The decision came in an 8-3 vote from the committee that has been handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time vaccine skeptic. It followed three previous failed attempts to vote on the measure and two days of contentious, confused hearings that further undermined the group鈥檚 credibility.

Amy Middleman, a longtime committee liaison and a University of Oklahoma pediatrics professor, said it was the first time the committee 鈥渋s voting on a policy that, based on all of the available and credible evidence 鈥� actually puts children in this country at higher risk 鈥� rather than lower risk 鈥� of disease and death.鈥�

Susan J. Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, called the committee鈥檚 guidance 鈥渋rresponsible and purposely misleading鈥� and said that it will bring about more infections in infants and children.

鈥淭his is the result of a deliberate strategy to sow fear and distrust among families鈥� she said.

The members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP, who voted in favor of the new guidance said the universal birth dose, first introduced in 1991, had likely played a small role in the reduction of acute cases and noted that the country鈥檚 policy was an outlier when compared to those of peer nations, which have more targeted approaches. They also raised concerns about the safety of the vaccine, arguing there were insufficient trials done, a claim that has been widely

The committee鈥檚 new recommendations still include a dose of the vaccine within the first 24 hours of life for infants born to hepatitis B-positive mothers. But for those born to mothers testing negative, they recommend 鈥渋ndividual-based decision-making, in consultation with a health care provider鈥� to decide 鈥渨hen or if鈥� to give the vaccine. 

Removing the universal birth dose 鈥渉as a great potential to cause harm,鈥� dissenting committee member Joseph Hibbeln said, 鈥渁nd I simply hope that the committee will accept its responsibility when this harm is caused.鈥�

The committee also voted to upend the rest of the schedule for the hepatitis B vaccine, which is required for school attendance in the vast majority of states and historically included three doses in an infant鈥檚 first year. Now, after the first dose, parents will be encouraged to ask their doctors to check infants for a sufficient immune response before proceeding with any future doses, a practice that currently lacks any scientific evidence, according to vaccine experts.

The recommendation now heads to Jim O’Neill, the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, newly installed after September鈥檚 of the previously confirmed director, who said she resisted Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 demands to pre-approve vaccine recommendations and fire career scientists. 

O鈥橬eill鈥檚 decision could impact not only the vaccine鈥檚 availability, but also its accessibility, since both public and private health insurers look to these policies to determine coverage. 

鈥淭he American people have benefited from the committee鈥檚 well-informed, rigorous discussion about the appropriateness of a vaccination in the first few hours of life,鈥� O鈥橬eill said in a statement Friday.

Former CDC director Rochelle Walensky, now a Harvard University medical professor who recently co-authored on the importance of the hepatitis B birth dose, projected that eliminating it for infants whose mothers test negative will raise the number of newborn hepatitis B cases by 8% each year.

鈥淲e rely on an infrastructure of vaccines not only to protect ourselves and our children, but to protect our communities and one another,鈥� Walensky said. 鈥淭oday’s meeting was just another one of those chisels in the infrastructure.鈥�

Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia, referred to the committee as 鈥渁 clown show鈥� in an interview on CNN Friday morning.

鈥淗onestly, it鈥檚 a parody of what this committee used to be,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to watch, and for those of us who care about children, it鈥檚 especially hard to watch.鈥�

Offit said he doubted that the committee understood how hepatitis B was transmitted in young children 鈥� half the time through the mother during childbirth but just as often through casual contact with someone who was chronically infected and didn鈥檛 know it. About infected with hepatitis B are unaware of it.

鈥淏y loosening the [immunization] reins, you are just putting children in harm鈥檚 way,鈥� Offit said.

The hepatitis B vaccine was first recommended by ACIP in 1982. Before that point, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people, including about 20,000 children, were infected with the highly contagious virus each year. 

This was particularly dangerous for infants who have a 90% chance of developing liver cancer or chronic liver disease, if they contract the virus. For 4- and 5-year-olds, that chance remains high at 30-40%.

Committee members argued the guidance change reflected a return to pre-1990s policies that focused on a targeted approach, rather than a universal one. A number of them said that these earlier practices were successful and sufficient in cutting hepatitis B rates, a claim other experts 鈥� including those at the CDC 鈥� refuted. 

In a departure from typical practices, presentations on disease rates and safety concerns at the hearing were not given by CDC subject-matter experts, but instead were led by a climate researcher and a known anti-vaccine activist, who authored a paper on the impact of rising autism rates. 

When one CDC hepatitis B expert was invited to weigh in during a question-and-answer period, he expressed concern about the presented research and emphasized the lack of evidence to support the committee鈥檚 changes. Middleman jumped in at one point to correct the committee when it misinterpreted 鈥渢he conclusions of my own study.鈥�

Throughout the meeting, Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 appointees spoke about the importance of protecting parents鈥� rights, seemingly pitting this against public health policy. 

鈥淢y personal bias is to err on the side of enabling individual decision making and individual rights over the right [of] the collective,鈥� said Robert Malone, the committee鈥檚 vice chair who led the meeting since chair Kirk Milhoan, a cardiologist and critic of the COVID vaccine for children, was unavailable to attend in person.

Earlier this year, the committee also voted to change policies surrounding the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chickenpox) combination vaccine and this year鈥檚 COVID 19 booster.

Historically, committee members were highly qualified medical professionals, vetted for months to years before serving. But, in an unprecedented upheaval in June, Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 existing advisory members via 鈥� after promising he would leave the committee鈥檚 recommendations intact 鈥� and hastily replaced them. 

Many of the new members have espoused anti-vaccine rhetoric and other scientific misinformation and a number of them do not have medical degrees or significant experience in the field. 

Cody Meissner, a professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the only committee member to have previously served, also opposed the guidance change.

 鈥淲e’ve heard 鈥榙o no harm鈥� is a moral imperative,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are doing harm by changing this wording, and I vote no.鈥�

The committee vote was the latest in a wave of policy changes, firings and general chaos at the CDC and HHS that have alarmed experts since Kennedy Jr. took charge almost a year ago. 

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 chief medical and scientific officer released an unsupported memo claiming COVID-19 vaccinations had of at least 10 children. Last month, Kennedy Jr. ordered CDC staff to change information on their website to promote a link between vaccines and autism, an overwhelmingly discredited theory that he has promoted for years.

According to Offit, the negative impacts are already being seen: This year tallied the greatest number of measles cases (1,828) since it was declared eliminated in 2000. The majority of them were in unvaccinated children, two of whom died, marking the first pediatric measles deaths since 2003.

There have also been nearly 300 childhood flu deaths 鈥� among predominantly unvaccinated kids 鈥� the most seen since the country鈥檚 last flu pandemic and whooping cough cases are The highly contagious respiratory infection, prevented through the DTaP vaccine, has in Kentucky.

SEMINOLE 鈥� An 8-year-old girl with measles died Thursday morning, the second known measles-related death in an ongoing outbreak that has infected nearly 500 Texans since January. Her funeral was Sunday at a church in Seminole followed by a private burial.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., visited the West Texas town that has been the epicenter of the outbreak Sunday and was expected to meet with the family.

“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” Kennedy . He went on to describe the resources he deployed to Texas in March after , claiming that the “growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened” since Kennedy sent a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state reported 59 new cases in three days last week.

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The child who died Thursday, Daisy Hildebrand, was not vaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions, said a spokesperson for University Medical Center in Lubbock, where she had been hospitalized. She died from “measles pulmonary failure,” the Texas Department of State Health Services .

“This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination,” Vice President of University Medical Center Aaron Davis said in a statement. “We encourage all individuals to stay current with their vaccinations to help protect themselves and the broader community.”

The death comes about five weeks after unvaccinated 6-year-old Kayley Fehr , the first such death in the country in a decade. Fehr’s that their stance on vaccination did not change after their daughter’s death.

The West Texas outbreak , most of whom are unvaccinated children, according to the state health department.

The outbreak began in Gaines County, located about 90 minutes southwest of Lubbock on the New Mexico border. Since then, cases have been reported in 18 other Texas counties, as far east as Erath County in central Texas.

The CDC has linked the Texas outbreak with measles cases in Oklahoma and New Mexico, where an unvaccinated individual who tested positive for measles died in March. And the World Health Organization reported that cases in Mexico were linked to Texas.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through respiratory droplets passed through the air by breathing, coughing and sneezing. Vaccination is the safest way to build immunity to the virus. Two doses of MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles; one dose is about 93% effective, according to the CDC.

Measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 following a highly successful vaccination program. But vaccine skeptics, fueled by misinformation and a disdain for COVID-era mandates, have sown distrust of public health and contributed to declining rates of vaccination. In Gaines County, 82% of kindergarteners are up to date on their MMR vaccine. Experts say communities need a 95% threshold to prevent the spread of measles.

A CDC spokesperson said in an email that Kennedy鈥檚 visit to Texas on Sunday resulted in discussions with Texas state health officials to deploy a second CDC response team to West Texas to further assist with the state鈥檚 efforts to protect its residents against measles and its complications.

Dr. Manisha Patel, incident manager for the CDC, said their team arrived in Gaines County in March and left on April 1. A spokesperson for the CDC said in light of today’s news and Kennedy’s order to re-deploy, another team will be in the county.

鈥淲e’re learning a lot in Gaines County on how we can help other jurisdictions also prepare for measles in their states,鈥� Patel said.

Patel said it鈥檚 important to go in with a sensitive approach when it comes to small, close-knit communities that are unvaccinated.

However, she said there are three pieces to their measles control measures: the vaccine, not traveling if you鈥檙e exposed, and staying at home.

鈥淢MR is the best way to protect yourself, your families, your communities against measles,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淎nd, if you’re starting to get very sick from measles, not to delay care.鈥�

Patel said for some communities, it鈥檚 important to find trusted messengers. In some cases, she said, the federal government might not be the best choice for that and it has to be someone in the community. To work around this, Patel said they鈥檝e worked directly with state and local health departments to find who the trusted messengers are.

鈥淥ur role is making sure those trusted messengers have the materials and information they need,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淪o we translate, for example, materials into a German or Spanish or whatever the community needs.鈥�

State health officials have said that the outbreak could persist for months. It has spread most quickly in pockets of Texas with below-average vaccination rates. In Gaines County, where a large unvaccinated Mennonite community resides, 315 people have been infected.

People infected with measles usually experience symptoms within a week or two of exposure. Early symptoms include high fever, runny nose and watery eyes. A few days later, a rash breaks out on the face and then spreads down the neck to the rest of the body. Infected individuals are contagious about four days before the rash appears and up to four days after, according to state health officials.

Doctors typically recommend all children get two doses of the MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.

Parents of infants aged 6 to 11 months living in outbreak areas should consult their pediatrician about getting the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, Sara Safarzadeh Amiri, chief medical officer for Odessa Regional Medical Center and Scenic Mountain Medical Center, said on Sunday.

Amiri said she was unaware of the second reported death but that it is not unexpected given the continued spread of the outbreak.

So far, 56 measles patients in Texas have been hospitalized, according to state health officials.

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Unfortunately, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to difficulties in accessing health care, vaccine hesitancy and the loosening of vaccine requirements. These put children and communities at greater risk of outbreaks of preventable disease.  

Measles provides a helpful case study. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 鈥� that if one person has it, 9 out of 10 people of all ages 鈥� will also become infected if they are not protected.鈥� Despite this risk, almost 250,000 kindergartners in the 2021-22 school year may not have been protected against measles. Measles cases have resulted in , productivity loss and direct medical costs; the CDC estimates it can . 

State requirements that children be vaccinated to attend public school have a proven track record in producing high immunization rates. These generally are around grace and provisional enrollment periods, which temporarily allow children who are getting but have not completed their vaccinations to attend school. Yet, during the 2021-22 school year, due to pandemic-related health care disruptions, many states allowed students who did not meet school requirements and lacked valid exemptions to continue to attend class. In part because of these lenient policies, 4.4% of kindergartners nationally on their measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. 

This is particularly concerning because a population . This means that measles is less likely to spread, protecting the 5% percent who are not vaccinated. that have vaccination rates of less than 95% for measles, and prevent outbreaks if they were able to vaccinate kindergartners who do not have valid exemptions. For instance, , mumps and rubella, and . If those children were vaccinated, Vermont鈥檚 overall rate potentially would exceed 95% and all youngsters 鈥� and their surrounding communities 鈥� would be protected.

Unfortunately, state immunization programs are facing that supports data systems, as the result of unspent COVID funding being pulled back during congressional debt limit negotiations. The country can鈥檛 afford to waste the , including data modernization, during the height of the pandemic. Now is the time to build on those improvements, making sure states have efficient and effective systems to track vaccine orders, enroll health care providers as vaccinators, provide patients and families with timely information about their immunization status and their need for updates, and address gaps so all children are protected from preventable disease.  

The back-to-school season is a key moment to catch kids up on their vaccines. To do this, schools should reinstate and reinforce vaccine requirements, sending a message to families about the importance of routine childhood immunizations. Schools should also engage community leaders to bolster vaccine confidence, counter disinformation and provide families with timely, accurate, culturally sensitive and evidence-based information about vaccines. Lastly, schools should help families access vaccines through back-to-school immunization drives, which provide an opportunity to identify children who need to catch up, engage their families and connect them to clinical personnel. The CDC provides and tools for schools and health care providers to catch kids up on routine immunizations.

Public health systems are often unnoticed, working behind the scenes to prevent diseases and avoid their health and economic consequences. Americans must keep and prevention to promote good health, reduce absenteeism from preventable diseases and promote positive school environments for learning. Catching kids up on routine vaccinations must be a critical priority for advancing community well-being.

But the Chicago Teachers Union walked away from its four-day 鈥渨ork stoppage鈥� without much of what it was hoping to achieve, including district-wide triggers for closing schools and a mandatory student testing program that required parents to opt-out. One official lamented that workers gave up four days鈥� wages in exchange for concessions like increasing the supply of masks to schools.

鈥淲e sacrificed pay for face masks,鈥� Stacy Davis Gates, political and legislative director for the union, told reporters.

The plan, which won鈥檛 be released until the union鈥檚 full membership votes this week, also includes efforts to reduce staff shortages by adding pay incentives to increase the substitute pool when teachers are out, and stipends for employees who help register families for testing and vaccination appointments. Staff members will also be trained to conduct contact tracing.

鈥淲e understand that our relationship to our families is a critical part of engaging in this testing program,鈥� added Jennifer Johnson, CTU鈥檚 chief of staff. The goal, she said, is to sign up 100 percent of families by Feb. 1.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who faces reelection next year, also promised to consider the perspectives of parents should there be another management-labor breakdown. 鈥淲e will never, never not have you at the table,鈥� she said. While some parents expressed deep concerns over safety in keeping their children home after the holiday break, others argued that remote learning was detrimental for their children and wanted to see better cooperation between the mayor and the union. Some also agreed with the city that making decisions about closures on a school-by-school basis makes more sense at this point in the pandemic because vaccinations are available and Omicron is less likely to cause serious illness.

But observers said the conflict didn鈥檛 leave either side in a good place.

鈥淣o one wins in this scenario. Parents and students lost with five days of disruption to their schooling routine,鈥� said Bradley Marianno, an assistant education professor of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, adding that the district and teachers union 鈥渇urther solidified鈥� a relationship in which they 鈥渙nly operate in crisis versus collaboration.鈥�

The agreement, he said, will likely make schools 鈥渕arginally safer,鈥� but strikes and threats of strikes every time the district and the union negotiate are bound to wear on parents and educators.

The conflict also drew attention to the low vaccination rate among Chicago students. Less than a third of the district鈥檚 340,000 students are fully vaccinated and rates at schools across the district.聽

As cases spiked in December, 鈥淲e began to have an increasable sense of foreboding,鈥� CTU President Jesse Sharkey said during the union鈥檚 press conference.聽

While almost two thirds of the union鈥檚 delegates approved the agreement, Sharkey suggested the rank and file members might not be satisfied.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 try to sell people on the benefits of the agreement that are not there,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur members are grown ups, and we understand sometimes you don鈥檛 have a guarantee in advance.鈥�

Pfizer-BioNTech has submitted initial data to the Food and Drug Administration that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for 5- to 11-year olds, the pharmaceutical company Tuesday.

The development represents another key step toward shots for young children, but Pfizer has yet to formally submit a request to the FDA for authorization to inoculate the roughly Americans under 12 years old, which it must do before the federal agency can fully begin the weeks-long review process.

Though younger children are not yet cleared for the vaccine, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered COVID shots for all eligible K-12 students in the state, marking the first such statewide move in the nation. The mandate but depends on when vaccines receive full FDA approval for young people ages 12 and up, the Los Angeles Times reports. Currently, Pfizer shots have full FDA approval for use in individuals 16 or older.

鈥淭his is just another vaccine,鈥� Newsom said. Coronavirus shots will be added to 鈥渁 well-established list that currently includes 10 vaccines and well-established rules and regulations that have been advanced by the Legislature for decades.鈥�

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Pfizer鈥檚 submission for emergency use authorization among kids under 12 will come , CEO Albert Bourla told ABC News on Sunday.

If Bourla鈥檚 company sticks to that timeline, young kids should have access to COVID shots before the end of next month, said Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“I would imagine in the next few weeks [the FDA] will examine that data and hopefully give the OK so we can start vaccinating children hopefully by the end of October,” the nation鈥檚 top infectious disease expert told MSNBC鈥檚 Morning Joe.

An anonymous source familiar with the authorization process, however, told The Wall Street Journal that if Pfizer delays its submission to the FDA, clearance for young children to receive shots

Either way, it’s big news for schools, says Atlanta-based pediatrician Jennifer Shu. Though classrooms have not proven to be the locus of viral spread through the pandemic, circulation of the highly contagious Delta variant this fall has spurred outbreaks forcing some already since buildings opened. In late September, minors made up , the American Academy of Pediatrics reports, though the risk of severe outcomes remains small, doctors say.

鈥淥nce kids ages 5 to 11 are eligible for [the] vaccine, attending school during the pandemic will be safer,鈥� Shu wrote in a message to 蜜桃影视.

The Pfizer data included 2,268 participants ages 5 to 11 who were each given a two-dose regimen of the vaccine 21 days apart. Children were given a 10 microgram dose, smaller than the 30 micrograms administered to older children and adults, which the drug company said was a carefully selected dosage for safety, tolerability and effectiveness.

In an internal review of the results last week, Pfizer reported that one month after the second dose, the shots produced a 鈥渞obust鈥� antibody response, including immunity and side effects comparable to that delivered by the larger dose in 16- to 25-year-old patients.

The FDA said that it will analyze those data as soon as possible, the .

In the Atlanta pediatrician鈥檚 practice, patients are eager to have youngsters inoculated 鈥� though Shu鈥檚 clientele may be the exception, from a nationwide perspective.

鈥淚鈥檓 mostly seeing families that are all in,鈥� she said. 鈥溾�嬧�婥hildren are telling me they can鈥檛 wait until they can get the vaccine, since they are often the only ones in their family who haven鈥檛 even gotten one dose yet.鈥�

Youth ages 12 and up have been eligible for doses since May, but , according to the AAP. By that measure, inoculating those under 12 years old may prove a challenge.

A Kaiser Family Foundation national poll from mid-August found that only of 5- to 11-year olds would want their child to receive the COVID-19 shot right away after it鈥檚 cleared, while another 40 percent said they would 鈥渨ait and see.鈥� That attitude may be changing, however, as of U.S. parents surveyed in a Gallup poll published Tuesday indicated that they would have their children inoculated against COVID-19 if shots were available.

Getting children under 12 vaccinated 鈥渨ill be an uphill battle,鈥� Rebecca Wurtz, professor of health policy at the University of Minnesota, told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淚 think parents are even more protective of their younger kids (than their older children).鈥�

In the Kaiser survey, an additional 9 percent of parents said they would get their youngsters vaccinated only if the shots were required. Meanwhile, momentum is building for schools to do just that.

Last week, Oakland Unified School District in California joined Golden State counterparts Los Angeles and Culver City, as well as Hoboken, New Jersey, in in order to attend in-person school.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials chose not to comment when asked by 蜜桃影视 last week whether they would extend their student vaccine requirement to learners ages 5 to 11, should shots be approved for that age group.

Whether or not student vaccination mandates continue to expand, Shu believes the real-world outcomes from COVID shots should encourage parents who may be on the fence.

鈥淢ore than 5.5 billion doses of COVID vaccine have been given worldwide,鈥� she points out. 鈥淚 hope that builds confidence for parents to give it to their children.鈥�

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F谤颈诲补测鈥檚 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts districts in a tough spot 鈥� do they require all students to wear masks indoors or just those who haven鈥檛 been vaccinated?

District leaders say it would be difficult to implement a policy where masks are optional for some but not others.

鈥淭he return for this school year will require a societal pact to protect one another by ensuring each of us follows the guidance that applies to us,鈥� said Tony Sanders, superintendent of School District U-46, outside Chicago. On Friday, the district announced it would maintain universal mask requirements for the rest of summer school, but would revisit the issue before school starts.

With about a month to go before some schools reopen for the new school year, the latest update aligns with the Biden administration鈥檚 push toward full reopening and eliminates the need for districts to reduce the number of students in buildings in order to maintain social distancing 鈥� a strategy that created most of last school year. Surveys show parents are growing more comfortable with the idea of full in-person learning this fall. But for some, the issue remains unusually divisive. Some say they don鈥檛 feel safe letting their children return without mask mandates in place and others say they won鈥檛 return because of mask requirements.

鈥�2019 or bust鈥�

, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii and Virginia, still have mask mandates, even for those already vaccinated.

In response to the updated CDC guidance lifting mask requirements for those already vaccinated, California announced Friday that it would keep 聽in place for students this fall to 鈥渆nsure that all kids are treated the same,鈥� according to a statement from the state鈥檚 public health department.聽But then on Monday, officials tweeted that they would leave those decisions up to local districts. Requirements in other states could change in the coming weeks as well.

鈥淲e expect our updated guidance 鈥� to align closely with the CDC鈥檚 recommendations and to continue making the health and safety of children a priority,鈥� said a statement from the New Mexico Department of Education. The state relaxed requirements for vaccinated children and adults in May, but kept the rule in place for schools. And Oregon is now recommending, rather than mandating, mask use in its .

In states that lifted mask mandates earlier this year, districts that continue to require them are seeing increased pressure from some parents to relax the rules. In Florida鈥檚 Broward County Public Schools, board members faced accusations of for requiring students to wear masks. A spokeswoman said the district is reviewing the CDC update and will discuss any changes later this month.

Nevada will require different mask rules depending on students鈥� grade level 鈥� a May policy that sparked and calls from parents in the Clark County School District to leave mask decisions up to them. According to a state directive, masks for students in third grade and below are optional, while students over 12 are eligible for vaccines. Therefore, only fourth and fifth graders will be required to wear masks, but the policy may be updated further based on the new guidance, according to the state.

In Medford, New Jersey, east of Philadelphia, Kristin Sinclair said her 7-year-old son won鈥檛 return to public school if masks are required.

鈥淚t鈥檚 2019 or bust,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 look normal, I鈥檓 sending him to private daycare or I鈥檒l quit my job and homeschool.鈥�

Others, however, aren鈥檛 ready for students to go maskless. from the National Parents Union shows 45 percent of parents who kept their children out of school the entire year want all students and staff to wear masks. And a third of those who stayed with remote learning this year want all students to be vaccinated before they鈥檒l feel comfortable sending their children back to school.

But in general, parents are less hesitant for their children to return to in-person learning than they were in the spring. A poll released last week shows almost three-quarters of parents are somewhat or totally comfortable with sending their children back to class.

鈥楽tarting to follow the science鈥�

Experts that have been pushing for a full return to school welcomed the update.

The CDC is 鈥渇inally starting to follow science,鈥� said Dr. Daniel Benjamin, a pediatrics professor at Duke University in North Carolina. 鈥淩emote instruction for all K-12 students is malpractice.鈥�

He applauded the recommendation that schools should remain open regardless of community-level transmission rates. But while the guidance still lists quarantining as a possible mitigation strategy, Benjamin said vaccinated students and those without symptoms don鈥檛 need to quarantine if they鈥檙e wearing masks.

鈥淎t the moment, the CDC complicates this simple message,鈥� he said.

Some experts wonder how the guidance will impact COVID-19 testing programs. Districts, such as Los Angeles and San Antonio implemented extensive testing programs last school year. And the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment a new testing program for schools this fall.

But the CDC said at this point, such programs are more valuable in communities with high levels of transmission and that vaccinated students and staff don鈥檛 need to be tested. Benjamin added that science doesn鈥檛 support widespread testing if districts continue to require masks.

Testing does have some merit, he added, among unvaccinated and unmasked students and for those participating in sports and extracurricular activities, such as band.

The guidance comes as some states are seeing in positive cases, driven by the Delta variant. But officials stress the increases are largely concentrated in states with low vaccination rates and that almost all due to COVID-19 are among unvaccinated people.

The CDC guidance removes any speculation that schools will need to separate vaccinated from unvaccinated students. That would have been a 鈥渟cheduling nightmare,鈥� especially in middle schools where roughly a third of students still aren鈥檛 eligible for the vaccine, said Tom Phillips, executive director of the New York State Middle School Association and a former superintendent.

Districts where administrators have drawn clear lines between vaccinated and unvaccinated students have faced some pushback. In June, a New Hampshire high school for marking unvaccinated students鈥� hands with a Sharpie at the prom. And the Southfield Public Schools, north of Detroit, faced charges of discrimination when it accepted from an organization picking up the cost of prom tickets only for vaccinated students.

Separating students by vaccination status 鈥� which have already suggested for sporting events, businesses and churches 鈥� would create 鈥渁n atmosphere that stigmatizes students,鈥� Phillips said, and would be 鈥渉armful to the entire school community.鈥�

Vaccinated students and school staff don鈥檛 have to wear masks and schools shouldn鈥檛 maintain hybrid attendance plans just to implement social distancing, according to from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

While the update recommends schools maintain 3 feet of distance between students, that strategy shouldn鈥檛 come at the expense of fully reopening, the CDC said. The agency is recommending that schools continue to enforce masks indoors for unvaccinated students and adults, and to continue implementing other practices including COVID-19 testing, handwashing and proper ventilation.

鈥淧romoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports,鈥� according to the guidance.

With some schools opening in early August, the guidance provides districts time to plan reopening procedures, communicate policies regarding masks and encourage more families to vaccinate their children. Meanwhile, some districts, such as the Chicago Public Schools, are facing demands from their unions to hit of at least 80 percent of students over 12. And between the Los Angeles district and its union includes mask requirements for all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status. Each school would also have a COVID-19 compliance task force.

In a statement, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the new CDC guidance is 鈥済rounded in both science and common sense.鈥�

鈥淭he guidance confirms two truths: that students learn better in the classroom, and that vaccines remain our best bet to stop the spread of this virus and get our kids and educators fully back to those classrooms for in-person learning,鈥� according to the statement.

But she said the union remains concerned about the Delta variant of the disease. Cities such as Los Angeles are beginning to see in cases due to the strain, and Pfizer and BioNTech have announced they are developing a specifically for that variant. At this time, the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are a booster for those who are fully vaccinated.

Weingarten added that AFT affiliates are holding vaccination clinics in their communities to get more adults and children vaccinated before the return of school. President Joe Biden and first lady have also been visiting communities to promote vaccination. The president has called for a to encourage those who are hesitant to get shots, but conservatives about government intrusion.

The new CDC guidance recommends district leaders monitor local transmission rates when deciding whether to relax any prevention strategies.

Read the full guidance document .

40,000 Children Have Lost a Parent to COVID, according to a

• Black children made up 20 percent of those who have lost a parent.
• “Sweeping national reforms are needed to address the health, educational, and economic fallout affecting children.”
• “The establishment of a national child bereavement cohort could identify children who have lost parents, monitor them for early identification of emerging challenges, link them to locally delivered care, and form the basis for a longitudinal study of the long-term effects of mass parental bereavement during a uniquely challenging time of social isolation and economic uncertainty.” .

April 9, 2021 鈥� The Big Three

Back to School: In-person schooling leads to 鈥榤odest鈥� increase in household COVID-19 cases, indicates.

• “We find that increased school visits lead to increases in COVID-19 infections for households with children, relative to households without children. However, the increase is modest in magnitude.”
• Households with kids going to school saw a “0.3 per 10,000 household increase in COVID-19 diagnoses.”
• “We also find that the increase in school-based COVID-19 transmission is driven by households that reside in counties in the bottom income quartiles. This finding is particularly relevant, as it suggests that the socioeconomic disparities observed in other studies also exist for school reopening policies”
• “These families in particular may have less access to important resources that include high-speed internet access, computers, and job flexibility. Remote instruction also imposes costs to parents, many of whom are also balancing remote work and childcaring responsibilities.”

Low-Achieving Districts Offer Less In-person Instruction: Via AEI’s

• Instructional offerings differ by levels of student achievement; remote learning is more than twice as prevalent in low-achieving districts (11 percent) compared to high-achieving districts (4 percent).

Risks of In-person Schooling to Teachers Are Comparable to Risks of Commuting by Car, according to .

• “Students and teachers at in-person school during 2020 were about 20 times more likely to be infected outside school than in school.”
• “To put it another way, the fatality risk to self and living partners, which may include an elderly person, for one day taught in-person by the average nonelderly teacher is similar to the risk of driving 16 miles alone in a car.”

City & State News

New York: Mayor Bill de Blasio is easing the that had been forcing many schools to temporarily shut this year.

• 鈥淪tarting on Monday, public schools will have to close for 10 days only if four or more coronavirus cases in separate classrooms are confirmed within a seven-day period, and only if the city鈥檚 contact tracing program determines that the infections originated inside the school.鈥�
• 鈥淎s of last Friday, well over 65,000 of the roughly 147,000 Department of Education employees had been vaccinated.鈥�

California: Gov. Newsom after state scraps color-coded tiers.

Colorado: Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) that they have launched a new partnership with , 鈥渁 nonprofit that facilitates free tutoring over Zoom.鈥�

Massachusetts: Boston Children’s Hospital reports that between July and October of last year it saw

North Carolina: The 鈥溾�� bill passed. It requires school districts to offer students at least 150 hours or 30 days of summer in-person instruction, along with enrichment activities such as sports, music and arts. The program is geared toward at-risk students, but attendance is voluntary and is open to any student, space permitting.

COVID-19 Research

Vaccines:

• The CDC that nearly 80 percent of teachers, school staff, and childcare workers received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine found to be
• In a real world study by CDC, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were at preventing COVID-19 infections.
• “The European Medicines Agency has there is a link between AstraZeneca鈥檚 Covid-19 vaccine and 鈥渧ery rare鈥� but dangerous clotting events reported in a number of countries where the vaccine has been used, events which in some cases have been fatal.” More via .

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C): A analyzed data on 1,733 patients diagnosed with MIS-C between March 2020 and January.

• 75 percent of the children did not show any COVID-19 symptoms.
• About 60 percent of children required intensive care, and 24 children (1.4 percent) died.

Two new efforts to increase vaccine access and confidence: 

• Made To Save: Civic Nation officially launched the Tuesday 鈥渢o increase access to the vaccines in communities of color, address vaccination concerns and encourage people to get vaccinated when it is their turn.鈥�
• “We Can Do This”:  A new launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services intends to boost confidence in the vaccine. Nearly 300 organizations 鈥� including doctors’ groups, sports leagues, rural organizations, unions and religious groups 鈥� have signed up to be part of that effort, which the administration is calling the

Viewpoints

Job Training That鈥檚 Free Until You鈥檙e Hired Is a Blueprint for Biden: Via

• “There is emerging evidence that these kinds of programs are a very effective and exciting part of work force development,鈥� said Lawrence Katz, a labor economist at Harvard. 鈥淪ocial Finance is targeting and nurturing new programs, and it brings a financing mechanism that allows them to expand.鈥�
• “The Social Finance income-share agreement with students ranges from about 5 percent to 9 percent depending on their earnings 鈥� less from $30,000 to $40,000, and generally more above $40,000. The monthly payments last four years. If you lose your job, the payment obligation stops.”

How a $25 Million Donation to Help Students Got Ensnared in Politics:

• “Here鈥檚 what happened: Earlier this month, San Francisco announced that a foundation called Crankstart, funded by famous Sequoia venture capitalist Mike Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, was donating $25 million to help start a city initiative to offer free summer school or day care programs to kids. The program would be aided by an outside advocacy group called TogetherSF that was formed last year to work on civic projects in the city and has also, separately, been funded by Crankstart.”
• “But TogetherSF鈥檚 involvement has become controversial 鈥� and is being cast by one San Francisco supervisor, Hillary Ronen, as a possible political play by education reformers. And Ronen this week convinced the board, on a 10-1 vote, to delay approving the program to educate San Francisco students until she could investigate TogetherSF and its political ties.”

My Kids鈥� School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts: ProPublica’s on New York’s two-case rule.

The Biggest Problem for America鈥檚 Schools: “. But they won鈥檛 be enough.” Via .

Broadband: The National Urban League released its .

…And on a Lighter Note

One Fifth Grade Teacher:

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ICYMI @The74

Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top five stories of the week:

• RACIAL RECKONING: Social-Emotional Learning or 鈥榃hite Supremacy with a Hug鈥�? Yale Official鈥檚 Departure Sparks a Racial Reckoning (Read more)
• ATHLETICS: 鈥業t鈥檚 So Hard鈥�: As Trans Bans Spread, Experts Weigh How to Balance Fairness and Inclusion in High School Sports (Read more)
• HISTORY: Desperate to Advance a Cure for a Deadly Virus, U.S. Schools Played Critical Role In 1950s Polio Vaccine Trials (Read more)
• ANALYSIS: 鈥楢s Urban Districts Prepare to Reopen, Most Are Not Doing Enough to Communicate How They Will Keep Students and Teachers Safe (Read more)
• NEW YORK CITY: Unexpected Front-Runner Andrew Yang Courts Parents Intent on Reopening Schools in Crowded NYC Mayor鈥檚 Race (Read more)

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to .

COVID Experiences Survey 鈥� Who Is (and Isn鈥檛) Learning in Person Right Now?: From the

• Survey of parents with children aged 5-12 years, conducted Oct. 8-Nov. 13
• 45.7 percent reported that their children received virtual instruction only, 30.9 percent in-person only, and .
• Public school parents more commonly reported that their children received virtual instruction (47.6 percent) compared with parents of children enrolled in private school (20.3 percent).
• by Hispanic parents (65.9 percent), non-Hispanic other/multiracial parents (64 percent), and non-Hispanic Black parents (54.9 percent) than by non-Hispanic White parents (31.9 percent).

March 26, 2021 鈥� The Big Three

COVID Testing in School: Results of a new over 18 weeks: “In this school district with layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission was rare.”

• “The program identified one cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission and spurred enhancement of safety strategies. A weekly COVID-19 screening program can provide critical data to inform mitigation efforts, and provides school-specific, current data to inform decisions about in-person learning models.”

The New Guidance (and Debate) 鈥� 3 Feet vs. 6 Feet of Distance: CDC updated its guidance on :

• Under the new framework, students could be spaced at least 3 feet apart in elementary schools. Middle and high school students would be spaced at least 3 feet apart in communities with lower community transmission.
• However, middle and high schools should resort back to the 6 feet standard in communities of higher transmission if cohorting students is not possible. Schools should maintain 6 feet between adults (teachers and staff) and between adults and students.
• But: The American Federation of Teachers is to 3 feet: “We are not convinced that the evidence supports changing physical distancing requirements at this time. Our concern is that the cited studies do not identify the baseline mitigation strategies needed to support 3 feet of physical distancing.”
• My Analysis of the Situation: 鈥�What鈥檚 the Difference Between 3 and 6 Feet When it Comes to COVID-19 Spread? Not So Much, New Summary of 130 Studies Shows鈥�

Back to Classrooms: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona expects 鈥� or sooner.

• “I think if we continue with mitigation strategies that we know work and we utilize the American Rescue Plan funding to put in those safeguards that are needed to provide safe environments for our students, we can really continue to make the progress that we’re making to get students (back in school) in the spring.”
• Cardona is also launching the with state education chiefs and the National Governors Association and a .

City & State News 

Connecticut: to help with pandemic-caused learning loss

• The group will 鈥渋nclude more than 80 teachers, school administrators and staff, students, families and advocates.鈥�
• They will be charged with developing a plan for learning recovery after the pandemic, enrichment programs for spring and summer and ways to reduce opportunity gaps

Maryland: Failure rates surged in Maryland schools during the second quarter, with new data showing percentages in most of the state鈥檚 24 school districts.

California: State health department updates school guidance to , following the change in CDC guidance

Massachusetts: Parents helping

Texas: One Texas town, two school districts, clashing mask policies: How science and politics collided in New Braunfels鈥� classrooms

COVID-19 Research

Minimal Transmission 鈥� With Mitigation Strategies in Place:

• New Jersey boarding school with 520 full-time resident students and 255 commuter students (grades 9-12), as well as 405 faculty and staff members.
• Mitigation measures included universal masking, testing, upgraded air-handling equipment to improve ventilation, physical distancing of at least 6 feet, contact tracing, and quarantine and isolation protocols to prevent and control transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among students, faculty, and staff members.
• “Only two identified cases were plausibly caused by secondary transmission on campus.” 25 of 27 (93 percent) of cases were likely off-campus contacts.

Teacher Vaccinations: NEA reports have received at least one COVID-19 shot.

IES: shows about half of all white students were attending school in person full-time in January, the survey found. But that was true for just 28 percent of Black students and 33 percent of Hispanic students.

Homeschooling Surge: doubled at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, compared to the previous year.

Children and COVID: Children who are 10 and younger produce more antibodies in response to coronavirus infection than adolescents and adults .

Viewpoints

Some Schools Have Been Open for Months. Here鈥檚 What They Learned: Via :

• “Researchers have found that schools implementing measures like Montgomery鈥檚 鈥� with mask mandates, physical distancing and increased ventilation 鈥� have .”
• “The district also obtained carbon-dioxide monitors to gauge how well-ventilated a given room is, something aerosol scientists have recommended schools do if possible. People exhale carbon dioxide when they breathe, and if a room isn鈥檛 well ventilated, it will build up in the air, a signal that the space may require more ventilation. to sample the carbon-dioxide levels to make sure they aren鈥檛 above 700 parts per million. If they are, the school might consider opening more windows in the classroom or upgrading the HVAC system.”

Surveying the Perspectives of Black K-12 Parents: New poll from EdChoice and Morning Consult 鈥� 鈥�: We found Black parents were less comfortable with in-person schooling due to the pandemic.鈥� Read the and .

鈥極ur Kids Are Not Broken鈥�: 鈥淚 am concerned about how this growing narrative of loss will affect our students, emotionally and academically,鈥� writes

COVID Testing in Schools: Schools already testing students and staff for coronavirus say it’s crucial to in-person class: ‘It’s worth it’ ()

…And on a lighter note

Fagradalsfjall Volcano: This !

ICYMI @The74

Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top five stories of the week:

• School Safety: Police-Free Schools Movement Faces First Major Test As Students Return to Classrooms After a Traumatic Year Away (Read more)
• Accelerating Learning: We鈥檙e Crowdsourcing the Wisdom of Dozens of Experts on How Schools Can Best Address Unfinished Learning. Some of What They Have to Say (Read more)
• Engagement Gap: Teaching Students in Person and Online at the Same Time Is a Huge Challenge. 4 Ways to Bridge the Home-Classroom Gap (Read more)
• Learning Recovery: States Target Learning Loss with Summer School and Extended Days, but Some Parents Want Option to Hold Kids Back (Read more)
• School Funding: Spared Debt Over Missing Students, NYC Principals Plan How to Use Money to Ease COVID Learning Loss (Read more)

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to .