Who is up for a little Russian Health Roulette?

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⇒ Issue #93 (In numerology, 93 is about the creative expression of concerns and solutions for humanity)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 08/12: 122,389*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 08/12: 9,038*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 08/12: 20,317,087*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 08/12: 742,035*


August 12, 2020—While I, Chronicle senior editor John Evans, am keeping my optimism pointed away from anything valuable and with the safety on, more risk-tolerant people can get excited that a vaccine for Covid-19 has been approved. By Russia. Before phase-III trials on the vaccine candidate have been completed.

Reassuringly, good ol' Uncle Vlad—Russian President Vladimir Putin—dismissed concerns at a government meeting broadcast on Russian state television. He said that the vaccine, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, was safe.

CBC News quotes him saying: “I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks.”

Even one of Putin's own daughters had received the vaccine, he said. How can you not feel safe with an endorsement like that?

Please pay no attention to the Association of Clinical Trials Organizations (ACTO), a Moscow-based trade body representing the world's top pharmaceutical manufacturers in Russia, urging the Russian Health Ministry to postpone approval of the vaccine until the tests had been completed.

My fellow Canadians, at least, seem to a bit more aware of health risks in these pandemic times. The Canadian Pharmacists Association reports that findings from a survey they commissioned show that significantly more Canadians are planning to get their flu shot this year compared to last year.

Specifically, 57 per cent of Canadians surveyed said that they will definitely or probably get a flu shot this year, compared to 45 per cent of Canadians who claim they received a flu shot last year. Of those who did not get the shot last year, 26 per cent said they will definitely or probably get a flu shot this year, and that they are more likely to get one because of Covid-19.

I am not a gambling fella, but the way 2020 has been going I can appreciate any steps we all as a community can take to lower the risk of hardship to each other. Do the following and we can all have better odds of having a healthy year: Social distance, wear a good mask and do what you can to lower the overall burden on our healthcare system.

COVID CHRONICLE 08/12/2020

• Apart from a vaccine showing up out of nowhere, the key to keeping the Covid-19 pandemic under control will be scaled-up testing and contact tracing, quarantining and quick response to the need for workplace and community closures to handle outbreaks. This is the conclusion of new modelling published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (August 09, 2020; cmaj.200990). “If we release restrictive closures without ramping up other public health measures, the epidemic will resurge with a magnitude depending on our future effort and could exceed the capacity of our health care system and require the reimplementation of lockdown restrictions,” the researchers said in the report.
• There has been some concern that U.S. protests against racial injustice may have contributed to the spread of Covid-19 in that country. However, a survey conducted by four U.S. Universities has found a significant negative correlation between the percentage of a state's population who reported protesting and a subsequent increase in cases of Covid-19 in that state. “We are not saying the protests didn’t cause more cases, an assessment that will require substantial, additional analyses,” said David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer and information sciences at Northeastern, and one of the researchers who conducted the study, in a press release. “It is just that if they were the key drivers, then you would expect the places that had the most protesters to have the biggest surge, and, in fact, the opposite is the case.”
• Liver injury, as measured by alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation, due to Covid-19 appears to be an independent prognostic factor for poor outcomes, according to findings published online ahead of print in Hepatology (July 8, 2020). As well, the authors note that the use of lopinavir-ritonavir, with or without ribavirin, interferon beta and/or corticosteroids were independently associated with ALT/AST elevation.

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

My colleague Dhiren Mahiban is wrapping up an article for our Chronicle@25 anniversary feature, looking at the history of medical advances in hidradenitis suppurativa and sun protection.

TONIGHT I AM COOKING

I am making a pasta salad with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, corn, olive oil, herbs and spices. It has been so hot lately that I'm thinking a cool dinner would be a nice change.

LATER I WILL BE WATCHING

Lensman, the 1984 Japanese animated adaptation of E. E. 'Doc' Smith's science fiction novels from the late 1940s and early 1950s. I last saw this flick way back in the '90s, rented from a Blockbuster Video. I hardly remember it, so it may be a refreshing bit of nostalgia or a disillusioning shock. We will see.

MOVING PAST HUMP DAY

Your Thursday CurveFlattener will be brought to you by the ever-capable and feline-oppressed Kylie Rebernik. Have a great evening and as always, drop us a line by email or in the comments if you have any thoughts or suggestions for us.