Top Three
Moderna: Asks FDA to authorize Covid vaccine for children under 6. Press Release.
"Moderna chief medical officer Dr. Paul Burton told NBC News that the lower efficacy against infection was due to the extremely contagious omicron variant, which has dealt a blow to the effectiveness of the current vaccines for other age groups as well."
"They are saying 51% effective against symptomatic Covid for ages 6 months to 2 years and 37% for ages 2 to 6."
That number doesn't seem high, but it's quite good considering the results were against Omicron.
“Most of the experts that I’ve talked with would say it would be ideal if they could be considered together. But if they don’t come in at the same time, then there’s not going to be a hold up on the Moderna application, just to make it come in at the same time,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf told reporters Thursday after an appropriations hearing."
1 in 5 Educators Say They’ve Experienced Long COVID: Via EdWeek.
More Kids Were Hit by Upper Airway Infections During Omicron: Studies show. “Young children are especially vulnerable to [upper airway infection], given their small and relatively collapsible airways,” according to the study, published recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics."
Federal
Title 42: Politico: “The written plan to handle a summertime migration surge at the border isn’t satisfying purple-state Democrats who were pointedly asking for one.”
“Instead, even after reviewing a Department of Homeland Security memo laying out how the agency will deal with an influx of migrants at the border, several Democratic lawmakers are still calling for a delay in lifting the pandemic-era border restrictions known as Title 42. And some of them want a vote in Congress to push back against President Joe Biden’s polarizing reversal of his predecessor’s policy.”
“A federal judge in Louisiana has issued a temporary restraining order against the Biden administration forbidding it from moving ahead with its plan to end Title 42, the controversial pandemic-era border policy,” the WSJ reports.
Covid-19 Research
How Paxlovid Came To Be: From the germ of an idea to a vital tool against Covid.
State
Arizona: Students missed more school during COVID-19 pandemic.
"Across Arizona, about 8,900 fewer students enrolled in kindergarten in 2020 compared to 2019, an 11% decline. In fact, kindergarten enrollment decreases amounted to 23% of the overall enrollment drop in 2020, The Republic analysis showed."
"White students make up about 37% of the state's K-12 student population. But they made up 56% of the 2020 enrollment decrease, the analysis shows."
Colorado: Stackable credentials could be the future of higher education.
New York: A high school teacher in suburban New York was charged with submitting a forged COVID-19 vaccination card in an effort to get around the school district’s rule mandating either vaccination or weekly testing for the coronavirus.
Rhode Island: Students will need 3 to 5 years of accelerated learning to recover from COVID.
According to a National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, which provided an in-depth analysis of the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment exam.
Students experienced more learning loss in English, described as moderate to large, but the impact on math was even greater.
Almost every student was affected by the pandemic, but not every group was affected equally. In math, Hispanic students experienced the greatest loss.
Economically disadvantaged students were slightly more affected than their peers in math.
Female students experienced slightly more loss in English than male students.
Virginia: Prince William County Schools will restrict virtual learning to 1,000 K-8 students who meet a strict criteria for the 2022-23 school year, the division announced Wednesday.
International
China:
Beijing orders schools closed in tightening of virus rules. "Students make up more than 30% of total cases, with clusters linked to six schools and two kindergartens in Chaoyang."
According to Reuters, Beijing has also locked down several residential compounds in the city where cases have been detected, along with office blocks and one university.
New York Times: “Anger and anxiety over the Shanghai lockdown, now in its fourth week, has posed a rare challenge for China’s powerful propaganda apparatus, which is central to the Communist Party’s ability to stifle dissent.”
Economic Recovery
GDP: The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the first time since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, contracting at a 1.4% annual rate.
"The decline was mostly a result of the two most volatile components of the quarterly reports: inventories and international trade. Lower government spending was also a drag on growth. Measures of underlying demand showed solid growth."
But within that figure, consumer spending remained strong, growing at a 2.7% rate.
Resources
Mental Health Problems Among Children and Adolescents During COVID-19 Pandemic: A systematic review.
"Found unusually high rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, suicidal behavior, stress-related disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other mental health problems during the pandemic. Individual behaviors such as hobbies, praying, and listening to music were associated with positive mental health, the studies also found."
How Video Calls Squash Ideas: Via Axios, "In-person meetings generate more ideas — and more creative ones — compared to videoconferencing, according to new research published this week."
The Little-Known Test That Matters The Most: Via Checker Finn.
Global Student Survey: Via Chegg.
Four in ten (41%) US students said their mental health worsened since starting on campus or returning after lockdown restrictions – the second highest of any country surveyed.
The most common reason given (64%) was lost confidence/social skills during lockdown.
More than a quarter (26%) attributed it to inability to access mental health resources – the highest of any country surveyed.
Over half (55%) attributed it to their college/university experience being different; and 44% said they preferred studying from home.
Nearly half (47%) of US students with a study-related loan say that their debt makes them wish they had made a different (educational) choice.
While a quarter (25%) of US students say their university education is not good value for money.
Seals The Deal: Make sure to wait to the very, very end.