TOP THREE
Children's Vaccine
Pfizer officially submitted their request to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their COVID-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11. (More via the AP)
"Pfizer has proposed giving children one-third of the adult dosage."
The White House says the "new vaccine for children aged five to 11 could be ready as early as November pending approval from federal regulatory health agencies."
Via NYT, A New Vaccine Strategy for Children: Just One Dose, for Now
"Agency research has estimated that for every million vaccinated boys ages 12 to 17 in the United States, the shots might cause a maximum of 70 myocarditis cases, but they would prevent 5,700 infections, 215 hospitalizations and two deaths. Studies have also shown that the risk of heart problems after Covid-19 is much higher than after vaccination."
Finland joins Sweden and Denmark in limiting Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for teens.
More Than 120,000 Kids Had Caregivers Die During Pandemic: The AP reports on a new study.
More than half the children who lost a primary caregiver during the pandemic were Black or Hispanic.
"In California, 67% of the children who lost primary caregivers were Hispanic. In Mississippi, 57% of the children who lost primary caregivers were Black."
"There is an urgent need to mount an evidence-based comprehensive response focused on those children at greatest risk, in the states most affected."
Parent Polling: New EdChoice/Morning Consult Poll (Summary / Crosstabs / Parent sample)
Roughly two out of five school parents have had to quarantine a child because of COVID19. Parents who are Hispanic, of lower income, or living in a small town/rural area are most likely to have had to quarantine multiple times.
About one out of five school parents have switched the type of school their child is attending this year when compared to last year.
FEDERAL
Debt Ceiling: The Senate has reached an agreement to increase the debt ceiling to December 3.
Reconciliation:
Sen. Manchin reiterated to reporters that he wants a budget reconciliation bill of no more than $1.5 trillion.
Rep. Jayapal, chair of the House Progressive Caucus said her must-haves in the bill are: child care, Medicare expansion, immigration, housing, and climate change.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Schools With Mask Mandates Have One Percent Lower COVID-19 Positivity Rate Than Those Without Mandates: Analysis from The Texan
"From the beginning of this school year to the end of September, 1.89% of students at schools with mask mandates have tested positive, compared to 2.93% of students at schools without mask mandates."
"Schools with mandates serve about 1.8 million students, and schools without mandates serve about 3.4 million."
"Out of the total number of kids enrolled in schools without mask rules, 0.21% of positive cases were traced to a source on campus, compared to 0.11% of school-born cases among students under a mandate."
"According to state data, 88 Texans under the age of 20 have died with the disease, accounting for 0.14% of the state’s total fatality count."
Myocarditis After Covid-19 Vaccination: Two NEJM studies (here and here). Main takeaways - extremely rare and often mild.
"Among more than 2.5 million vaccinated HCO members who were 16 years of age or older, 54 cases met the criteria for myocarditis."
"The estimated incidence per 100,000 persons who had received at least one dose of vaccine was 2.13 cases. The highest incidence of myocarditis (10.69 cases per 100,000 persons) was reported in male patients between the ages of 16 and 29 years."
"A total of 76% of cases of myocarditis were described as mild and 22% as intermediate; 1 case was associated with cardiogenic shock."
And this, "Among 304 persons with symptoms of myocarditis, 21 had received an alternative diagnosis. Of the remaining 283 cases, 142 occurred after receipt of the BNT162b2 vaccine; of these cases, 136 diagnoses were definitive or probable. The clinical presentation was judged to be mild in 129 recipients (95%); one fulminant case was fatal."
Delta Wave: Via Axios
Where Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Will Hit and Miss: Fascinating analysis from Politico
Most workers — many of whom work in counties with low vaccination rates — will be affected by the vaccine mandate.
Workers who are less likely to be covered are also less likely to be vaccinated. One-third of Americans in the private sector work at businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
It will be a while before the rule comes into effect — if it ever does.
STATE
California:
San Diego teachers union raises concerns over San Diego Unified's COVID-19 vaccine mandate
Who can opt out of school COVID vaccine mandate? California lawmakers eye crackdown.
Florida: Florida submits plan for final $2.3 billion in ARP funds.
North Carolina: Testing data show that only 38% of first-graders were proficient in reading during the 2020-21 school year. That was a significant drop from the 2018-19 school year when 71% of first- graders were proficient on reading tests.
Ohio: Half of Ohio's K-12 schools have reported COVID-19 cases this school year.
INTERNATIONAL
Israel: Majority of parents would give COVID shot to kids 5-11.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Why These Americans Are Still Getting Left Behind in the Recovery: Important piece via Heather Long
"The cost and availability of child care continues to prevent many Americans from returning to work. The Labor Department asked people what is holding them back from working right now: Black men and women are about twice as likely as their White peers to report that they’re unable to look for work because they can’t find child care or because they have other family responsibilities, a Post analysis shows."
The Mom Project, a Job Board for Mothers, Gets $80 Million to Grow: Via WSJ
“We are big believers in flexible work and contingent work models that give workers increased autonomy and can improve who shows up and increase income opportunities,” said Stephanie Nieman, managing director at Leeds Illuminate."
RESOURCES
Grit: Angela Duckworth's Grit Lab to launch new course for high school students.
The Guide to Assessments (for Non-Assessment Experts): Via DQC
Realtime Research: NWEA, Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and CALDER, at the American Institutes for Research, will partner with a consortium of districts to provide information about tutoring, after-school programs and other interventions.
High School Graduation Hit All-Time High Just Before Pandemic, but COVID-19 Could Jeopardize Gains: Via America's Promise Alliance (Press Release / Report)
80.0% for low-income students (a 0.5 percentage point increase);
79.6% for Black students (a 0.6 percentage point increase);
81.7% for Hispanic students (a 0.7 percentage point increase);
74.3% for American Indian and Alaska Native students (a 0.8 percentage point increase);
69.2% for students with limited English proficiency (a 0.9 percentage point increase); and
68.2% for students with disabilities (a 1.1 percentage point increase)
Priced Out of Public Schools: District Lines, Housing Access, and Inequitable Educational Options: New report from Bellwether.
Sad: Ndakasi, a 14 yr old gorilla whose photobomb went viral died in the arms of man who rescued her as an infant.
When the Winds of Chaos Blow: It's important to remain grounded.