Oklahoma coverage

Image
Body

Statewide

The number of Oklahomans filing to continue their unemployment benefits continued to decline, the Associated Press reported.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reported the 4-week moving average of claims to continue unemployment benefits decreased for the 29th consecutive week. The agency reported a slight increase in initial claims last week, though, attributing the increase in part to seasonal work coming to a close, according to AP.

Oklahoma became No. 3 in the nation for the most new cases per capita in the past 2 weeks, trailing only Arizona and California, according to data from John Hopkins University. The Oklahoma State Department of Health also reported nearly 200,000 vaccine doses have been administered so far, according to AP.

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma’s deputy health commissioner Friday said a change in the shipment of the COVID-19 vaccines came unexpectedly and has left him frustrated in how to manage distribution of the vaccines, one from Pfizer and one from Moderna, the Associated Press reported.

Keith Reed said Thursday he learned from a contact at Operation Warp Speed shipments of second, or boost, doses of the vaccine will not be separated from the first, or prime, doses. Reed said although the doses are identical medically, they were previously being sent as a prime dose, then a boost dose, and differentiated as such, according to AP.

The number of doses needed for the boost can be anticipated by looking at prior numbers of prime doses given, 3 weeks previously for Pfizer and 4 weeks for Moderna. But the public could be misled about the number of doses available in a given week because they are no longer separated as prime and boost doses, AP reported.

A total of 185,133 doses have been administered in Oklahoma since an emergency room nurse received the first dose December 14. An additional 29,239 people have received both doses, according to AP.

Oklahoma City

Tribe leaders of the Cherokee and Chickasaw Nations want Congress to allow them to make agreements with the State of Oklahoma in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding criminal jurisdictions, the Associated Press reported.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said in the decision which ruled Oklahoma prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal cases against Native American defendants in parts of the state, affirmed the reservations of the Five Tribes were never disestablished. He said Congress should protect the ruling and give tribes and the state the power to enter compacts reading criminal jurisdiction, according to AP.

Some members of the five tribes have balked at the idea of signing compacts with the state since the McGirt decision, viewing it as giving up hard-won sovereignty in their reservations, AP reported.

If Congress approves the legislation allowing for compacts between individual tribes and the State of Oklahoma, the sovereign governments could develop a workable system for criminal jurisdiction which ensures public safety and justice, according to AP.

Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma City School District is set to resume some in-person classes for the district’s youngest students and those in alternative education, the Associated Press reported.

Pre-kindergarten through fourth grade students and those in alternative education began returning Tuesday for in-person and alternating inperson classes while students in fifth through 12th grade are scheduled to return February 1, according to AP.

Last Saturday, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 3,621 new COVID-19 cases and 27 additional deaths for more than 350,000 cases and nearly 3,000 deaths since the pandemic began, leading some schools going to online classes and others adopting a blend of remote learning and in-person teaching, AP reported.

Statewide

Learn Anywhere Oklahoma, a digital learning initiative launched in August 2020 by Gov. Kevin Stitt, announced it is re-opening the window for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade schools to claim credits for free digital learning resources to support education efforts and supplemental course needs during the pandemic, according to a release from the governor’s office.

Roughly $1.2 million in unclaimed credits are available to all school districts until funds are depleted on a first come, first served basis. School districts can claim these credits by visiting www.learnanywhereok. org or calling the help desk at (405) 645-7750. The virtual curriculum provider Edmentum also has agreed to return nearly $900,000 in unclaimed program funds for reallocation through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund, according to the release.

“I have been thrilled to witness the success of Learn Anywhere Oklahoma in bridging the gap in education resources and courses no matter where a student lives or chooses to attend school in our state,” Oklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters said. “Partnerships between virtual education entities and brick-and-mortar schools have never been in higher demand, and we must continue to cultivate these collaborations to empower Oklahoma students, parents and educators with expanded access to quality well into the future.”