9家领先的美国和欧洲制药商承诺在研发有效新冠病毒疫苗的竞赛中遵循科学标准。
The companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, made the promise after concerns were raised that safety standards might decline in the attempt to find a vaccine.
人们越来越担心各家公司在寻找疫苗的尝试过程中会降低安全标准，之后包括辉瑞、葛兰素史克和阿斯利康在内的公司做出了这样的承诺。
The companies said in a statement they would "uphold the integrity of the scientific process."
这些公司在声明中表示，他们将会“坚持科学程序的完整性。”
Other companies that signed the agreement included Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Moderna, Novavax , Sanofi and BioNTech.
签署该协议的其它公司包括强生、默克、Moderna、诺瓦瓦克斯、赛诺菲和BioNTech。
Ugur Sahin is head of BioNTech in Germany. He said "We want it to be known that also in the current situation we are not willing to compromise safety and efficacy."
乌格·萨因是德国BioNTech公司的负责人。他表示，“我们希望让外界知道，即便在当前局势下，我们也不愿意在安全性和有效性上妥协。”
The promise to play by established rules comes at a time of highly politicized debate. The debate is over what actions are needed to quickly control COVID-19 and increase international business and trade.
遵守既定规则的承诺是在高度政治化辩论之际提出来的。这场辩论是关于需要采取哪些措施来快速控制新冠病毒并提升国际商贸。
Governments race to approve vaccines
各国政府竞相批准疫苗
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia had become the first country to approve a vaccine for COVID-19. But some scientists question whether its quick approval will lead to a safe vaccine.
上个月，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京宣布俄罗斯已经成为首个批准新冠疫苗的国家。但是一些科学家质疑它的快速批准是否能生产出安全的疫苗。
The head of China's Sinovac Biotech has also said most of its employees and their families have already taken an experimental vaccine. The vaccine, developed by the Chinese company, is part of the country's emergency-use program.
中国诺华生物技术有限公司负责人也表示，该公司大多数员工及其家属已经接种了一种试验性疫苗。这种由中国公司开发的疫苗是该国应急使用计划的一部分。
Chinese companies and organizations which are involved in developing COVID-19 vaccines did not sign the agreement.
参与开发新冠疫苗的中国公司和机构并未签署该协议。
Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said COVID-19 vaccines could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration just days before the November 3 presidential election.
上周，美国疾控中心表示，美国食品药品管理局可能会在11月3日美国总统大选前批准新冠疫苗。
The announcement followed comments from President Donald Trump suggesting that the U.S. may have a vaccine before the election. Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, said she would not take Trump's word alone on any possible coronavirus vaccine.
在宣布这一消息之前，唐纳德·川普总统发表了评论，暗示美国可能会在大选前拥有疫苗。参议员卡马拉·哈里斯是民主党副总统提名人，她表示在新冠疫苗的可能性方面，她不会光听川普的承诺。
The drug-makers say approval for a COVID-19 vaccine must be based on trials of large groups of people from different ages, races and ethnic groups. The trials must compare similar groups that do not receive the vaccine in question. People taking part in the trial must not know which group they belong to.
制药商表示，一种新冠疫苗的批准，必须经过对不同年龄、种族和族裔的大量人群进行试验。试验必须与未接种相关疫苗的类似人群进行对比。参与试验的人士不能知道他们属于那个群体。
BioNTech's Sahin said there must be statistical certainty of 95 percent - and in some cases higher - from the trials to show a positive result.
BioNTech公司的萨因表示，试验展示阳性结果的统计确定性要达到95%，在某些情况下要求更高。
Michael Scholl is the chief executive of German vaccine developer Leukocare, which did not sign the promise. He said, "My biggest fear is that we will approve vaccines that are not safe." He noted that an unsafe vaccine will hurt the idea of vaccinations in general.
迈克尔·肖尔是德国疫苗开发商Leukocare的首席执行官，该公司未签署该承诺。他表示：“我最担心的是不安全疫苗会得到批准。”他指出，不安全的疫苗一般都会对疫苗接种的想法造成伤害。
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)