This week has marked major news on several fronts in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic:

– New President Joe Biden has made good on promises for swift action to fight the pandemic, including another COVID relief package to fill in the gaps left by the last Congress and provide essential federal funding and support, including on vaccine distribution.

– Gov. Gretchen Whitmer officially requested that federal education funding from the December COVID relief bill be appropriated by the Legislature to districts, along with an extra $300 million in state funding meant to help all districts meet pandemic costs while specifically supporting special education costs (federal dollars are already slated for distribution using Title 1 formulas meant to help at-risk students).

“In order to safely educate Michigan students, schools and educators must have the funding necessary to put virus mitigation measures in place and adhere to them,” said MEA President Paula Herbart in the governor’s release. “COVID-19 has impacted every district in the state and every district needs resources to continue educating Michigan students. That’s why the additional per-pupil funding proposed by the governor is so critical, in addition to providing extra support for the individual needs of Michigan at-risk and special education students.”

– The state has updated its COVID-19 Vaccine website to include new resources, including a vaccine locator and a dashboard with the latest data about distribution and administration of the vaccines across the state.  The site also includes FAQs about the vaccine and will be updated with future changes to vaccine phases and eligibility. In addition, don’t forget about MEA’s vaccine FAQ for school employees here.

– The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been briefing school officials and educators about a new, voluntary program available for schools that provides rapid antigen testing to educators.  A recording of one of those briefings is available here.