President’s Message: PDA Mid-Year Update
Since early 2020, the entire world has been in the grips of a global pandemic. As of 4 June 2021, over 170 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, with more than 3.7 million deaths. Each of us, directly or indirectly, has been impacted by this pandemic or its effects.
On a positive note, more than two billion doses of vaccine have been administered worldwide, largely through the efforts of our community, which has developed, manufactured and distributed vaccines with unprecedented speed. In some parts of the world, we are seeing a gradual return to “normalcy,” but unfortunately, in other parts of the world, the pandemic is still raging, and vaccine administration has not yet reached desirable levels.
We understand some volunteers may be concerned how PDA is weathering the pandemic.
Since March of last year, our staff has been working mostly from home. We have had to shift many of our activities from in-person to virtual formats. This has been challenging and has affected our finances.
PDA is financially very sound, and through diligent management, PDA still has more than 12 months of reserves, despite the decrease in revenue through 2021.
We have had to react to the changing situations and, although we had hoped to begin face-to-face meetings in Q-2/3, for most of 2021, our conferences will be virtual.
Training, Membership and Publications revenue is starting to recover.
We have not laid off any employees due to the pandemic, but we have not filled some vacancies. We are gradually starting to fill some of these positions.
Our Board of Directors, Advisory Boards, Committees and Task Forces are all meeting virtually. Thank you to all the volunteers who continue to contribute!
These are challenging times for the whole world, including PDA. This year, PDA is celebrating its 75th anniversary. With your continued support and participation, PDA will continue to Connect People, Science and Regulation® for many years to come.