Johns Hopkins HEAT Corps Hosts Omicron and the Schools Virtual Town Hall for Parents and Educators

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia

      The omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to lead to more infections leaving educators, parents, and students to grapple with evolving policies and more disruption in schools and at home.

But many – teachers and parents alike – have found solutions as tricky as ever before as America struggles to achieve some form of pre-pandemic normalcy.

To help answer some of the many unanswered questions and spotlight the impact the COVID-19 crises have had on the academic community, the Johns Hopkins Health and Education Training (HEAT) Corps program has planned an “Omicron and the Schools Virtual Town Hall for parents and teachers.

Organizers have scheduled two sessions.

The first for parents will begin at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday, February 1.

Teachers are the focal point of the second session, scheduled for 6 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 3.

Both are open to the public, and organizers said they’ll take questions in advance at HEATCorps@jhu.edu.

“JH HEAT Corps is committed to sharing scientific facts about the pandemic with students and will continue to do the same for parents and teachers,” Audrey Johnson, director of economic innovation and strategy for the office of economic development, said in a news release.

“Our audience of students, parents, teachers and other educators have many questions about the Omicron-variant and how it affects their children attending school, and we want to make sure they have the opportunity to get those questions answered by subject matter experts.”

The town hall will feature panelists Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and Patty Wilson, Ph.D., PMHNP-C, assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, with specialties in the mental health social determinants of health/poverty and trauma.

Moderated by Annette Anderson, Ph.D., the goal is to provide parents and teachers a safe space to ask pressing questions about the Omicron-variant.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced plans to make 10 million COVID-19 test kits available each month for schools to keep classrooms open.

Overall, the most recent statistics revealed that 63 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. However, among children ages 12 to 17, the rate sits at 54 percent.

Among those 5 to 11, the rate drops further to 17 percent.