THURSDAY 9/2
TOP THREE
Teachers Not At Increased Risk of Hospitalization: Study and summary in BMJ
"Teachers are about average in terms of their risk of hospitalization with COVID-19, when compared to other working-age adults," said lead researcher Dr. David McAllister, a professor of clinical epidemiology and medical informatics at the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. "Unlike health care workers, teachers are not at increased risk of hospitalization with COVID-19, even when schools are open."
"Using data from March 2020 to July 2021, McAllister and his colleagues collected information on more than 132,000 people with COVID-19, ages 21 to 65, and more than 1.3 million people from the general population, all in Scotland."
"Over the study period, the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 was less than 1% for teachers, health care workers and other adults."
"In schools where masks and social distancing are mandated, the risk of spreading COVID-19 is cut dramatically"
"No evidence was found for an increased risk of severe covid-19 among teachers in the autumn term of 2020 when schools were open; instead, the risk was observed to reduce..."
Chicago:
Chicago Teachers Union warns of 'escalating actions' unless COVID-19 safety improves in CPS
"Safety in the age of COVID is contingent on ensuring that every mitigation layer works in sync in schools to protect students, educators, staff and families," the union said in a statement. "But one or more of those mitigations — social distancing, masking, testing, vaccines, working ventilation and more — have failed at schools across the city."
More Than 500,000 Children Tested Positive for Covid-19 in 3 Weeks: According to the AAP State-Level Data Report
203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported the past week from 8/19/21-8/26/21 and represented 22.4% of the weekly reported cases
Among states reporting, children were 0.00%-0.24% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 7 states reported zero child deaths
FEDERAL
Jill Biden: OpEd in Time: A Tribute to Classroom Heroes
U.S. Digital Services: Mina Hsiang was announced as the new lead.
Treasury: CDFI Fund announces $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits
COVID-19 RESEARCH
A Call for a Global Summit to End the COVID-19 Pandemic: COVID Collaborative mobilized a coalition of 80 leaders and 29 organizations across industry, health, philanthropy, civil society, and advocacy — from Bono to former World Bank President Bob Zoellick — who joined in signing the attached open letter urging world leaders to convene a global COVID-19 summit during the UN General Assembly and commit to the following goals:
Make 7 billion doses of high-quality vaccines available before the end of 2021 and an additional 7 billion doses by mid-2022;
Ensure that every country is ready to implement vaccination programs at scale by the end of this year;
andVaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population by mid-2022.
Israeli Coronavirus Vaccine Booster Data Gives the U.S. Hope: Via Axios
"A preprint study recently released by Israeli researchers found that, in the real world, adults who received a third Pfizer shot saw their risk of confirmed infection drop by 11.4-fold after 12 days or more, and their risk of severe disease drop by more than 10-fold."
"The study included more than a million people who were 60 or older, and the authors argue that it "demonstrates the effectiveness of a third vaccine dose in both reducing transmission and severe disease."
Tension Rises Over Biden Booster Plan: Via Axios
"On Monday, an independent CDC advisory committee hinted that it will only initially recommend booster shots for older Americans and health care workers — a subtle departure from the administration's plan to offer a booster shot to most Americans eight months after their first round
"And at least one member of the committee raised concerns about the White House getting ahead of the FDA and the CDC on booster policy, STAT's Helen Branswell tweeted."
FDA Schedules Booster Meeting: FDA schedules Sept 17 advisory committee meeting to discuss Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 booster.
Could also include Moderna, who just submitted their data today.
Mu Variant: Was declared a "variant of interest" by the WHO.
"Some mutations will be detrimental to the virus, but some will be beneficial, allowing it to spread better, escape the protection offered by vaccines or even evade COVID tests.... Mu has mutations that might confer some of these properties, but evidence is still emerging."
Fauci says it isn’t an immediate threat in the U.S.
The Downsides of Masking Young Students Are Real: Vinay Prasad writes in The Atlantic
" K–8 schools in affluent and highly educated Palo Alto, California, require kids to mask even outdoors at recess. San Diego schools recently announced an outdoor mask mandate as well. Yet scientists have known for some time that outdoor transmission is exceedingly rare, and many experts believe that outdoor masking is misguided."
"The results don’t show that. Instead, they show that transmission rates, which were low among the youngest kids, steadily increased with age—rather than dropping sharply for older children subject to the face-covering requirement. This suggests that masking kids in school does not provide a major benefit and might provide none at all. And yet many officials prefer to double down on masking mandates, as if the fundamental policy were sound and only the people have failed."
Children's Vaccines: The Washington Post reports on growing impatience on vaccines for kids under 12.
"That the Biden administration has moved rather slowly on getting a vaccine approved for children under 12 — so much so that health groups and even some allies are raising alarm bells."
"The approval for school-age children ages 5 to 11 had been widely expected by the fall, with school returning. But the FDA last month moved to expand the trials to more closely examine rare but serious instances, particularly in young boys, in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed. This has pushed the timetable into early 2022."
"Julie Morita, a vaccine expert who served on the Biden transition team, echoed the point: “If delta wasn’t making children sick and hospitalizing them, it might make sense to take more time to look at the safety profile. But when you have a virus that is surging, expediency may become more important.”
Why Some COVID-19 Infections May Be Free of Symptoms But Not Free of Harm: Via National Geographic
"A study of 104 passengers found that 76 of them had COVID but were asymptomatic. Of that group, CT scans showed that 54 percent had lung abnormalities—patchy gray spots known as ground glass opacities that signal fluid build-up in the lungs."
“If confirmed, this finding suggests that the absence of symptoms might not necessarily mean the absence of harm.”
"In May, cardiac MRI scans of 1,600 college athletes who had tested positive for COVID-19 revealed evidence of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, in 37 people—28 of whom hadn’t had any symptoms, says Saurabh Rajpal, a cardiovascular disease specialist at the Ohio State University and lead author on the study."
"FAIR Health, a national healthcare nonprofit, found from an analysis of healthcare claims that about a fifth of asymptomatic patients went on to become long-haulers."
Israeli Study:1 in 4 kids became more violent during COVID.
"Children under 6 also expressed more stress than usual — 38%. The research also showed that 43% of kids spent more time in front of screens, and 36% were eating more candy than usual."
Why a Vaccine For Younger Children is Taking Longer: Via CNN
"That'll put us on a time frame where the vaccines could be available at some point late fall, more likely early winter depending on how long FDA takes to review the application," Gottlieb said."
"Typically, every vaccine candidate, even for other conditions, would be evaluated first in adult patients and then in progressively younger ages," explained Dr. Kari Simonsen, who is leading the trial of the Pfizer vaccine at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha. "We can't make assumptions about the safety or tolerability of medicines in children being the same as for adults," she said."
"As we are fond of saying in pediatrics: Children are not small adults. Children are children," said Versalovic. "Their bodies are developing and will react differently, and we need to treat them differently."
COVID Cases Overall Are Up 14%: Via Axios
STATE
California:
LA TImes Editorial: "Now's the time to mandate vaccination for public school students"
" The teachers are right: L.A. Unified — and school districts statewide — should adopt a policy that mandates the vaccine for students as soon as the FDA bestows full approval for their age group."
"So far, the findings have been that the vaccine is safe and effective for children. And even emergency use approval, when it comes, for children under 12 will help increase community protection because there are plenty of parents who would like to have their elementary-school-age children vaccinated and won’t wait for full approval."
Substitute shortages so severe, some districts may have to temporarily close classrooms
"We ran out of adults to teach,” he said. “This year, our (Covid infection) numbers are even worse.”
"Districts need new independent study teachers because enrollment in the programs is increasing, Britt said. “They have the money, but there isn’t a teacher to hire, especially in these rural communities."
Indiana: The Mind Trust and United Way of Central Indiana partnered to launch Indy Summer Learning Labs in June 2021. Pre- and post-program assessments were administered to students participating, and key results include:
A 20 percentage point increase in basic and proficient scores of English/Language Arts performance.
A 27 percentage point increase in basic and proficient scores of math performance.
The average ELA percentage point proficiency growth across grades 1-8 was 12%.
The average math percentage point proficiency growth across grades 1-8 was 17%.
Kentucky: About one month into the school year, 17 of 171 districts across the state have closed for a period of time.
Maryland: Gov. Hogan announced that he is directing state officials to immediately provide a statewide assessment of ventilation and air filtration in public school buildings.
New Jersey: Newark schools will offer routine COVID testing as classrooms reopen
New York: NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readersBethlehem schools among first in state requiring staff vaccination.
North Carolina: New law changes how school districts handle mask rules, school performance.School boards will have to vote at least once a month on masks in schoolsDistricts will have flexibility to use online learning when there are COVID-19 outbreaks in schoolsSchool performance will not be judged based on how students did in the 2019-2020 school year
Oregon: Rural Oregon school superintendent fired after enforcing state mask mandate
Wisconsin: Wisconsin’s Largest Teachers Union calls for universal masking, vaccination of all teachers,
INTERNATIONAL
France: Twelve million children in France are back to school and wearing masks.
RESOURCES
Meet the Educators Who Saved A Pandemic School Year: Time
Demand for Online Tutoring Remains High: Via NBC News
Most Parents No Longer Want Kids in School Full Time: According to a survey of 1,448 parents funded by CDC Foundation.
Before the CDC's changed guidance on July 27, 58% of those surveyed said they wanted their children in a classroom full time this year. Afterward, that figure dropped to 43%.
Best Practices for Data Sharing Between Schools and Afterschool Programs: From the Future of Privacy Forum
Push To Reopen Schools Leaves Many Quarantined Students Without: Via The 74
"In many ways, schools in the Tampa area are facing the same remote learning challenges they did when schools first closed in 2020. Some don’t have internet access. Others only connect on their phones, and some parents can’t pick up paper copies of lessons at school because they’ve tested positive for COVID-19. Even if a student has a computer, teachers aren’t required to teach over Zoom due to an agreement with the local teacher’s union, said spokeswoman Erin Maloney."
“There was pretty much nothing offered to us — no Zoom, no live option at all,” said Meredith Copley’s, whose children, ages 10 and 12, were quarantined last week."
Prepare For At Least One More Year Of The K-12 COVID Fights: Via Rick Hess.
How Schools Are Addressing Students' Mental Health Needs Due to Trauma of COVID-19: Via ABC News
"Atlanta Public Schools plan to screen over 30,000 pre-K to 12th grade students on their social-emotional behavior this fall."
"Chicago Public Schools had previously announced a $24 million, multiyear plan to invest in mental health and trauma support programs for students and staff."
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools has provided staff with social-emotional learning and mental health awareness trainings as they welcomed students back, as well as hiring 45 mental health coordinators."
Schools Didn’t Plan for Online Classes This Year. Then Delta Struck, Demand Is Surging & Districts Are Scrambling for Virtual Options: Via The 74
"In normal times, the Minnesota Department of Education considers two or three applications a year from school districts and public charter schools seeking to operate online programs. The process often takes a year..."
Two weeks before the new school year was set to begin... the agency is reviewing nearly 300 applications for permission to provide distance learning. The ad hoc reviewers expect up to 200 more requests — which would encompass nearly all of the state’s school systems."
It's Been Heavy Lately: So a little inspiration in the form of an early workshop video of Hugh Jackman performing From Now On from The Greatest Showman. It takes on a bit of a gospel feel midway through. And I love composer Justin Paul jammin out on the piano in the background.
Want a less Broadway-y version? Here's the Zac Brown Band