Top Three
Under 5s: Under 5s: The FDA's VRBPAC voted unanimously 22-0 in favor of authorizing the Moderna vaccine for kids ages 6-17.
NYT: "The FDA will likely follow the panel’s advice in the coming days, as it has consistently during the pandemic, and grant authorization. But doing so may have little immediate impact, since the age group has had access to Pfizer-BioNTech shots since last year."
Tomorrow, the committee will meet to discuss Moderna for kids under 6, as well as Pfizer for kids under 5.
Stat's Matthew Herper live tweeted the presentations today. A few interesting (and in some cases new) pieces of data:
The omicron wave caused a significant surge of cases under the age of 17, particularly with those under 5.
Covid hospitalization rates were higher than those associated with influenza.
Moderna had an interesting table showing that children's deaths due to Covid are higher than other vaccine preventable diseases.
Moderna presented a risk-benefit calculation estimating the number of hospitalizations and deaths their vaccine could prevent.
The FDA said that they are aware that children who get a Moderna two-dose series "will likely want/need a booster, which is being considered separately."
"The CDC had confirmed 635 cases of myocarditis in children ages 5 to 17, out of almost 55 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine administered. The condition was concentrated in adolescent boys after receiving the second dose."
The FDA also highlighted Burbio data on school disruptions! We should all be grateful for Burbio (as well as RTL and Emily Oster’s tracker), but we should also reflect for a moment that government officials still do not have any official data on school disruptions. Nor do they have any real sense of the number of students affected by quarantines, which some surveys (here and here) suggest was quite significant.
No Learning Loss in Sweden, Evidence From Primary School Reading Assessments: Study.
"Using data from the freely available and widely used LegiLexi reading assessment tool, we demonstrate no general learning loss when comparing reading skills before and during the pandemic in primary school children in Sweden."
"The present study is also observational, with the associated limitations and lack of control over e.g., reading instruction given and inclusion and exclusion of students at any given time point. But given the large and representative dataset, and the uniformity of results across several academic years and multiple testing periods across the chosen analyses, we are reasonably confident in our conclusion that COVID-19 did not cause a general learning loss regarding reading ability among Swedish primary grade students."
"Importantly, this was not a trade-off between reading gains and sickness data from the first wave of the pandemic showed that the incidence of severe COVID-19 in preschool children and primary school students in Sweden was very low, even though schools were kept open."
Information Campaigns and School Closures Were the Most Effective Measures:
"Among the so-called non-pharmaceutical measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, public information campaigns and school closures were the most effective. They reduced the reproduction rate, which is the average number of people infected by an infected person, by 0.35 and 0.24, respectively."
"Nevertheless, the high effectiveness of a measure does not automatically translate into a recommendation for political implementation if it has, as in the case of school closures, strong negative effects," says study author Alexander Sandkamp from the Kiel Institute."
"Wearing masks did not produce statistically measurable success in the first wave of Covid-19, but did so in the second wave."
Federal
ED: Creates "National Parents and Families Engagement Council to Help Ensure Recovery Efforts Meet Students’ Needs" Council members include:
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)
Fathers Incorporated
Generations United
Girls Inc.
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Mocha Moms
National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)
National Action Network
National Military Family Association (NMFA)
National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
National Parents Union (NPU)
The National Center for Parent Leadership, Advocacy, and Community Empowerment (PLACE)
United Parent Leaders Action Network (UPLAN)
UnidosUS
Few Get Paxlovid "Rebound": Study and Axios article.
Quantifying the Importance and Location of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Events in Large Metropolitan Areas: New study.
"We integrate anonymized time-resolved mobility data with census and demographic data in the New York City, NY and Seattle, WA metropolitan areas to characterize the magnitude and heterogeneity of transmission events during the first COVID-19 wave."
"We simulate COVID-19 epidemic trajectories to study the impact of interventions, the part played by different settings in the infection spreading, and the role of superspreading events."
"Our results indicate that places are not dangerous on their own; instead, transmission risk is a combination of both the characteristics of the place/setting and the behavior of individuals who visit it."
"We estimate that only 18% of individuals produce most infections (80%), with about 10% of events that can be considered superspreading events (SSEs)."
"Although mass gatherings present an important risk for SSEs, we estimate that the bulk of transmission occurred in smaller events in settings like workplaces, grocery stores, or food venues."
State
Florida: Teen accepted into all 8 Ivy League schools.
International
China:
Beijing delays school reopenings after new Covid outbreak.
The mass quarantine measures imposed this past weekend in Shanghai, including highway closures, severely affected trucks carrying exports bound for the city’s port, according to logistics company Orient Star Group. “Trucks loaded with cargoes and containers were unable to enter the Shanghai terminal."
Economic Recovery
NFIB Small Business Index: "The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its Small Business Optimism Index dipped 0.1 point last month to 93.1. The share of owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months hit a record low."
Recession:
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman sees 50-50 odds of recession ahead. That’s up from his earlier 30% recession-risk estimate.
"After a decade of exuberance, Silicon Valley start-ups, venture capitalists and established tech companies alike are cutting investment and firing workers, prompting some in the tech world to openly predict a U.S. recession is on the way."
Resources
For Students Below Grade Level, Consistent Zearn Usage Doubles Learning Gains: New report from Zearn.
"This new research shows that when students use Zearn consistently (even those at the lowest levels of proficiency), significant growth happens."
"Almost 40% of these students at the lowest level of proficiency who used Zearn moved up at least one full level on state assessments."
"Almost 40% of these students at the lowest level of proficiency who used Zearn moved up at least one full level on state assessments."
Full disclaimer: I'm a Zearn board member.
Microschools Are Catching On: Via The Hustle.
Lockdown Damage: Via The City Journal.
The Three Rs of Pandemic Learning: Roadblocks, Resilience, and Resources: GAO report.
Understanding How COVID-19 Has Changed Teachers’ Chances of Remaining in the Classroom: New working paper.
Lessons for Policymakers from Frustrated Parents: Via Bellwether leveraging some focus group research:
"Work with parents to better understand their needs: Policymakers and education leaders must increase efforts to reach out to families to better understand their needs."
"Increase the number of educational options available to families: Policymakers should provide families with educational options both during and beyond the regular school day. These options, in addition to school choice, should include more flexible and supplemental learning options like after-school programs, tutoring, and summer activities."
"Inform families about educational options that could meet their child’s needs: Policymakers and advocates should redouble their efforts to provide families with clear, reliable information to better inform their education decision-making."
"Reduce barriers to access: Policymakers should work with parents to identify barriers to educational opportunities in their communities and tailor solutions to mitigate or eliminate them."
From The Audience to The Stage: An 11 year old Maddie is picked from the audience and end up getting the golden buzzer after singing Amazing Grace.
"Her dad joined her on stage and explained how his daughter was a soothing voice for him during a tough time."
“I’ve been battling cancer for the last nine years, and that’s how she learned to sing,” he shared. “She would sing to me at the hospital throughout my surgeries, throughout my chemo treatments. She’d sing to me and helping me get better, and I’m doing very well.”