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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。 

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