Ho-ho-hold on to your hat, Santa. It seems you ain't going nowhere

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions. From Chronicle Companies, organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress. More info at pharmacongress.info

⇒ Issue #139 (In numerology, 139 is about creative self-expression.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 11/20: 319,175*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 11/20: 11,314*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 11/20: 57,011,978*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 11/20: 1,362,424*

November 20, 2020—Good morning, CurveFlatteners of all ages. It's Mitch Shannon reporting today, from the frontlines of Toronto's 116th annual Santa Claus Parade, which would typically bring hundreds of colourful floats and displays, along with thousands of vehicles bearing tens of thousands of marchers and gawkers out in the vicinity of my house this weekend. That sure isn't happening this year. The parade has been cancelled, and a simulated version of the event will be broadcast on television Dec. 5, organizers said.

Disappointing, certainly, but you really can't blame K. Kringle for being risk-averse. The jolly old soul is in every category of susceptibility to infection: elderly, possessed of abdominal obesity, exposed to potential respiratory issues from the occupational risk-factor of climbing down chimneys, and deprived of access to treatment through his residence in an underserved region, namely the North Pole. (At least researchers have not yet determined any incidence of elf-to-reindeer-to-Santa viral transmission, but hasn't this lame gag already gone on long enough?)

Speaking of merry old elves, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has taken note of Canada's spike in Covid cases. Dr. Fauci tells a CBC News interviewer: “The European Union, if you look at the number of new infections, it’s out of sight. The United States is out of sight. Canada, which was supposedly doing so well, is also getting into trouble. There’s a lot of community spread.” Total cases reported in Canada since March breached the 300,000 level this week. That is still proportionately far less than the U.S., where more than 180,000 cases are now being logged each day. Ottawa announced this week the international border will remain closed to non-commercial land travel until at least December 21.

Meanwhile, tightened restrictions on gathering and mobility are expected to be announced today (11/20) in the province of Ontario, as the second Covid wave continues to crest. Six Covid outbreaks were reported this week at Alberta oilsands extraction sites. British Columbia's government is expected to announce restrictions on travel within the province. Earlier this week, B.C. Premier John Horgan urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restrict non-essential travel between provinces. This prompts CTV News commentator Don Martin to ask the difficult question: Are Canadians prepared to accept a long, cold winter under conditions he describes as house arrest?

The NPC Podcast resumes this Wednesday (11/25). The organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest on next week's program is Denis Hello of AbbVie Canada. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma

COVID CHRONICLE 11/20/2020

• With Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna apparently showing a high level of efficacy and tolerance in Phase III trials (see DCF passim), health systems will need to focus quickly on practical aspects of logistics: beginning with sourcing and deploying sufficient quantities. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said this week Canada has six million doses coming in Q1 of 2021: four million doses from Pfizer and two million from Moderna. Ontario will receive 40 per cent of the supply, she said. Hmmm, we'll see, replied her federal counterpart Patty Hajdu. The feds are still sorting out the allocation and distribution details, and there are many. For starters, the Pfizer vaccine requires storage at 70 degrees below, and Moderna's needs 20 degrees below. Federal  Procurement Minister Anita Anand says her government is going shopping for 26 freezers. Regrettably, the appliances do not seem to be in Leon's Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale flyers.
• Continuing a string of positive lab results from other programs, AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine candidate produced a strong immune response in subjects more than 70 years old, based on trial results published yesterday (11/19) in The Lancet. Late-stage trial results for the vaccine, developed with Oxford University, may be published before the end of December. Said Maheshi Ramasamy, a co-lead investigator at the university, "We hope that this means our vaccine will help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, but further research will be needed before we can be sure." Lead author Prof. Andrew Pollard of the university added: "Immune responses from vaccines are often lessened in older adults because the immune system gradually deteriorates with age, which also leaves older adults more susceptible to infections. As a result, Covid-19 vaccines must be tested in this group who are also a priority group for immunization."
• Social isolation will get your blood pressure up. That finding was reported at the 46th Argentine Congress of Cardiology this week. Dr. Matías Fosco and colleagues at Favaloro Foundation University Hospital in Buenos Aires looked at records of 12,241 patients treated during a lockdown and they determined instances of hypertension increased 37 per cent. He says, "There are several possible reasons for the connection between social isolation and high blood pressure. For example, increased stress because of the pandemic, with limited personal contact and the onset or exacerbation of financial or family difficulties. Changed behaviors may have played a role, with higher intake of food and alcohol, sedentary lifestyles, and weight gain."

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Our senior editor John Evans is polishing an interview with Dr. David Zloty on the role of genetic influence on sun-seeking behaviour. The article will appear in The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy and online at http://www.derm.city

TONIGHT I'M READING

Brian Stelter (pictured right), who hosts a Sunday morning program on the CNN cable network that looks at the press and media, is a particularly  insufferable television presence who manages to combine the awful qualities of holier-than-thou-ness, prissiness, and high-handedness in one off-putting package. For that reason, I haven't summoned the will to pick up his recent book about Pres. Trump's unholy alliance with the Fox News network for a couple of months. To my surprise, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth (Simon & Schuster, Cdn$37) is a decently reported page-turner that offers some actual insights into the unravelling of television viewers' minds, and thus the planet. Who might have guessed that behind Stelter's punchable face lurks a decent reporter? 

WHAT NEXT?

That's it for this week. Make the most of your weekend. The Skin Spectrum Weekly will be out on Monday at 6:00 am, and the NPC Healthbiz Weekly follows at the same time on Tuesday. The Daily Curveflattener will be back next Wednesday, scribbled by John Evans.