Top Three
FAFSA Renewals Down 12% (Nearly 900,000 Students): Given recent trends in higher ed enrollment, the reports from the FAFSA filings signal continued downward trends in retention, persistence, and completion.
"FAFSA renewals have fallen 12%, signaling that students’ enrollment decisions may have changed on a large scale. In addition to negative implications for students, universities and colleges could see shrinking student populations on campus this fall if they do not incentivize students to return."
"Factors include increased employment opportunities, changes in affordability, and extra available time to earn degrees."
FDA Limits Use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine: Citing clotting risk. FDA Press Release. More via Stat.
"Going forward, the single-dose vaccine will only be available to people 18 and older who cannot take one of the other available vaccines for medical reasons, or who simply will not agree to be vaccinated with one of the messenger RNA vaccines made by Moderna and by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech."
“We recognize that the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine still has a role in the current pandemic response in the United States and across the global community. Our action reflects our updated analysis of the risk of TTS following administration of this vaccine and limits the use of the vaccine to certain individuals,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
“Today’s action demonstrates the robustness of our safety surveillance systems and our commitment to ensuring that science and data guide our decisions. We’ve been closely monitoring the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and occurrence of TTS following its administration and have used updated information from our safety surveillance systems to revise the EUA. The agency will continue to monitor the safety of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and all other vaccines, and as has been the case throughout the pandemic, will thoroughly evaluate new safety information.”
Evidence Mounts for Need to Study Pfizer's Paxlovid for Long COVID: Additional reports of patients with long Covid who were helped by Paxlovid, offer fresh impetus for conducting clinical trials to test the medicine for the debilitating condition, Reuters reports.
"Three new case studies follow earlier reports of long Covid patients who experienced relief of their symptoms after taking the treatment, which is currently authorized only for high-risk people early after onset of Covid symptoms. As many as 30% of people infected by the coronavirus are believed to develop long Covid."
Federal
White House: Documents detail a looming squeeze on Covid-19 boosters.
"The White House could run out of Covid-19 vaccines if it moves forward with plans to encourage all adults to get a second Covid-19 vaccine booster dose by roughly Sept. 1, according to a tranche of budget documents sent to Congress that have not previously been made public."
White House: Announces Karine Jean-Pierre will become the next Press Secretary, replacing Jen Psaki on May 13. White House Press Release.
Covid-19 Research
3 Vaccine Doses Appear to Protect Against Omicron Subvariants: Via CIDRAP
"Three new studies report on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) and antibody responses to Omicron, with one from Sweden finding a drop in two-dose VE against severe disease after the transition from the BA.1 to the BA.2 subvariant but three-dose protection remaining above 80% against severe disease."
"Also, a study from Hong Kong shows good antibody response against BA.2 after three doses, and one from the United States finds that nursing home patients who received a third dose had a 47% lower risk of Omicron infection."
Mystery of Hepatitis In Kids:
Officials from the CDC said that, following its alert 2 weeks ago, it has received 109 reports of unexplained hepatitis in young children from 24 states and Puerto Rico.
"The illnesses are perplexing, because adenovirus 41, found in Alabama's patients and in some UK cases, doesn't typically infect healthy children. Investigators are pursuing several possibilities, including a potential role for cofactors, such as a connection to earlier COVID-19 infection. So far, acute COVID-19 infection doesn't seem to be a feature of the US cases or those abroad."
Related: New UKHSA Technical Briefing 2 on Pediatric acute hepatitis in England.
One hypothesis: "A post infectious SARS-CoV-2 syndrome. This includes the possibility of an Omicron specific effect. However, Adenovirus involvement remains the most likely based on evidence."
State
Arizona: A for Arizona announced the second round of Southern Arizona Microgrant awardees.
A for Arizona’s Expansion & Innovation Fund provided microgrants to empower innovative school and community leaders, teachers, and families to launch community-driven models, develop innovative learning models aimed to redefine teaching and learning, create and scale more student-focused programs, and reimagine where, when, and how learning takes place.
Colorado: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education visits Aurora Public Schools with eye on mental health efforts.
"Hazel Health is an online mental health platform that the district began partnering with at the beginning of the semester to provide free mental health visits to students. Through the platform, students in all grade levels can schedule virtual visits with a mental health provider licensed in Colorado."
"The partnership is designed to help bridge the gap for local mental health services, which can have long wait times."
"Clyde Miller principal Kelly Forrest and a group of counselors led Marten through a demonstration of how the service worked Wednesday, and spoke briefly by video call to one of the therapists at Hazel. Forrest said that students at her school have been using the platform and seem to be receptive to it."
Michigan: The superintendent of Kalamazoo public schools is blaming a high school prom held last month at the Fetzer Center on the Western Michigan University campus for spreading the coronavirus. "Unfortunately, it ended up being a superspreader event causing multiple seniors to get sick and miss school.”
Economic Recovery
Booming Jobs Report: Payroll growth accelerated by 428,000 in April, more than expected as jobs picture stays strong.
But... U.S. labor productivity tumbled by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2022 — the largest decline in worker output per hour since 1947, according to Department of Labor data released Thursday.
JPMorgan Chase: Provides over $1 billion in community development financing.
Culture of Quitting is Here to Stay: Via Axios.
"Job turnover is 20% higher in our new remote and hybrid working world — and it's going to stay that way, Axios' Erica Pandey writes from new research from tech research firm Gartner."
"Flexible work means the cost of leaving a job is far lower. Workers have options. The companies eager to hire you aren't just the ones within commuting distance anymore. Remote work means there are many more places to land if you quit. Work friendships are weaker."
The Reimagined Workplace Two Years Later: Via the Conference Board.
84% of organizations hiring professional and office workers are struggling to find talent, an increase from 60% in April 2021.
The percent of organizations struggling to retain office workers more than doubled in the last year, from 28 to 64%
Unretirement: Is becoming a hot new trend in the sizzling U.S. labor market.
"The level of workers who retired then came back a year later is running around 3.2%, just about where it was before the pandemic, after dipping to around 2% during Covid’s worst days."
Related via the Washington Post: "Millions retired early during the pandemic. Many are now returning to work, new data shows."
"Jerry Munoz recently returned to full-time work at a pharmaceutical company in San Diego after a decade of retirement. He’d gotten antsy staying home during the pandemic and said he felt safe going back into the office after receiving the coronavirus vaccine and booster. The extra pay from his new position as a safety consultant has been helpful, too: He and his wife recently bought an investment home with the money."
“Covid made me think about a lot of things and I felt like I was wasting my skills and my knowledge,” the 64-year-old said. “I told my wife that as long as I’m healthy enough, I’ll probably work another two years."
Resources
Pandemic Exposed Mental Health Divide Among College Students: Washington Post on a new study.
"The coronavirus pandemic has revealed a deep divide between college students — young people with the most amount of concern about the virus tended to struggle more than others with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, according to researchers at Dartmouth College."
“The pandemic has put students on a literal mental health roller coaster, mostly heading downward,” Andrew Campbell, a researcher and computer science professor, said in a news release."
Using smartphone data, he and other researchers have been able to track the highs and lows many students experienced over the past two years — from rushing off campus at the start of the pandemic, to feelings of isolation while taking classes online, to returning to campus and having new social interactions."
"The study identified two groups that experience the pandemic very differently. One group had significantly poorer mental health and higher COVID concerns—they slept less, were more sedentary, and used their phones considerably more than the other group. The students with elevated mental health challenges were generally found to have higher depression, anxiety, and stress coupled with lower self-esteem."
The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Via FutureEd.
"For this study, the researchers used administrative data covering all students and courses from the California Community College System with enrollment data from the past three years."
"Similar to the national trends, enrollment in California’s community colleges decreased substantially from fall 2019 to fall 2021, losing nearly 300,000 students or 17 percent, with the largest drop occurring during fall 2020, the study found. African American and Latino students experienced the largest declines in enrollment, dropping 20 percent and 18 percent respectively, from fall 2019 to fall 2021."
Improving School-Family Communication and Engagement. Lessons from Remote Schooling during the Pandemic: UChicago Consortium on School Research Report
Sixteen Large and Urban Districts Are Considering Shuttering Schools Next Fall: The latest from CRPE's database of 100 large and urban district plans.
When Colleges Ask For An Alumni Donation: Some good points.
Related: John Mulaney got cheated out of $120,000 (Warning for some strong language).