Health officials face threats as they press for longer, stricter lockdowns

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 #165 (In numerology, 165 represents creative self-expression.)

⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 02/19: 110,394,369*

⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 02/19: 2,443,548*

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 02/19: 842,590*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 02/19: 21,509*

⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 02/19: 1,354,289*

February 19, 2020—Good morning CurveFlatteners. It’s Editorial Director Allan Ryan rattling the keyboard today from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula, where the snow is deep. We’ve arrived at the second-to-last Friday in February, and doesn’t that calendar interpretation bring a hopeful smile to your face?

For the moment, however, it seems not everyone is filled with sunshine and light. Alleged threats have been made against health officials Dr. Bonnie Henry is British Columbia, Dr. Deena Hinshaw in Alberta, and Dr. Kami Kandola in the Northwest Territories. Now police in Ontario’s Niagara region are investigating the intimidation of Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the region’s medical officer of health.

The menacing messages—including arrest, assault and even the beheading of Dr. Hirji—were posted on social media when the Ontario government said that its stay-at-home order would be lifted on Feb. 16, in 27 public regions across the province. The backlash against Dr. Hirji was fueled by comments from a Conservative member of provincial parliament, who claimed the province based its decision on advice offered by Dr. Hirji.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford decried the threats of harm directed toward Dr. Hirji. Ford told the perpetrators to "cut it out." 

The president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Ann Collins, wrote in a statement on the association’s website that public health officials' bullying must stop immediately: “What began as online harassment has evolved into threats and in-person intimidation. We have seen protests at the private residences of Saskatchewan’s chief medical officer of health and Quebec’s national public health officer.”

Dr. Hirji called for calm and unity but said he has received similar comments since the pandemic began. 

“The excessive anger of a few today should not distract from the suffering of many during this pandemic—of social isolation, of loss of income, of losing a business through a life’s work. Frustration is understandable. Their tragedies aren’t receiving the attention I am,” Dr. Hirji wrote in a tweet on Feb. 14.

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 02/19/2021

• When the bobbies were called to a noisy party in Essex, U.K., by worried neighbours, they were prepared to deal with another one of a series of illegal raves that have violated Covid-19 guidelines in that city. The constables found something quite different—a line-up of pensioners patiently waiting for their Covid vaccinations. Dennis Baum, chairman of Saxon Hall where the vaccination session was taking place, said: “It was really funny when the police arrived as they had been notified that there was a 'rave' taking place at Saxon Hall—only to find 80- and 90-year-olds on wheelchairs, [walkers] and walking sticks, patiently queueing for their vaccinations. Grumpy old men and grumpy old women were in abundance.”
  
• Health Canada has approved Canada’s first rapid Covid-19 point-of-care antibody test. Developed by Barrie, Ont.-based Verify Diagnostics, the test has been utilized in the U.S. under an FDA Emergency Use Authorization. Said Tim Salter, president of Verify: "Antibody testing is key to understanding the prevalence of Covid-19 in our Canadian communities and, although complicated laboratory solutions are available to accomplish this, rapid testing offers an easy and inexpensive option to healthcare professionals and public health organizations." 
  
  
• On Feb. 17, Britain became the first country in the world to approve human challenge trials where volunteers will be exposed to Covid-19. Up to 90 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 30 will be held in quarantine for at least 14 days in a specialist unit at London’s Royal Free Hospital.  1Day Sooner, a group that lobbies governments to encourage human challenge trials with the coronavirus, said the U.K.’s approval of the trial would accelerate research into Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. https://www.1daysooner.org/
  
  
• Researchers have determined that teenagers become infected with Covid-19 at about twice the rate of younger children and spread the virus rapidly and widely. Now, companies are launching trials, testing vaccines in this age group. Pfizer says its trial is fully enrolled, with 2,259 participants between 12 and 15 years of age. Meanwhile, check out this first-person account by health journalist Sheila Mulrooney Eldred, who tells the story of her teenagers who are both enrolled in a Moderna study: My teens are the coronavirus guinea pigs.

TODAY CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON 

The Chronicle team is working with educational co-chairs Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis and Dr. Gary Sibbald on the upcoming Indigenous Skin Spectrum Summit (ISSS). The ISSS is a special session brought to you by the team behind the successful Skin Spectrum Summit, which is in its seventh year. The ISSS is currently awaiting final certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. You can learn more about the Summit here. 

RIGHT NOW I'M LISTENING TO... 

Sea shanties, those traditional folk songs traditionally sung on sailing vessels, have undergone a revival during the Covid-19 pandemic. From amateurs to professional musicians, the sea shanty seems to have captured the imagination of many performers. 

This latest enthusiasm caused me to consider a certain Stan Rogers, the singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ont. who died in an airplane fire in 1983. In this clip, Rogers introduces the sea shanty he composed, "Barrett’s Privateers,” and performs it with his brother, musician Garnet Rogers (to the singer’s left in the video) and a group of friends. 

It's a modern version of a sea shanty but undeniably authentic. Let’s hear your comments. We miss ye, Stan.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

The CurveFlattener will be back next Thursday with publisher Mitch Shannon at the keyboard. On Monday, watch for the Skin Spectrum Weekly e-newsletter, and on Tuesday, the NPC Healthbiz Weekly will be distributed. Wednesday is a mid-week doubleheader, with the latest NPC Podcast release and the cannabis biz newsletter, CJMC Fortnightly. Until then, enjoy your weekend, and stay safe.