Heads up to the hug-averse: Do not embrace Dr. Bonnie Henry's idea

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

⇒ Issue #191 (In numerology, 191 represents exploring new areas or ways of doing things.)
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 05/27: 168,427,774*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 05/27: 3,498,862*
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 05/27: 1,374,272*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 05/27: 25,303*
⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 05/27: 21,939,046*

May 21, 2021—Who's up for a hug? British Columbia's provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is pitching an official "B.C. Hug Day" in July as B.C. moves towards reopening. Speaking for myself, assistant editor Kylie Rebernik, you can include me out of any post-pandemic Hug Day squeezy-time plans, But that's just me. Where do you stand? Possibly cringing and steering clear of the outstretched arms of Dr. Henry? Or is that just me again?

The proposed "Hug Day" day was pitched as part of Dr. Henry's four-step plan to re-open.  Unlike Ontario's re-opening plan, B.C.'s scheme is based on case numbers, hospitalizations and the number of first doses of vaccine administered. The province will start gradually phasing in indoor and outdoor dining, faith-gathering, and social interactions. They think things may return to pre-pandemic normal as early as July 1st. 

That will happen in B.C. when the province reaches the threshold of 70% of its residents having been vaccinated. By comparison, Ontario will only be allowed to have small indoor gatherings of five or fewer people at the same 70% threshold. B.C. already permits gatherings and indoor dining of six or fewer people.  

According to Dr. Henry, the reason the second dose does not factor into the re-opening plan. Says she: "The second dose is more about giving additional personal protection to every individual." 

Her brainstorm concerning "Hug Day" was met with mixed reactions over in the Pacific Time Zone. Well, obviously, it was.

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 Bob McLay. 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 05/27/2021

• New data out the U.K. has found that a single vaccine dose is 33% effective against the Covid-19 variant from India (B 1.627.2). The data, published in the British Medical Journal (May 25, 2021), noted that one dose was 50% effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. Two doses of the vaccine ups the effectiveness to 88% against the B 1.627.2 variant. 
• Children can become long-haulers after contracting Covid-19. Although it is rare, according to Fatima Kakkar, "children have really robust immune system response to infection with Covid." Still, hospitals across Canada are not set up to deal with the long-lasting symptoms of Covid-19 in children. Kakkar is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal. 
• New research using Twitter data has found that safety is the major contributing factor to vaccine hesitancy among Canadians. Researchers from Ontario and B.C. used 4,000 tweets that included the term "Covid" and "vaccine" and identified 605 tweets about vaccine hesitancy, with 48% of these tweets expressing safety concerns. Lead researcher Janessa Griffith, a Ph.D. candidate in medical science at the Univerisity of Toronto and Women's College Hospital, said, "if we know what in particular people are hesitant about, we can tailor our strategies to increase vaccine confidence and mitigate misinformation. 

TODAY CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON 

The team at Chronicle is putting the final touches on the first Canadian Scleroderma Summit, a Summit designed to provide education on the state of scleroderma therapy in Canada. This free two-hour webinar will take place on May 29, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT and includes presentations from Drs. Janet Pope and Robert Gniadecki with moderation from Dr. Shafiq Qaadri. There is still time to join us by registering here. 

TONIGHT WE ARE EATING...

Maybe I am late to the game, but I just got myself the Ninja AirFryer which means I have been trying new recipes. I think tonight will be some AirFryer chicken tenders with some AirFryer asparagus fries. 

WELCOME TO THE TEAM

The team at Chronicle is pleased to announce that Cristela Tello Ruiz has joined us as Co-ordinator, Client Partnerships & Engagement. Welcome, Cristela. You'll get used to us. Many people have.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

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 with the DCF tomorrow. Until then, we have Skin Spectrum Weekly on Monday, the NPC Healthbiz Weekly on Tuesday, and the CJMC Fortnightly on Wednesday.