Top Three
Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Vaccines Against COVID-19 for Children Aged 5-11 Years: A systematic review of 30 studies:
"In 5-11-year-old children mRNA-vaccines are moderately effective against infections with the Omicron variant, but probably still protect well against COVID-19 hospitalisations. Vaccines were reactogenic but generally safe."
"Safety data suggests no increased risk of serious adverse events, with approximately 1·2 events per 100,000 administered vaccines reported in real-life observations. Evidence on the risk of myocarditis was uncertain."
The High Price of Covid Learning Loss: WSJ Editorial
"The full cost of the Covid-19 school shutdowns will take years to understand, but here’s another estimate that will make many parents livid: If the recent learning loss can’t be reversed, it would equate to a 1.6% drop in lifetime earnings for the average K-12 student, or a nationwide total of some $900 billion."
"The disparities in some places were stark. In North Branford, Conn., where only 21.8% are low-income, students fell a tenth of a year behind in math. Less than 12 miles away in New Haven, where 72.9% receive subsidized lunch, students fell 1.55 years behind."
Schools Struggle to Staff Up for Youth Mental Health Crisis: Via Chalkbeat and the AP: "Among 18 of the country’s largest school districts, 12 started this school year with fewer counselors or psychologists than they had in fall 2019, according to an analysis by Chalkbeat."
Related: 2022 COVID-19 Practitioner Impact Survey:
Percent of psychologists reporting increases in the number of patients with: Anxiety disorder: 79%; Depression: 66%; Substance use treatment: 47%; Trauma treatment: 67%; Two-thirds of psychologists reported seeing an increase in the severity of symptoms among patients in 2022.
Across age groups, the largest increase in patients was from adolescents ages 13–17, with 46% of psychologists reporting increases over the prior 12 months.
60% of psychologists report having no openings for new patients. 38% maintained a waitlist.
Federal
FCC: Released the long awaited National Broadband Map (Announcement / NTIA Statement / GovTech)
The new maps will serve as a basis for the NTIA to allocate $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants to states next summer.
The public, along with local governments and providers (including schools!), are now able to submit two different types of challenges:
Location (for example, incorrect location address, incorrect location unit count, etc.)
Availability (for example, if the map incorrectly lists a certain provider or broadband technology as available)
ED: Updated non-regulatory guidance around data collection for low-income students attending private schools. "The revisions are such that if a local education agency (LEA) uses a survey to collect data, and survey results are not complete, LEAs must extrapolate full results based on a representative sample." ED is accepting public comments which can be emailed to equitableservices@ed.gov.
White House: President Biden pardoned Thanksgiving turkeys: Chocolate and Chip.
You can see the President’s dog, Commander, on the balcony looking down.
Related: Great West Wing clip when President Bartlet asked if he was going to get a reputation for being soft on turkeys.
Covid-19 Research
The End of Vaccines at ‘Warp Speed’: Via the NYT.
"Operation Warp Speed, the Trump-era program that poured billions of dollars into developing Covid shots, seemed to signal a new dawn of American vaccine making, demonstrating how decades of scientific grunt work could be turned into lifesaving medicine in a matter of months."
"Efforts to test and produce next-generation Covid vaccines are bogged down by bureaucratic problems and funding shortfalls. Foreign rivals have raced ahead in approving long-awaited nasal-spray vaccines, including one invented in St. Louis, creating a scenario in which Americans would have to travel abroad for the latest in American vaccine technology."
The BQ.1.1 Variant Story: Eric Topol, "This is the first time in the pandemic that a variant with clearcut, marked immune evasion has not induced a major new wave."
Parental Doubt May Be Driving Low COVID Vaccine Uptake in Kids: CDC Report.
"4% of children aged 6 months–4 years had received ≥1 doses of COVID-19 vaccine based on interviews conducted during July 2022; 59% were unvaccinated, but the parent was open to vaccinating their child; and 37% were unvaccinated and the parent was reluctant to vaccinate."
"Among parents open to vaccination, 25% reported receiving a provider recommendation, and 57% were confident of the vaccine’s safety; confidence of vaccine safety varied by race or ethnicity and household income."
Association of National Football League Fan Attendance With County-Level COVID-19 Incidence in the 2020-2021 Season: Study. "A cross-sectional study of NFL games attended by a total 1.3 million fans... NFL games that had 20,000 fans in attendance had 2.23 times the rate of spikes in COVID-19, but NFL games with fewer than 5,000 fans in attendance did not generate any spikes."
COVID-19 and Excess All-Cause Mortality in the US and 20 Comparison Countries, June 2021-March 2022: Study
"There were significantly fewer COVID-19 deaths in the top 10 states by vaccination uptake (73% coverage) at 75 deaths/100 000 compared with the bottom 10 (52% coverage) at 146 per 100 000."
"From June 27, 2021, to March 26, 2022, the US would have averted 122,304 deaths if COVID-19 mortality matched that of the 10 most-vaccinated states and 266,700 deaths if US excess all-cause mortality rate matched that of the 10 most-vaccinated states."
Pfizer Omicron Booster is Better Against New Subcariants Like BQ.1.1: Pfizer said its omicron booster triggers a stronger immune response against a number of emerging subvariants circulating in the U.S. The booster triggered more antibodies against omicron sublineages BQ.1.1, BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2 and XBB.1. (Pfizer Press Release)
Will Covid Boosters Prevent Another Wave? Scientists Aren’t So Sure: Via the NYT, "The shots may help vulnerable Americans dodge serious illness or death. But some experts believe boosters must be improved and are calling for a new strategy."
State
Connecticut: The Remote Learning Commission issued a report on virtual learning.
"The Remote Learning Commission recommends that a statewide remote learning school that serves students in grades kindergarten to 12, inclusive, does not have the ability to meet the expectations for teaching and learning, instruction, assessment, and accommodations with wrap-around supports to students and families."
Illinois: "Chicago Public Schools is monitoring students’ social media posts for signs they might engage in violence on campus or harm themselves so that school staff — and in some cases police — can intervene."
International
Germany: Germany's vaccine advisory panel recommended that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children from six months to four years should only be given routinely to those at risk of severe disease from the infection.
Resources
School Districts’ EdTech Efforts Have Outpaced Transparency and Student Privacy: New report from CDT.
3 Misconceptions About Pandemic-Related Learning Loss: Sarah Cashdollar, Mariana Barragan Torres & Meg Bates in The 74:
"In our study at the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative, we found that most schools fluctuated among modes of instruction. While some schools gradually transitioned from remote to hybrid to in-person, others transitioned back and forth as COVID-19 case rates changed, logistical challenges surfaced and parent and community demand shifted. In Illinois alone, there were 81 patterns of instructional modality changes across schools."
"Our research found that even students who were instructed in person throughout the entire 2020-21 school year showed significant test score declines, albeit smaller than those of students in remote learning. This was true statewide across reading and math for all grade levels, especially younger students."
"Almost all research on remote learning has looked at reading and math among students in grade 8 or younger. However, when we examined 11th graders in Illinois, we found that students in remote learning performed no worse than those instructed in person."
World Cup: Ted Lasso posted words of advice on billboards in the hometowns of U.S. soccer team players.
When You Lie on Your Resume: For your dream job.