COVID-19 Policy Update #297
COVID-19 Policy Update
CONGRATS - ITS FRIDAY 7/16: We all did it.
TOP THREE
The CDC Owes Parents Better Messaging on the Vaccine for Kids: Via Wired
"Rather, the matter at hand is the CDC’s messaging, which fails to help parents and children make properly informed decisions about the vaccines on an individual level. As Stefan Baral, an epidemiologist and physician at Johns Hopkins, recently tweeted, “One can be both very pro-Covid-19 vaccination and also be worried about the individual risk:benefit profile of Covid-19 vaccines in <16 yo"
How did the CDC arrive at “30 to 40” cases? In the advisory committee meeting a slide was presented that showed that within 7 days following the second dose males aged 12 to 17 had a rate of 62.75 myocarditis cases per million, whereas females had a rate of 8.68. Averaging the two rates yields 35.72 cases. Yet the rate for young males is more than seven times that of young females. Lumping together two easily delineated cohorts, especially when data show a wildly disproportionate risk for one group, as Walensky did, “is epidemiologically misleading,” said Tracy Hoeg, a physician and epidemiologist who coauthored a study published by the CDC this year.... It both downplays the risk to young males while making the risk seem higher than it is for young females."
"Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at UCSF, has suggested a variety of options as well. These include adolescents, or specifically young males, getting just one dose; administering the second dose later in time, since spreading out the doses may reduce the likelihood of a serious reaction; recommending only high-risk young people get vaccinated; and for any adolescents who have immunity from prior infection, either just one dose or no vaccine at all, at least for the foreseeable future, since prior infection confers strong immunity."
D.C. Should Ensure Schools Are Safe Before Reopening: Via Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union
"Our schools must fully reopen. But my worst fear is that we fail to protect our youths and our community from the still-deadly coronavirus."
"We must remember that when we reopen our schools in August, no student under the age of 12 will be fully vaccinated. Vaccination rates are particularly low for kids ages 12 to 15 in Wards 7 and 8, where only 7 and 5 percent, respectively, have received even one dose of the vaccine."
"However, what are the protocols when there is a positive test in a classroom or school — requiring a student to suddenly quarantine at home for a week or more?"
"The Washington Teachers’ Union believes that DCPS must ensure that all schools provide acceptable air quality, as defined by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standard 62.1-2019, and share detailed air quality reports with the public."
"We have asked DCPS to consider cohorting elementary students, potentially by staggering the start of the school day, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And we asked that DCPS meet social distancing requirements as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to implement weekly testing to prevent the spread of the disease through our schools."
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report: Via AAP
As of July 8, over 4.06 million children have tested positive for COVID-19
Children made up between 6.0%-19.9% of total state tests, and between 4.9%-34.9% of children tested were tested positive
Children were 1.3%-3.6% of total reported hospitalizations, and between 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization
Children were 0.00%-0.25% of all COVID-19 deaths
FEDERAL
The Fauci Ouchie: The White House released a video of actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo with Dr. Fauci answering fan tweets on vaccines.
U.S. Surgeon General: Released a document related to Covid-related misinformation.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Pfizer: FDA accepts full approval application of its COVOD vaccine, granted priority review.
The FDA may not approve until Jan. 2022, although it could happen sooner.
Covid Vaccines For Kids Under 12 Expected Midwinter: FDA official says
"The regulatory agency is asking for four to six months of safety follow-up data for kids under age 12, the FDA official said. Just two months of follow-up data was required for the clinical trials in adults."
COVID-19’s Effects on Kids Are Even Stranger Than We Thought: Via The Atlantic
Kids Get 'Long COVID' Too: Via Scientific American
Covid Still Killing Americans at Rapid Pace: Via Bloomberg: “For the month of June, coronavirus was responsible for 337 deaths a day. For comparison, the historic average deaths from gunshots, car crashes and complications from the flu add up to 306 a day.”
Door to Door: How door-to-door canvassing became the 'heartbeat' of Louisiana's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
"Since April, Louisiana has trained nearly 300 canvassers to go door to door in hard-to-reach communities to get public health information about the coronavirus vaccines directly in the hands of residents. The targeted outreach is paired with pop-up vaccination sites and is one component of the state’s sprawling campaign to boost inoculation rates."
"Louisiana began its experiment in vaccine canvassing months ago as the centerpiece of its “Bring Back Louisiana” campaign. The operation modeled itself after the get-out-to-vote campaigns that materialize ahead of elections, with the goal of mobilizing residents to attend pop-up vaccination sites at nearby churches and community centers."
“Most of the people I come in contact with I’m familiar with in some way,” said Brown, whose canvassing has centered around Alexandria. “I live in the community. I am the community. They trust talking to me.”
"The feedback canvassers gathered from residents on the ground also helped the Health Department craft alternate strategies to break down barriers to getting vaccinated. It launched a vaccine hotline, for example, with extended hours so residents who lacked internet access or were too busy during the workday could easily schedule an appointment or ask questions of a medical professional. The hotline has since fielded more than 5,000 calls and scheduled 2,300 appointments."
STATE
Arizona: Governor's office tells two districts to change quarantine policies for unvaccinated students
"Ducey's office sent letters ordering the Peoria Unified and Catalina Foothills school districts to “immediately rescind” policies that would require unvaccinated students who have been exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine, but not vaccinated students, because they broke state law."
California:
Black parents opt for online learning to avoid racial bias in the classroom
Via Politico: Newsom faces backlash over masks in California schools
Kentucky: Kentucky Department for Public Health released new school guidance
"Recommend masks for unvaccinated persons while indoors in all classrooms and non-classroom settings,” the document reads. “Require masks on public transportation, including buses operated by public and private school systems.”
"Physical distancing of at least 3 feet is recommended between K-12 students in classrooms where not everyone is fully vaccinated"
Louisiana: 300 students enroll in virtual high school in Jefferson Parish
Minnesota: Faribault School Board approved the Falcons Online Academy
"“All of the feedback we’re receiving is really positive,” Corcoran said. “ … It’s one of those silver linings from the last 18 months of craziness that’s really helped us identify opportunities [based on] what our community would like to see and to build out responses to those needs.”
Rhode Island: Six state-run COVID testing sites for school communities to close at the end of July
Virginia: Gov. Northam announced Friday that the commonwealth will invest $700 million of federal funds to provide universal broadband to its residents by 2024
RESOURCES
Homework Gap: Bipartisan lawmakers push for narrowing the 'homework gap'
Technology Can Be a Powerful Force for Educational Equity If We Want It to Be: Via Wendy Kopp
"Technology can be a powerful tool for fostering student ownership of learning, differentiating and personalizing instruction, and making teaching and learning more accessible"
"We face a massive challenge in ensuring equitable technology access — but we can solve it if we prioritize the right things"
"Solving the access issue won’t get us anywhere without investing a lot in teachers"
"Students and teachers themselves are a vital and largely untapped resource in developing and maximizing EdTech"
The Cost of School Interruptions: New paper.
"We study the frequency, nature, duration, and consequences of external interruptions in the Providence Public School District (PPSD) using original data from a district-wide survey and classroom observations."
"We estimate that a typical classroom in the PPSD is interrupted more than 2,000 times per year and that these interruptions and the disruptions they cause result in the loss of between 10 and 20 days of instructional time."
Living Cities: Announced Joe Scantlebury as their next CEO.
It's the Weekend: Make like these bears and get yourself to a lake.