Top Three
CDC ACIP Meeting: ACIP voted unanimously for boosters this fall: Pfizer: Everyone over the age of 12. Moderna: Everyone over the age of 18. It now goes to the CDC Director who is expected to approve it later tonight.
Stat's Helen Branswell live Tweeted the meeting (follow-up here)
"In general, the rate of side effects from the BA.1 bivalent booster were the same or lower than from the original booster formula or the original series."
"Compared to the original formula, the number of neutralizing antibodies (i.e. our first line of defense) induced by the bivalent BA.1 vaccine was better—about 1.22 times better. This isn’t amazing, but it isn’t terrible. This means that we will likely see a slight increase in vaccine effectiveness against infection, but not a huge jump."
"Many wonder why we need a bivalent vaccine instead of monovalent (with only the Omicron formula). Pfizer showed us why. If Omicron continues to mutate, we would be okay with monovalent. However, if we get another random variant, say Delta again, the monovalent wouldn’t be as protective as the bivalent. Bivalent is key in providing broader protection taking into account the unpredictability of the future."
"We are still seeing a rare, but real, safety signal of myocarditis after a booster among male adolescents and young males. But keep in mind the risk is smaller than after dose 2 (thanks to the longer time period), and the risk of myocarditis after COVID19 infection (compared to vaccination) is 1.8 - 5.6 times higher among young males."
More on the rollout:
"The administration is “planning a robust public education campaign, building on lessons we’ve learned, and focusing on those most at-risk,” a White House official told STAT.""No one’s under any illusion that the demand is going to be what it was in 2020,” a senior Biden official told STAT. “But it’s absolutely critical that we focus on those who are at risk.”
"Complicating the matter, Biden officials are tiptoeing around messaging on what the updated shots can do, and what they can’t, stymied in part by the fact that there is not yet solid human data. Officials and outside allies described to STAT a need to temper expectations that this booster will protect against future variants, or to dispel notions that this booster might be the last one a person needs."
Moderna also said that they're studying boosters in kids 6 to 17 years old and expect to file to data with the FDA by the end of Sept. The study on children 6 months to 5 years is expected to be concluded by the the year.
CDC also presented some data showing adjusted rates of hospitalization based on vaccine state during the different waves as well as how much Omicron changed the risk of reinfection.
Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by Two Years of Pandemic: NCES / Press Release (more via The 74)
Chalkbeat: "In two years, reading scores on a key national test dropped more sharply than they have in over 30 years, and math scores fell for the first time since the test began in the early 1970s. Put another way: It’s as if 9-year-olds were performing at the same level in math as 9-year-olds did back in 1999, and at the same reading level as in 2004."
NYT: "The declines spanned almost all races and income levels and were markedly worse for the lowest-performing students. While top performers in the 90th percentile showed a modest drop — three points in math — students in the bottom 10th percentile dropped by 12 points in math, four times the impact. In math, Black students lost 13 points, compared with five points among white students, widening the gap between the two groups."
70% of students learned remotely at some point during the 2020-2021 school year.
Some startling data around student supports comparing low and higher performing students. Only 26% of lower performing students say they had their teacher available to help them every day.
School District Spending of ARP Funds: AASA July 2022 survey. (More via EdWeek)
"The number of districts providing high intensity tutoring fell from 45% in July 2021 to 39% in July 2022."
"Districts will indeed receive the additional time they need to complete construction and HVAC related projects, nearly half (48%) of superintendents indicated the 2024 deadline presents an obstacle for them in spending ARP funding."
"Approximately half (49%) of respondents reported that a later deadline to spend ARP funding would allow them to retain recently hired staff and extend recently added programs and supports for students that are making a big difference both in learning recovery efforts and in addressing the socio emotional needs of students."
"This report makes a clear case for Congress to move swiftly to extend the obligation deadline for ARP funding from September 2024 to September 2026 to ensure that students benefit from the additional staff and additional access to instructional programming they so desperately need."
Federal
FCC: Announced that it is ready to authorize $800 million through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to six providers to fund new broadband deployments to over 350,000 estimated locations in 19 states. The top three states receiving funding include Illinois, $212 million, Arizona, $140 million, and Iowa, $113 million.
Covid-19 Research
Covid Vaccine Drive for Youngest Kids Off to Underwhelming Start: Via Politico.
"Ten weeks after the FDA and CDC opened the door for children under 5 years old to receive Covid-19 vaccines, the national drive to get the youngest children protected is off to an underwhelming and uneven start."
"Just over 5 percent of eligible babies and toddlers nationwide have received their first dose at this point, a significantly slower pace than older kids and teenagers, CDC data shows. And there’s a growing political divide, including a swath of Republican-controlled states hovering at less than 2 percent even as concerns mount that there may be a Covid infection surge this fall."
Three Solutions for Public Health—And One Dangerous Idea: Via Tom Frieden
"The three fundamental intrinsic problems the CDC must address are slowness, impracticality, and lack of strategic thinking."
"Giving the CDC authority to collect standardized, anonymous health data is also crucially important."
"The CDC must exponentially increase collaboration with state, city, and local health departments."
"The CDC literally wrote the book on communication in a health emergency, yet it has not consistently followed—or perhaps not been allowed to follow—its own advice: Tell people what you know, how you know it, what you don’t know, and what you’re doing to try to learn more. Be first, be right, be credible, be empathetic, and give people practical things to do to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”
State
California:
California won’t expand teen vaccination without parental approval.
"United Teachers Los Angeles will boycott the first of four planned voluntary school days meant to provide additional instruction to students struggling academically."
Indiana: "Indiana Learns, set to provide low-income families with up to $1,000 to support tutoring for those who faced pandemic learning loss."
Maine: Some Maine schools offering online learning programs for students
New Jersey: "Newark Public Schools will not lift its requirement for students and teachers to wear masks when the new school year starts next week — sticking with the mandate to help combat COVID-19 long after other districts around the state shed their rules about face coverings."
International
China:
Bloomberg: "Chinese students are facing the start of a third year marred by unpredictable schedules as schools across the nation postpone classes in an effort to get Covid-19 outbreaks under control."
"Schools in major cities including the southern tech hub of Shenzhen and panda-rich Chengdu in the southwest, and the northern port hub Tianjin, are deferring restart dates amid virus flareups. Numerous other provinces -- including Zhejiang, Henan, Liaoning, and Jilin -- also are seeing delays, according to municipal government statements."
"Facial recognition systems have been launched at the gates of other schools to scan every student, and only those with a negative Covid result within 24 hours can enter."
Economic Recovery
The Financial Health of Community Based Development Organizations: Via the Urban Institute.
"Small CBDOs earn a larger share of their income than large organizations, which rely more on donations. They also have more months of cash on hand and less debt. But they also own fewer assets than large CBDOs and are more likely than larger organizations to experience negative net income, financial disruptions, and insolvency. Although many small businesses face financial uncertainty, when these mission-based nonprofits close, disinvested communities can lose a key provider of services, programs, and development."
Resources
Americans' Satisfaction With K-12 Education on Low Side: Via Gallup:
"The 42% who say they are satisfied today is the lowest measured in the past two decades by one percentage point and the second-lowest reading in Gallup's 23-year trend."
"The latest poll provides new insights into Americans' dissatisfaction with education, for the first time asking dissatisfied respondents to state their reasons. The most prominent type of response, by far, involves concerns about the rigor of curriculum or teaching methods. Specifically, 15% mention poor or outdated curriculum, 12% believe U.S. education is outranked by other countries, and 11% cite failure to teach the basics -- reading, writing and arithmetic. A total of 56% of respondents cite these or another more specific concern about the quality of teaching or curricula."
School Is for Social Mobility: Via John Friedman
"Less than one in 13 children born into poverty in the United States will go on to hold a high-income job in adulthood; the odds are far longer for Black men born into poverty, at one in 40."
"With the right level of investment, education can not only provide more pathways out of poverty for individuals, but also restore the equality of opportunity that is supposed to lie at America’s core."
Varsity Tutors' New Teacher Assigned Tutoring Platform Puts Educators in Charge: Via The Journal, “Varsity Tutors allows teachers to “prescribe” sessions to their struggling students, communicate with each tutor, ensure the extra help is focused on the topics students are struggling with in class, and monitor each student’s progress post-session.”
Useful: The best times to find cheap flights, according to Google data
"Google Flights data showed prices for domestic flights have usually been their lowest between 21 and 60 days out. Those prices tend to bottom out around 44 days before takeoff."
"Aim to get way ahead of your European travel plans. Prices are lowest between 50 and 179 days before takeoff. The best of those deals tend to pop up 129 days out."
"Look for domestic Thanksgiving flights within 36 to 74 days ahead of time. The lowest prices were found 52 days out. For domestic Christmas travel, price drops have occurred within 20 and 88 days before the holiday. early. The lowest average prices showed up 22 days beforehand, although it may be stressful to wait until December to book."
Nothing to See Here: Just dogs on a spiral slide.