COVID-19 Policy Update #314
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 8/11
It's been a busy few days at ASU-GSV - so much so that I didn't have time to send out an update last night. And there's been a bunch of important developments during the last 48 hours. So in honor of World Elephant Day, tonight's longer update pairs well with a G&T made with Elephant Gin or perhaps a glass of Amarula which is liquor made from the fruit of the African marula tree. Since the fruit is a favorite among elephants, the bottle's label features a depiction of Sebakwe, a rescued elephant who now lives at the South African elephant orphanage HERD. I had the chance to see him and a few other members of the herd a few years ago - such a great experience. But onto tonight's update!
TOP THREE
Teacher Vaccination Mandates:
California became the first state to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or agree to weekly testing, Video from Gov. Newsom's announcement.
Secretary Cardona also said today he supports requiring vaccines for teachers and other school staff.
Dr. Fauci says teachers should be required to be vaccinated
50 State Reopening Plans: CRPE reviewed the fall 2021 reopening guidance for all fifty states and Washington, D.C.
Their new 2021 state response database includes the most pressing indicators that state and local leaders are facing in reopening schools this fall: state policies on masking, vaccines, full in-person instruction, virtual learning options, and continuity of learning plans.
KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor:Parents and the Pandemic with some important data.
"Four in ten parents of children under 12 say that once a vaccine is authorized for their child’s age group they will “wait a while to see how it is working” before getting their child vaccinated."
"Hispanic and Black parents are more likely than White parents to cite concerns that reflect access barriers to vaccination, including not being able to get the vaccine from a trusted place, believing they may have to pay an out-of-pocket cost, or difficulty traveling to a vaccination site."
"Few working parents say their employer offers them paid time off to get their children vaccinated or care for them if they experience vaccine side effects. One quarter of working parents of unvaccinated 12-17 year-olds say they would be more likely to get their child vaccinated if their employer offered them paid time off to do so."
Parents support school mask mandates more than required vaccines.
Only 4 in 10 parents of children ages 12-17 say their teen’s school provided information about COVID-19 vaccines for children or encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated."
Twice as many parents whose school encouraged vaccination report that their child is vaccinated compared to those whose schools did not (62% vs. 30%)."
FEDERAL
White House:
Politico reports that President Biden said Republican governors’ actions to oppose masks in school are ‘a little disingenuous’
The Washington Post reports that the Biden administration is looking into whether it can direct unused stimulus funds to support educators in Florida who may defy the governor’s order against mask mandates in schools. More from Reuters.
ED: Press statement on Amy Loyd's nomination for Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.
NIH: A new research study from Johns Hopkins found that of the $42 billion the NIH spent on research last year, less than 2% went to COVID clinical research. Report
Report notes no grants on children and masks specifically
COVID-19 RESEARCH
CDC Strengthens Its Recommendation for Pregnant Woman to Get Vaccinated:New CDC study found no increased risk of miscarriage after COVID-19 vaccination during early pregnancy.
"COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all people 12 years and older, including people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future," according to the new guidance.
Delta and Children:
Epidemiologist Shamez Ladhani argues that Delta is not causing more serve COVID in children compared to previous variants.
Katherine Wu in The Atlantic argues that Delta is bad news for kids.
We Studied One Million Students. This Is What We Learned About Masking: An NYT oped by Duke researchers Kanecia Zimmerman and Danny Benjamin Jr. that's prompted a bit of debate.
"Although vaccination is the best way to prevent Covid-19, universal masking is a close second, and with masking in place, in-school learning is safe and more effective than remote instruction, regardless of community rates of infection."
"In conjunction with North Carolina, the ABC Science Collaborative collected data from more than one million students and staff members in the state’s schools from March to June 2021."
"We believe this low rate of transmission occurred because of the mask-on-mask school environment: Both the infected person and the close contact wore masks."
But David Zweig criticized the oped and study for failing to have a control group which casts doubts on the claims. Youyang Gu agrees.
Delta's Peak is Difficult to Project, But Could Come This Month: Via The Hill
"Justin Lessler, an infectious diseases epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health, said so far, the contagious variant has increased faster than any of their models, calling it “a little bit scary.”
“Given the rate is going up, it's either going to peak earlier than we anticipated or peak much, much higher than we anticipated,” Lessler said. “I think probably both are going to be true.”
You can see the uncertainty in this forecast model from IHME:
STATE
Florida: In most counties, cases are at least four times higher than a year ago, according to a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. "In early August 2020... the state reported an average of 11 pediatric admissions a day. In the first week of August this year, the state averaged 49 new pediatric admissions a day."
Kentucky: Gov. Beshear issue school mask mandate.
Louisiana: New Orleans district reports 116 COVID-19 cases and 638 people quarantining.
Mississippi: 342 schools reported 1,338 cases among students, teachers and staff so far this school year. For comparison, in the first week of 2020, 720 schools reported 897 positive cases.
Missouri: Fearing COVID in schools, some St. Louis families will keep kids home and learning online
Tennessee: 27% of new daily COVID-19 cases in Tennessee among youth, nearly 7,000 school-aged.
Texas: Plano ISD announces temporary virtual option for pre-K to 6th grade studentsRichardson ISD adds virtual learning option
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
5.4% in July (over last year) - the same as in June and the highest in 13 years.
RESOURCES
Opening Schools Should Be Priority No. 1: Argues the Bloomberg Editorial Board.
"Getting kids back in the classroom must be a society-wide priority. We must turn the page on the last school year, when too many unions obstructed or slowed down school reopenings. America’s children cannot afford a repeat of that harmful episode, and it’s essential that teachers help lead the way."
"The AFT is right to oppose efforts by state legislatures to prohibit localities from requiring that masks be worn in schools. Attempting to block schools from taking safety precautions is outrageous — politics at its most reckless — and could well result in deaths."
"In other words: The time for excuses is over. After saying two weeks ago that the union would “try to open up schools,” Weingarten seemed to realize she misspoke — because trying isn’t good enough. Last week, she said she was “1,000% committed to getting teachers and kids back in school.” That’s good, and now we need union leaders to follow through on it."
More Schools Are Doing Systemic COVID Testing. Will It Work?Via Education Week
How to Sell SEL: Parents and the Politics of Social-Emotional Learning: Report and parent survey from Fordham:
Parents overwhelmingly support teaching SEL-related skills in schools, but the term “social and emotional learning” is relatively unpopular.
Differences of opinion often break along partisan lines, but interestingly, differences by parents’ race, class, and religion are rarely as pronounced as differences by political affiliation.
Baby Elephant: Gets frustrated chasing a dog.
For your timeline cleanser, some bonus elephant pictures from the trip...