COVID-19 Policy Update #280
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 6/21
TOP THREE
Delta:
From Israel: Delta variant blamed as schools reportedly see COVID cases triple
Dr. Scott Gottlieb worries about spread of Delta variant among kids in schools this fall
“I think the reality is that kids are becoming more likely to be vectors of these new variants,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC
Change in College Enrollment by Sector: A grim picture is emerging for America's higher ed system. Last week's IES report provided one cut of data related to enrollment and disruptions. Today, the National Student Clearinghouse released a report suggesting
undergraduate college enrollment overall fell by nearly 5% in the spring of 2021 compared to the year before.
Community college enrollment dropped by 9.5% this spring, with a loss of 476,000 students.
Latino enrollment in community colleges overall — which had been increasing before the pandemic — fell by 13.7% this spring, with enrollment of Latino men and Black men falling 19.4% and 21.5% respectively.
Press Release. More at Axios.
Start of the School Year: Burbio has released some preliminary data on when schools are opening for the upcoming academic year.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
CDC Says Young Adults Less Likely to Take COVID-19 Vaccine: From Reuters.
"Of the 57% American adults who received at least one vaccine dose by May 22, coverage was highest among people 65 or older and lowest among people aged 18 to 29, according to an analysis of vaccine rates published on Monday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."
"The lowest rates of vaccination were among lower income, non-Hispanic Black adults aged 18–39 with lower levels of education who lacked health insurance and live outside of major cities, according to the report."
Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Poll: Released. The data and another summary are here.
Only 21% of Americans fear contracting COVID-19 from someone they know well, the lowest number since the pandemic began.
46% of Americans who have not been vaccinated say they will definitely not get a vaccine, and 29% say they probably will not. Young adults, Americans without a college degree, white evangelicals, rural Americans and Republicans are most hesitant to get vaccinated.
Children and Vaccines: The National Board of Health and the Danish Pediatric Society disagree on the recommendation of vaccines for 12-15-year-old children.
"We are happy and confident with the vaccines that are available and we are not worried about vaccinating children with the knowledge we have today. But in the study that Søren Brostrøm refers to, we can not expect to see the rare side effects. If it turns out that there is a causal link between the vaccine and myocarditis, it will not show up in such a study because it has been too small. We must therefore wait, become wiser and obtain the information we receive from the children who are vaccinated in the United States and Germany. There is good and valid data that this probably turns out to be safe to do, "said the pediatrician chairman."
Poorer Counties Have Lower COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: New study which found socioeconomic disparities in county-level COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with a 32% lower vaccination rate in the most disadvantaged areas.
Study on Effectiveness of Mask Mandates: Study suggesting that mask wearing worked, but government mask mandates didn’t correlate with mask wearing.
"At a time where mask-wearing is decreasing and mask mandates are being lifted, we find that mask-wearing is associated with a notable reduction in transmission, and that factors other than mandates must have contributed to the worldwide uptake of mask-wearing in 2020."
Study on Effectiveness of Shelter in Place: NBER paper.
"To understand the net effects of SIP policies, we measure the change in excess deaths following the implementation of SIP policies in 43 countries and all U.S. states."
"We find that following the implementation of SIP policies, excess mortality increases. The increase in excess mortality is statistically significant in the immediate weeks following SIP implementation for the international comparison only and occurs despite the fact that there was a decline in the number of excess deaths prior to the implementation of the policy."
"At the U.S. state-level, excess mortality increases in the immediate weeks following SIP introduction and then trends below zero following 20 weeks of SIP implementation."
"We failed to find that countries or U.S. states that implemented SIP policies earlier, and in which SIP policies had longer to operate, had lower excess deaths than countries/U.S. states that were slower to implement SIP policies."
"These descriptive figures suggest that the implementation of SIP policies does not lead to reductions in excess mortality. In fact, a positive association was observed both when accounting for the expedience of the SIP implementation and the duration of SIP policies"
STATE
California: Interesting story on Madera South High School's high attendance rate, but low-engagement through remote/hybrid learning.
INTERNATIONAL
China: Policy tightening for after-school tutoring. "China's Ministry of Education (MOE) said that it will establish a specific department to supervise the after-school education and training businesses."
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
WorkRise: Will invest $2.5 million to support research projects that advance knowledge on strengthening economic security and accelerating economic mobility for workers earning low wages, particularly those disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis. Applications are due June 27. They aim to support projects focused on:
challenges to mobility faced by economically vulnerable workers
solutions—programs, policies, and practices—that create pathways for economic security and mobility
pilots implemented by an employer, worker advocacy organization, or service provider aimed at boosting worker mobility.
You Need a Skills-Based Approach to Hiring and Developing Talent: LinkedIn's CEO in HBR
RESOURCES
Harvard Defeats Students' COVID-19 Tuition Refund Suit: "Harvard University students could not have reasonably expected that the school would guarantee in-person learning even during a global pandemic, a federal judge ruled Monday, tossing a proposed class action seeking refunds for classes forced online by COVID-19."
Unity CEO Predicts AR-VR Headsets Will Be as Common as Game Consoles by 2030: Via The Information. Only nine years away and if true, opens up new opportunities for education and workforce training.
Fathers Day: Loved seeing all the father's day posts over the weekend. A few additional fun and inspirational ones:
A photograph of a girl attending her online class amid heavy rain as her father stands beside her holding an umbrella
Dad uses beatboxing to stop a baby from crying
Remember when Derek Redmond’s dad ran out when his son tore his hamstring during the Olympics?
The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout - Rick Rigsby