Level 1 | Level 2| Level 3 | Answers

Three vaccines have been created in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The first vaccine to be announced comes from a combined effort between American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German research laboratory BioNTech. They were the first to announce that they have a working vaccine which has a 90% success rate. The second vaccine to be announced is from the US pharmaceutical company Moderna. It is a similar type of vaccine to the Pfizer/BioNTech one and it has a 95% success rate. The third and final vaccine to be announced so far comes from Oxford University. The Oxford vaccine was one of the early front-runners in the vaccine race earlier in 2020. It is a different type of vaccine to the previous ones and it has a confirmed 70% success rate with a possible 90% success rate after some tweaks to the doses are made.

The vaccine announcements have come as many countries are struggling with more daily COVID cases than ever before. Much of Europe is currently on lockdown as the spread has become uncontrollable, the US has been setting new daily case records on a weekly basis in the lead up to the Thanksgiving holiday and countries around the world are experiencing second or third waves.

The vaccines have given hope that life may be able to return to some semblance of normal in 2021. One of the researchers at BioNTech said that life should be back to normal by winter 2021. The US is planning to give the first vaccines to people starting in December 2020 and other countries are aiming for December or January for their vaccine roll-outs. The monumental task of vaccinating entire countries is something that governments are now having to contend with. The general consensus is that the oldest people and most vulnerable people will be vaccinated first. Countries will then work down the age groups from old to young in order to vaccinate those who are most at risk as fast as possible.

The vaccines are here too late for people to enjoy the 2020 winter holidays and officials are worried about the spread of the virus in countries where winter holidays such as Christmas and New Years are observed. In the US, Thanksgiving is taking place on Thursday, 26 November. The CDC has warned people not to travel and not to gather for Thanksgiving. However, it seems as though people are not listening as millions have still been travelling through airports. More people have been travelling in the week leading up to Thanksgiving than at any time since March 2020 when the pandemic was just beginning. As other countries prepare for holidays later in the year, governments will be hoping that they can slow the spread of the virus enough to get people vaccinated and finally bring an end to the pandemic.

Difficult words

Pharmaceutical (adj): Relating to medical drugs.

Front-runner (n): Someone leading in a race or competition.

Tweak (v): To change or adjust.

Dose (n): An amount of medicine.

Semblance (n): The outward appearance of something.

Roll-out (n): The unveiling or release of something new.

Monumental (adj): Being huge in importance.

Contend (v): To compete or challenge.

Consensus (n): General opinion, widely agreed thought.

Activities

For listening practise, listen to the recorded article here:

American English Audio:

Match the Synonym!

1. Pharmaceutical A. Appearance
2. Front-runnerB. Huge
3. TweakC. Medicinal
4. DoseD. General opinion.
5. SemblanceE. Challenge
6. Roll-outF. Amount of medicine.
7. Monumental G. Adjust
8. ContendH. Leading competitor
9. ConsensusI. Release

True or False?

1. More than two vaccines have been created for COVID-19. T / F

2. All of the new vaccines are from the US. T / F

3. The first vaccine announced has a 90% success rate. T / F

4. The Oxford vaccine is a different type than the other two vaccines. T / F

5. Much of Europe is open and has the virus under control. T / F

6. Thanksgiving in the US is causing spikes in cases. T / F

7. People are hopeful 2021 will bring daily life back to normal. T / F

8. The US will wait until 2021 to begin administering vaccines. T / F

9. Most countries will give young people the vaccine first. T / F

10. The CDC has warned people against travelling over the holidays. T / F

Unscramble the sentence!

1. announce / the first / They / vaccine / that / have a / they / were / to / working

2. second / The / the / is / to / US / announced / be / vaccine / from

3. US / to / give / planning / to / people / first vaccines / December / the / is / The / starting in

4. will / down / age / then / groups / Countries / the / work

5. not / The CDC / travel / to / not / gather / people / has / warned / to / and

Listening and Vocabulary

Listen to the article and fill in the words OR practice vocabulary and fill in the words.

American English Audio:

FinalWavesAgainst
StrugglingResearchersHolidays
SlowVulnerableBeginning

Three vaccines have been created in the fight (1)___________ the COVID-19 pandemic. The first vaccine to be announced comes from a combined effort between American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German research laboratory BioNTech. They were the first to announce that they have a working vaccine which has a 90% success rate. The second vaccine to be announced is from the US pharmaceutical company Moderna. It is a similar type of vaccine to the Pfizer/BioNTech one and it has a 95% success rate. The third and (2)_________ vaccine to be announced so far comes from Oxford University. The Oxford vaccine was one of the early front-runners in the vaccine race earlier in 2020. It is a different type of vaccine to the previous ones and it has a confirmed 70% success rate with a possible 90% success rate after some tweaks to the doses are made.

The vaccine announcements have come as many countries are (3)_____________ with more daily COVID cases than ever before. Much of Europe is currently on lockdown as the spread has become uncontrollable, the US has been setting new daily case records on a weekly basis in the lead up to the Thanksgiving holiday and countries around the world are experiencing second or third (4)________.

The vaccines have given hope that life may be able to return to some semblance of normal in 2021. One of the (5)______________ at BioNTech said that life should be back to normal by winter 2021. The US is planning to give the first vaccines to people starting in December 2020 and other countries are aiming for December or January for their vaccine roll-outs. The monumental task of vaccinating entire countries is something that governments are now having to contend with. The general consensus is that the oldest people and most (6)_____________ people will be vaccinated first. Countries will then work down the age groups from old to young in order to vaccinate those who are most at risk as fast as possible.

The vaccines are here too late for people to enjoy the 2020 winter (7)___________ and officials are worried about the spread of the virus in countries where winter holidays such as Christmas and New Years are observed. In the US, Thanksgiving is taking place on Thursday, 26 November. The CDC has warned people not to travel and not to gather together for Thanksgiving. However, it seems as though people are not listening as millions have still been travelling through airports. More people have been travelling in the week leading up to Thanksgiving than at any time since March 2020 when the pandemic was just (8)_____________. As other countries prepare for holidays later in the year, governments will be hoping that they can (9)________ the spread of the virus enough to get people vaccinated and finally bring an end to the pandemic.

Conversation Questions

Take turns speaking with a partner or try to answer on your own:

1. Did you find this article interesting? Why or why not?
2. Did you learn anything new from this article? If so, what?
3. What do you think of this story?
4. Do you know if your government has purchased any of these vaccines?
5. Will you get the vaccine as soon as you can?
6. What do you think about the amount of time it has taken to develop these vaccines?
7. How do you think governments should give the vaccines out?
8. Should the vaccines be free?
9. Is the pandemic bad in your country?
10. Are there any holidays that may be different in your country because of the virus?
11. Should people be upset if they can’t have their normal holiday traditions?
12. What do you think about people who ignore the warnings to not gather for holidays?
13. Do you think life will be back to normal at the end of 2021?
14. Has the pandemic been difficult for you personally?
15. Have you been in lockdown at any time during this year?
16. Do people trust scientists in your country?
17. Has your government handled the pandemic well?
18. What would you like to do once the pandemic is over?
19. Did you have any plans that you couldn’t do this year because of the pandemic?
20. Should people continue wearing masks after people are vaccinated?