这些蛋白质分子可以帮助幸存者抵抗新冠病毒引发的新冠肺炎。
Developing a vaccine
开发疫苗
On Monday, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there are around seven or eight "top" candidates for a vaccine to combat COVID-19. He added work on the vaccines is being accelerated and helped with an additional $8 billion by 40 countries.
周一，世界卫生组织负责人谭德塞表示，目前大约有七八种可以对抗新冠肺炎的顶级候选疫苗。他还表示，疫苗工作正在加速，并得到了40个国家额外80亿美元的帮助。
It usually takes years to develop a vaccine. But Cavaleri said that if some of the vaccines already being tested prove to be effective, they could be approved as early as the beginning of next year.
开发疫苗通常需要数年时间。但是卡瓦列里博士表示，如果一些已经经过测试的疫苗被证实有效，它们最早可以在明年年初获得批准。
Cavaleri cautioned, however, that many experimental vaccines never make it to the end and that there are often delays.
然而卡瓦列里博士警告称，许多实验性疫苗从未走到最后，而且经常会出现延误。
"But we can see the possibility that if everything goes as planned, vaccines could be approved a year from now," he said.
他说：“但是如果一切按计划进行，我们可以看到，疫苗可能会在1年后获得批准。”
Some experts have proposed cancelling the requirement for large, extended clinical trials. But, Cavaleri said that was not currently being considered.
一些专家建议取消大型扩展临床试验的要求。但是卡瓦列里表示，目前尚未考虑这么做。
He said that could change if the situation worsened. "Things may evolve as the pandemic will evolve and we will see if we need to do something else," Cavaleri said.
他说如果形势恶化，这点可能会改变。卡瓦列里表示：“情况可能会随着大流行的发展而发展，我们会等着看是否需要做其它事情。”
Some officials have warned that a vaccine for COVID-19 might never be found. They note that previous attempts to develop a vaccine against related coronaviruses like SARS and MERS have all failed. But Cavaleri believes that a vaccine could be discovered with new technologies being tried around the world.
一些官员警告称，可能永远不会找到新冠肺炎疫苗。他们指出，以前尝试开发针对非典和中东呼吸综合症等冠状病毒的疫苗均告失败。但是卡瓦列里认为，随着新技术在全球范围内得到尝试，可能会找出疫苗。
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, the chair of the African Union, said a vaccine "is our best hope of ending this pandemic."
非盟主席兼南非总统西里尔·拉马福萨表示，疫苗是我们结束大流行的最大希望。
On Thursday, he joined more than 140 world leaders and health experts calling on all countries to unite behind a "people's vaccine" against COVID-19. They asked that the vaccine be available to anyone around the world at no cost.
周四，他与140多位世界领导人以及卫生专家一起呼吁，所有国家要团结起来支持一种属于人民的新冠肺炎疫苗。他们要求该疫苗免费提供给世界各地的所有人。