Covid-19 Policy Update #666
Friday 6/16
Covid-19 Policy Update Cocktail Reception
Tuesday, June 27, 5:30-7:30 pm at Yardbird DC.
Join us for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres as we publish the final Covid Policy Update and celebrate all the important contributions you have made in responding to the pandemic.
Answers to a few questions:
No cost! Just bring yourself.
Yes, you can bring friends/colleagues.
No, Teddy & Bentley won’t be attending.
Top Three
FDA Advisers Endorse New Target for COVID Booster: "An expert panel of the FDA on Thursday endorsed updating COVID boosters for the fall, unanimously recommending that they target an omicron strain known as XBB that's responsible for nearly every infection in the U.S."
NBC: "Pfizer said it could distribute reformulated doses as early as the end of July, depending on the strain selected. Moderna said it expects to begin shipping updated doses, pending FDA approval, “by the end of the summer.” Novavax said it could have updated doses available in the fall."
Katelyn Jetelina: FDA's fall 2023 vaccine plan.
"SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate quickly—about 2 times faster than the flu. It’s normal to update vaccines when the virus mutates quickly. For example, we update vaccines for flu (which changes ~annually) and we don’t update vaccines for measles (which hasn’t mutated in a meaningful way for decades)."
"The current Omicron variant (XBB) circulating is meaningfully different than other Omicron variants."
"COVID-19 vaccines are waning in protection against hospitalization (62% effectiveness → 24%) and ICU admission, albeit with a smaller decline (69% → 52%). This is happening faster when exposed to XBB virus compared to other Omicron variants."
"B-cell data showed that our antibody factories are able to adapt and pump out updated antibodies. In other words, there is imprinting from initial exposure (as expected) but our system is still adaptable. This is good news because it means that updated vaccine formulas expand our protection. It’s not all for nothing."
"T-cell data also showed clear 2-fold increases after an updated booster. This was the case regardless of prior infection."
"The original vaccine was monovalent (vaccine formula targeted one variant—Wuhan). Then, in 2022, the vaccine formula was updated to bivalent (targeted two variants—Wuhan and Omicron BA.4/5). Now, the FDA wants to go back to monovalent (targeting only Omicron XBB)."
COVID-19 Vaccines Shown Safe in Two New Studies: Via CIDRAP.
"The first study, which looked at self-reported safety events for those 65 and older, included 3,360,981 people who received 6,388,542 primary mRNA series doses. A subsequent study on booster doses included 6,156,100 people who received one monovalent (single-strain) booster dose." "No statistically significant increase in risk was identified."
"In the second study, safety data on simultaneous vaccination (SV) with primary-series mRNA COVID-19 vaccines was evaluated, based on reports in the Vaccine Safety Datalink. The authors used surveillance data from December 11, 2020, to May 21, 2022."
"During the study period SV was uncommon, used by just 0.7% of 8,455,037 people for dose one and 0.3% of 7,787,013 people for dose two."
"Only 56 safety outcomes were seen in the study, and the overall rate of outcomes among COVID-19 vaccinees who received SV was not statistically significantly different than among those who did not receive SV (6.5 vs. 6.8 per 10,000 patients)."
The End of An Era: Federal Relief Funding Winds Down: Via Edunomics: "This month’s debt deal dashes any hopes that more federal funds will come to blunt the impending fiscal cliff. State revenues aren’t likely to save the day either."
Federal
ED/HHS: Press Release: The Biden-Harris Administration Takes Additional Actions to Address Mental Health Needs of Young People and Make Communities Safer from Gun Violence.
Secretaries Becerra and Cardona also sent a joint letter to governors highlighting resources to help states, communities, and schools support students’ mental health and well-being.
ED: "Today, over 300 local and national organizations joined Civic Nation and the U.S. Department of Education to launch Online for All, a digital equity campaign working to close the digital divide by focusing on internet access, affordability, and equity for students, families, and all Americans."
NTIA: Announced $930 million in middle-mile broadband grants.
CISA: "The U.S. government agency in charge of improving the nation’s cybersecurity posture is ordering all federal agencies to take new measures to restrict access to Internet-exposed networking equipment. The directive comes amid a surge in attacks targeting previously unknown vulnerabilities in widely used security and networking appliances."
Covid Research
AI Threat: The Next Pandemic: Axios on a new MIT study.
"MIT researchers asked undergraduate students to test whether chatbots "could be prompted to assist non-experts in causing a pandemic."
"Within an hour, the chatbots suggested four potential pandemic pathogens."
"Next, students asked how to obtain the equipment listed in the reverse genetics protocols. The LLM chatbots noted that all of the listed reagents and devices are commonly used in laboratories and can be purchased from any number of suppliers, with used equipment being considerably cheaper."
"Since reverse genetics was similarly beyond their skill level, one group asked how a scientist lacking the relevant expertise might obtain custom viruses, and was informed that scientists can hire contract research organizations (CROs) to perform procedures that they themselves cannot."
"Our results demonstrate that artificial intelligence can exacerbate catastrophic biological risks. Highly intelligent students without any relevant technical background in the life sciences can use LLM chatbots to walk them through the process of identifying and acquiring publicly known potential pandemic pathogens. This represents a major international security vulnerability."
Monoclonal Antibody Injection Shown to Prevent COVID-19 During Delta, Omicron: CIDRAP on a new study.
Bivalent COVID Vaccine Protects Against Death for at Least 6m Months in Older Adults: CIDRAP on a new study.
State
New York: Via The 74: "NYC Teachers Union & Mayor Reach Tentative Agreement on Raises, Remote Learning."
City schools’ 120,000 educators and other staff will see raises reaching more than 20% during the five-year contract."
"In addition to broadening an existing pilot on remote learning, high schools and combined middle-high schools will be able to offer virtual learning programs after school and on weekends. Students and teachers will have to volunteer to participate in the remote programs, according to a summary of the agreement."
"The after-hours virtual learning expansion in the nation’s largest school district builds on a small 2018 pilot that allows students to log in, from their own school buildings, to take online courses taught by public school teachers in other parts of the city."
"The program outlined in Tuesday’s tentative agreement would begin in the 2023-2024 school year, with 25% of high schools eligible to be selected. All high schools will be eligible to participate by 2027-28, according to the UFT’s summary of the agreement."
Texas:
Press Release: "Governor Abbott Extends Virtual Education Options For Texas Students."
HISD Superintendent F. Mike Miles announces first cabinet appointments. Congrats Kerri!
Kerri Briggs, Chief of Staff
Orlando Riddick, Division Superintendent
Luz Martinez, Division Superintendent
Imelda De La Guardia, Division Superintendent
Jim Terry, Chief of Finance and Business Services
Wanda Paul, Chief Operations Officer
Kristen Dobson Hole, Chief Academic Officer
Sandi Massey, Chief of Leadership and Professional Development
Catosha Woods, General Counsel
Scott Gilhousen, Chief Information Officer
Economic Recovery
A Manufacturing Supercycle Is Starting: Via Axios.
"It is fueled by hundreds of billions of dollars allocated by the Biden administration's signature legislation — the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and CHIPS and Science Act — as well as pent-up demand."
"We believe the U.S. is in the early stages of a manufacturing supercycle," wrote Joseph P. Quinlan, head of CIO Market Strategy at Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, in a report this week."
"As of April, spending on manufacturing construction — new factories — is tracking at a $189 billion annual rate, triple the average rate in the 2010s ($63 billion)."
Resources
ESSER Tech Purchases Helped Keep Schools Running Remotely During Pandemic: K12 Dive on a new ED IG report.
“A majority of 300 surveyed districts — 92% — said they used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief dollars to buy educational technology, the inspector general found. Some 68% said ESSER funding helped them continue instruction when the pandemic caused school closures, according to the report.”
Post-COVID, Cramming Edtech in Schools Goes Wild: Via Michael Horn.
"A central reason why technology isn’t a silver bullet in education is that when it’s crammed into an existing model, at its best, it can only serve as an additional resource to bolster that model’s existing processes and priorities. That means it can make an operation more efficient or allow it to take on additional tasks, but it can’t reinvent the model in and of itself. It also means that, in many cases, it will conflict with the organization’s processes and priorities and, therefore, go largely unused."
"This isn’t to say that the improvements—the hybrid innovations—don’t matter. Sustaining innovations are critical for those who remain in the mainstream system—and may stay there as disruption remains difficult in a system where schooling feels free and is compulsory."
"But we shouldn’t put all of our faith on that being enough if transformation is what we truly need."
District Virtual Schools Need to Innovate Beyond Flexibility and Security: Via Thomas Arnett.
Faster, Easier, Better: The Role of GenAI in Immersive Learning and VR Training Experiences: Via STRIVR.
Updated BEAD State Allocations Estimates: How Much Money Will Your State Get? Via Telecompetior and spreadsheet here.
How AI and Other Tech Tools Might be Used to Strengthen Family-School Partnerships: Rick Hess interviews Heejae Lim, the founder and CEO of TalkingPoints.
Can AI Help Teachers With Grading?: Via EdSurge.
"To compare AI scores and feedback with those given by actual teachers, we hosted an in-person convening of 16 middle school writing teachers who had used the platform with their students during the 2021–22 school year."
"On average, we found that teachers scored essays lower than the AI, with significant differences in every dimension except for Claim & Focus. In terms of the overall score across all four dimensions (minimum 4, maximum 16), teachers’ average score on these 160 essays was 7.6, while the AI’s average score on the same set of papers was 8.8."
The Road to Recovery: How States are Using ESSER Funds to Support Teacher Recruitment and Retention: CCSSO webinar on June 22.
When You've Got A Task To Complete: "I swear I've done stuff before."
It's The Weekend: Time to get your groove on.
Rubik's Cube Record: 21-year-old Max Park from California has shattered the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s cube: 3.47 seconds.
Related: I untangled my laptop cord today in 6 minutes, also a personal record.