COVID-19 Policy Update #187
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 1/27
TOP THREE
The Ethics of Vaccinating Teachers—and Keeping Schools Closed: New David Zweig piece in Wired:
"These pleas always emphasize the “importance of fully reopening” schools. Yet the specifics of this implicit agreement have been, at best, left deliberately vague—and, at worst, in the view of bioethicists and others, an unfulfilled quid pro quo."
"Raising concerns that the vaccine may not eliminate transmission, Briggs and the CTA explicitly said the vaccination of teachers will not be enough on its own for schools to reopen. If an area’s case rate is too high, that also would preclude opening, they said. The president of the largest teachers' union in Washington state said teacher vaccination is not "a guarantee that schools can and should open."
"The degree to which vaccination will reduce transmission isn’t yet known. But taking into account concerns about data being preliminary, Paul Sax, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine that “the likelihood that these vaccines will reduce the capacity to transmit the virus to others remains excellent.”
"The question then is this: Is it appropriate to continue to keep children out of school until teachers or reticent politicians feel they have a degree of certainty about risk that may not arise for a long time, if ever? More broadly, was it ethical to prioritize education workers to be vaccinated without an explicit promise that schools would fully reopen immediately after?"
"Jennifer Nuzzo, also a professor of epidemiology, emailed me, “Once we've protected teachers and school staff, I think it's reasonable for children to return to school full-time if we can maintain other protective measures (masks, hygiene. cohorting). I don't think it is in keeping with the social compact to accept a vaccine and not return to the job.”"
"Bluntly, Prasad said, “Kids don't need a vaccine for schools to open, and waiting for this is a bad idea.”
Wisconsin Schools CDC Study: CDC published a new study:
Involved 17 rural Wisconsin schools from three public school districts, one private school, and one independent private school.
All students wore masks, social distancing was used, and students were organized in small cohorts of 11-20 to minimize mixing with other students.
No COVID-19 screening was conducted in the schools or the community.
COVID-19 incidence was 37 percent lower in these schools than in the wider community.
Just seven of 191 cases (3.7 percent) identified among 5,530 students and staff were associated with in-school transmission.
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune interviews the local researchers.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was pushed several times last night on CNN to reconcile the study with schools still being closed. He said the schools in the studies could reopen because they had grant funding from an outside funder. But in reading the CDC report, it seems the grant only covered masks for the students.
Biden Administration Developing School Safety Standards for Reopening: From today's briefing:
"When specifically asked if the administration plans to develop metrics or standards for what a safe reopening of schools will look like, Psaki responded, "We do."
"Nobody wants to be having a conversation in May or June about why schools are not reopened," Psaki said."
FEDERAL
COVID Data: First post from the White House COVID-19 Data Director announcing that they're sharing previously hidden weekly COVID-19 state profile reports with the public.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
COVID-19 Risk in Your County: New interactive map from JHU, Resolve to Save Lives and NYT.
Each county’s Covid-19 risk level is primarily based on the number of cases reported per capita during the past two weeks.
Additional precautions are suggested if more than 10 percent of tests had a positive result over the past two weeks of available data.
Based on the map, the safest place in the country is Prairie County, Montana and Comanche County, Kansas.
Vaccine Hesitancy:
60% of adults said they would get a COVID-19 shot, the first time vaccine willingness has hit that share since late July.
Hispanics are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to say they’d get vaccinated, at 67%, while Black adults are the least likely, at 48%
KFF:
One in five (20%) are more reluctant to get vaccinated, including 7% who say they will only get the vaccine “if required to do so for work, school or other activities,” and 13% who say they will “definitely not” get it.
About a third (32%) of health care workers –say they have gotten at least their first dose of a vaccine, and a quarter (26%) want to get it as soon as possible. Another quarter (28%) want to wait and see before getting vaccinated, while small shares say they would only get it if required (5%) or definitely would not get it (9%).
People’s enthusiasm for getting vaccinated correlates with whether they know someone who has already received a vaccine. For example, about half (52%) of those who want to get vaccinated as soon as possible know someone who has already gotten a dose, a much larger share than among those who say they’ll only get it if required (29%) or definitely won’t get it (36%).
STATE
California:
Teachers could begin getting vaccinations in February.
Georgia: Elbert County Public Schools offered a vaccine to all their staff. The 3,000-student district, which has about 500 employees, has been operating mostly in-person.
Illinois: Chicago ditched plans for teachers to report to schools this week ahead of students after the teachers union said its members wouldn't comply and were prepared to picket over coronavirus safety concerns.
Maryland: The Maryland teachers’ union is pushing back on the Governor's call to return to in-person classes
Minnesota: Minneapolis teachers union files unfair labor practice charge against school district
New Mexico: Governor aims to reopen schools in Feb.
New York: NYC lost 43,000 students in enrollment drop.
K: -9%
1: -6%
2: -8%
3: -4%
4: -6%
5: -5%
6: -3%
7: -5%
8: No change
9: -4%
10: +2%
11: +2%
12: +1%
Ohio: List of Ohio schools eligible for first round of COVID-19 vaccines announced
Oregon: Portland Public Schools plans to reopen schools by April 8
Pennsylvania: After five months of in-person instruction in more than 100 private schools in Philadelphia, health officials report nine outbreaks.
INTERNATIONAL
UK: Schools in England will not be able to reopen to all students after the February half-term, but could do so from March 8.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Telework's Tax Mess: Good Axios piece on the complexities of remote work and state tax laws.
Getting Talent Back to Work Certificate Program: Launched by SHRM. The certificate focuses on hiring qualified individuals who have criminal and/or conviction records.
K-Shaped Recovery: The Economy is getting even worse for Americans with a high school diploma or less education
RESOURCES
In CDC’s Backyard, School Reopening Debate Divides Experts: Good piece from the AP:
“The challenge for me has been trying to weigh all of these things that I’m being told by experts and non-experts alike to try to make the best decision that we can,” Superintendent David Dude said. “And that’s what I, and I’m sure other superintendents, have been struggling with.”
"Each side argued data and science supported their view in a debate over reopening schools that sometimes veered into vitriol. The division in Decatur illustrates the challenges U.S. schools — many in communities without so much expertise — have faced in evaluating what’s safe."
How Four Middle Schoolers Are Navigating the Pandemic: Via PBS/Hechinger.
“What bothers me most is if I fail seventh grade I’m going to go to a bad high school,” said Anuar, a student at Southwark School, the pre-K-8 school he’d attended since kindergarten. “I don’t want to be online, I want to be in normal class. I could be killing [it in in-person school], but if it’s online, I might fail.”
Lessons Learned From Reopening a School During COVID-19: A Mississippi charter school’s decision to offer in-person learning hinged heavily on a desire for equity.
"In July, 30% of our families opted for in-person learning. By October, 50% were attending, and this week, 85% of students were attending in-person learning."
Lessons learned:
Trust with families is critical: Engage families early and often.
Show – don't just tell – parents about your safety systems.
Solicit teacher input from the beginning.
Be nimble, especially around staffing, school schedule and class sizes.
COVID-19 May Energize Push for School Choice in States. Where That Leads Is Unclear: Via EdWeek
New Measure of Student Success: Swearing.