TOP THREE
FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine: Pfizer-BioNTech received full FDA approval today.
"The review of the 340,000-page license application was completed in just 97 days by FDA staff working "night and day," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which approves vaccines."
Only fully approved for ages 16 and older. 12-15 year olds are still under EUA. Pfizer has said it expects to have vaccine trial data on children ages 5 to 11 by the end of September, and the company could apply to have its vaccine authorized for those younger ages shortly after.
Why it matters: Numerous surveys have suggested full approval may help win over vaccine hesitant adults. Full approval will clear the way for organizations to mandate vaccines.
It will be called Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee). Of course you want to learn more about the name...
The School Kids Are Not Alright: NYT Editorial Board
"State leaders would be wise to further protect children by requiring teachers to be vaccinated — without exception. Meanwhile, parents who wish to know what proportion of the teaching staff has been vaccinated are being thwarted by the fact that only a few states are publicly reporting this information."
"These findings constitute a scalding rebuke of those who have minimized the impact of the school shutdowns. Perhaps the most grotesque of these minimizing arguments holds that concerns about learning loss are being manufactured by educational testing companies with dollar signs in their eyes."
"Under the best of circumstances, this means that some of the country’s most vulnerable children will begin first grade without the benefit of having had a crucial preparatory year. Under a more ominous scenario, some of the children who lost connection to school in the upper grades may not return to class at all unless districts make a concerted effort to bring them back into the fold."
School Districts Have Expanded Their Nonacademic Services for 2021–2022: Via RAND and CRPE.
9 out of 10 district leaders said their district offered summer programming in 2021.
7 out of 10 districts will offer personal computing devices to K–5 students, and eight in ten will do so for students in grades 6–12.
7 out of 10 districts will provide mental health programming for students. 5 out of 10 were already doing this pre-pandemic, while 2 in 10 are newly offering this service.
One-quarter of districts allowed families to choose a "do over" year for 2021–2022.
A little more than eight out of ten districts will offer tutoring. Seven out of ten were already doing this pre-pandemic, and one in ten are newly offering it.
The most substantive academic change was that one-quarter of districts have altered their 2021–2022 school schedule in a way that could increase time for academic instruction.
As many as four to five out of ten leaders said parents have "strongly demanded" social and emotional learning, more teacher-parent communication, or a fully remote schooling option.
FEDERAL
ED:
Sec. Cardona was on Meet the Press where he was pressed by Chuck Todd on how the Department would use civil rights authorities on anti-masking bans and if they would adopt a similar approach with institutions of higher education. (Transcript / Video)
Politico also reports that House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Virginia Foxx challenged ED's interpretation of the American Rescue Plan and demanded confirmation that school districts are not required to implement universal mask mandates in the classroom as a condition of receiving the emergency funds.
"In a letter obtained by POLITICO, Cardona did not explicitly say that school districts must have masking in their reopening plans, but reiterated that blocking school districts from being able to require them to reopen safely is unlawful."
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Sharing Strategies and Lessons Learned for School-Located COVID-19 Vaccination:Webinar on Sept. 10 with
John Bridgeland, CEO, COVID Collaborative
Mark McClellan, Director, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator (invited)
Alycia Meriweather, Deputy Superintendent of External Partnerships, Enrollment and Innovation, Detroit Public Schools Community District, MI
Sylvia Schaffer, Senior Director, Exceptional Student Education, Orange County Public Schools, FL
Ron Tanimura, Director, Student Medical Services, Los Angeles Unified School District, CA
Mark Lierman, District Administrator, School District of Shullsburg, WI
Mary Wall, Senior Policy Advisor, White House COVID-19 Response Team
Boosters:
“The head of the World Health Organization on Monday called for a two-month moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a means of reducing global vaccine inequality and preventing the emergence of new coronavirus variants," the AP reports.
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was suppose to meet Tuesday to discuss boosters, but the meeting was moved to August 30-31.
Via Axios: "Months after the FDA approved a controversial Alzheimer's drug against the advice of an expert panel and its own statisticians, the Biden administration is pushing for nationwide coronavirus vaccine boosters before independent experts have weighed in.
The FDA Would Like A Word: "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
The Vaccinated Are Worried and Scientists Don’t Have Answers: ViaBloomberg"
Though it is evident vaccination still provides powerful protection against the virus, there’s growing concern that vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought."
“We have to be humble about what we do know and what we don’t know,” said Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the head of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives. “There are a few things we can say definitively. One is that this is a hard question to address.”
"For the time being, there are simply more questions than answers. Are breakthrough infections ticking up because of the delta variant, waning immunity or a return to normal life? Are vaccinated people more vulnerable to severe illness than previously thought? Just how common are breakthrough infections? It’s anyone’s guess."
2021/2022 School Disruptions: New tracker from Burbio
Student Survey: Depression, Stress and Anxiety: The 74 reports on a YouthTruth survey.
FDA Must Fast-track COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids Under 12: Bernard Black and Martin Skladany oped in LA Times
CDC Not Tracking Breakthrough Infections: According to ProPublica
We Know How to Keep Kids Safe from Covid-19 in School. Now We Need to Do It: Alicia Zhou, the chief science officer at Color, in Stat
Require vaccination
Wear masks
Increase ventilation
Get tested.
COVID and Schools: Dr Ellie Murray weighs in with this:
More Children Are Hospitalized With Covid-19, and Doctors Fear It Will Get Worse: Via WSJ
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report: Via AAP - data shows a big jump in cases.
STATE
Arizona: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) wrote in a legal opinion that private businesses “can require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but must allow reasonable religious and medical exemptions under state and federal law,” the AP reports.
Florida: Reported 1,486 COVID deaths, a 141% increase from two weeks ago. Children 12 and under have a positivity rate of 23% and ages 12-19 have a positivity rate of 25%.
Georgia: 23,000 students and staff are in quarantine at metro Atlanta schools.
Illinois:
Chicago Teachers Union members said it's still not safe to go back to the classroom with students and staff as the delta variant continues to spread.
Three Chicago area private schools no longer have state recognition because they've refused to abide by Illinois' school mask mandate.
Maryland: One-third of school districts won't require masks.
Massachusetts: Gov. Baker moves to impose K-12 school mask mandate this fall.
Incentives! "The proposed order won't allow schools to lift the mandate until 80 percent of students and staff are vaccinated."
New Jersey: Gov. Murphy is requiring all state employees – including those at state agencies, authorities, and public colleges and universities – to complete a full vaccination course or undergo regular testing at a minimum of once to twice each week. Full compliance is required by October 18th.
New York:
NYC will require shots for all education staff, including teachers and principals. Must get at least one shot by Sept. 27.
"On Monday, Michael Mulgrew, the U.F.T. president, acknowledged that the city had the legal right to impose such a requirement, but he said key details of how it would be put in place were still being worked out."
Incoming Governor Kathy Hochul pushes for masks in schools
North Carolina: Parents share frustration, plan to pull children out of school as Rockingham County Board of Education votes to require masks in the classroom.
Oklahoma: Gov. Stitt, attorney general condemn Oklahoma school district's mask mandate.
Virginia: University of Virginia disenrolls 238 students for not complying with vaccine requirement.
INTERNATIONAL
Germany: "Has decided to stop using the coronavirus infection rate as its yardstick for deciding if restrictions should be in force to contain the spread of the virus, Chancellor Angela Merkel said." Via Reuters.
"The seven-day incidence rate was a key measure in determining whether restrictions could be imposed or lifted, with infection thresholds of 35, 50 and 100 per 100,000 people triggering the opening or closure of different parts of society."
"But as the number of people who are fully vaccinated rises, calls have grown for the incidence rate to be dropped as a measure to determine whether lockdowns are necessary."
“We decided today that we no longer need comprehensive protective measures when the number of cases or incidence is 50, because a large proportion of the people are vaccinated,” Merkel said.
Israel: Via NYT: "Once the Model for Beating Covid, Faces New Surge of Infections"
"Data published by Israel’s Ministry of Health in late July suggested that the Pfizer shot was just 39 percent effective against preventing infection in the country in late June and early July, compared with 95 percent from January to early April. In both periods, however, the shot was more than 90 percent effective in preventing severe disease."
The BBC reports that Covid restrictions are extended to three-year-olds as cases surge
Switzerland: Swiss Pediatric Society statement on the 4th wave. They point to most pediatric cases being infected at home, not school; no increases in disease severity; and encourage adults and teens to be vaccinated.
RESOURCES
The Latest on School District Fall Reopening: Via CRPE who analyzed the top 100 districts:
Two-thirds (67) require masks.
The Hawaii Department of Education is the only district hat has a requirement for student vaccinations, and it only applies to student athletes.
84 are offering remote learning (up from 41% July 29). Of these, the majority (55 of the 84 districts with remote learning) make it available to all students.
Most quarantine policies are for ten to fourteen days.
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research: Poll / Story
6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to wear face masks while in school.
About 3 in 10 Republicans said they favor mask requirements for students and teachers, compared with about 8 in 10 Democrats.
59% believe teachers should have to get vaccinated; 55% believe students 12 and older should be.
Again, big partisan gaps: 34% of Republicans compared to 44% of Independents, and 77% of Democrats. Lack of Covid Safeguards Overwhelm School Nurses: Via NBC News
Parents Are Not Okay: Via The Atlantic:
"I am a father. I have a 6-year-old and a 16-year-old. And what I can tell you is that I am furious and I am afraid. I can also tell you that the only real difference between this year and last is that the most effective tool for keeping our kids safe—remote school—seems to be off the table."
"Parents aren’t even at a breaking point anymore. We’re broken. And yet we’ll go on because that’s what we do: We sweep up all our pieces and put them back together as best we can. We carry on chipped and leaking and broken because we have no other choice. And we pray that if we can just keep going, our kids will survive too."
What Will It Take to Get High School Students Back on Track?: Via Robert Balfanz
Beyond the Mask: Promoting Transformation and Healing in School Reopening: Report from CLASP
Reflections on What Pandemic-Related State Test Waiver Requests Suggest About the Priorities for the Use of Tests: ViaCALDER
Researchers Invited to Investigate Impact of Digital Learning on Students & Educators: LearnPlatform invited the research community to use education technology engagement data to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on student learning.
"As part of the Data Challenge, LearnPlatform will make available a set of de-identified education technology engagement data of over 1 million students across hundreds of diverse education organizations to participating education and public policy researchers, economists, and more."
"Participants are encouraged to connect the safe, detailed, de-identified data with other public and private information to identify novel uses and approaches to understanding and improving education trends and outcomes."
"Final submissions will be due on September 30, 2021, with LearnPlatform and Kaggle set to announce the top five winners and award grants of $4,000 each on October 28, 2021."
Mask Rage:Via Axios. And more from the AP.
Folks Were Disappointed: With last Friday's Hold On video. Apparently, they were expecting this.
No, being vaccinated doesn't prevent this song from getting stuck in your head.