TOP THREE
Pfizer Vaccine May Get Full Approval by Labor Day: The NYT reports and Dr. Fauci suggests.
Why it matters: Full approval is likely to help sway some of those who are still hesitant. It is also likely to trigger additional vaccine mandates among employers and institutions.
As Schools Open, How Can We Protect Our Kids From Delta?: Blog from former CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden that answers...
How big of a risk does Covid pose to kids?
Does the Delta variant make kids sicker?
Can kids get long Covid?
I’m vaccinated, but my kid is too young to be vaccinated. Should I be more careful?
Should we really be opening schools during a new surge in cases?
How Much Have Students Missed Academically Because of the Pandemic? A Review of the Evidence to Date: New report from CRPE
"On average, elementary and middle school students tested in fall 2020 performed at lower levels than (i) prior grade-level cohorts, and (ii) predictions based on prepandemic growth data."
"On average, students tested in winter 2021 showed larger gaps relative to predictions based on pre-pandemic growth data than did students tested in fall 2020, implying that slower than typical progress continued well into the 2020–21 school year."
Impacts were generally greater in math than in reading
Impacts are consistently greater for economically disadvantaged students than those who are not. Impacts are consistently greater impacts for Black and Hispanic students than for white students
FEDERAL
Eviction Moratorium: The Dispatch reports, "One day after the White House said the Centers for Disease Control was “unable to find legal authority” to implement even a “more targeted” eviction moratorium, the CDC announced the implementation of a more targeted eviction moratorium."
According to Reuters: "a new 60-day moratorium on residential evictions in areas with high levels of COVID-19 infections" which applies to 80% of the country.
But the President seemed hesitant if it could withstand lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. "The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,” Biden said. “But there are several key scholars who think that it may and it’s worth the effort.”
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Long-lasting Covid Symptoms Rare in Children: Most children who develop COVID-19 symptoms recover after six days, and the number who experience symptoms beyond four weeks is low, according to a UK study published in Lancet
It included data on 1,734 children from five to 17 years old.
On average, symptoms lasted for five days in younger children (five to 11 years old) and seven days in older children (12 to 17 years old).
About 4.4% experienced symptoms for four weeks or more, while one in 50 (1.8%) had symptoms lasting more than two months.
COVID ‘Fast Grants’ Sped Up Pandemic Science: Reports Nature.
"A research-grant system with an application form that can be completed in less than 30 minutes, a decision-making process that takes just 48 hours, and funding that arrives within a week."
" hey note that in early 2020, they “expected the U.S.’s immense government funding systems to be unleashed, with decisions made in days if not in hours. This is what happened during World War II, which killed fewer Americans. Instead, Tyler, Collison and Hsu found that leading scientists were “stuck on hold”, waiting for permission from funders to repurpose projects to tackle COVID-19."
"More than 55% of those who replied to the Fast Grants survey said they spent more than one-quarter of their working hours putting together grant applications, highlighting how conventional mechanisms are a huge drain on researchers’ time"
CDC’s Covid-19 Mask Guidance Clouded by Flawed Data: Via WSJ
"Some scientists say that the Provincetown study isn’t reliable enough to be the primary driver of a public health policy change. The data is too recent to be independently reviewed by outside experts, and it is too small of a sample and the circumstances of the outbreak are too unique for it to be applied to other parts of the country."
"“They’re making these decisions on the basis of extremely weak and unreliable data, and at the same time not doing the necessary work to reduce uncertainty among the population,” said Vinay Prasad, a physician and professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. “When there isn’t a lot of study data, the CDC should be conducting these studies.”
When States Are Expected to Reach 70% Vaccinated: Washington Post forecast
White Evangelicals Resist Covid-19 Vaccine Most Among Religious Groups: WSJ on new PRRI/IFYC Religion and the Vaccine Survey (CZI grantee)
Vaccine Mandates for Kids Could Be the Next Big Back-to-School Fight: Bloomberg looks ahead to the challenges we'll face over the next year:
"The risk-benefit discussion promises to become even more pointed when Covid immunization expands to younger kids—and if schools begin to implement mandatory vaccination, as they already do for any number of diseases. Already, the rates for children are falling along red and blue lines, much as they have for adults."
"In a landmark 1905 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to require vaccinations as necessary measures to protect public health and that individual freedoms weren’t “absolute.” The court also reaffirmed the right of states to exclude unvaccinated children from public schools."
"The reluctance of states and school boards to implement a mandate traces in part to the emergency use authorizations. “We’re in a bit of a legal vacuum,” says Sharon Masling, a partner in Washington, D.C., for the law firm Morgan Lewis, which is advising employers and administrators on the legal issues surrounding mandates. Without full licensure in place, Masling says, many are reluctant to test the waters on their own."
"To quell concerns about safety, Meissner suggests the FDA first grant a full biologics license for the shot in younger kids, rather than an EUA, before expanding the rollout. Pfizer is likely to get full approval for those 16 and up as soon as this fall, but it will take longer to get it for those who are younger, as the FDA requires six months of safety data. Waiting could fundamentally change the rollout, however, helping sway parents worried about legitimate side effects and dispelling concerns, unfounded though they may be, about unapproved technology. It could also give officials cover to mandate vaccines in schools without quite so much fear of retribution."
STATE
California: OC Board of Education considers suing Gov. Newsom over classroom mask mandate
Idaho: Is experiencing a surge of pediatric cases: "The current pace is 53 per 100,000 children from newborn to age 4, up from 16 per 100,000 two weeks ago, Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist at the Idaho Division of Public Health, said during an online briefing Tuesday
Illinois: Chicago fell behind on plans for students with disabilities during COVID-19, Chalkbeat reports.
Indiana: Over 9 million minutes logged during Allen Co. Public Library’s Summer Learning Program.
Louisiana: Online students score lower on state tests
New Hampshire: First four school districts receive 'learning pod' grants. More information here.
New Mexico: Desert Sage Academy becomes Santa Fe school district's only online option.
Texas: Schools can't require COVID masks. Some Fort Worth parents are worried.
INTERNATIONAL
China: China's Ministry of Education (Translated to English) has asked local authorities to implement a programme targeting vaccinations of school students. More via the BBC.
UK: Government officials are considering offering the vaccine to teens (16 and 17 yr olds).
That would be a reversal of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which two weeks ago recommended against vaccinating children.
RESOURCES
Chaos and Confusion: Back to School Turns Ugly as Delta Variant Rages: Via Politico
"Nearly 18 months into the pandemic, there’s no consensus on how to keep students and staff safe. Local school leaders, whipsawed by changing federal guidance, find themselves building a patchwork of protections based as much on local politics as public health."
"Of the nation's 200 largest school districts, 69 are mandating masks, according to Dennis Roche, co-founder of Burbio."
The $200 Billion Question: AEI's Nat Malkus digs into the rounds of federal funding for K12 education with some interesting data and analysis. And he launches an ESSER Data Explorer
Nationwide, the average district received $3,660 per pupil but with huge variance. New York’s average allocation is $1,500 per pupil above the average (42 percent higher), while Minnesota’s allocation is $1,350 per pupil below the average (37 percent lower).
"Percentages range from a low of 15% of current expenditures (i.e., total spending) in New Jersey to the high of 58% in Mississippi."
Study Examines Digital Divide Impact on Black Families Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Study
“What we found was parents and caregivers often felt disempowered in the rapidly changing environment, as they did not necessarily feel equipped with the tools or technological savviness to effectively engage in their children’s education the way they felt they needed to," said study author Dr. Adaobi Anakwe
For High Schools, Let's Preserve Variant Of Hybrid Learning After COVID: Argues Michael Horn, "Many schools should explore something that made sense pre-pandemic as well: flipping the school day."
"In a flipped school day, as I wrote previously, students would start their day later—say 9 a.m.—by reporting to a workplace in their community, which they could rotate every semester or year."
"After working half a day, the students would then break for lunch and head to school to do their extracurricular activities and work on projects with their fellow students."
"Finally, in the evenings, students would take their classes online from home when their parents are more likely to be at home. They wouldn’t have homework per se, as work would simply be woven into their online-learning experiences, as well as their projects with their fellow students and potentially the projects they are tackling while on site at a workplace in the morning."
Mental Health Supports: Mental health Toolkit and Primer for schools from Transcend.
Parenting Minutes: The WNET Group, home to New York's PBS stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21, the statewide network NJ PBS, and Long Island's only NPR station WLIW-FM – has added five new videos and resources to its Parenting Minutes collection with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Learning Heroes, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Parenting Minutes offer information to support children's academic success and social-emotional growth
Videos cover topics including social-emotional skills, establishing routines, raising children on the autism spectrum, early reading and math skills, making TV time learning time, healthy snacking, and much more.
One Fun 40th Thing: Folks organized a surprise birthday flash mob to celebrate Pearson's former VP of Corporate Affairs Stacy Scarazzo Skelly