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Another of those conversations was with a grandmother in her late 60s who hasn't seen her granddaughter for almost a year. She recently took an overdose of prescription medication because she couldn't take the loneliness any more. That overdose, and the consequent hospital admission, is what alerted me to the way she was feeling – she hadn't contacted me herself. "I'm such a nuisance," she kept saying to me on the phone, despite my reassurances that she was no such thing. "I'm so sorry to be a bother."
另一段对话是和一位快60岁的祖母，她已经将近一年没见过自己的孙女了。她最近服用了过量的处方药，因为她再也无法忍受孤独了。服药过量，随后住院，这让我注意到了她的感受——她并没有自己联系我。“我真是个讨厌鬼，”她在电话里不停地对我说，尽管我一再向她保证她并不惹人厌。“很抱歉打扰你。”
Before the pandemic, about a third of my consultations were about mental health; now it's between half and two thirds, and the list of patients I check in with weekly or fortnightly about their mood is lengthening. People are unable, for now, to share those aspects of our humanity that help us, and come most naturally – touch, speech, sharing space. I hope the vaccine programme will prove an effective antidote to the sense of hopelessness that, for the past few months, has been spreading and deepening among many of my patients.
在新冠爆发之前，我的咨询中有三分之一是关于心理健康的，而现在在二分之一和三分之二之间，我每周或每两周要检查一次情绪的病人的名单也越来越长。现在，人们无法分享那些人性中最自然、最有助于我们的方面——触摸、语言、分享空间。我希望疫苗计划会是对过去几个月来在我的许多病人中蔓延和加深的绝望感的有效解毒剂。
On 9 November it was announced that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was effective in preventing coronavirus infection; approval for use in the UK came through three weeks later. We knew, too, that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was on the verge of being approved, and on 3 December were informed that vaccination of all NHS Lothian staff would begin shortly.
11月9日，辉瑞/生物科技公司的疫苗在预防冠状病毒感染方面是有效的。三周后，该产品在英国获得了使用许可。我们还知道，牛津/阿斯利康疫苗即将获得批准，12月3日我们被告知NHS洛锡安的所有员工不久后将开始接种疫苗。
After nine months of feeling intensely exposed every time we assessed Covid-19 patients, the relief was extraordinary: our practice WhatsApp group was taken over by celebratory memes and emojis. As Pfizer was the first vaccine to be approved, it would be the one that staff would receive. The first shipment of vials came through to Lothian a day or two later.
每次评估新冠患者时我们都感到强烈的暴露感，9个月之后终于大大地松了一口气：我们的医生WhatsApp群被庆祝的表情包和表情占据了。由于辉瑞是第一家获得批准的疫苗，所以它将是员工们注射的疫苗。一两天后，第一批疫苗到达了洛锡安。
A phone number was set up for staff to book appointments. Over the next few days, we all spent long hours trying to get through. I failed at every attempt, and it was one of my colleagues who finally succeeded. When the call connected, she shouted across the corridor. "Come quick! This kind lady says she'll take three more names!" We both signed up, along with our practice nurse that day, and practice manager. Our appointments would be within a couple of days. The rest of my colleagues carried on with their attempts to get through, though some gave up, deciding to wait until a more effective system was put in place.
他们设定了一个电话号码供员工预约，接下来的几天我们都花了很长的时间试图拨通电话。我每次都没打通，最后是我的一位同事成功了。电话接通时她在走廊的另一头大叫。“快！这位好心的女士说还有三个人可以预约！”我们俩都报了名，另外还有那天的实习护士和实习经理，我们的预约将在几天内完成。剩下的同事有的继续拨电话，有的则放弃了，决定等到更有效的系统落实到位后再做决定。
