Colonial comeback: British Covid variant lands in Canada, New Zealand, Australia

 The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is back to inform you through 2021. It's 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 Winter Webinar Feb. 10, 2021. More info at pharmacongress.info

⇒ Issue #164 (In numerology, 164 represents togetherness.)

⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 02/18: 110,002,089*

⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 02/18: 2,432,607*

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 02/18: 839,155*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 02/18: 21,439*

⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 02/18: 1,327,265*

February 18, 2020—Welcome back to another week of Covid-19 updates, fellow CurveFlatteners. Reporting from his home office in Etobicoke, Ont., it's Jeremy Visser, podcast producer and correspondent. This bulletin has just been handed to me: The British are coming!

Sorry, let me rephrase that. The British Covid variant is invading. According to the graphic below, the UK has been ramping up vaccinations, having administered approximately 23.4 vaccine doses per 100 people. For comparison, Canada's rate is about 3.46.

Of course, while the Brits have been rolling out vaccinations in their country, the British variant rolled itself out in former British colonies and has now been confirmed in all 10 provinces in Canada. Australia is only now leaving its third lockdown due to the variant. Even New Zealand, the pandemic-response poster-child, just entered lockdown after confirming three new Covid-19 cases. 

However, there may be some hope on the horizon. With many variants emerging, researchers are currently working on a "pan-coronavirus vaccine" meant to combat all variants. If successful, VBI Vaccines of Cambridge, Mass. is set to distribute the potential "super-vaccine." According to the New York Times, the company expects to initiate the first combined Phase 1 and 2 clinical study in Canada in the first quarter of 2021.

The NPC Podcast is back for another season. The National Pharmaceutical Congress organizers are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest this week is Suzanne McGurn, President and CEO of CADTH. 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 02/18/2021

• According to a study published in the journal Science, researchers have engineered a peptide that prevented virus transmission of Covid-19 among treated ferrets. The authors of the paper believe the peptide can translate into an effective treatment to reduce infection and severe Covid-19 in humans. The peptide has the potential to be effective against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants as well.

• According to a study from Northwestern University, researchers have confirmed through radiological imaging Covid-19's ability to attack the body. The study confirmed and illustrated potential causes for enduring muscle soreness and achy joints sometimes caused by Covid-19. The paper has been published in Skeletal Radiology.

• A study from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute has suggested that children's immune systems attack the Covid-19 virus quicker than adults. The researchers found that specialized cells in a child's immune system rapidly target Covid-19, leaving them less likely to become infected and leaving up to a third of children asymptomatic. The study will be published in Nature Communications. 

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Our team at Chronicle is finishing up the last couple of interviews for the third season of the NPC Podcast. As a podcast producer, I'm not allowed to have a favourite episode, but if I did, it might be Lindsay Williams of the device-maker Stryker talking about Medtech. Who doesn't like hearing about surgical robots? Look for it next week, wherever you find podcasts or subscribe at www.pharmacongress.info.

RIGHT NOW, WE ARE LISTENING TO... 

The March Ahead. For those readers who fervently track my musical choices, I stumbled upon this post-hardcore band fronted by Johnny Franck of Bilmuri. His vocals stand out, so I recognized it as a side project of his immediately, but with how much music he puts out in his one project, it leaves me wondering how he has time for a side-project.

TONIGHT WE ARE COOKING...

Grilled Sweetcorn with Black Sesame and Shichimi. This is how you do it: You broil or grill some corn, slather it in ponzu and sesame oil, dip it into shichimi (Japanese 7 spice), salt and crushed black sesame. Your reward for the prep work is that you spend the next couple of hours picking black sesame and corn out of your teeth—worth every bit of the bother.

HOW IS YOUR WEEK GOING?

Please use the comments section at the CurveFlattener to let us know what you're up to today. Or feel free to check in via LinkedIn, email, or your choice of connector. By all means, pass this newsletter along to your colleagues. Allan Ryan will be back tomorrow to close off this short and snow-filled week of curve-flattening. Stay in touch, stay safe, and enjoy your day.