Top Three
Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine Targeting Omicron Produces Stronger Immune Response: Press Release.
"It will submit preliminary data from the study to U.S. health regulators in the coming weeks with the hope of making the modified booster shot available in late summer."
"Researchers found that the levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron among people getting the modified shot were 1.75 times higher than in people who received a booster shot of the original vaccine."
NYT: "While those results seem encouraging on their face, many experts worry that the virus is evolving so fast that it is outpacing the ability to modify vaccines — at least as long as the United States relies on human clinical trials for results.... some vaccine experts say what matters now is how well a new booster formulation would protect against the latest subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, not Omicron itself."
Many Children Who Contracted COVID-19 Did Not Develop Antibodies to Ward Off Omicron: Study / Statement
A new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the FDA shows that fewer than 10% of kids who contracted COVID-19 in 2020 or early 2021 developed antibodies capable of warding off the Omicron variant of the virus.
“I hear parents say, ‘oh, my kid had COVID last year,’” said Dr. Adrienne G. Randolph, a co-senior investigator on the HMS/Children’s study and HMS professor of anesthesia and of pediatrics at Boston Children’s, in the statement. “But we found that antibodies children produced during prior infections don’t neutralize Omicron. This means that unvaccinated children are still susceptible to Omicron.”
"Overall, children and adolescents show some loss of cross-neutralization against all variants, with the most pronounced loss against Omicron. In contrast to SARS-CoV-2 infection, children vaccinated twice demonstrated higher titers against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. These findings can influence transmission, re-infection and the clinical disease outcome from emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and supports the need for vaccination in children."
Less Academic Progress Overall, Student and Teacher Strain, and Implications for the Future: GAO report.
"52% had more of their students start the 2020-21 school year behind compared to a typical school year, and that this affected younger students more than older students.
"64% had more students make less academic progress than in a typical school year."
"45% of teachers had at least half of their students end the year behind grade level."
Federal
Covid Supplemental: "The Biden administration said that a funding crunch is forcing it to divert more than $10 billion in coronavirus relief from test procurement and other efforts as it tries to come up with money to secure the next generation of vaccines and treatments for some high-risk Americans."
“The administration has to act because Congress won’t,” the White House said in a statement. “These trade-offs we are being forced to make because of Congress will have serious consequences on the development of next-generation vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, domestic vaccine production capacity, stockpiling of PPE and the procurement of tests and testing supplies for federally qualified and community health centers."
Bipartisan Innovation Act: OpEd by Governor Asa Hutchinson and Governor Phil Murphy, "Advance STEM Education In Bipartisan Innovation And Competition Legislation"
Covid-19 Research
COVID-19 Deaths in Children and Young People: Study out of the UK:
“Among ~12 million <20 year-olds, there were 81 Covid deaths (infection fatality rate, 0.70/100,000 infections) - that’s less than 1 in 100,000.”
“Ongoing national surveillance continues to demonstrate a very low risk of death in CYP with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Because of the high rates of asymptomatic and mild infections, deaths within 30 days of infection and death registrations both substantially overestimate fatalities in CYP, highlighting the critical importance of individual case reviews to assess such rare outcomes.”
How Many Are Not Up to Date with Vaccination in Counties with Elevated COVID-19 Community Levels?: Via KFF.
"There are 120 million people living in counties with elevated COVID-19 community levels who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines. These include those who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and those who are vaccinated but not yet boosted, putting them at higher risk of severe illness and death. Together, they represent about half of all those in the U.S. who are not up to date on vaccines."
Pfizer: Reveals plan to make its products available to 45 poor countries at not-for-profit cost.
Under 5s: Press Release: "U.S Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined by U.S. Reps. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) led a letter with 18 Members of Congress calling for answers from the Administrator of the FDA and VRBPAC panel regarding EUA approval for the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children under the age of five."
"Why has the FDA recently lowered the efficacy bar for COVID vaccines for the youngest children?"
"If approved and widely used among children ages five and under how many lives does the FDA estimate will be saved in this age group over the next year? Given the injuries reported in the FDA’s own VAERS system, how will the FDA evaluate potential tradeoffs of serious vaccine injuries versus serious COVID outcomes?"
"How many healthy children ages five and under without pre-existing medical conditions have died or been hospitalized from COVID or its variants"
State
Florida: Politico: Gov. DeSantis claims in-person learning saved Florida students. It's not that simple.
Maryland: DQC: "Baltimore Needs Linked Data to Effectively Support All Youth."
Michigan: Detroit district’s virtual school tightens rules to tackle absenteeism.
New York: NYC educators wrestle with budget cuts for 2022-23 school year.
Economic Recovery
$100 Million Entrepreneurs Equity Fund (EEF): Launched by the Schultz Family Foundation. Will provide money to business creators from marginalized communities, making direct investments in diverse businesses and boosting access to capital.
Resources
Great Hearts Hopes In-Person Pods + Online Teaching = New Type of Hybrid School: Via The 74.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention: ECS 50-State Comparison.
Building Toward ESEA Reauthorization:Via KnowledgeWorks:
Intimidation: Is a work in progress...