Things aren't looking great around the country, much less the world, as the delta variant shows just how effective it is at spreading including among vaccinated individuals. Here's a couple pieces of news to cheer you up.
School Bus Transmission May Not Be All That Terrible When Done Correctly
An observational study published online in the Journal of School Health suggests that spread of SARS-CoV-2 on school buses isn't that high. Investigators reviewed existing data from 15 school buses in Virginia between August 24, 2020 and March 19, 2021 when they were operating at near capacity. In general there were 2 students per seat, universal masking, simple ventilation strategies, and regular pooled saliva testing of everyone with confirmation of positives by a PCR nasal swab. They found 39 students who were positive but no apparent transmission on the buses themselves.
Of course this study has limitations, including the retrospective observational design that didn't allow confirmation of a lot of details, the small sample size, and perhaps most importantly the fact that this was all before the delta variant became dominant. Still, it does offer some reassurance regarding transmission on school buses.
GBS and the Janssen Vaccine
You might expect me to file the association of Guillain-Barre syndrome and the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine as bad news, but the fact that it is still really rare is actually a good thing. The ACIP met on July 22 to discuss the situation; you can access the key slide deck online. With 12.6 million doses of the vaccine administered through the end of June, 98 cases of GBS have been reported. The highest risk group was men 50-64 years of age at 15.6 per million vaccine doses, still far below the risks associated with infection itself.
We now know of rare side effects with the 2 mRNA vaccines (myopericarditis) and with the Janssen vaccine (TTS (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome) and GBS). Still, these side effects are so rare that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh risks of serious complications from COVID-19 disease. Immunization is still the best choice for everyone.