Top Three
Celebrating the Life of Professor Sharon M. Oster: Emily Oster shared that her mother has passed away after a heroic battle against cancer. Wonderful Yale School of Management tribute.
Under 5s: FDA: Pfizer, Moderna vaccines for kids under 6 are safe, effective.
FDA:"Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and likelihood of continued SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the ensuing months, deployment of the vaccine for use among children 6 months through 4 years of age will likely have a beneficial effect on COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality in this age group."
"Real-world efficacy against the Omicron variant in the 6-month-to-5-year-old age group for Moderna’s vaccine ranged from 36 to 51%, but efficacy estimates for all age groups were “generally consistent” with rates seen in observational studies of adults during the same variant waves, the FDA said."
"Preliminary analyses of the Pfizer vaccine’s efficacy in kids under 5 of 80 percent against disease, though only 10 Covid cases were reported among study participants before the data cutoff date in April."
"Adverse reactions like headaches and fatigue were more common in teens than in younger kids, likely because they received larger vaccine doses, the FDA said. Fever was reported more frequently among the youngest vaccine recipients."
This week, both FDA and the CDC vaccine advisory boards will meet to discuss the vaccines, which could ultimately lead to emergency use authorization and a recommendation.
Teachers Leaving Jobs During Pandemic Find ‘Fertile’ Ground in New School Models: Via The 74. " Microschools and online programs are attracting educators who valued the flexibility they gained during remote learning."
“For the first time in their lives, they have options,” said Jennifer Carolan, a former teacher in the Chicago area and now a partner with Reach Capital. The investment firm supports online programs and ed tech ventures, such as Outschool, with thousands of online classes, and Paper, a tutoring platform that states and districts have adopted using federal relief funds."
"Traditional schools, Carolan said, haven’t kept pace with what teachers want in the workplace, particularly flexible schedules. And after a “hellish two years,” some are gravitating toward positions that personalize learning for students while offering a better work-life balance."
Students Need Summer School. Some Districts Can’t Staff It: Via the Washington Post.
"In Virginia, state officials canceled a small selective summer program for lack of staff. In Wisconsin, school system leaders notified 700 students they could not be enrolled in summer classes because there weren’t enough teachers. And in rural Oregon, Superintendent Ginger Redlinger is still hiring for programs that start in June and August."
"The 26,500-student Madison Metropolitan School District is paying less this summer than it did last, when it used federal pandemic relief funds to bump teacher pay to $40 an hour, said spokesman Tim LeMonds. Teachers get $28 an hour this summer — with federal money steered elsewhere."
"St. Louis Public Schools are paying teachers $40-an-hour this year, from roughly $25-an-hour last year. Support-staff pay jumped $10-an-hour above the usual rate."
"To spark student interest, summer classes in St. Louis are being framed as “summer camp,” with hands-on experiential learning for all and Friday field trips for younger kids. More than 6,000 students signed on, bigger than last year — and about 30% of the 20,000-student district."
"Pay increases are not without trade-offs. Pushing up hourly pay rates in one area can mean that nearby school systems struggle to hire staff, said Ronn Nozoe, chief executive of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “Neighboring districts suffer,” he said."
Federal
Senators Strike Bipartisan Gun Safety Agreement: Via Politico. Four key provisions:
Enhanced background checks for buyers under 21,
Funding to incentivize states to pass “red flag” laws,
Funding for mental health and school safety. Could be as much as $7 billion for community mental health clinics.
Closing the so-called boyfriend loophole, which presently allows people to buy guns even if they were convicted of domestic violence against a partner they were dating (but not married to).
Reactions:
President Biden: “It does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction. With bipartisan support, there are no excuses for delay. Let’s get this done.”
Senate Majority Leader Schumer: “We must move swiftly to advance this legislation, because if a single life can be saved, it is worth the effort.”
Senate Minority Leader McConnell: “The principles they announced today show the value of dialogue and cooperation. I continue to hope their discussions yield a bipartisan product that makes significant headway on key issues like mental health and school safety, respects the Second Amendment, earns broad support in the Senate, and makes a difference for our country.”
Covid-19 Research
Protection and Waning of Natural and Hybrid Immunity to SARS-CoV-2: Study
"Among persons who had been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 (regardless of whether they had received any dose of vaccine or whether they had received one dose before or after infection), protection against reinfection decreased as the time increased since the last immunity-conferring event; however, this protection was higher than that conferred after the same time had elapsed since receipt of a second dose of vaccine among previously uninfected persons."
"A single dose of vaccine after infection reinforced protection against reinfection."
New Tools Can Make Our Covid Immunity Even Stronger: ASU's Deepta Bhattacharya in the NYT:
"The Covid-19 pandemic has been a protracted battle between a generation-defining virus and scientists working at a breakneck pace to fight it. Following the development of the remarkably effective first-generation Covid-19 vaccines, the virus made its response: More infectious variants have emerged, capable of infecting people who have been vaccinated or were previously infected. This is by no means a failure of the vaccines, which continue to keep millions of people protected from the most devastating consequences of the virus. But science should be ready to make its next move."
"It’s also true that the road out of the pandemic has been bumpier than many had hoped. Over half of the U.S. population has been infected, and some more than once. Importantly, post-vaccination infections and re-infections only rarely land people in the hospital, but the experience can nonetheless be miserable and disruptive."
"The Covid situation, in terms of hospitalizations and deaths, is in a much better place now, but it is not the best science can do, and we must continue to advance against it."
"Both the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines lead to very high initial levels of protective antibodies. These antibodies then decline precipitously for six to nine months before stabilizing between 10 to 20 percent of their peak levels. Because the peak levels of plasma cells and antibodies after mRNA vaccination are so high, even a 90 percent loss would probably still leave one highly protected against symptomatic infection had the virus not evolved into new variants."
"Vaccines that are received up the nose or in the mouth position memory cells and antibodies near the sites of infection and offer potential ways to prevent symptoms and perhaps even infections altogether. Some of these types of vaccines are now in clinical trials and could become available soon."
Why America Doesn't Trust the CDC: Via Marty Makary.
Hepatitis Cases of Kids in Israel Were Likely Caused by Covid: Via Dr Zoë Hyde on a very small study of the hepatitis cases seen in Israel "reveals they were likely a delayed consequence of COVID-19. The average delay was 74 days (range 21-130). This is almost certainly why we’ve mostly seen negative COVID-19 PCR tests in affected kids."
"We report two distinct patterns of potentially long COVID-19 liver manifestations in children with common clinical, radiological, and histopathological characteristics after a thorough workup excluded other known etiologies."
But, Stat's Helen Branswell reports on the broader trends: "Of the #PediatricHepatitis cases tested for adenovirus infection, 54% tested positive for adenovirus. 10.6% tested positive for active SARS-2 infection. Only 47 cases were tested for prior SARS-2 infection; 64% of them were positive."
Ivermectin for Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19 in the Outpatient Setting: Study which found,"Ivermectin dosed at 400 mcg/kg daily for 3 days resulted in less than one day of shortening of symptoms and did not lower incidence of hospitalization or death during the delta and omicron variant time periods."
IHME Forecast: June 9th briefing included this:
“The trajectory of Omicron later in the summer and in the fall will be determined by the pattern of waning immunity from vaccination and infection."
"More recent studies do suggest that Omicron provides considerable protection against subsequent Omicron infection even from other subvariants."
"After the secondary Omicron wave subsides, we do not expect infections to increase again until late September. Longer-range models do suggest further increases in the fall."
"The combination of fourth-dose boosters and wider use of antivirals as needed should keep the death toll in the winter down to levels far below the last winter."
"Jurisdictions should be careful to not overreact to the secondary Omicron wave given no evidence of substantial increases in deaths to date."
State
Nevada: The Nevada Board of Regents approved the selection of Dale A.R. Erquiaga as the acting chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE).
New York: NYC budget deal cuts school funding amid declining enrollment.
"The cuts, totaling $215 million across all schools this year, represent a reversal of a policy over the past two years, which covered schools financially for enrolling fewer students than expected halfway through the year, during the pandemic."
“We had a major drop in student population in the [department of education], so what we’re doing — we are not cutting, we are adjusting the amount based on the student population,” Adams told reporters after a ceremonial handshake with Council Speaker Adrienne Adams."
Pennsylvania: "Does tutoring + culturally relevant lessons + double math periods = math proficiency?"
Wisconsin: "Madison’s One City Schools plans to try something different this fall to keep its educators fresh for the coming school year."
"On Friday, the organization revealed a switch to a four-day work week for its teachers, assistant teachers, and student support personnel."
"Students will keep the same Monday-Friday routine. Teachers will rotate alternative days off from one another, so that there are always teachers in the building."
International
China: The FT: “Widespread lockdowns and mass testing returned to China’s major cities over the weekend as both Beijing and Shanghai attempted to curtail the spread of Covid-19 cases in the community after months of lockdown."
Hong Kong: Schools report the highest number of infections since return to classrooms.
Economic Recovery
Recession:
CNBC's CFO survey. 68% believe a recession will occur during the first half of 2023. No CFO forecast a recession any later than the second half of next year, and no CFO thinks the economy will avoid a recession.
70% of top economists polled by the FT think the US will enter recession next year.
"Almost 40% of the 49 respondents project that the National Bureau of Economic Research — the arbiter of when recessions begin and end — will declare one in the first or second quarter of 2023. A third believe that call will be delayed until the second half of next year."
Inflation Soars in Britain: “The U.K.’s annual rate of inflation jumped to a forty-year-high in April, the highest level recorded by an industrialized nation since the start of the global price surge last year.”
Weighing the Risks of Inflation, Recession, and Stagflation in the U.S. Economy: Good HBR piece by Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Paul Swartz, and Martin Reeves.
Resources
Children in Remote School Faced More Sleep, Behavior and Social Challenges: Study":
"Elementary school-aged children enrolled in remote learning experienced greater behavioral, learning-related, and sleep difficulties compared with children receiving in-person instruction."
"Virtual school attendees were less likely to be academically motivated or socially engaged and more likely to show defiance and resistance in doing schoolwork."
"Parents of remote learners were less likely to report that the teacher knew their child well, the child knew their classmates well, was motivated to get ready for school in the morning, has enough opportunities to socialize, or has a best friend."
"Compared to before the pandemic, about a third of parents said their child took longer to fall asleep, about a seventh reported more overnight awakenings, and more than a fifth said their child had more nightmares."
Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools: Via KHN:
"The average U.S. school building is 50 years old, and many schools date back more than a century."
"So, one might assume school districts across the nation would welcome the opportunity created by billions of dollars in federal covid-relief money available to upgrade heating and air-conditioning systems and improve air quality and filtration in K-12 schools."
"But a report released this month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found most U.S. public schools have made no major investments in improving indoor ventilation and filtration since the start of the pandemic. Instead, the most frequently reported strategies to improve airflow and reduce covid risk were notably low-budget, such as relocating classroom activities outdoors and opening windows and doors, if considered safe."
"The CDC report, based on a representative sample of the nation’s public schools, found that fewer than 40% had replaced or upgraded their HVAC systems since the start of the pandemic. Even fewer were using high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters in classrooms (28%), or fans to increase the effectiveness of having windows open (37%)."
States Fight Student Mental Health Crisis With Days Off: Via KHN:
"In other states where lawmakers have implemented policies that allow students to take mental health days — including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia — a lack of services for young people remains a concern."
"Susan Resko, president and CEO of the Josselyn Center, a community mental health center north of Chicago, said the pandemic was “like putting a match to fuel. Before March 2020, the nonprofit received about 50 new clients a month, Resko said. That number is now 250, and two-thirds are children or young adults. The organization hired 70 therapists in the past year and has received an influx of requests for mental health counseling services from local schools."
"School officials in Plainfield, Illinois — a town about 35 miles southwest of Chicago whose district has an enrollment of more than 25,000 — said 3,703 students took a combined 6,237 mental health days from early January through the end of the school year. That means nearly 15% of the student body used an average of 1.7 days per student. Officials also noted that 123 of those days were used on the last day of school before summer break."
It's Time for an ESSER Halftime Review: New resource by ERS.
Charting a Path to COVID Recovery for All Young People: Science of Learning Alliance.
First Rule of Rabbit Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club.