Covid-19 Policy Update #624
Thursday 1/12
Top Three
Bivalent Covid-19 Vaccines — A Cautionary Tale: Via NBC:
"A key adviser to the FDA's vaccine panel is questioning whether more Covid booster shots are necessary for healthy, younger people."
"The evidence for the new versions of the vaccines for the omicron variant of the coronavirus, which the FDA authorized in August, is "underwhelming" and fails to show they are much better than the original shots, Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician who is a leading vaccine and infectious diseases expert, wrote Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine."
"The updated boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are probably best reserved for people at high risk of severe illness or death from Covid — older adults, people with multiple coexisting conditions and those who are immunocompromised, Offit said."
"Asking young, healthy people who have a lower risk of serious illness to get boosted with a variant-specific vaccine, followed by a different variant-specific formula a few months later, may not be practical, he said."
"In response to the NEJM paper, FDA spokesperson Abigail Capobianco said that the data Offit used to support his argument was “selective” and that “we strongly believe that the totality of the available evidence continues to support the use of these vaccines in all age groups.”
Related: Eric Topol: "The bivalent vaccine booster outperforms."
And an Israeli study which found 81% reduction in hospitalizations and 86% reduction in deaths among older populations.
Secretary Cardona on ESSER and State Funding: Via EdSource:
"And we can’t stop that level of urgency after the American Rescue Plan dollars end. That wasn’t intended to be a patch on the lack of education funding that we’re seeing in our states. So it’s my expectation that state and local leaders match the level of urgency that our president has shown in his first year-and-a-half in office around education funding."
"I need there to be that same level of passion and urgency around state-level funding for education to make sure that the supports that our students are getting now, that they continue to get it when the American Rescue Plan dollars are drawn down."
COVID-19 Learning Delay and Recovery: Where Do US States Stand?:New analysis via Jake Bryant, Emma Dorn, Leah Pollack, and Jimmy Sarakatsannis at McKinsey.
Federal
Biden Administration Extends COVID Public Health Emergency: Will remain in effect for the next 90 days.
IES: School Pulse Survey
82% of public schools indicated they had a written plan in place to deal with a pandemic disease scenario.
93% of public schools reported feeling "somewhat" or "very prepared" to handle pandemic disease.
30% of public schools reported having to quarantine students and 18% reported having to quarantine staff members.
HHS: Awards nearly $245 million to support youth mental health and help the health care workforce meet families’ mental health needs.
DOD: The Pentagon has officially rescinded its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Covid Research
Moderna: Via CNN: "FDA vaccine advisers ‘disappointed’ and ‘angry’ that early data about new Covid-19 booster shot wasn’t presented for review last year."
"The data that was not presented to the experts looked at actual infections: who caught Covid-19 and who did not. It found that 1.9% of the study participants who received the original booster became infected. Among those who got the updated bivalent vaccine – the one that scientists hoped would work better – a higher percentage, 3.2%, became infected. Both versions of the shot were found to be safe."
"The six FDA and CDC advisers interviewed by CNN said that this infection data wouldn’t have changed how they voted, because the data had such limitations, but it still should have been presented to them."
Moderna Considers Price of $110-$130 for Covid-19 Vaccine: Via WSJ. The price is for when Moderna "shifts from government contracting to commercial distribution of the shots. The range is similar to the one Pfizer Inc. said in October it was considering for the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech SE."
Building the CDC the Country Needs: "This CSIS report enumerates the essential, concrete, near-term steps that will return CDC to a pathway of high performance: clarifying and better integrating CDC’s core domestic and global missions; enhancing CDC’s leadership and transparency by bolstering its communications and federal engagement capacities; creating a much stronger competency in Washington; and bolstering its operational and surge capabilities through updated frontline engagement, workforce development, data analysis, and budget flexibility."
More Evidence That Breastfeeding Moms' COVID Vaccination Protects Babies: CIDRAP on a new study in Nature.
Vaccine Incentives Do Not Backfire — Policymakers Take Note: Nature:
"There’s been a long-standing worry that offering payments for vaccination could reduce people’s trust in the safety of vaccines, erode their sense of altruism and make it difficult to implement future vaccine programmes without payments."
"Although these concerns are largely theoretical, they have led some policy advisers to recommend against implementing programmes that offer cash to promote healthy behaviours."
"The authors of the Nature paper, a team of economists from Europe and the United States, address such concerns head on by analysing data from randomized studies of more than 2,700 people involved in the Swedish cash-incentive programme and of 3,000 people in the United States."
"Overall, there was no difference in any of these parameters. Nor did participants report feeling coerced by the incentives."
State
Massachusetts: Boston Public Schools parent group calls for mask mandate.
New York: Gov. Hochul’s 2023 education agenda: high-dosage tutoring, college access, student mental health.
Oklahoma: New portal helps track school COVID relief funds.
Economic Recovery
Inflation: Via CNBC:
The consumer price index fell 0.1% in December, meeting expectations, for the biggest drop since April 2020.
Excluding food and energy, core CPI rose 0.3%, also in line with estimates.
On an annual basis, headline CPI rose 6.5% while core increased 5.7%.
The biggest reason for the easing in inflation came from a sharp drop in gasoline prices, which are now lower on a year-over-year basis.
Resources
Innovative Schools: NewSchools is offering $215,000 one-year planning grants to teams designing new K-12 schools that center equity, innovation, and an expanded definition of student success. This funding opportunity is for public schools — both district and charter — opening in Fall 2024. Applications are due Jan. 27 at 5 p.m. PT.
New Profit’s Mental Health Equity Catalyze Cohort: "Through this cohort, up to sixteen innovative systems-change leaders and nonprofit organizations will receive a $100,000 unrestricted investment, in-kind capacity-building support, and participation in a peer learning community over the course of one year, starting in April 2023. We are seeking organizations specifically focused on advancing equity in mental and behavioral health, including through upstream factors that affect mental and behavioral health."
Education Board Partners Will Join Bellwether: Announcement.
What Midterm Voters Say About K-12 Education in the New Year: WFF's Bruno Manno on new bipartisan polling.
Parent Polling: EdChoice/Morning Consult: Report / K-12 Parents Crosstabs / Adults 18+ Crosstabs.
Broadband:
Why the USF is a ticking time bomb, including "There are currently lawsuits challenging USF’s constitutionality pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals’ 5th, 6th and 11th Circuits. NSR expects the 5th Circuit to issue its decision before the summer"
"What States Need to Know About Federal BEAD Funding for High-Speed Internet Expansion" - great overview by Pew.
"Will the FCC Maps Get Better?" "The mapping fabric will get better over time if state and local governments decide this is something that is important to fix."
"FCC’s new broadband map greatly overstates actual coverage, senators say."
"Tomorrow (Friday, 1/13) is the last day of the "best chance" window to submit potential changes to the FCC 's National Broadband Map.
Cries For Help Pour Into 988 Mental Health, Suicide Line: Via the AP.
"With bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched — with over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages pouring in."
"The 988 helpline registered 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the latest data available. Texting has been particularly popular, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noting a 1,227% increase in texts to the line during that same time."
"So far, fewer than 20 states have passed legislation to permanently fund their 988 line, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness."
NWEA to Become Part of HMH: Congrats to the NWEA and HMH teams!
“By combining NWEA’s assessments with HMH’s curriculum, HMH is expected to deliver a holistic solution for educators that helps them understand how students are growing academically and what areas need the most focus to maximize that growth. Most importantly, this solution will turn insights from assessments into content recommendations that help teachers address student-specific skill gaps and advance student learning.”
2023 Eduwonk In and Out List: Rotherham: "Here’s an unscientific, impressionistic, and often informed by “don’t tell anyone I sent this email” missives from colleagues, take on what’s coming and going in 2023." Factcheck: True.
What’s Out: Covid
What’s In: John Bailey’s Covid newsletter
Paw Patrol: These dogs travel every day in a school bus to go for a walk.
Has there been unbiased news on the upsurge in sudden deaths and excess deaths etc?