在大多数国家都在争抢新冠病毒疫苗的时候，蒙古，一个夹在中俄两国之间的小国，仅用几个月就筹集到了足够国民接种的疫苗。许多贫穷国家一直处在排队等待疫苗的困境中, 而蒙古利用其作为俄罗斯和中国之间一个小小地缘政治参与者的地位，能够像更富裕的国家那样迅速抢购到疫苗，要归功于该国与中俄的合作。
在蒙古首都乌兰巴托的一所学校，一个新冠疫苗接种点。政府为每位接受完整疫苗接种的市民提供5万图格里克（约合113元人民币）。
By Alexandra Stevenson| New York Times
Countries Are Scrambling for Vaccines. Mongolia Has Plenty.
Mongolia, a country of grassy hills, vast deserts and endless skies, has a population not much bigger than Chicago's.
蒙古，一个拥有草原山丘、广袤沙漠和无垠天空的国家，人口并不比芝加哥多多少。
But during a pandemic, being a small nation sandwiched between two vaccine makers with global ambitions can have advantages.
但在新冠疫情大流行期间，作为一个小国，夹在两个有全球抱负的疫苗制造大国之间可能会带来优势。
At a time when most countries are scrambling for coronavirus vaccines, Mongolia now has enough to fully vaccinate its entire adult population, in large part thanks to deals with both China and Russia. Officials are so confident about the nation’s vaccine riches that they are promising citizens a “Covid-free summer.”
在大多数国家都在争抢新冠病毒疫苗的时候，蒙古现在有了足够的疫苗给所有成年人口接种，这在很大程度上要归功于同中国和俄罗斯的合作。官员们对该国的疫苗资源非常有信心，他们向公民承诺一个“没有新冠的夏天”。
Mongolia’s success in procuring the vaccines in the span of a few months is a big victory for a low-income, developing nation. Many poor countries have been waiting in line for shots, hoping for the best. But Mongolia, using its status as a small geopolitical player between Russia and China, was able to snap up doses at a clip similar to that of much wealthier countries.
蒙古在几个月内成功地采购了疫苗，这对一个低收入发展中国家来说是一个巨大的胜利。许多贫穷国家一直在排队等待疫苗，希望能有好的结果。但蒙古利用其作为俄罗斯和中国之间一个小小地缘政治参与者的地位，能够像更富裕的国家那样迅速抢购到疫苗。
Russia has sold Mongolia one million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine. China has provided four million doses of vaccine — the final shipment of doses arrived this week. Mongolia’s most recent agreement with China’s Sinopharm Group, which is state-owned, was made days before the company received emergency authorization from the World Health Organization.
俄罗斯向蒙古出售了100万剂卫星五号(Sputnik V)疫苗。中国提供了400万剂疫苗，最后一批疫苗于本周抵达。蒙古与中国国有的国药控股集团最近达成的协议，是在该公司获得世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)紧急授权的几天前达成的。
Mongolia was late to the global clamber for Covid-19 vaccines. For nearly a year officials boasted that there were no local cases. Then came an outbreak in November. Two months later, political crisis precipitated by the mishandling of the virus led to the sudden resignation of the prime minister. The prospect of continued coronavirus restrictions threatened to throw the country into further political turmoil.
在全球对新冠疫苗的争夺中，蒙古很晚才入场。在将近一年的时间里，官员们都在吹嘘当地没有病例。然后11月暴发了疫情。两个月后，因对病毒处理不当而引发的政治危机导致总理突然辞职。继续对新冠病毒实施限制的前景可能会使该国陷入进一步的政治动荡。
The new prime minister, Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, pledged to restart the economy, which had suffered from lockdowns and border closures, particularly in the south, where Mongolian truck drivers ferry coal across the border to China’s steel mills. But these plans were complicated by surging cases, with the daily count going from hundreds a day to thousands.
新总理奥云额尔登•罗布桑那木斯来(Oyun-Erdene luvannamsrai)承诺重启经济，该国经济曾受到封锁和边境关闭的影响，尤其是在南部，那里的蒙古卡车司机越过边境向中国钢铁厂运送煤炭。但这些计划因病例激增而变得复杂，每天的病例数从数百上升到数千。
“We were quite desperate,” said Bolormaa Enkhbat, an economic and development policy adviser to the prime minister.
“我们当时非常绝望，”总理的经济和发展政策顾问博洛玛•恩赫巴特(Bolormaa Enkhbat)说。
Mongolia approached China and Russia first, the foreign minister said, hoping longstanding economic ties with each country would help move it to the front of the line of countries seeking vaccines. Officials simultaneously explored diplomatic and private channels — putting in requests for donations from rich countries and the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturers.
该国外交部长表示，蒙古首先接触了中国和俄罗斯，希望与这两个国家长期的经济关系能够帮助蒙古国在寻求疫苗的国家中排在前列。官员们同时探索了外交和私人渠道——要求富裕国家和世界上最大的疫苗制造国提供捐赠。
They contacted price-gouging middlemen, international health organizations and vaccine alliances for poorer countries. One intermediary offered to sell Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for $120 a shot, nearly a quarter of the average monthly salary, Ms. Enkhbat said. Covax, the global vaccine-sharing alliance, which Mongolia signed onto in July 2020, promised doses in the fall or winter.
他们联系了哄抬价格的中间商、国际卫生组织和较贫穷国家的疫苗联盟。恩赫巴特说，一家中介公司提出以120美元一针的价格出售辉瑞生物科技(Pfizer-BioNTech)的新冠病毒疫苗，这几乎是该国平均月工资的四分之一。蒙古于2020年7月加入了全球疫苗共享联盟Covax，该联盟承诺在秋季或冬季提供疫苗。
With each breakthrough from Russia, negotiations moved more quickly with China.
随着在俄罗斯取得的每一次突破，与中国的谈判进展也更加迅速。
In early February, Mongolia approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Three days later, China’s Sinopharm Group received approval for its Vero Cell vaccine. Soon after, China donated 300,000 doses of its Sinopharm vaccine to Mongolia, citing a “profound traditional friendship” as motivation.
2月初，蒙古批准了俄罗斯的卫星五号疫苗。三天后，中国国药集团的Vero细胞疫苗获得批准。不久之后，中国又向蒙方捐赠了30万剂国药集团疫苗，并称源于两国“深厚的传统友谊”。
After a month of back and forth, the Mongolian government struck a deal in March with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, too, for one million doses of the Sputnik vaccine. Days later, Mongolia finalized an agreement to buy 330,000 additional doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.
经过一个月的反复交涉，蒙古政府在3月也同俄罗斯的加马利亚研究所(Gamaleya Research Institute)达成协议，购买100万剂卫星疫苗。几天后，蒙古敲定了另一项购买33万剂国药集团疫苗的协议。
“That’s what paved the way for the rest of the deal,” Ms. Enkhbat said about the phone call between the two men. “We laid out the situation and said that we are betting on Chinese vaccines at a time when the rest of the world fully isn’t.”
“这为协议的其他部分铺平了道路，”恩赫巴特谈到两人之间的电话时说。“我们阐明了情况，并表示，我们把赌注押在中国疫苗上，世界其他地方还没有这样。”
Mongolia has also secured commitments from AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech. So far it has received only 60,000 of the Sputnik vaccine because of manufacturing delays. But the Chinese vaccine will account for a majority of Covid-19 shots for Mongolia’s population.
蒙古也得到了阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)和辉瑞疫苗的供货承诺。到目前为止，由于生产延迟，蒙古只收到了6万剂俄罗斯卫星疫苗。因此蒙古民众接种的大部分新冠疫苗都将来自中国。
“We are thankful to our partners, especially China, that they are providing us with vaccinations when they also need it for domestic use,” said Battsetseg Batmunkh, Mongolia’s foreign minister.
“很感谢我们的合作伙伴，特别是中国，他们在国内有接种需求的时候仍向我们提供了疫苗，”蒙古外长巴特策策格•巴孟(Battsetseg Batmunkh)说。
In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, 97 percent of the adult population has received a first dose and more than half are fully vaccinated, according to government statistics. Across the country, more than three quarters of Mongolians have already received one shot.
据政府统计数据，在蒙古首都乌兰巴托，97%的成年人已经接种了第一针疫苗，超过一半的人已经接种完毕。在全国范围内，超过四分之三的蒙古人都已接种了第一针。
China, for its part, may be playing a long game, said Julian Dierkes, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia who specializes in Mongolian politics. The Mongolian government will remember how it made its vaccines available at a critical moment.
不列颠哥伦比亚大学(University of British Columbia)研究蒙古政治的副教授朱利安•迪尔克斯(Julian Dierkes)表示，就中国而言，它或许在打一场持久战。蒙古政府将记住中国是如何在关键时刻提供疫苗的。
“We could coin a phrase here: ‘The opportunity of smallness,’” he said.
“我们可以在这里创造一个说法：‘小国之机遇’，”他说。
【相关词汇】
buffer：缓冲物; 起缓冲作用的人
precipitated：使…突然降临; 加速(坏事的发生);
例句：The assassination of the president precipitated the country into war.
总统被暗杀使国家骤然陷入战争状态。
price-gouging：价格欺骗;
例句：In the real word, however, some large international chain supermarkets, such as Carrefour, Wal-Mart had been broken the scandal of price-gouging frequently.
但是，现实中像家乐福、沃尔玛这些大型国际连锁超市却频频爆出价格欺诈的丑闻，让消费者大跌眼镜。
paved the way：铺平道路;
coin a phrase：编造(或杜撰)一个词语；[戏谑语]套用一种说法
例句：To coin a phrase: Fall in love in haste, repent at leisure.
如一句俗语：急切地爱，慢慢的悔。
