Top Three
States Expand Booster Eligibility to All Adults: Colorado, New Mexico, California, West Virginia, and NYC are expanding booster eligibility, moving ahead of FDA deliberations.
“I’ve been very frustrated with the convoluted messaging out of the CDC. and the FDA.,” said CO Gov. Polis on Face the Nation
Doubts on Safety, Efficacy in Children Underlie Parents’ Vaccine Hesitancy: A new ABC News-Washington Post poll find just 46% of adults with a child younger than 18 at home said they’re confident the vaccine is safe for 5- to 17-year-olds
Via The 74: "With Nearly Half of Parents Expected to Forgo Child COVID Shots, Schools Brace for New Wave of Vaccine Hesitancy"
Big Surge of School Closures/Interruptions: Burbio reports:
Closures affecting 769 districts (up from 675 last week), the largest week-over-week increase in districts since September.
The number of schools affected cumulatively now total 7,001, up from 3,224 last week, meaning they identified 3,777 schools affected since their last report, more than all previous reports combined.
To date, they have identified 65 mental-health closure events affecting 2,535 schools
Mental health closures to date are concentrated in certain states: North Carolina (30 districts, 1,402 schools), Virginia (9 districts, 262 schools), Missouri (6 districts, 75 schools), Colorado (2 districts, 263 schools), Ohio (4 districts, 189 schools), and Oregon (4 districts,106 schools) make up 55 of the 65 identified districts and 2,297 out of the 2,535 schools.
Federal
Infrastructure: President Biden signs bipartisan infrastructure deal. More via Politico and CNBC
The President also issued an Executive Order establishing an Infrastructure Implementation Task Force
HHS/ED: ED posted the letter that went to principals encouraging schools to host a vaccine clinic and provide families with information about vaccines. I didn't know AAP was offering this helpful service:
"To invite a pediatrician to speak to your community about the COVID-19 vaccine, reach out to kidslst@aap.org to make a request and share the details of your event."
U.S. Surgeon General: Released a new community toolkit for addressing health misinformation (Press Release / Toolkit)
ED: GAO found ED needs to update its plans for responding to cyberattacks against grade schools, as they face growing online threats, including ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, email scams and pandemic-era concerns like disruptions to virtual learning environments.
"The GAO concluded that as the lead agency for the education sector, the Education Department is responsible for setting IT and cybersecurity guidelines for K-12 schools, but has not updated its planning documents since 2010."
"Without federal support that is guided by an up-to date plan and supplemented with appropriate guidance, K-12 schools are less likely to have the federal products, services, and support that can best help protect them from cyberattacks."
ED: New resource describing how ARP funds can be used for Student Transportation.
Vaccine Mandate: A federal appeals court in New Orleans has halted the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for private businesses.
COVID-19 Research
FDA May Approve COVID-19 Booster Without Outside Advisory Panel Opinion: CNN reports that the FDA is unlikely to ask its outside vaccine advisers to weigh in on whether the agency should authorize Pfizer COVID-19 boosters for all adults.
Why Some Experts Have an End Date for Masks in Schools: Via NPR. Wide range here - from January through spring.
The Moderna and Myocarditis Link Needs More Study: Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli in Bloomberg.
"Europe approved the Moderna vaccine for use in adolescents in July. But Finland has paused use in young men; Sweden, Germany and other European countries have also announced age-related restrictions."
"Sam Fazeli: The first thing to note is that these side effects are very rare and that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh these rare risks. The safety issue that is being reviewed is that of inflammation of the heart muscles (myocarditis) or the membrane around the heart (pericarditis), which can be associated with pain and discomfort and also shortness of breath and a reduced ability to conduct normal daily functions. In its most serious forms, it could lead to death, but the vast majority of the side effects seen after vaccination with mRNA vaccines has been mild."
"To a degree, I think the higher risk of heart inflammation with the Moderna vaccine may be the price for its higher effectiveness, and both may be related to the two following two facts. First, Moderna uses 100 micrograms of mRNA vs. 30 micrograms in each Pfizer-BioNTech shot. Second, Moderna’s shots are given with a four-week time interval between the two doses, compared to three weeks for Pfizer-BioNTech. It’s not surprising then that Moderna's vaccine induces a higher starting antibody response than Pfizer-BioNTech, which then translates to somewhat longer protection against infection. But, it carries the higher risk."
Safe to Get a Flu Shot and COVID Vaccine: According to a new study.
"Researchers randomly assigned 697 adult volunteers to receive their second dose of either the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or the viral-vector vaccine from AstraZeneca/Oxford, along with one of three influenza vaccines for the 2020-2021 season (FluAd or Flucelvax from Seqirus UK or Flublok from Sanofi) or a placebo."
"Most reactions to the shots were mild or moderate, and antibody responses to the vaccines were not adversely affected by getting two shots at once."
"Giving both vaccines at a single appointment "should reduce the burden on health-care services for vaccine delivery, allowing for timely vaccine administration and protection from COVID-19 and influenza for those in need," the research team concluded.
Schools Embrace More Covid-19 Testing Over Quarantine to Keep Kids in Class: Via WSJ:
“Test-to-stay has been a collective sigh of relief,” Dr. Rivera, superintendent of Georgia’s Marietta City Schools, said. “It is an option, whereas otherwise families had no option and staff had no option.”
"In Massachusetts, test-to-stay has saved 85,000 school days this year for students who would have otherwise been in quarantine, according to a report from the state’s department of education. More than 2,200 schools in the state have signed up for testing programs, including test-to-stay."
"I will take the challenge of test-to-stay all day, every day and on Sunday if that means we have less challenges around quarantines, learning loss, trying to transition to virtual learning for kids who are quarantined and the toll it takes on staff,” he said."
Related: Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY) called for CDC to provide guidance on a test-to-stay option for unvaccinated students exposed to COVID-19.
As the U.S. Races to Vaccinate Kids Against Covid-19, Some Countries Hold Back: Via WSJ:
"Australia and New Zealand have also held back approval for younger children. Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said Tuesday that Australia would await the real-world experience of the U.S. before committing to vaccinating younger children. The clinical trials for that age group in the U.S. were, “I must say, rather small,” he said."
"Three studies provided by Colombia’s Health Ministry to The Wall Street Journal said the Sinovac vaccine was safe and that side effects, such as dizziness, chest discomfort and rashes, weren’t serious. Officials said they also relied on results from Chile, where the same vaccine is being used on children 6 and above."
Mr. T: Received his booster.
8 Lingering Questions About the New Covid Pills from Merck and Pfizer: Via Stat including:
Which one works better?
How do they compare with monoclonal antibodies?
Will it affect a patient’s DNA?
What might the new antivirals mean for cancer patients?
How COVID Vaccines Work: The Vaccine Makers Project has an interesting video illustrating how the vaccines work.
State
California:
A San Diego County judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the state’s school mask mandate, saying Gov. Gavin Newsom has the legal authority to enforce universal masking.
Members of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System Governing Board announced.
Florida: Special session begins taking up vaccine and mask mandates.
Louisiana: PBS News Hour reports 90% of kindergarteners aren’t ready for school, thanks to pandemic disruptions.
"State data showed a 15-point difference in outcomes between students who attended school fully face-to-face compared to those who attended entirely virtual."
"In Lafourche Parish, Martin doubled the number of counselors at each of the parish’s 18 schools. School psychologists will provide counseling sessions to students and their family members after school hours. In addition, LDOE offers more than 166,000 public school educators and support staff statewide access to free mental health virtual visits."
Massachusetts: Number of schools with state approval to lift COVID mask mandate rises to 13; DESE has received 23 total requests.
Minnesota: Teachers say the school year is already the most stressful of their careers.
Rhode Island: A judge upheld the state's school mask mandate.
Tennessee: On Friday, the governor signed into law new restrictions on mandates.
"The law restricts private businesses requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19. In addition, it only allows schools and government entities if the there are at least 1,000 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents within a 14-day period."
"Given the alleged conflict and the possible confusion this creates for schools in Tennessee, pending an expedited hearing, the parties shall maintain the STATUS QUO as it pertains to students with disabilities and their federally guaranteed rights as of Thursday, November 11, 2021, prior to the effective date of Tennessee Code Annotated § 14-2-104."
Virginia: NWEA MAP data shows COVID learning loss in Loudoun County.
"Typically, Loudoun students rank in the 50th-60th percentiles in growth relative to students across the country in math and reading, Ryan Tyler, the district’s director of Research, Assessment, and School Improvement told the board. Data from the 2020-2021 MAP testing shows that no category of test takers scored higher than the 45th percentile"
Washington: To avoid canceling classes, Northshore School District’s certified administrators and staff are stepping in to teach if substitutes aren't available.
"Seattle, Bellevue and Kent were among school districts nationwide that canceled classes Friday due to a substitute teacher shortage. Seattle Public Schools said an "unusually large number" of staff were taking leave Friday"
International
Canada: More than 30 Ontario school bus routes cancelled due to COVID.
France: All primary school children are now required to wear a mask in an attempt to curb rising coronavirus cases as another wave rolls through Europe.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong vaccine experts recommended Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 3 and above.
Israel: Said on Sunday that children aged five to 11 would be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and that a starting date for the campaign would be made public within days.
Philippines: Starts to reopen schools after 20 month coronavirus closure.
Singapore: Has signed a new supply agreement with Pfizer for its pediatric Covid-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung. "The Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination will make a recommendation on whether to extend the Pfizer vaccine to children aged five to 11 in the second half of November."
Resources
First Grade is Critical for Reading Skills, but Kids Coming from Disrupted Kindergarten Experiences Are Way Behind: Hechinger reports that after 18 months of untraditional learning, students are showing up at school lacking fine motor, academic and social skills
Staffing Shortages at School Districts Cause Cancelations, Anxiety Among Parents: Via Fox News
America's Teacher Shortage: Via Axios
Communicating the “Learning” in Social-Emotional Learning: Sheldon Berman and Linda Darling-Hammond over at Fordham.
Ensuring Equitable and Trustworthy EdTech for the Future: New set of resources from CDT.
85% of teachers report that tech tools will play a bigger role in the current school year than they did prior to the pandemic.
Teachers and parents are most likely to support its use in facilitating instruction at times when school cannot be open in person: 47% of teachers and 42% of parents support online learning during snow days, health closures, and other barriers to in-person education.
What Kinds of Assessments Are Districts Buying With Federal Stimulus Funding?: Via EdWeek
40% Interim / benchmark assessments
30% Formative assessments
27% SEL
20% Performance-based assessments
19% End of year, summative assessments
‘They See Us as the Enemy’: School Nurses Battle Covid-19, and Angry Parents: Via the NYT
School Counselors’ Perspectives on Students’ Social/Emotional Development: Report from ACT and the American School Counselor Association
"Overall, slightly more than one-third (39%) of school counselors indicated that they spent 50% or more of their time on SEL. A similar percentage (35%) of school counselors spent 20% or less of their time on SEL"
New PR Campaign for Possums Just Dropped: This was much more interesting that I expected. And I love how much this guy knows about opossums.