Wanted to share with you something near and dear to my heart. Today my colleagues and I are proud to launch the Canadian Covid Society. @CanCovSoc Covid-19 is thankfully not the threat it once was, but there are still significant issues with having a new disease roughly 4x as bad as Flu (and much more contagious) floating around, which also disables a lot of people as well. In Canada it was the 3rd leading cause of death 2020, 2021 and 2022. We have the Canadian Cancer Society, and Heart and Stroke foundation for the 1st and 2nd causes, it's time we have one for the 3rd leading cause of death. It is perfectly natural to not want to deal with this issue anymore. But that's part of the problem isn't it? Many of us have a visceral aversion to discussing it, perhaps a natural reaction to memories of the most traumatizing days of the pandemic. But the fact remains that it's still out there, that it will continue to cause strain on our health systems, disable people, and shorten life for many of us. We need a national body that will keep advocating for things like updated vaccines and therapies, as well as common-sense fixes that prevent the spread of disease, like cleaner indoor air (which could have been very useful stopping this nasty measles outbreak we're having). We need a national strategy to support and improve access to care for Long Covid sufferers, many of whom are simply unable to access any care for a devastatingly disabling condition. 2 out of the 3 Long Covid advocates we approached for our launch event were not able to attend due to illness, which should tell you something! There's no way to predict who will get it, when they'll get it, and there is no cure, yet. We are organizing a virtual press conference for 1pm (ET) today, Wednesday March 6, 2024. A video stream will begin on Youtube, and this url will forward you there: covidsociety.com. Journalists who wish to ask questions please send me a DM and I will send you instructions to join. Our website is up at covidsociety.ca You'll hear more from us as we grow the range of activities offered by the Society. We would love to share resources and help like-minded groups start national societies in their own countries. Would love to see and collaborate with an American Covid Society, a British Covid Society etc. It is time that we create a permanent effort to fight this disease, and not have these efforts subject to political whims or a societal wish to indulge in denial.