The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced last week that it will invest $40 million in African drug makers. The money will help produce new messenger RNA vaccines in Africa. The continent’s people were the last to receive vaccinations against COVID-19 during the pandemic. 

比尔及梅琳达·盖茨基金会上周宣布将向非洲制药商投资 4000 万美元。 这笔资金将有助于在非洲生产新的信使 RNA 疫苗。 在大流行期间，非洲大陆的人民是最后一批接种 COVID-19 疫苗的人。 

The foundation said that its investment marks an important step forward in improving vaccine equity. It said making vaccines and getting them approved for use could take at least three more years. 

该基金会表示，其投资标志着在改善疫苗公平性方面向前迈出了重要一步。 报告称，生产疫苗并获得批准使用可能至少还需要三年时间。 

“Whether it’s for local diseases in Africa like Rift Valley (fever) or for global diseases like TB (tuberculosis), mRNA looks like a very promising approach,” Bill Gates told the Associated Press. 

比尔·盖茨对美联社表示：“无论是治疗裂谷（发烧）等非洲当地疾病还是结核病（结核病）等全球疾病，mRNA 看起来都是一种非常有前途的方法。” 

The Microsoft founder added, during a visit to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, “And so it allows us to bring in lots of African capabilities to work on these vaccines, and then this can be scaled up.” 

这位微软创始人在访问塞内加尔达喀尔巴斯德研究所时补充道，“这使我们能够引进大量非洲能力来研发这些疫苗，然后扩大规模。” 

The announcement came as the foundation opened its yearly three-day Grand Challenges event. The gathering brought together scientists and public health researchers from around the world. 

这一消息是在基金会一年一度为期三天的大挑战活动开幕之际发布的。 这次聚会汇集了来自世界各地的科学家和公共卫生研究人员。 

Institut Pasteur, along with South Africa-based company Biovac, will be using an mRNA research and manufacturing process developed by Quantoom Biosciences in Belgium. 

巴斯德研究所与南非公司 Biovac 将使用比利时 Quantoom Biosciences 开发的 mRNA 研究和制造工艺。 

The foundation is giving five million dollars to each vaccine manufacturer. It will award another $10 million to other companies not yet identified. The remaining $20 million is going to Quantoom “to further advance the technology and lower costs.” 

该基金会向每个疫苗制造商捐赠 500 万美元。 它将另外奖励 1000 万美元给其他尚未确定的公司。 剩下的 2000 万美元将捐给 Quantoom，“以进一步推进技术并降低成本”。 

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech along with Moderna used the mRNA technology to develop COVID-19 vaccines in record time. The medicine supplies genetic direction to human cells leading to antibody production to fight COVID-19. 

辉瑞及其合作伙伴 BioNTech 以及 Moderna 使用 mRNA 技术以创纪录的时间开发了 COVID-19 疫苗。 该药物为人体细胞提供遗传指导，导致产生抗击 COVID-19 的抗体。 

Those COVID-19 mRNA vaccines were quickly pushed through approval processes and received emergency use permission during the pandemic. The new vaccines under development in Africa will take longer anywhere from three to seven years. 

这些 COVID-19 mRNA 疫苗很快就通过了审批程序，并在大流行期间获得了紧急使用许可。 非洲正在开发的新疫苗将需要更长的时间，从三到七年不等。 

Dr. Amadou Sall is chief executive officer at Institut Pasteur. He said the deal will help build vaccine self-reliance in Africa. The organization has been producing yellow fever shots since the 1930s. It now hopes mRNA technology can be used to produce vaccines for other diseases in Africa including Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. 

阿马杜·萨尔 (Amadou Sall) 博士是巴斯德研究所的首席执行官。 他表示，该协议将有助于非洲建立疫苗自力更生能力。 该组织自 20 世纪 30 年代以来一直生产黄热病疫苗。 现在，该公司希望 mRNA 技术能够用于生产针对非洲其他疾病的疫苗，包括拉沙热、裂谷热和克里米亚-刚果出血热。 

“What we want is next time there is a pandemic — we hope it won’t happen soon — Africa would be able to make its own vaccine, to contribute to the development, and make sure that we protect the population,” Sall said. “What happened with COVID should never happen again in the sense that Africans should get vaccinated as a matter of equity.” 

萨尔说：“我们希望下次发生大流行时——我们希望这种情况不会很快发生——非洲能够制造自己的疫苗，为发展做出贡献，并确保我们保护人民。” “从非洲人应该公平接种疫苗的意义上来说，新冠疫情发生的事情不应该再次发生。” 

Jose Castillo is the leader of Quantoom Biosciences. He said the mRNA technologies permit low- and middle-income countries “to become autonomous in terms of research and development.” 

Jose Castillo 是 Quantoom Biosciences 的领导者。 他表示，mRNA 技术使低收入和中等收入国家“能够在研发方面实现自主”。 

With $8.3 billion to give away in 2023, the Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private philanthropic donor. The organization has spent billions of dollars to vaccinate against polio, treat and prevent malaria and HIV and, more recently, to develop vaccines for diseases like cholera. 

盖茨基金会是全球最大的私人慈善捐助者，到 2023 年将捐赠 83 亿美元。 该组织已花费数十亿美元来接种脊髓灰质炎疫苗、治疗和预防疟疾和艾滋病毒，最近还开发了霍乱等疾病的疫苗。