‘Vaccine,’ salita ng taon para sa US dictionary na Merriam-Webster
Inanunsiyo ng American dictionary of reference na Merriam-Webster, na ang “vaccine” ang kanilang word of the year para ngayong 2021, na sumasalamin sa parehong pag-asa at malalim na dibisyon na dulot ng pagbabakuna, habang ang mundo ay nakikipagbuno sa ikalawang taon ng pandemya ng Covid-19.
Sa kanilang website post ay nakasaad . . . “The word vaccine was about much more than medicine in 2021. For many, the word symbolized a possible return to the lives we led before the pandemic. But it was also at the center of debates about personal choice, political affiliation, professional regulations, school safety, healthcare inequality, and so much more.”
Ayon sa Merriam-Webster, ang development ng messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines ay nagbunsod upang palawakin pa nito ang kahulugan ng salitang “bakuna,” dahil ang teknolohiya ang nag-trigger ng isang immune response sa pamamaguitan ng pagsasabi sa mga selula na bumuo ng antigens kumpara sa klasikong bakuna, na nag-i-inject ng isang neutralized form ng isang virus o antigens.
Kumpara noong 2020, tumaas ng 601 percent ang paghahanap sa kahulugan ng salitang “vaccine” ngayong taon.
Ayon pa sa Merriam-Webster . . . “The prominence of the word vaccine in our lives… becomes even more starkly clear when we compare 2021 to 2019, a period in which lookups for the word increased 1048%. Vaccines are back in the spotlight once again after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant, prompting renewed appeals for people in the developed world to get vaccinated or boosted against the virus — and for vaccines to be made more widely available across the developing world.” (AFP)
