Covid-19 Policy Update #625
Covid-19 Policy Update #625
Tuesday 1/17
I took a brief trip to the Bay Area for a series of meetings last week. First, that atmospheric river was no joke. Second, everyone is talking about ChatGPT and thinking of creative business use-cases. Some of those ideas were given a boost today when Microsoft announced that ChatGPT will be available to developers through Azure OpenAI Service. And finally, the concern over the growing mental health crisis among today's youth was a topic of discussion at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, as well as an important philanthropic event organized by McKinsey's Education team. Given the interest expressed by several funders, I’ll start incorporating some articles and resources into future updates, similar to how we have covered broadband in the past. Onto tonight’s update…
Top Three
FDA/CDC Probe Possible Stroke Link to New Pfizer COVID Booster: FDA/CDC Statement
"Following the availability and use of the updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines, CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a near real-time surveillance system, met the statistical criteria to prompt additional investigation into whether there was a safety concern for ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent."
"This preliminary signal has not been identified with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent."
"Furthermore, it is important to note that, to date, no other safety systems have shown a similar signal and multiple subsequent analyses have not validated this signal."
"Although the totality of the data currently suggests that it is very unlikely that the signal in VSD represents a true clinical risk, we believe it is important to share this information with the public, as we have in the past, when one of our safety monitoring systems detects a signal. CDC and FDA will continue to evaluate additional data from these and other vaccine safety systems. These data and additional analyses will be discussed at the upcoming January 26 meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee."
"No change in vaccination practice is recommended. CDC continues to recommend that everyone ages 6 months of age and older stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccination; this includes individuals who are currently eligible to receive an updated (bivalent) vaccine."
Washington Post: "The FDA official said the government’s sensitive vaccine safety systems are like a radio with the volume turned up high. Sometimes, when listening, “like with a radio, you are going to hear some static in the background,” the official said, adding it does not mean someone is talking. Chances are “this is just static and not someone real talking."
Schools Sink Money Into Tutoring, but Some Programs Fall Short: Via the Washington Post.
"Federal data collected in June showed that 56% of schools reported using high-impact — also called “high-dosage” — tutoring and 36% of schools reported using other forms. Some school leaders say they use multiple kinds of tutoring."
"Virginia’s Fairfax County is a good example of the drawbacks. Less than 2% of the student body used an opt-in tutoring service — tutor.com... Most of those who did log in used it for less than an hour — the median was 29 minutes — “an amount of time that is unlikely to yield tangible benefits to student achievement, particularly for those with greater academic need,” the analysis said."
"In Columbus, Ohio, for instance, roughly 7% of students used opt-in tutoring — through the company Paper — so district leaders did not renew a one-year $913,000 contract, according to city schools spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant."
"In Fairfax, critics question the cost of the service: $488,000 last spring — which translates to about $130 an hour — and an estimated $2.8 million for this academic year."
"Opt-in services often falter because some students lack confidence, motivation or clarity about what they need, so they don’t sign in, said Anthony Salcito, chief institution business officer at Varsity Tutors, a longtime tutoring company. Varsity provides opt-in tutoring but also high-dosage tutoring and a new program called “teacher-assigned tutoring.”
"High-impact tutoring in Gwinnett started nearly a year ago, with 1,000 students served by June 2022. This school year, administrators’ goal is 4,000 students. They use a string of high-impact providers, said Babak Mostaghimi, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction support and innovation. Depending on the provider, the cost is $800 to $1,400 per student. Tutors meet with students in person or virtually, but the format stays the same: frequent sessions, always with the same tutor, aligned with the curriculum, focused on learning gaps."
COVID-19 Vaccines and Sudden Deaths: Great piece by Katelyn Jetelina and Kristen Panthagani. Read the whole thing but here are some highlights.
"Vaccine rumors continue to swirl, and distrust in vaccines remains. The latest onslaught comes from blogs and social media around heart problems and sudden deaths following COVID-19 vaccination, particularly among young adults."
"To be very clear: We have more evidence than for any other vaccine or disease in the history of humans that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines greatly outweigh the risks."
"In fact, we see the opposite. The U.K. Health Security Agency recently released data evaluating all deaths (COVID-19, car accidents, strokes, etc.) in the U.K. by vaccination status, after adjusting for age. This is powerful data because it allows us to remove noise from the debate—it doesn’t matter if the death was “with” or “from” COVID or how the person died. And, the story is clear: vaccines save lives."
"A new study assessed patterns of excess deaths and COVID-19 specific deaths across time, by state, region, and age. Scientists found that excess deaths increased starting in spring 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, well before vaccines were introduced into the population. Furthermore, excess deaths tightly mirror COVID deaths, even for working-age adults. The tight link between COVID and excess deaths was seen even in Florida (see red arrow below), which has recently stopped recommending mRNA vaccines for men aged 18-39 based on a deeply flawed analysis."
A "video ultimately alleged mRNA vaccines are killing people via blood clots. As “evidence” it showed images of blood clots being removed from the blood vessels of cadavers. However, it fails to mention that it is totally normal for blood to clot after death."
"No one denies COVID-19 vaccines can have rare but severe effects. The question is how severe they are and how often they occur compared to infection."
"Unfortunately, no vaccine is risk free. There are rare vaccine tragedies, and they need to be taken seriously. But do not confound these rare tragedies with thinking they are common occurrences. And certainly don’t forget that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives across the globe and will continue to do so."
Federal
White House: Covid adviser David Kessler to exit as pandemic response winds down.
Covid Research
XBB.1.5: WHO questions severity of XBB.1.5 COVID subvariant as U.S. cases rise.
"New York City health officials said the subvariant now accounts for close to 73% of cases sequenced in New York."
"The World Health Organization said in a risk assessment earlier this week that the omicron XBB.1.5 variant — which it called one of the "the most antibody-resistant variants" — doesn’t have any mutations that make people sicker compared to previous variants."
"But the WHO said it doesn’t have any real-world data on how the variant is actually affecting people, so the full severity of the variant and its symptoms can’t be fully determined, CNBC reports."
More via the UK's report: "SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England." Meaghan Kall breaks down the report.
Exercise Helps Blunt the Effects of Covid-19: WSJ on a study.
"Regular exercise improves overall health and healthier people generally have fewer serious complications with Covid-19 infections. Earlier research has shown an association between exercise and better Covid-19 outcomes. This latest study goes a step further and suggests that even people whose age or health conditions make them higher-risk have better outcomes if they are regular exercisers."
Public Health Agencies Try to Restore Trust as They Fight Misinformation:Via The 74.
Fluvoxamine:The antidepressant fluvoxamine doesn't shorten the duration of COVID-19 symptoms in mildly to moderately ill adults, according to a randomized clinical trial (RCT) published in JAMA.
CDC Launched New Dashboards: Two new dashboards to track respiratory virus (COVID-19, Influenza, RSV) trends in the US
State
California: "Anxiety over ‘tripledemic’ has these LAUSD parents pleading for mask mandate."
Colorado: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will send text messages and emails to parents and guardians of children between five and 11 whose records in the Colorado Immunization Information System indicate they may be due for their COVID-19 vaccine.
DC: The District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP) announced Eric Waldo has been named President and CEO. Congrats Eric!
Florida: Gov. DeSantis announced "an initiative to make protections against coercive biomedical policies permanent including prohibiting: - COVID vax passports - COVID vax & mask requirements to attend any school - Any COVID mask requirements - All discrimination based on vax or booster status." (Press Release)
Kansas: "During the most recent state Board of Education meeting, the members were asked to vote on plans from 11 districts, including nine with high poverty enrollments, for use of $15.5 million in relief funding. A task force vetted each proposal before they were forwarded to the state Board of Education."
"Initially, the state Board of Education voted down the request. There were five votes in favor of the expenditure, but six were required. The “yes” votes were from members Deena Horst of Salina, Melanie Haas of Overland Park, Jim Porter of Fredonia, McNiece and Mah. Zeck voted “no” while three members — Hershberger, Cathy Hopkins of Hays and Michelle Dombrosky of Olathe — abstained. Board member Betty Arnold was absent."
"The vote not only blocked allocations to those 11 districts, but put in jeopardy 87 pending proposals from local school districts for $151 million in federal funding tied to COVID-19. All the money must be spent by the end of 2023."
"After the 5-1-3 vote, the state Board of Education took a recess. Hopkins, who defeated incumbent Jean Clifford in the GOP primary in August and had no general election opponent, returned from the break to request reconsideration of the COVID-19 funding proposals.“
"My abstention was not to say ‘no.’ I need to make that clear,” Hopkins said. “I was voting my own conscience. The shock of the outcome left me speechless. I’m not okay with the outcome.” Hopkins dropped her abstention, voted for the $15.5 million funding package and delivered the required six-vote majority.
Maryland: Larry Hogan: "My state has shown how to achieve real prosperity in our hyperpolarized times. Here are our lessons."
Persuasion starts with respect.
Common-sense values still unite.
Authenticity transcends party and ideology
Fight to win, not for show.
Montana: Schools are still struggling with staff shortages, with the top three critical shortages seen in elementary schools, special education and mathematics.
New Jersey: The state isn’t tracking school district compliance with COVID-related law for students with disabilities
Economic Recovery
Global Recession Risks: Two-thirds of chief economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect a global recession in 2023. 18% considered a world recession "extremely likely" - more than twice as many as in the previous survey conducted in September 2022. Only one-third of respondents to the survey viewed it as unlikely this year.
Resources
VITAL Prize Challenge: Digital Promise will manage the new Visionary Interdisciplinary Teams Advancing Learning (VITAL) Prize Challenge, supported by a partnership between the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Walton Family Foundation.
The $6 million prize challenge will provide funding, resources, and capacity-building support for small teams to bring new discoveries to educational and learning contexts to improve the experiences of those who have been historically and systematically excluded from learning and education systems.
Broadband:
Almost two months after the FCC released its new broadband map, state governments have submitted “bulk challenges” as part of a requirement to receive BEAD funding.
FCC broadband map challenges top 350K as deadline looms
People in states with lower incomes face higher broadband prices, according to new data.
Mental Health:
Seattle Public Schools is suing TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat, and YouTube saying the companies' "misconduct has been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis."
RAND study found the use of telehealth mental health services grew 16 to 20 times, or 1,495% to 1,925%, with the lowest increase for bipolar disorder and the highest for anxiety.
The ratio of students to counselors has reached its lowest point in at least 36 years. There are now 408 students for every counselor, according to the American School Counselor Association, which is lower than the 424 to 1 ratio pre-pandemic, but still significantly higher than the 250 to 1 recommended by the group.
New York Times story on the tendency for parents to bring children to emergency rooms to manage aggressive behaviors. But the visits offer little long-term benefit, doctors said.
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Visit to Cornell College: "I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other."
Dr. King’s Last Sermon: “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution" which was delivered on March 31, 1968, from the Canterbury Pulpit at The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington. (Text)
"One of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses that the new situation demands and they end up sleeping through a revolution."
"But somehow and in some way we’ve got to do this: We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools."
"We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be."
"I must say this morning that racial injustice is still the black man’s burden and the white man’s shame. It is an unhappy truth that racism is a way of life for the vast majority of white Americans. Spoken and unspoken, acknowledged and denied, subtle, sometimes not so subtle, the disease of racism permeates and poisons a whole body politic."
"Poor people are forced to pay more for less. Living in conditions day in and day out, where the whole area is constantly drained without being replenished, it becomes a kind of domestic colony."
"America has not met its obligations and its responsibilities to the poor. One day we will have to stand before the God of history and we will talk in terms of things we’ve done. Yes, we will be able to say we built gargantuan bridges to span the seas. We built gigantic buildings to kiss the sky. Yes, we made our submarines to penetrate oceanic depths. We brought into being many other things with our scientific and technological power."
"It seems that I can hear the God of history saying, “That was not enough! But I was hungry and ye fed Me not. I was naked and ye clothed Me not. I was devoid of a decent sanitary house to live in and ye provided no shelter for Me. And consequently you cannot enter the kingdom of greatness. If ye do it unto the least of these, My brethren, you do it unto Me.” That’s the question facing America today."