I know I say every Monday that it's a long update. But today's is really long. News of a vaccine for 5-11 year olds by October, more debate around boosters, more reaction to the President's vaccine mandate, more uncertainty with reconciliation, and more kids in quarantine. And that doesn't include the National Guard being mobilized to help with school transportation in Massachusetts or the UK finally approving the vaccine for 12-17 year olds. So let's get to it...
TOP THREE
How 100 Top Districts Are (and Aren’t) Adapting: Via CRPE and The 74
"Half of the states provide detailed guidance about how long a student should spend in quarantine. Of these, 14 specify isolation periods that range from seven to 14 days for different categories of exposure, and 11 specify periods that range from seven to 10 days."
"Thirty-eight states exempt fully vaccinated students from quarantines, 23 provide exemptions if an individual has previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 7 exempt individuals if they are asymptomatic."
"Only 17 states have stated they will require districts to ensure that students can access instruction during quarantine or isolation."
Delta Variant Stress Tests Back-to-School Plans: A Washington Post survey of the 20 largest school districts found that few are offering robust coronavirus screening amid vague guidelines and a surge of cases that few anticipated.
"Just four are following CDC recommendations to screen asymptomatic students, who can infect others even though they have no symptoms."
"There is not a really clear kind of trigger point here around what it means and what level of spread would be a cause to change course,” said a senior White House official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. “We’re trying to work additional guidance around the fact that there will be cases.”
“The current guidance is not based on scientific reality,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of Biden’s covid-19 transition team. “There’s pre-delta and delta. We’ve seen such a dramatic change in transmission. … There’s no such thing as a safe school today with covid. There are safer schools, not safe.”
"There’s a call out to do testing, but not really a tool kit to do it in an easy way, so I would hope to see more come from CDC in that regard,” said Besser, the former acting CDC director."
Pfizer Vaccine Could Be Authorized for Kids 5-11 in October: Multiple stories over the weekend suggest approval could come as soon as October.
"Enough data from clinical trials to seek emergency use authorization (EUA) for that age group from the FDA towards the end of this month, the sources said."
"They anticipate the FDA could make a decision on whether the shot is safe and effective in younger children within three weeks of the EUA submission."
Timeframe was also confirmed by former FDA Commissioner, and Pfzier board member, Scott Gottlieb.
FEDERAL
Reconciliation:
Sen. Manchin said on Sunday that he can’t support President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan, The Hill reports. He was later quoted as saying he could support $1.5 trillion. He also said there's no way to meet the Sept. 27 deadline.
Sen. Warner warns he may vote against $3.5 trillion budget unless there's more funding for housing.
Related: "The end of the fiscal year is Sept. 30. And the two sides have made practically no progress on funding the government beyond that date," reports PunchBowl
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Paper - With Two former FDA Officials - Argues Boosters Are Not Needed Right Now : Axios reports, "COVID-19 vaccine booster doses are not necessary right now based on the current evidence, international public health experts — including two FDA vaccine leaders who are leaving the agency this year — wrote a new paper in The Lancet."
"Although the benefits of primary COVID-19 vaccination clearly outweigh the risks, there could be risks if boosters are widely introduced too soon, or too frequently, especially with vaccines that can have immune-mediated side-effects..."
"Current evidence does not, therefore, appear to show a need for boosting in the general population, in which efficacy against severe disease remains high."
"The message that boosting might soon be needed, if not justified by robust data and analysis, could adversely affect confidence in vaccines and undermine messaging about the value of primary vaccination."
"Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated. If vaccines are deployed where they would do the most good, they could hasten the end of the pandemic by inhibiting further evolution of variants. Indeed, WHO has called for a moratorium on boosting until the benefits of primary vaccination have been made available to more people around the world."
Tensions Mount Between CDC and Biden Health Team Over Boosters: Via Politico
"In meetings and conversations over the past month, senior officials from the White House Covid-19 task force and the Food and Drug Administration have repeatedly accused CDC of withholding critical data needed to develop the booster shot plan."
"In addition to the planned booster rollout, the CDC and FDA are poised to consider the use of Covid-19 vaccines for children under 12, a group that has seen more infection and death as the nation has returned to in-person schooling."
"Three senior officials said they were surprised by the White House’s September deadline, arguing that it set the CDC and FDA on a tight timeline to crunch data, publish vaccine efficacy studies and approve or authorize the shots."
"FDA has long argued that CDC moves too slowly, two former officials said."
1 in 10 Kids Have Lingering COVID Symptoms: According to a new Israeli study. "The ministry said 11.2% of children had some symptoms after recovery. The figure declined to 1.8%-4.6% at six months from acute disease, with older kids suffering more."
Vaccine Mandates:
Via NYT, "G.O.P. Seethes at Biden Mandate, Even in States Requiring Other Vaccines
Gov. DeSantis "will fine local governments $5,000 for each employee who is required to be vaccinated, threatening some cities and counties with millions of dollars in penalties for adopting strict vaccine mandates, the Miami Herald reports.
"Biden’s Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate Further Stresses Supply of Rapid Tests," reports the WSJ
Unions divided over 'complex problem' for organized labor
The Consumer Brands Association wrote a letter to Biden on Monday that included a “small sampling” of the questions that its members have asked the organization as they prepare for a vaccine mandate for their workers:
Must an employee be fully vaccinated to work?
Will the requirements only apply to vaccines that are fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration?
What are the consequences of falsifying one’s vaccination or testing status, and does the responsibility rest with the individual or employer?
Will waivers be allowed if essential employees’ absences or attrition cause significant disruption to the CPG supply chain?
Should employees choose not to vaccinate, is the company or employee responsible for securing and paying for testing? Will paid time off be required for weekly testing requirements?
How does this mandate impact locations with collective bargaining and existing collective bargaining agreements?
Operation Warp Speed: A Story Yet to be Told: Via Marginal Revolution
"Yet there are many questions to be asked about OWS. Who wrote the contracts? Who chose the vaccines? Who found the money? Who ran the day to day operation? Why was the state and local rollout so slow and uneven? How was the DPA used? Who lifted the regulations? How was the FDA convinced to go fast?"
Parents of Young Children Desperately Seek Vaccine Trials: Via NYT
A Late Start to Expanding Rapid COVID Tests: Via Axios
Why At-Home Rapid Covid Tests Cost So Much, Even After Biden’s Push for Lower Prices: Via KHN
"More than 30 antigen tests have been developed in the U.S. — though just six companies have FDA authorization for over-the-counter use. No rapid covid tests have full FDA approval. Two rapid molecular options, made by Lucira Health and Cue Health, also have emergency use authorization (EUA)."
“Unfortunately, many submissions are incomplete or contain insufficient information for FDA to determine that they meet the statutory criteria,” FDA spokesperson James McKinney said."
"The agency has taken a stricter stance than its European counterparts. In June, the FDA warned Americans to stop using Innova Medical Group’s rapid antigen test, stating that the agency had “significant concerns that the performance of the test has not been adequately established.” Yet in the U.K., which has contracts worth billions with the California company, the regulatory agency OK’d the product."
China's Rush to Vax the World: Via Axios
"Nine months after the global COVID vaccination campaign began, 58% of the world's population has yet to receive even one dose."
"China has ramped up exports of its Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines, which can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, leading some to believe China will be the global savior."
Smart Thermometers: Helping to forecast COVID risk.
School Tracker: Via Burbio
Just under 1,700 in-person school closures (up from just under 1,400 last week) across 386 districts (from 278) in 38 states (from 35).
In 55% of the disruptions, schools have gone to virtual instruction (from 52%), in 39% schools have closed entirely for a period (from 40%), just under 4% have delayed school start and just over 2% have moved to a hybrid format.
Average school closure is 8.1 days (versus 8.7 days from last week) at the district level.
STATE
California:
San Francisco schools have had no COVID-19 outbreaks since classes began last month.
CA releases its Digital Vaccine Record code to the public domain on GitHub to help other states deploy SMART Health Card systems of their own.
Florida: ED investigating Florida over mask mandate ban.
Georgia: Gwinnett mom gets creative in helping autistic children bridge pandemic learning gap. Twiddlebugs, is supported by the Vela Fund
Hawaii: Drop in kindergarten enrollment
Overall kindergarten enrollment declined 15% from 13,074 in the fall of 2019 to 11,103 in 2020.
This year, the DOE is counting 11,456 new kindergarteners, slightly more than the year before but still down 12% from 2019.
Illinois: COVID testing program is in nearly half its schools.
Iowa: Federal judge blocks the Governor from enforcing ban on school mask mandates.
Maryland:
Washington Post reports, "Washington-area families confront the reality of this school year: Quarantines."
"Nearly half of our kindergartners — three of seven classes, along with their teachers and families — were all in quarantine even though we have yet to see a positive case,” Kea Anderson, Parent Teacher Association president at New Hampshire Estates and Oak View elementary schools in Silver Spring, said in testimony to the school board."
"The school system said its decision to quarantine students considered close contacts of a student with coronavirus symptoms was based on guidance from the county’s health department. Although state guidelines do not require those students to quarantine, “this guidance is based in part upon the increased contagiousness of variable COVID-19 strains and the percentage of students who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated,” Montgomery Health Officer Travis Gayles wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to interim schools superintendent Monifa McKnight."
Baltimore-area school districts are publicizing COVID cases and quarantines differently.
“It’s not very transparent. And it would be nice to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges,” said Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security."
"The state dashboard does not include the number of students quarantining after exposure to an infected person."
Massachusetts:
Gov. Baker to activate the National Guard to help with school transportation
Hundreds of schools yet to receive state supplied COVID testing tools.
New Jersey: A Project Ready poll, conducted by Change Research, found that 49% of Newark parents would have opted for a fully remote learning option this fall if it had been offered.
North Carolina: Union County school district stops most quarantines, contact tracing of COVID cases
New York:
NYC extends vaccine mandate for public school students in "higher-risk" extracurriculars like chorus, cheerleading
Pennsylvania:
20,000 Philly schools employees must be vaccinated by Sept. 30. If they choose to not get vaccinated, district workers will have to be COVID-19 tested twice a week, and they lose access to a bank of 10 “quarantine leave days.”
Tennessee: 1,000+ high school students begin free online AP courses.
Texas: Texas sues 6 school districts that defied governor's order, imposed mask requirements
INTERNATIONAL
Philippines: A learning crisis as kids face second year of remote schooling
Singapore: Primary school children to get 3 Covid-19 self-test kits.
Switzerland: The head of Switzerland's Federal Vaccination Commission says both classroom quarantines and masks are not necessary in Swiss schools.
UK: "Children aged 12 to 15 can be offered Covid vaccinations, the UK’s four chief medical officers have decided, saying the likely impact in reducing disruption to schools meant such a plan could be clinically justified."
The UK’s four chief medical officers decided to set aside the recommendation of the vaccine watchdog that benefits of the vaccine were too minimal to justify them.
"As part of the review they did release some modelling which, based on assumptions on uptake of the jab and spread of the virus, suggested 30,000 infections could be prevented in England between October and March. That, in turn, would save 110,000 days of missed face-to-face schooling - or one day for every 20 pupils."
RESOURCES
Reason for Wanting to WFH: According to a new poll, nearly 30% say it's because of caring for their kids.
On This Day: Oprah gives away nearly 300 new cars and the "You Get A Car" meme is born.
How the Pandemic Has Changed Teachers’ Commitment to Remaining in the Classroom: Via Brookings
Trends Emerging From NSVF's First 62 Investments in 2021:Frances Messano reflections.
Remembering 9/11
Bruce Springsteen performs "I'll See You In My Dreams" at the 9/11 memorial in New York City. (Lyrics)
Former President George W. Bush at the Flight 93 National Memorial (Text / Video). The whole nine-minute speech is worth your time but some highlights:
"And we have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within. There’s little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard of human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.”
"On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know"
"At a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith. That is the nation I know."
"At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw Americans reaffirm their welcome of immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know."
"At a time when some viewed the rising generation as individualistic and decadent, I saw young people embrace an ethic of service and rise to selfless action. That is the nation I know."
"This is not mere nostalgia; it is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been – and what we can be again."
"The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people."
Gordon Felt, whose brother Edward was on Flight 93: “Are we worthy of their sacrifice? Are we worthy? Do we as individuals, communities, & as a country, conduct ourselves in a manner that would make those that sacrificed so much and fought so hard...proud of who we've become?"
Leylah Ferandez, after winning the U.S. Open, "I know on this day it is especially hard.... I hope I can be as strong and as resilient as New York has been the past 20 years..."
The NFL offered a tribute including the National Anthem performed at World Trade Center memorial performed by Juliette Candela, the daughter of a 9/11 victim (see her perform at the 3:00 mark)
A few final pictures, the first being the view outside my apartment 20 years ago.