COVID-19 Policy Update #315
THURSDAY 8/12
TOP THREE
Teacher Vaccine Mandates:
NEA says it supports policies that would require all teachers to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing.
Politico reports that AFT union officials have voted only to encourage their workers to "negotiate potential mandates with local governments and school systems."
Weingarten previously said she backed a vaccine mandate.
Vaccine Fadeout:
Axios reports on a preprint study from the Mayo Clinic shows that the Pfizer vaccine is preventing significantly fewer infections now than before the Delta variant became dominant. The same study found a smaller drop in Moderna's efficacy."
The study found the Pfizer vaccine was only 42% effective against infection in July, when the Delta variant was dominant. "If that's not a wakeup call, I don't know what is," a senior Biden official told Axios.
"Pfizer believes its vaccines are losing around six percentage points of efficacy every two months.
Parent Confidence in Vaccines and School Reopenings: New polling from Frank Luntz for the de Beaumont Foundation. Download full topline findings by party affiliation and vaccination status. Some highlights:
A large majority of parents say the spread of the Delta variant makes them more likely that their child will get vaccinated.
72% of parents, including 56% of unvaccinated parents, said the FDA’s full approval would make them more confident in the safety of the vaccines.
67%, including 51% of unvaccinated parents, said full approval would make them more likely to get their children vaccinated.
61% of parents said individual schools should be allowed to require masks for students, while 39% said the decision whether to wear a mask should be the parents’ choice. Vaccinated adults (72%) and Democrats (71%) expressed more support for the rights of schools to require masks than unvaccinated parents (47%) and Republicans (48%).
85% of parents said the spread of the Delta variant makes them more likely to support mask requirements in schools. That includes 97% of Democrats, 90% of vaccinated parents, 79% of unvaccinated parents, and 73% of Republicans.
How did your children attend school last year?
Completely remote: Dem (46%), Swing (27%), Republican (36%)
Completely in person: Dem (15%, Swing (16%), Republican (30%)
If you had to choose, which should be a higher priority for our nation's school
If you had one question for your child/children's teacher or principal about returning to in-class instruction this fall, what would it be?
FEDERAL
Congressional Outlook: New Punchbowl survey of Congressional staff:
"For the first time since we started the survey, a majority of Democratic staffers now believe their party will lose their House majority in 2022."
"71% of respondents say that infrastructure legislation is likely to pass during the current Congress"
"49% of staffers believe that the member of Congress they work for will vote for a "soft" -- or “human,” as Democrats call it --infrastructure bill passed through reconciliation."
"86% of Democrats believe that Democrats will be in control of the Senate after the 2022 elections. 51% of Republicans believe that their party will be in control, up 14 points from our last survey."
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Six Ways Schools Can Promote COVID-19 Vaccination: Public Health Communications Collaborative and the COVID Collaborative have developed a new one-page resource for school administrators, educators, and staff with resources created or curated by the CDC.
Children, Schools, and Vaccines: Communicating to Parents: Messaging tips for talking to parents about school reopening, developed by de Beaumont Foundation and Made to Save.
Global Prevalence of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Children and Adolescents During COVID-19:Meta-analysis in JAMA Pediatrics
"29 studies including 80 879 youth globally, the pooled prevalence estimates of clinically elevated child and adolescent depression and anxiety were 25.2% and 20.5%, respectively."
"1 in 4 youth globally are experiencing clinically elevated depression symptoms, while 1 in 5 youth are experiencing clinically elevated anxiety symptoms."
STATE
Georgia: Four districts end in-person classes because of COVID-19
Louisiana:
LDOE announced the launch of "Louisiana Comeback," a campaign to recover and accelerate learning lost due to the previous year's challenges
East Carroll school district announces virtual learning option “Carroll Academy”
Maryland: Waitlist announced for virtual learning option in Prince George's County this fall.
Mississippi: Will open a 50-bed field hospital and the federal government will send medical professionals to help treat patients as COVID-19 cases continue surging
Nevada: Nevada Learning Academy struggles to accommodate soaring enrollment numbers amid demand for virtual learning.
Last school year, NVLA had approximately 450 full-time students, but as of August 6, they had accepted "over 4,200 full-time distance learning students," and that they, "continue to accept hundreds of new students daily."
Pennsylvania: On why masks are needed: "My argument would be that (COVID) poses a significant threat to children, mainly children under 12..." said Dr. Stephen Aronoff, Waldo E. Nelson Chair and professor of pediatrics at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.
Texas:
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins signed an emergency order Wednesday requiring people to wear masks in schools, businesses and county buildings.
Parents respond to TEA's newest COVID guidelines for schools, start petition to fund virtual learning
Leander ISD expands virtual learning to over 2,000 waitlisted students
Katy ISD board approves virtual learning for grades K-6
Virginia: Governor Northam announces public health order requiring universal masking in schools.
West Virginia: Gov. Justice suggests school mask mandate may be coming if COVID-19 case increase doesn’t slow down.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
OECD: New resources
Getting a job: how schools can help students in the competition for employment
Getting the most out of employer engagement in career guidance
RESOURCES
Zoom's Focus Mode: Zoom’s new focus mode could keep students from distracting each other. Teachers can see students, but students can't see each other.
Children’s Hospitals Are Swamped With Covid Patients: Via Politico: "Nearly 1,600 kids with Covid-19 were hospitalized last week, according to the CDC — a new seven-day record and a 27 percent increase from the week before."
Rising Cases Cause Districts to Go Virtual, Change Mask Rules: CNN reporting on a growing number of districts forced to open with remote learning.
Failures’ Fallout : Bruce Mehlman's latest deck assessing the longer-term fallout from historically challenging times.
When institutions, policies and leaders fail, people demand change.
Growing global frustration with broader societal disruptions is peaking amidst perceived COVID failures.
Rising dissatisfaction will accelerate some 21st century trends while inviting backlash against older institutions and new disruptors.
Prepare for big impacts across geopolitics, markets, media, technology, culture & politics.
We Interrupt This Update... Funny compilation of dogs interrupting work from home live interviews.