Ottawa Sun

Article content

Eugene Melnyk can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Article content

With the Ottawa Senators on hiatus from the rest of the NHL until Monday at 2 p.m. M., The owner of the club is hopeful that the Omicron variant will be the last position for COVID-19 and in the future we will be able to go out to the other side. of this pandemic.

While 62-year-old Melnyk is best known for saving senators by buying them out of bankruptcy in 2003, he made a name for himself in the pharmaceutical industry and is confident that this fifth wave of the novel coronavirus can finally make its way through. its end. painful stages.

“I really think this is the end. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but I hope it’s not life-threatening, ”Melnyk said in an interview Tuesday from his Toronto office. “Yes, people are going to feel terrible, but if you are vaccinated and you have to be crazy if you are not, because that is the only way to make sure that you are going to live.

Article content

“And that’s all they promised, was that if you got the vaccine you probably wouldn’t end up in the hospital and on a ventilator.”

As an investor in BioNtech, the German company that was behind the mRNA vaccine that was produced by Pfizer, Melnyk is confident that stronger vaccines will arrive.

“I hope that soon we will return to a normal way of life and it will be like the flu where you will get a booster dose once or maybe twice a year,” said Melnyk. “The drugs are coming and now all the pharmaceutical scientists are trying to find a solution.

“There is no doubt, we have a real vaccine (to prevent it) on the horizon.”

As someone who has played an important role in the pharmaceutical industry as the founder of Biovail, Melnyk was thrilled when companies were able to develop a vaccine that will prevent the majority of people who contract COVID-19 from being quickly hospitalized.

Article content

There were 4,700 cases in Ontario on Tuesday, but hospitalization levels remain manageable and Melnyk sees that as a good sign.

“That is the nightmare that governments fear,” Melnyk said. “If you talk to people, the biggest concern in Ontario is the number of people in hospitals and the strain on our system. They don’t want us to feel overwhelmed by not having beds.

“The numbers are high, but you don’t see overwhelming numbers. That’s the biggest fear, seeing beds outside or in tents or people just turning over completely. “

Melnyk has done a lot of research on the virus in the last 20 months and spends much of his time talking to medical professionals.

“I always felt like we were going to be dealing with five waves,” Melnyk said. “The first three would be serious and more intense, and the last two waves would be less intense, but I always felt like it was going to be broader. I think we are in the fifth wave and I am not surprised that it is very widespread.

Article content

“That is usually a sign, from what I’ve read, that it is weak because it is diluted.”

He is immunosuppressed due to his liver transplant in May 2015 and has read a lot about epidemiology.

“If I get COVID-19, I’m in deep, deep trouble because I don’t have an immune system and that’s designed to help my liver,” Melnyk said. “I hope we get back to a normal way of life and we don’t talk so much about COVID-19, other than that it is another flu.”

This latest wave has hit people hard. It’s Christmas, people want to get together with their family and friends for the celebrations, but now everyone has to think twice. The NHL tried to beat this latest increase, but put the season on hiatus Tuesday night.

Article content

“Everyone is absolutely mentally exhausted … they are exhausted,” Melnyk said. “Because in addition to everything that people have to deal with in life, in general, now they have to deal with this again. It’s Christmas and people say, ‘Really?’ I just want to have fun.

“I honestly think we’ll be done with this by spring and I’m very hopeful.”

Melnyk said he knows people are tired of being locked up and want to be able to go to the Canadian Tire Center to see the Senators or their favorite artist in concert.

“It’s not natural what we’re doing now staying home,” Melnyk said. “From day one I have been concerned about stay-at-home people who are already stressed and now have something else to worry about that they have no control over.

“No one is calculating the damage this is doing to the mental state of people in general.”

Speaking on the shortest day of the year, Melnyk is hopeful for brighter days ahead.

[email protected]

Twitter: @sungarrioch