COVID-19 Policy Update #445
Wednesday 3/2
Top Three
New National COVID Preparedness Plan: Released by the White House. Four components with a few selected proposals.
Protect Against and Treat COVID-19
"The Administration will establish “One-Stop Test to Treat” locations at pharmacy-based clinics, community health centers, Long-Term Care Facilities, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities"
"The Administration will launch a website where Americans can find the level of COVID-19 risk in their community and specific guidance based on that risk."
Prepare for New Variants
"The U.S. government will continue improvements to COVID-19 disease and vaccination data collection, wastewater surveillance, and virus sequencing capacity so we are better prepared to respond rapidly to emerging threats."
"FDA has developed new processes to accelerate the authorization and approval of a vaccine or treatment that targets any new variant while maintaining strict and longstanding practices to ensure the safety and efficacy of the products."
"The Administration has developed a comprehensive emergency response COVID-19 surge playbook to stand up mass vaccination and testing sites, expedite deployments of surge medical and emergency personnel, expand hospitals and emergency facilities, and provide emergency supplies."
Prevent Economic and Educational Shutdowns
"The U.S. government will also provide a Clean Air in Buildings Checklist that all buildings can use to improve indoor ventilation and air filtration and will encourage uptake of ventilation improvements. The Administration will also provide technical assistance that encourages schools, public buildings, and state, local, and Tribal governments to make ventilation improvements and upgrades using American Rescue Plan funds."
Continue to Lead the Effort to Vaccinate the World and Save Lives
"America will continue to deliver the 1.2 billion doses we committed to donate to countries in need, continuing to leverage the partnerships the U.S. government built to donate and deliver vaccines to the rest of the world."
New CDC Data on Pfizer and Children 5-17: CDC data.
"The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE was highly effective at reducing the risk of severe disease in children 17 years and younger during the Omicron surge but didn’t work as well at preventing infection," reports the WSJ.
"The two-dose vaccine reduced the risk of Covid-19 hospitalization in children 5 to 11 years by 74% and by 92% or higher in children 12 to 17."
"However, the vaccine was 51% effective at reducing the risk of infection among 5- to 11-year-olds, while Omicron was predominant, and between 34% and 45% effective in children 12 to 17 years, depending on the age, for the first five months after the second dose, according to the study."
Via Stat, the data "suggest that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine aren’t very protective against infection for either age group in the face of the Omicron variant, but that protection against severe illness appears to be holding up equally in both sets of children. They do not suggest more rapid waning, or more marked waning, among the younger group of children."
New Federal Data Shows Pandemic's Effects on Teaching Profession: US News & World Report on new IES data.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a staffing shortage in the nation’s schools,” Commissioner Peggy Carr of the National Council of Education Statistics said in a statement."
"As of January 2022, 44% of public schools reported having at least one teaching vacancy, and 61% of them specifically identified the COVID-19 pandemic as a cause of those vacancies.Resignations accounted for 51% of the vacancies and retirements accounted for 21%."
"Custodial staff was identified as the staff position with the most vacancies, with 28% of schools reporting this vacancy, followed by transportation staff and nutrition staff positions, which 14% of schools reported for both positions."
Federal
Congress on the CDC: Punchbowl has a new Congressional staff survey out showing major discontent with the CDC.
"60% of senior Democratic aides say the Biden administration has been successful in its handling of the Omicron variant, 16% say the administration has been neither successful nor unsuccessful and 24% say the Biden administration has been unsuccessful."
"Just 2% of Republicans say the administration has been successful, while 96% say the White House has been unsuccessful."
"Only 39% of Democrats say their boss views the agency’s work on Covid-19 positively and 31% view it negatively. 30% of Democrats either don’t know or don’t have an opinion."
"Ninety-five percent of Republicans view the agency’s work handling the pandemic over the past year negatively."
Build Back Sorta: Via Politico:
Sen. Manchin “laid out a basic party-line package that could win his vote, lower the deficit and enact some new programs, provided they are permanently funded."
“It may be Democrats’ best and last chance to get at least some of their biggest domestic priorities done before the midterm elections, but would require everyone in the party — particularly liberals — to concede that what’s possible doesn’t come close to the $1.7 trillion package Manchin spurned in December.”
“Manchin said that if Democrats want to cut a deal on a party-line bill using the budget process to circumvent a Republican filibuster, they need to start with prescription drug savings and tax reform. He envisions whatever revenue they can wring out of that as split evenly between reducing the federal deficit and inflation, on the one hand, and enacting new climate and social programs, on the other — ‘to the point where it’s sustainable.'“
COVID-19 Research
CDC Shifts Pandemic Burden to the Vulnerable: Via Katherine Wu:
“The stamina of mask policy had been flagging for quite some time: Governors and mayors had already been weeks deep into vanishing their own mask mandates (and other pandemic precautions), including in schools.”
“But the CDC’s decision still marks a substantial cross-continental change, delivering a final blow to what little remained of the country’s collective approach to quashing the pandemic.”
Speech Therapy Shows the Difficult Tradeoffs of Wearing Masks: Stephanie Murray in The Atlantic
"Many of the parents I spoke with are frustrated that they’ve been asked to compromise their children’s social and academic life in the name of public safety. The early years of a child’s life are important. Anything that threatens to interfere with development, whether that’s COVID-19 or the mitigations in place to avoid it, can feel like rolling the dice on a child's future."
"And when in-person therapy resumed, masking requirements made it difficult. Some of the dozen-plus speech and language therapists I spoke with said children found the masks distracting. More important, masks hide the mouth from view, which the therapists said is disruptive to some forms of therapy, especially those that target motor speech and motor planning—“anything having to do with actual speech that comes out of your mouth,” said Alexandria Zachos, an Illinois-based pathologist."
"Parents told me their children are more hesitant to talk with a mask on, which makes it harder for them to feel secure in their ability to communicate. “He’s hardly understandable without a mask,” said a mother of a 3-year-old boy in Iowa who asked to remain anonymous. “If he’s not understood, he will not have the confidence to continue speaking.”
Survival After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest 35% Lower in COVID-19 Patients: Via CIDRAP, "Adult COVID-19 patients who had an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) were 35% less likely to receive potentially life-saving defibrillation without delay and survive to hospital release, according to a study."
Most Americans Say The Coronavirus Is Not Yet Under Control: Post-ABC poll
AACN Launches New Campaign to Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Health Misinformation with Funding from the CDC: Announcement.
State
DC: Drops outdoor mask mandate at schools; indoor requirement remains.
Florida: "‘This is ridiculous’: DeSantis scolds students for wearing face masks during USF visit."
Resources
Lessons for Improving Curriculum from the COVID–19 Pandemic: Morgan Polikoff with a new paper over at CRPE.
State Policymakers Can Support Equitable School-based Telemental Health Services: Via Child Trends.
Rolling Into March: