CDC endorses frequent school COVID testing to keep kids in class and end disruptive quarantines The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released updated guidance endorsing "test-to-stay" policies that will allow students exposed to someone with COVID-19 to stay in school if they test negative for the virus. Many school districts across the nation have already implemented these test-to-stay policies, but the CDC's official guidance was not updated until Friday, when the agency published two studies that showed the policies did not lead to increased virus transmission in schools. “Test-to-stay is an encouraging public health practice to help keep our children in school,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-endorses-frequent-school-covid-testing-to-keep-kids-in-class-and-end-disruptive-quarantines
Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine trial in children ages 2-5 suggests the vaccine is safe but not effective enough to prevent infection with COVID-19, and the companies have decided to add a third dose to their trial. The move will push off the final results well into next year. Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, said that for children under 5, the company had settled on a dose of 3 micrograms — down from 10 micrograms in older children and 30 micrograms in adults. This dose was chosen, she said, because it reduced side effects, particularly fever, in small children. But interim results in the research trial suggest two doses, given 21 days apart, do not generate enough protective antibodies believed necessary to prevent COVID-19 infection. Young children may need three shots at this dose to receive full protection, she said, with the third dose coming at least two months after the second. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech expect to file for emergency use of their vaccine in children under 5 in the second quarter of 2022, Jansen said. The companies are also evaluating a third vaccine dose in children ages 5 through 15, who are now authorized to receive only two doses. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/17/covid-vaccine-mandate-cases-health-care-workers/8933003002/
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