Top Three
Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Reduced Hospitalizations of Kids During Omicron: New study:
“Of 12- to 18-year-olds, 87% were unvaccinated, 27% were critically ill, of whom 2% needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (93% of them were unvaccinated), and 13 died,” reports CIDRAP.
“Among children 5 to 11 years, 92% were unvaccinated and 16% needed life support (90% unvaccinated), including 2 who required ECMO and 1 who died.
"The effectiveness of two doses of Pfizer against any hospitalization for Covid-19 was lower during the omicron period than during the delta period in adolescents 12 to 18 years of age, but vaccination prevented most life-threatening Covid-19 in both periods. Vaccination also reduced the risk of hospitalization for Covid-19 among children 5 to 11 years of age by two thirds during the omicron period, and most children with critical Covid-19 were unvaccinated."
Via the NYT, "While any hospitalization is unnerving, it is reassuring that the vaccines still protected children from the worst outcomes of infection, said Dr. Manish Patel, a researcher at the CDC who led the study."
Effect of Early Treatment With Ivermectin Among Patients With Covid-19:The largest randomized, double-blind study yet conducted, with early treatment, indicates there is no difference compared with placebo.
"Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19."
"We did not find a significantly or clinically meaningful lower risk of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation (primary composite outcome) with ivermectin administered for 3 days at a dose of 400 μg per kilogram per day than with placebo. We found no important effects of treatment with ivermectin on the secondary outcomes."
"There were also no significant between-group differences in the time to clinical recovery, the risk of death, the time to death, or the number of days with mechanical ventilation."
"The researchers zeroed in on different groups of volunteers to see if they experienced benefits that others didn’t. For example, it might be possible that ivermectin only worked if taken early in an infection. But volunteers who took ivermectin in the first three days after a positive coronavirus test turned out to have worse outcomes than did those in the placebo group."
Mental Health, Suicidality, and Connectedness Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: CDC study in MMWR.
"Thirty-seven percent of high school students reported poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless."
"Twenty-nine percent of teens polled said a parent or adult in their home had lost employment during the pandemic, and 24% said they had gone hungry in the past year. Roughly 60% of respondent said they had difficulty completing schoolwork."
9.9% had seriously considered attempting suicide, and 9.0% had attempted suicide
Federal
FCC: The third application window in the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which will award at least $1 billion, will open on April 28 and close on May 13, 2022. The FCC also announced $68 million in new ECF funding commitments.
DOL: Announced $113 million to strengthen and modernized registered apprenticeships.
COVID Supplemental: Via Punchbowl:
"Senate Republicans and Democrats have reached a tentative agreement on a $10 billion Covid preparedness package. The chamber is expected to consider the legislation next week, if enough Republicans support the deal after the Congressional Budget Office issues a score. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has been the chief GOP negotiator on this deal."
"Half of the package would be set aside to allow the U.S. government to procure therapeutics for Covid-19. The proposal also has funding for Covid research, including money to investigate “long Covid.” There are some lingering questions about how much funding will be set aside for global vaccine distribution."
COVID-19 Research
Low Children Vaccination Rates: In about half of US counties, less than 10% of children ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated against Covid-19
"About 1,500 counties have less than 10% of this age group vaccinated, including more than 500 counties that have less than 5% of this age group vaccinated, according to CNN's analysis."
Moderna ‘Happy’ With Results From Its Kids Vaccine Trial, But Is It Enough For The FDA?: Asks Politico
"Moderna, which has not submitted its results to the FDA or other scientists for review, said last week that two shots of Covid vaccine reduced cases of symptomatic disease by 43.7 percent among children 6 months to 2 years old and by 35.7 percent in children 2 to 6. That’s below the 50 percent threshold the FDA set for adults, but Moderna officials said the regimen met a metric called immunobridging, meaning the pediatric doses produced the same immune response that’s been seen in young adults."
"The FDA might need to raise its bar and demand a higher standard, said Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology & microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine. “Given the other data that surrounds it, I don’t know that it’s a slam dunk that the FDA will move forward in terms of releasing it for emergency use,” he said. “We’re still learning about the relationship between virus neutralizing antibodies and effectiveness.”
Fourth Dose Q&A: Via Katelyn Jetelina
"The original booster continues to do a great job at preventing hospitalization and death. There is some evidence that this is waning over time, though. Your decision should be driven by weighing benefits with risks:"
"Benefit: There is evidence from Israel (2 studies here, here) that shows a fourth dose provides additional protection for older adults. The benefit isn’t nearly as drastic as a third dose, but benefit is there. For example, among a sample of 1,138,681 Israelis aged 60+ years, a fourth dose reduced the rate of infection by 2 times and reduced the rate of severe disease by 4 times. Preventing infection will also reduce chances of long COVID."
"Risk: The vaccine poses very, very low risks. Some people (like me) do experience side effects, which puts you out of commission for a few days. If you can’t miss work or don’t have sick time then this may outweigh the benefits for healthy individuals right now. (Although you would have to miss more work if you were infected.)"
"If you’re eligible, get your booster. Does a healthy 50 year-old adult need to rush and get one tomorrow? No. But I would put it on your to-do list. The older you are, the higher priority it should be on your to-do list. The future is uncertain, and the benefits of vaccines continue to outweigh the risks."
US Tracker Overestimated Deaths Among Children: The folks at the BMJ are annoyed with the CDC.
State
Colorado: A Denver micro-school hatches within a bike shop and cafe.
DC: New Bald Eagle hatched this week.
New York: NY judge tosses lawsuit for students with disabilities seeking services lost during the pandemic.
Texas: “Texas schools don't have enough mental health providers, and leaders are failing to fix it.” A Chronicle analysis of staffing at all 1,200 public school and open-enrollment charter districts in Texas during the 2020-2021 school year found that:
The vast majority – 98 percent – of students attended districts that did not meet the Texas Education Agency’s recommendation of one counselor per 250 students.
The Texas Model for Comprehensive Counseling Programs, which schools must use to build their counseling program, sets a lower recommendation – one counselor per 350 students. Still, less than 3 percent of students attended districts that met that standard.
The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one psychologist per 500 students. Just 25 districts met that standard.
Only four districts met the 250 students per social worker standard recommended by the National Association of Social Workers.
Two-thirds of districts failed to meet the ratio of one nurse per 750 students, as recommended by the National Association of School Nurses.
Resources
AERDF Reaches Key Milestone: Recruiting a Long-term CEO.
Hidden Loss, Hidden Pain: Bruno Manno:
"A report from the COVID Collaborative changes that. This bipartisan group of policymakers, educators, and other national and community leaders presents us with stark facts about the loss of parents and caregivers. The report also suggests a path forward to guide the response of local philanthropies, individual donors, and other community leaders."
"As COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. surpass 1 million, the families and friends of these individuals have suffered from the close experience of death. This is particularly tragic for more than 200,000 children under 18, roughly one of every 360 children, who lost one of their parents or caretakers to the pandemic."
"Local philanthropies and donors can play a lead role in marshaling others in their communities to lead an effort to respond to this tragic situation. Here are five ways to help children who have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19."
What Schools Can Learn From the Biggest Cyberattack Ever on a Single District: Via EdWeek.
Broadband Maps: Great new resource from PolicyMap which will be helpful for states preparing for the $44 billion in federal broadband grants.
"How the FCC defines “high-speed” will have a significant impact on which communities are considered unserved and prioritized for funding. Currently, the FCC defines high-speed broadband as a minimum of 25 megabits per second for download and a minimum of 3 megabits per second for upload. These definitions were created 6 years ago and are currently the subject of much debate. Many are asking Congress to change the definition to reflect the fact that with multiple members of households using the internet, the speeds used to define whether an area is served or not are no longer relevant. They argue that the new definition should be at least 100 megabits per second for both download and upload."
The red on the first map below shows places with less than 25 megabits per second for download. These are areas that would currently be considered unserved by the FCC and in need of broadband investments. Changing the threshold on the map to show areas with less than 100 megabits per second for download reveals far more of the country, now in red (second map), would be considered unserved and in need of broadband investment.
Bears: Enjoying their spring break.