疫苗 (yìmiáo) — vaccine

疫苗 (yìmiáo)

疫苗 refers to a medical preparation introduced into the body to stimulate immunity against a specific disease, a term that became widely used in everyday Chinese during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanings

1. [noun] vaccine; a preparation that provides immunity against a disease

Example Sentences

科学家用不到一年的时间就研发出了新冠疫苗。 Kēxuéjiā yòng bù dào yī nián de shíjiān jiù yánfā chū le xīnguān yìmiáo. Scientists developed a COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year.

接种疫苗是预防传染病最有效的手段之一。 Jiēzhǒng yìmiáo shì yùfáng chuánrǎnbìng zuì yǒuxiào de shǒuduàn zhī yī. Getting vaccinated is one of the most effective means of preventing infectious diseases.

世界卫生组织呼吁各国加快疫苗分发速度。 Shìjiè Wèishēng Zǔzhī hūyù gèguó jiākuài yìmiáo fēnfā sùdù. The World Health Organization called on countries to speed up vaccine distribution.

儿童应按时接受规定的疫苗接种计划。 Értóng yīng ànshí jiēshòu guīdìng de yìmiáo jiēzhǒng jìhuà. Children should receive the prescribed vaccination schedule on time.

疫苗的研发需要经历严格的临床试验阶段。 Yìmiáo de yánfā xūyào jīnglì yángé de línchuáng shìyàn jiēduàn. Vaccine development requires going through rigorous clinical trial stages.

部分人群对疫苗存在犹豫情绪，影响了整体免疫效果。 Bùfèn rénqún duì yìmiáo cúnzài yóuyù qíngxù, yǐngxiǎng le zhěngtǐ miǎnyì xiàoguǒ. Vaccine hesitancy among some groups has affected overall immunity effectiveness.

Collocations

Usage Notes

疫苗 is a formal medical term used in health policy, news, and scientific contexts. The verb most commonly paired with it is 接种 (jiēzhǒng, to vaccinate/inoculate). In informal speech, 打疫苗 (dǎ yìmiáo, to get a vaccine shot) is also widely used.

疫 means epidemic/plague and 苗 means seedling/sprout. The metaphor is of planting a small amount of disease to grow immunity -- a vivid classical coinage that has proven apt for modern immunology.

Memory Hook

疫 (epidemic) + 苗 (seedling) -- a tiny seedling of the epidemic planted in your body to grow immunity -- a vaccine.