Top Three
COVID-19 Vaccines for Children: Via Science
"Make no mistake—COVID-19 is a childhood illness. When SARS-CoV-2 entered the United States early in 2020, children accounted for fewer than 3% of cases; today, they account for more than 25%."
"Almost 700 children have died from COVID-19, placing SARS-CoV-2 infection among the top 10 causes of death in US children. No children have died from vaccination."
"Myocarditis is only one piece of the risk-benefit analysis. Children need to go to school, play with friends, and participate in extracurricular activities for their social and emotional development. This is their life."
"The disruption of school activities has harmed children more than any detectable vaccine side effect, including worsening of mental health, widening education gaps, and decreased physical activity. These harms have disproportionately affected people of color, Indigenous persons, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status, further exacerbating inequities."
Detroit Shifts to Remote Fridays: Detroit public schools announced they will conduct classes remotely for three Fridays in December in an effort to ease mental health concerns and COVID-19 cases and to improve school cleanliness.
"Superintendent Vitti said it was important for attendance districtwide to be at 75% or higher on the three remote days so the district does not lose out on state funding. If that is not done, Vitti said "online learning days will not be a viable option for us the rest of the school year."
"Terrence Martin, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday that the district listened to the pleas of burned-out teachers who advocated for one day to be shifted to remote learning to allow for deeper cleaning and time away for mental health recovery."
"He said the union negotiated with the district to provide virtual days once a week in December. “With the increase in cases around the state, we have to start somewhere… We’ll try this for the month of December to see if it makes a difference and if not we’ll have to try something else.”
Mask-wearing Cuts Covid Incidence by 53%: New study.
"This systematic review and meta analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence of Covid-19,” the researchers wrote in The BMJ.
"Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analyzed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing."
Federal
OSHA: Said it had “suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement” of its vaccine or test mandate while the emergency temporary standard’s legality is determined by the judicial system.
Reconciliation: CBO expects to complete their scores tonight - a day earlier than expected. Education estimates here.
COVID-19 Research
COVID-19 Vaccination Cuts Infection Risk by Half in School aged Children: Imperial College London study.
"Those aged 12-17 who had received a single Pfizer/BioNTech dose had around a 56% lower risk of infection compared to unvaccinated children. The risk was even lower for symptomatic infection, at around 68%."
NYC Schools Bought Weaker Air Purifiers. Now Underventilated Campuses Are More Prone To COVID Cases: Via Gothamist
"The New York City public schools that rely solely on open windows and portable air purifiers have seen 23% more COVID-19 cases per students and a 29% increase in staff case rates when compared to buildings with stronger ventilation, such as HVAC systems, according to a new WNYC/Gothamist investigation."
"New York City teachers told WNYC/Gothamist that they often run their Intellipure air purifiers below the maximum setting because of the noise they cause. Many said the city’s Department of Education had not provided specific instructions on how high to run the purifiers. In one school, teachers are instructed to leave their air purifiers on low."
"To reveal these trends, WNYC/Gothamist used COVID-19 case data that city officials are required to deliver daily to the New York State Department of Health. (Parents can find this data via the state’s COVID-19 report card.)"
"Our team then matched those case records from NYC school facilities against building surveys collected by the city’s education department — which provide classroom-by-classroom details on ventilation infrastructure."
They also released a GitHub with the data.
Administration Defends COVID-19 Boosters for All, Before Likely OK: Via Roll Call
And Bloomberg, "As States Defy U.S. on Boosters, Health Experts Raise Concerns"
“I think that it is a very bad idea and precedent for states and localities to jump the gun,” said Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University and former Food and Drug Administration chief scientist. “Even if well intentioned, acting locally injects politics and undermines the national system of expert and transparent vaccine assessment.”
“Already the administration was going around the process,” said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It does upset me that states are acting ahead of the CDC’s recommendations.”
UK Study Suggests Delta Plus Subvariant Less Likely to Cause Symptoms: Reports Reuters
"The Imperial College London REACT-1 study, released on Thursday, found that the subvariant, known as AY.4.2, had grown to be nearly 12% of samples sequenced, but only a third had "classic" COVID symptoms, compared with nearly a half of those with the currently dominant Delta lineage AY.4."
"Two-thirds of people with AY.4.2 had "any" symptom, compared with more than three-quarters with AY.4."
Novavax: European regulators started evaluating Novavax Covid vaccine, opinion could be issued within weeks. Brand name: Nuvaxovid.
COVID Alarm for Holiday: Via Axios
State
California:
California budget forecast shows $31 billion surplus.
"The analyst's office says state is on pace to have so much money that it could exceed a constitutional limit on state spending by $26 billion over three years. That could require Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to either cut taxes, spend more money on infrastructure or — perhaps the most popular choice in an election year — give rebates to taxpayers and spend more on public schools."
LAUSD will relax mask rules, ease COVID-19 testing.
"In January, students at middle and high schools — where the vaccine mandate will be in force — will no longer have to wear masks outside. The same will hold for elementary schools where 85% of students are vaccinated. Students ages 5 to 11 recently became eligible for vaccination, but the district is not extending its mandate to them."
BUT.. "All students and staff will continue to wear mask indoors."
Quarantine will be replaced with a test-to-stay program.
"This week, the Los Angeles Board of Education authorized an estimated $5 million for prizes and treats as vaccine incentives, including gift cards to Amazon and Target, tickets to “Hamilton” and food trucks on campus."
Connecticut: Gov. Lamont said that all state residents should get a booster shot and not wait for guidance from the federal government.
“The CDC’s confusing guidance is going to be made clear within 24 hours that says ‘go get yourself a booster shot if you’re over 18 and it’s been at least six months since your last vaccination.'”
Massachusetts: Parents have high hopes for their children now that classes are back in person, according to a new survey.
"Among parents who felt their kids were behind grade level, only 57% said that their school had one-on-one tutoring."
New Jersey: Only 17 schools are known to have closed due to COVID-19 cases since the 2021-22 school year began in late August, according to the state Department of Education.
New York:
"Out of roughly 22,000 NYC kids and staffers who were exposed to a positive COVID-19 case in school between Oct. 10 and 31, city officials identified a total of 130 who went on to get infected — an estimated “secondary attack rate” of roughly .6%."
Rochester Public Schools' online option takes off during first year.
"We're not DL 2.0; we're online learning at its best," he said. "We are the only one of our kind, K-12, that is fully synchronous in the state. And that sets us apart."
"There are 518 students enrolled in grades K-12 in the online school. Of that total, 161 are at the high school level, 125 are at the middle school level, and 232 are at the elementary level.
International
Canada: Ontario to send rapid antigen tests home with all 2.2 million school children for winter break.
Resources
Carnegie Corporation of New York: Named its 13th president, Louise Richardson who is finishing her seven-year term as head of the University of Oxford in England.
The Case for Virtual Social and Emotional Learning: Rick Hess interviews EmpowerU's Katie Dorn.
Why There Hasn’t Been A Mass Exodus Of Teachers: FiveThirtyEight with a good long piece.
Amanda Gorman: A colleague pointed out that the transcript text of the poem didn't exactly match her actual words. So here's the official text!
Underdog No More, a Deaf Football Team Takes California by Storm: Via the NYT, "A remarkable undefeated season for the California School for the Deaf football team brightens a community ravaged by the pandemic."
"On Friday night, the second round of the playoffs, the Cubs trounced the Desert Christian Knights, 84-12, a score that would have been even more lopsided had the Cubs not shown mercy by putting their second-string players in for the entire second half."
The coach "also has a philosophy that what might be thought of as a deficit can be an edge."
"We can express ourselves completely,” said Trevin, a junior who is Coach Adams’s son. “We can be leaders. We can be assertive.”