The general who speaks in riddles, and other frustrations after a year of Covid

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is here 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. 

⇒ Issue #167 (In numerology, 167 represents new beginnings.)

⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 02/26: 113,086,223*

⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 02/26: 2,509,666*

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 02/26: 863,495*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 02/26: 21,868*

⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 02/26: 1,707,348*

February 26, 2020—Good day, and welcome to the Friday edition of the CurveFlattener. It's assistant editor Kylie Rebernik at the home office keyboard today. As February comes to an end, Canadians are closing in on the one-year mark of the first lockdown to “flatten the curve,” which began in March 2020. The question on everyone’s mind is: What do you wear to the first anniversary of the original lockdown? If you answered loungewear, your answer is correct. 

Coincidentally, or maybe not so much, Ontario’s Covid-19 vaccine booking system will begin on March 15, 2021, the first anniversary of the beginning of the lockdown. However, only Ontario residents who are 80 years of age or older will be offered the opportunity to book their vaccine appointment. According to the chair of Ontario’s Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, General (ret.) Rick Hillier, “The vast majority of those vaccination centres are still not operating because we’re at that different group of the population and we don’t have vaccines to put in them to start them up,” and if you can understand what that means, can you please share? Ontario is not the only province that has yet to start the vaccine rollout (outside of essential healthcare workers). British Columbia and Quebec will be starting their rollouts in the next two weeks. 

In positive vaccine news, real-world data released on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, has found that the Pfizer vaccine is 92 per cent effective after two doses and 62 per cent effective after one dose. When Canadians get the vaccine is another question entirely. Until that day, many quarantined individuals have the very slight compensation of continuing to wear their loungewear. 

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 02/26/2021

• A new study published in The Lancet has found that the AstraZenca Covid-19 vaccine might be more effective with a 12-week gap between doses compared to the initial 6-week gap. Researchers looked at data from 17,178 participants from the U.K., Brazil and South Africa; however, the study is still ongoing.

• Toronto public health is closely following students from eight Toronto schools after they become linked with the Covid-19 variant. All affected individuals have been told to isolate themselves.

• According to experts, new words are being introduced to help people cope with Covid-19 and the impact that Covid is having on their lives. Michael Iannozzi, a linguist at Western University, said the creation of new words “reflect what people are feeling.” He also noted that more medical terms are being introduced into the daily vernacular because it helps them better understand Covid-19. 

TODAY CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON

The Chronicle team works 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. 

LATER TONIGHT...

I will be watching the much-talked-about The New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears (on Crave - behind a paywall). This documentary has taken over the world by storm, prompting conversations about mental health, the treatment of people by the media and has garnered more support for the #FreeBritney movement. The documentary aired earlier in February but to U.S. residents only. 

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

The CurveFlattener will be back next Thursday with Jeremy Visser 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.