Happy New Year! Can you believe that we’ve finally made it out of 2020? Who would have ever suspected going into 2020—which eyecare practitioners around the world had been anticipating for years given its symbolic nature to the profession—that we would have wanted to leave that year as much as we did? Last year was among the most challenging in the modern era for a variety of reasons including political, social, and medical stresses and strains that left most feeling anxious, fearful, and full of uncertainty.

It is an annual tradition for Contact Lens Spectrum to name an “Event of the Year,” and it has certainly been a year like no other as we think about the historic events of 2020. To help in the choosing process, we solicited feedback from our readership, contributing editors, and key opinion leaders in the field. As always, we received several nominations for specific products. To respond to this unique opportunity, we decided to institute a new event that we are calling the contact lens “Product of the Year,” which could be a specific contact lens, care solution, design, device, or concept (e.g., patent) that warrants recognition based on its impact or potential impact on the contact lens market. For our inaugural Product of the Year, we are tremendously excited to congratulate CooperVision for its MiSight 1 Day contact lens; to find out more, see the Annual Report starting on page 24.

While many events are indeed worthy in terms of a contact lens Event of the Year, one stands out for 2020. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-century event that has impacted the health and well-being of our communities at a global level. While the pandemic is unquestionably noteworthy, what deserves special recognition is the resiliency of the eyecare industry—and, in particular, specialty contact lenses—during this time. While COVID-19 was associated with limited business operations for many, the unique and critical function that specialty contact lenses address in terms of visual correction and rehabilitation for our patients highlights their importance, even in the midst of a healthcare crisis. As such, we celebrate and congratulate the specialty lens industry and specialty lens practitioners in 2020!

Looking ahead, Contact Lens Spectrum has tremendous optimism and enthusiasm for 2021, when we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the soft lens—more to come on that. Additionally, Contact Lens Spectrum is honored to celebrate 35 years of publishing this year as well. Thank you to all of our readers and supporters as we look forward to 2021. 

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The goal of Contact Lens Spectrum is to provide you with timely and thought-provoking articles that will help you become a more successful contact lens practitioner. Please let us know how we’re doing! E-mail CLSpectrum@pentavisionmedia.com with your comments or article submissions.