Co-operation, coordination, common sense: Terms that don't translate

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is here to keep on informing you through Q2 of 2021. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions. 

⇒ Issue #190 (In numerology, 190 represents growth and the emergence of great opportunities.)
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 05/21: 165,584,369*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 05/21: 3,431,904*
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 05/21: 1,355,733*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 05/21: 25,093*
⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 05/21: 19,841,562*

May 21, 2021—Hey there, CurveFlatteners. It’s Mitch Shannon here this morning at the International Affairs Desk, bidding you bienvenue, willkommen, welcome.

An Irish playwright once observed that Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language. The very same might be said of Canada and the USA (si vous négligez la dimension bilingue du Canada.) Or at least it might have been said up until recently.

After 14 months of barricades along the world’s longest undefended border™, it is beginning to seem as if the two neighbouring nations may have entirely lost the capacity to communicate with each other.

Testing the theory, this reporter very recently spoke with a colleague from Chronicle’s U.S. office, which is located a brisk 75-minute drive from our Canadian premises. They were excited after hearing the news that the international border was about to be reopened “in days, not weeks.” Such reports were apparently based on little more than wishful thinking across their region. The gates will stay closed to non-essential travel until at least June 21, according to CTV News.

Wishful thinking, it seems, is not exclusively a made-in-U.S.A product. Canadians have their own set of fantasists working at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC.) The agency this week informed a regional hospital head in Windsor, Ont. that a 14-day quarantine would no longer be required for Canadians who travel across the border by auto or foot for the purpose of receiving a vaccine. PHAC also spelled out specific terms and conditions – viz., no stopping at the convenience store for a carton of Luckies; don’t dare think of returning with a sack of cheap tube socks and Little Debbie cakes from Dollar General – only to have U.S. authorities quickly put the kibosh on the entire idea.

In a statement that quickly followed the PHAC announcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection declared: “Travel for the sole purpose of obtaining a vaccination is not permissible under current travel restrictions.”

Following reports that several New York State politicians have been increasing pressure on their Canadian counterparts to resume the free flow of visitors by July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week hinted at a potential benchmark. He suggested the border might reopen after 75% of Canadians have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. Currently, only about half the country has been partially vaccinated, as a consequence of supply shortages. U.S. President Joe Biden Monday (05/17) pledged to send 20 million vaccine doses to foreign countries, although it was not specified how many, if any, might be intended for Canada.

Does it strike you that the left hand seems disgracefully -- nay, willfully -- ignorant of the behaviours of the right hand? To quote Prime Minister Trudeau, “We continue to work very closely with American authorities and with Canadian experts on how we can move forward in a way that is safe for Canadians.” Translation: “After a year, we’re still working at cross-purposes with the Yanks and our dull-witted Canuck experts continue to make everything up as they go along. Canadians, we are screwed. Get used to it.”

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 Myka Osinchuk, Managing Director of Western Management Consultants. 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 05/21/2021

• Best in show: Who needs high-tech diagnostic devices when you’ve got Trudy and Bonnie? For readers who missed yesterday’s CurveFlattener, Chronicle’s editorial director Allan Ryan paid tribute to his two rescue beagles, who are properly recognized as companions and allies. According to a new study from France, however, the canines in our lives may enjoy secondary careers as Covid detectors. Trials in Australia, Germany and the UK have used dogs to detect Covid, with remarkably persuasive results. According to The Guardian newspaper of London, in a French study the pooches successfully sniffed out infected humans as successfully as other testing methods. The Guardian reports Finland and the United Arab Emirates are running trials using sniffer dogs in airports to seek infected travellers.

• In the midst of all the ongoing chatter about vaccine distribution, remember Medicago? That's the Quebec-based developer of a Covid vaccine candidate that won a federal government contract for 20 million doses last year, in advance of having any regulatory approvals or even meaningful trial results. Since then, other vaccine creators have brought products to market, but Medicago wants you to know they're still in the hunt. The company just released a press release reassuring that they're “quietly confident” their plant-derived agent will show efficacy against the virus. The FDA and Health Canada are fast-tracking Medicago's research program.
• Can it be that the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines are more effective in men than women? Prof. Morteza Mahmoudi of the radiology department of Michigan State University recently published research findings on gender differences in vaccine response in the journal Nature Communications. Said he: "The clinical trials were performed with tens of thousands of patients. We know that the differences are there and that we need to monitor them. Now we have millions of people getting the vaccines. That's millions of data points. We need to go out there and get them." 
  

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Chronicle.Academy's Direct-to-Consumer Marketing course, as advertised in the Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen and other daily newspapers, is set to launch. Sign up at DTC.chronicle.academy. 

RIGHT NOW, WE ARE READING... 

Don Winslow's 2017 novel about New York City cops, The Force, received enthusiastic reviews upon publication, and was optioned as a feature film. I'm quite keen on the author's previous fiction, and enjoyed his 2020 collection of short stories, but this one seems contrived and rather, well, forced. Winslow's other work can bring alive intricate character details, but this exercise is disappointingly paint-by-numbers. Imagined elevator pitch to publisher: "In a corrupt town, nice-guy detectives become crooked by degree out of necessity, and eventually all will get their comeuppance." Four hundred and fifty pages to spin this simplistic yarn? Something tells me the movie won't be any good, either.

HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

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. Enjoy your weekend, and Allan Ryan will be back with the DCF on Thursday. Until then, we have Skin Spectrum Weekly on Monday, the NPC Healthbiz Weekly on Tuesday, and the CJMC Fortnightly on Wednesday.