共和国勋章和国家荣誉称号“提名”4位抗疫英雄
党和国家功勋荣誉表彰工作委员会办公室8月3日公布了关于“共和国勋章”和国家荣誉称号建议人选的公示，“敢医敢言”的钟南山院士成为“共和国勋章”建议人选，与武汉“肝胆相照”的张伯礼院士，武汉市金银潭医院院长张定宇，以及新冠病毒疫苗研发领军人物陈薇院士一同成为国家荣誉称号建议人选。
2019年首次颁发的国家勋章和国家荣誉称号是国家最高荣誉。“共和国勋章”授予为党、国家和人民的事业作出巨大贡献、建立卓越功勋，道德品质高尚、群众公认的杰出人士。国家荣誉称号授予在各领域各行业作出重大贡献、享有崇高声誉，道德品质高尚、群众公认的杰出人士。
2019年，于敏、申纪兰、孙家栋、李延年、张富清、袁隆平、黄旭华、屠呦呦8人被授予“共和国勋章”。
Zhong Nanshan, a top respiratory expert who identified the SARS virus in 2003 and is currently leading the Chinese government's efforts in the fight against COVID-19, was recommended for the Medal of the Republic, a working committee for honor-granting said on Monday.
This is the second time the Medal of the Republic is being given out after the country honored a number of exemplary figures in 2019 for their outstanding contributions to the People's Republic's development since its founding in 1949.
What's more, national honorary titles, which honor those who make exceptional contributions in specific fields, will be awarded to other three prominent experts at the same time.
Zhang Boli, Zhang Dingyu, and Chen Wei, all of whom played an important role in the fight against COVID-19, have been shortlisted for national honorary titles, the committee said.
(L-R) The Medal of the Republic, the Friendship Medal and the medal of national honorary titles. /Xinhua Photo
Decorated with illustrations of China's national emblem, a five-pointed star, the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, a mountain and orchid flowers, the medal so far has only been conferred on eight people, including Yuan Longping, father of hybrid rice, Tu Youyou, Nobel Laureate in medicine, Yu Min, father of China's hydrogen bomb.
Meet the candidates
钟南山：17年前，他就是抗击非典的核心人物之一。今年，84岁的钟南山依然选择奔赴疫情一线。他敢医敢言，提出存在“人传人”现象，强调严格防控，领导撰写新冠肺炎诊疗方案，在疫情防控、重症救治、科研攻关等方面作出杰出贡献。
Zhong Nanshan: Born in 1936, Zhong was one of the most important figures in fighting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. As head of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, he offered to treat all critical SARS cases in Guangdong Province at his institute.
When the COVID-19 outbreak hit China in January, the 84-year-old medical genius chose to work on the front line, saving millions of lives inside and outside of China. He was the first person to publicly warn that the virus can be transmitted from one person to another.
The introductory statement released by the committee lauded Zhong for his courage to speak out.
张定宇：2019年12月29日，在收治首批7名不明原因肺炎患者后，张定宇立即组建隔离病区，率先采集样本开展病毒检测，组织动员遗体捐献，为确认新冠病毒赢得了时间，为开展新冠肺炎病理研究创造了条件。作为渐冻症患者，他冲锋在前，身先士卒，带领金银潭医院干部职工共救治2800余名新冠肺炎患者，为打赢湖北保卫战、武汉保卫战作出重大贡献。
Zhang Dingyu: As the acting president of one of Wuhan's major hospitals in treating COVID-19 patients, the man who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in October 2018 chose to stay with his colleagues, and save lives with no looking back.
张伯礼：新冠疫情发生后，张伯礼主持研究制定中西医结合救治方案，指导中医药全过程介入新冠肺炎救治，取得显著成效，为疫情防控作出重大贡献。
Zhang Boli: As a candidate for the national honorary title, Zhang directed the country in utilizing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to defeat the novel coronavirus. He also led the formulation of the TCM treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients.
Having spent 82 days in Wuhan fighting COVID-19, Zhang is in Beijing now as a national lawmaker drawing up proposals to help the country better prepare for epidemics on the legal front.
陈薇：中国工程院院士、军事科学院军事医学研究院生物工程研究所所长陈薇是此次“共和国勋章”和国家荣誉称号建议人选中唯一的一名女性。早在三月，陈薇团队的新冠疫苗研究就已经进入临床试验阶段。
7月20日，世界顶级医学期刊《柳叶刀》报道了陈薇团队研发的重组新冠疫苗（腺病毒载体）Ⅱ期临床试验结果，成为全球首个正式发表的新冠疫苗Ⅱ期临床试验数据。
Chen Wei: Chen is a professor at Academy of Military Medical Sciences. The vaccine co-developed by Chen's team and a Chinese vaccine developer was the first in the country to proceed to the human testing stage in March. The vaccine project that she headed is one of a handful of vaccines that have shown some promise in early human testing prior to much larger trials to demonstrate efficacy.
She is also one of the key leaders in China's Ebola vaccine research.