Covid-19 Policy Update #634
Covid-19 Policy Update #634
Thursday 2/16
Top Three
Moderna: Announces plan for no-cost COVID vaccine.
"As the public health emergency ends, the United States government will no longer be providing vaccines at no cost. Moderna remains committed to ensuring that people in the United States will have access to our COVID-19 vaccines regardless of ability to pay."
"Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be available at no cost for insured people whether they receive them at their doctors’ offices or local pharmacies. For uninsured or underinsured people, Moderna’s patient assistance program* will provide COVID-19 vaccines at no cost."
"Everyone in the United States will have access to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine regardless of their ability to pay."
K-12 ARP ESSER Pulse Survey: Via Tyton Partners.
Nearly 3 in 5 Teen Girls Felt Persistently Sad or Hopeless in 2021: CDC with more via Stat, NYT, Washington Post, and The 74.
Federal
ED: Announced awards of more than $188 million across 170 grantees in over 30 states to increase access to school-based mental health services and to strengthen the pipeline of mental health professionals in high-needs districts.
Treasury: Released a database with information about projects funded through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund as of September 30, 2022. Blog summary.
Clicking on "Project by Recipients" and then "Expenditure Category" allows you the chance to filter projects to find ones supporting education (2.24 - 2.27).
Covid Research
Omicron Hospital Illness 54% Deadlier Than Flu Hospital Cases: CIDRAP on a new study.
COVID's Aftermath: Persistent organ damage at 1 year, lung abnormalities at 2.
COVID-19 Omicron Infection Linked to New-Onset Diabetes: Via CIDRAP.
"A pair of new studies conclude that, compared with their never-infected peers, COVID-19 Omicron survivors may be at a 60% or greater risk of new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes, a potential precursor of heart attack and stroke."
"In a Cedars-Sinai news release, senior author Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, said that data trends and patterns suggest that COVID-19 may act as a disease accelerator, amplifying the risk of an illness that may have come later in life. "So, it could be that instead of being diagnosed with diabetes by age 65, a person with preexisting risk for diabetes might—after a COVID-19 infection—be more likely to develop diabetes by age 45 or 55."
Fact Check: Did a CDC Deputy Director Say the COVID Vaccines Cause Illnesses?: Via the Dispatch.
NIH Trial to Evaluate Shionogi Antiviral in Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19: Via NIH.
State
California: Via the 74: "Stockton, California: What Happens When a Dysfunctional District Gets $241 Million."
Michigan: Schools prepare to tighten budgets as pandemic aid ends. Staffing cuts, larger class sizes and delaying purchase of new curriculum planned as school districts use the last of their emergency funding.
Economic Recovery
Inflation:
There's more downbeat news on inflation this morning: Wholesale costs rose sharply in January, the latest indication of more persistent price pressures across the economy. The PPI rose 0.7% in January — the largest monthly jump since last summer, and a slightly quicker pace than analysts anticipated. The index is up 6% in the 12 months through January, compared to 6.5% in December.
The Consumer Price Index climbed by 6.4% in January compared with a year earlier, faster than economists had forecast and only a slight slowdown from 6.5% in December. While the annual pace of increase has cooled from a peak of 9.1% in summer 2022, it remains more than three times as fast as was typical before the pandemic.
Retail Sales Rebounded Sharply in January: Last month’s 3% rise in spending followed two months of declines and adds to growth signals.
State Strategies to Advance Job Quality and Build Inclusive Workforces in Transportation and Clean Energy: Via Markel Foundation.
Apprenticeships: Programs are becoming more popular as an alternative to college.
Resources
Educators Say ‘Social-Emotional Learning' Linked to Higher Test Scores: Via NBC: "The principal says taking the time to address students' social-emotional learning boosted reading scores by 13% and math scores by 7%."
An Assembly of Talent, Empowering and Expanding Human Capital in Education: Via Bellwether.
The Future US Economy Depends on a New Bipartisan Education Agenda: Llew Jones is a Republican member of the Montana House of Representatives, Justin Woodson is a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, and Vicki Phillips is CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy in The Hill.
"First, focus on ensuring all teachers and education leaders are supported so they can be effective."
"Second, develop rigorous and adaptive learning systems. Schooling should be personalized, this can mean proficiency-based learning pathways that empower students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as they progress through their education."
"Third, be intentional about supporting all learners. This means ensuring that students who require additional learning supports receive them."
"And fourth, we will need to build an ongoing nonpartisan planning process to set broadly shared goals for prosperity."
Unlocking The Future: "Toward a new reform agenda for K–12 education" with essays by:
What the pandemic taught us: Direct funding for families by Derrell Bradford
New frames for new constituencies by Robin Lake
Closing the global achievement gap by Will Marshall
Distance to 100: An alternative to racial achievement gaps by Ian Rowe
Rethinking accountability by John Bailey
School choice as accountability by Andy Rotherham
Parents and educators need a bold new approach to collaborating by Keri Rodrigues
The future depends on students and families by Denise Forte
A new definition of student success by Frances Messano
‘The army we have’: Asking teachers to do fewer things better by Robert Pondiscio and Jessica Schurz
Anchoring K–12 education in 21st-century foundational skills by Matt Sigelman
Career pathways’ American moment by Paul Herdman
Communities In Schools: The national organization that provides wraparound services to students in high-poverty schools, will receive up to $165 million from the Ballmer Group, the largest gift in the organization’s 45-year history.
Kode With Klossy: Osi Imeokparia announced a new 2-week summer camp that offered from June - August in-person and online, reaching scholars in 45+ states and 80+ countries.
Disequilibrium: New deck from Bruce Mehlman.
Mental Health
In one week during October, more than 115 children and teenagers who went to a Massachusetts hospital ER in a mental health crisis, waited days or even weeks for an opening in an adolescent psychiatric unit. The problem, known as “boarding,” has been on the rise across the country for more than a decade. And some hospitals have reported record numbers during the covid-19 pandemic.
"But the academic literature on social media’s harms is complicated. Perhaps the most famous and trusted study of the effects of social media on polarization and mental health is “The Welfare Effects of Social Media.”
The researchers describe the effect of Facebook deactivation on depression and anxiety as “small—about 25-40 percent of the effect of psychological interventions including self-help therapy.”
A Duke University report found 11 data brokers agreed to sell information that identified people by issues, including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, and often sorted them by demographic information.
Yikes: FPV Dive Burj Khalifa Top to Bottom
Snow Day! With Goldens.