The Wolf administration announced two initiatives to support K-12 schools and institutions of higher education during the 2021-2022 school year on Monday.

Both Pennsylvania departments of Health and Education announced a partnership with Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks (Ginkgo) to provide free COVID-19 testing in K-12 schools across the commonwealth to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and outbreaks in schools during the 2021-2022 school year.

More than 5,900 COVID-19 cases were reported over the weekend by the Department of Health and the statewide percent positivity for the week of Aug. 6-12 stood at 6.0%

Dr. Gregory Koons, executive director of the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29, said he is in full support of the latest actions by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and state Department of. Education to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just another effort that PDE is putting in place to support our districts,” he said Monday.

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said the initiatives are “to keep kids in the classroom and COVID out.”

Money for the programs comes from federal stimulus dollars. Locations for the clinics can be at the school or another site.

Koons said the vaccine clinics are essential.

“It really is critical when you’re looking at how to combat COVID,” he said.

Districts have health and safety plans to adhere to that were drawn up because of the pandemic.

“Operation Vaccination” held in Schuylkill County was an attempt to vaccinate students and others and was a success, Koons said.

There were six vaccine sites where people could receive a free vaccine. Koons said about 100 vaccines were administered.

Additional vaccine clinics are possible, he said.

Testing

Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks will provide free testing in schools. The cost for the program is $87 million.

Dr. Karen Hogan, Pennsylvania general manager of Ginkgo Bioworks, said parents need to consent for the testing.

“It’s mostly a self-administered swab,” she said in a press conference.

Support staff are available to help if students need assistance.

“It’s a nice, shallow swab,” Hogan said.

Beam said the typical classroom test can be done in 10 minutes. The pooled testing will be done weekly for those districts that participate. A pool sample is from five to 25 students, Hogan said.

The tests have been given in more than 1,000 schools across the nation so far, she said.

Results are available in 24 to 48 hours, Hogan said. Positive samples will require follow-up testing to identify the students affected.

Vaccines

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is directing vaccine providers to support COVID-19 vaccination clinics at colleges and universities and K-12 schools.

“A priority of the Wolf administration is to have and maintain in-person instruction, sports programs, and other extracurricular activities at schools,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said.

“Unfortunately, we continue to see predominantly unvaccinated Pennsylvanians infected with multiple variants of COVID-19, including the highly contagious delta variant. This reinforces the need for accessible COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible individuals in K-12 schools so that our students, teachers and staff can stay safe.”

Funding for these initiatives comes from nearly $338 million in federal U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds allocated to Pennsylvania to detect, diagnose, trace and monitor COVID-19 and prevent its spread in schools.

On Monday, the Lehigh Valley Health Network announced that a third COVID-19 vaccine shot would be available to people whose immunity is moderately or severely weakened by certain health conditions or medications.

“We were awaiting the FDA announcement and are ready to assist the medically vulnerable residents of the communities we serve with a third COVID-19 vaccine shot,” said Alex Benjamin, MD, Chief Infection Control and Prevention Officer, LVHN.

“Along with encouraging those eligible immunocompromised patients to get a third shot, we urge the unvaccinated to also get their shots to protect against COVID-19, including those living with immunocompromised patients. This is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated and we urge everyone who hasn’t yet rolled up their sleeves to do so. It’s the right thing to do to help protect yourself and those around you and help end this pandemic.”

Third shot recipients will receive the same vaccine as their previous two COVID-19 shots, when feasible. The FDA recommends waiting at least 28 days after the second shot to receive the third dose.

Since the Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine that currently has FDA Emergency Use Authorization for those 12-17, that vaccine is the only one currently available for immunocompromised youth.

Justin Carlucci contributed to this report.