Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Farmworkers, Firefighters and Flight Attendants Jockey for Vaccine Priority
Everyone — from toilet paper manufacturers to patient advocates — is lobbying state advisory boards, arguing their members are essential, vulnerable or both — and, thus, most deserving of an early vaccine. (Rachel Bluth and Phil Galewitz, )
COVID Shots Could Begin Monday: The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine could arrive in Sacramento on Monday, and the first injections of local health care workers potentially could begin that same day. Read more from The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times and NBC Los Angeles.
Statewide COVID-Tracing App Officially Launches: On Thursday, the state officially launched CA Notify, a free system that sends smartphone alerts to people who’ve spent time with someone who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
NPR:
FDA Panel Supports Emergency Authorization For Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine
In a 17-4 vote, with one abstention, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended Thursday that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech be authorized for emergency use during the coronavirus pandemic. The vote in favor of the vaccine was taken to answer the agency's question: Do the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks for use in people age 16 and older? The agency typically follows the advice of its expert advisers. (Hensley and Harris, 12/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
FDA Panel Endorses Covid-19 Vaccine
In its vote to approve, the panel said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks for people 16 years of age and older. “The efficacy is overwhelming” for the vaccine, said Eric Rubin, a Harvard microbiologist, panel member and editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. “It’s very strong.” (Burton and Hopkins, 12/10)
Reuters:
Moderna Begins Study Of COVID-19 Vaccine In Adolescents
Moderna Inc said on Thursday it had dosed the first participants in a mid-to-late stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18, and aims for data ahead of the 2021 school year. The trial will enroll 3,000 healthy participants in the United States and will assess the safety and effectiveness of two doses of the company’s vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, given 28 days apart. (12/10)
Stat:
Sanofi Suffers Major Setback In Development Of A Covid-19 Vaccine
One of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers has suffered a major setback in its work to produce a Covid-19 vaccine. The problem will push the timeline for deployment of Sanofi Pasteur’s vaccine — if it is approved — from the first half of 2021 into the second half of the year, the company said Friday. ... In effect, participants in the trial received too little vaccine. (Branswell, 12/11)
CNN:
Australian Covid-19 Vaccine Trials Ended After Test Subjects Return 'False Positive' HIV Results
An Australian produced coronavirus vaccine candidate has been scrapped after trial participants returned false positive test results for HIV, developers announced Friday. The inoculation, which had yet to progress beyond Phase 1 trials, was being jointly developed by the University of Queensland and Australian biotech company CSL. Australia had hoped the vaccine would be available by mid-2021. (Westcott, Watson, Lockwood and Fox, 12/11)
The Bakersfield Californian:
County Unveils Details Regarding First COVID-19 Vaccines In Kern, Local Outreach
The Kern County Public Health Services Department held a wide-ranging news conference Thursday to discuss the status of coronavirus. County officials discussed the impending arrival of vaccine to health care workers in the county, the county's intensive care unit capacity and outreach to underserved communities. The news conference was held amid reports that cases, case rates and positivity rates are continuing to surge locally. At the state level came news that California is breaking records for its daily death rates set in July — 220 people died on Wednesday, which is one more than July 31. (Gallegos, 12/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Tough Decisions Ahead On Who Gets Coronavirus Vaccines First In The Bay Area
Pretty much everyone agrees that nurses, doctors and other frontline health care professionals and at-risk citizens should be first to get the vaccine, but hard decisions will have to be made even in those cases. Hospitals will have to decide who among their high-priority employees should go first and care facilities will have to determine who is most at risk. That raises the question of whether smokers with emphysema should be on the at-risk list and receive the vaccine earlier than, say, people with severe asthma. (Fimrite, 12/10)
Los Angeles Times:
There Are Lots Of Essential Workers Out There. Which Ones Get The Vaccine First?
Uber says its drivers should get priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine because they provide crucial transportation to healthcare workers and the general public. Teachers say they need priority access to the vaccine to keep schools open and welcome students into classrooms. Meatpackers say they should get priority so they can provide access to safe and affordable food. And waste workers say they need the vaccine ahead of others so they can haul away garbage to prevent the spread of disease. (Martín, 12/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Light At The End Of The Tunnel? Yes, But It May Be A Long Ride
Gov. Gavin Newsom grasped for an encouraging tone last week as he leveled a new round of restrictions on coronavirus-weary Californians in hope of tamping down an alarming surge in cases: Hunker down one last time for a few weeks to bend the curve. Vaccines are coming. But in the week since Newsom announced his new stay-home order with tighter restrictions on travel and shopping and a ban on outdoor restaurant dining, infections have spiked to record highs, intensive-care wards filled faster than expected in many areas, and some of the state’s rules have met open defiance. Amid signs that Thanksgiving gatherings fueled new infections, Christmas and New Year holidays now loom with the specter of more cases. (Woolfolk, 12/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Crisis In California Hospitals As COVID-19 Patients Fill ICUs
Los Angeles County shattered its daily record for new coronavirus cases, with 12,741 reported Thursday as hospitals continued to fill with patients, according to an independent Times tally. The new total is more than 2,800 more coronavirus cases than L.A. County has seen in a single day — breaking the previous record set Sunday — and shows the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly through communities. The county also reported 74 new deaths, the fourth-highest single-day total of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Money and Lin II, 12/10)
LA Daily News:
New LA County Coronavirus Cases Climb To Nearly 13,000 As The Focus Turns To Vaccines
As the record for Los Angeles County coronavirus cases was shattered again Thursday, Dec. 10 — with nearly 13,000 new coronavirus infections — public health officials were focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, vaccines that could be administered to select high-risk people as soon as Monday. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee approved the Pfizer-manufactured vaccine on Thursday, in a major step toward an epic vaccination campaign that could finally conquer the outbreak. The full FDA is expected to embrace the panel’s recommendation. (Evains, 12/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Nears Critical Shortage Of ICU Beds, With Santa Clara County At 8% Of Capacity
Intensive-care availability in the region continued its dramatic decline Thursday, as the number of open ICU beds in Santa Clara County dropped to an alarming 8% — just 38 for nearly 2 million people — and the Bay Area’s capacity to care for critically ill patients slipped below 18%. “This is absolutely the worst we have seen, by an order of magnitude,” Dr. Ahmad Kamal, Santa Clara County’s director of health care preparedness, said this week, noting that three area hospitals ran out of room in the ICU this week and are sending patients elsewhere in the county or, if necessary, to neighboring San Mateo or Alameda counties. Those hospitals were O’Connor and Regional Medical Center in San Jose, and St. Louise in Gilroy. (Asimov, 12/10)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Hospital ICUs Stressed As Seriously Ill COVID-19 Patients Increase 25% In A Day
Intensive-care units at hospitals across Fresno County saw the number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients in their beds leap by more than 25% in a single day. The latest development is adding to concerns among local health officials about coronavirus cases potentially outstripping the resources needed to care for those patients.COVID-19 patients in ICUs lurched from 74 on Tuesday to 95 on Wednesday — an increase of 21 patients or more than 28%. (Sheehan, 12/10)
The Bakersfield Californian:
County Officials Address Dramatic Stats About ICU Capacity In San Joaquin Valley
State officials announced that the intensive care unit capacity in the San Joaquin Valley had fallen to 1.9 percent on Thursday, far below the 15 percent mark that would allow a stay-at-home order to eventually be lifted on counties including Kern. The San Joaquin Valley is one of three regions to be under a stay-at-home order under recent state guidelines, and the state also reports its ICU capacity is the lowest of the five regions. Southern California's capacity is reported to be 7.7 percent. (Gallegos, 12/10)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Health Officer Confident Sonoma County Can Care For Sick
With large portions of California under new strict stay-home orders because of a worrisome rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, Sonoma County’s health officer Wednesday said she so far felt confident local hospitals could care for the rising number of people seriously sick with the coronavirus. (Johnson, 12/9)
Orange County Register:
Some Orange County Ambulances With Patients Are ‘Waiting Hours’ For ER Beds
The rising flood of coronavirus patients has prompted Orange County’s Health Care Agency to warn that emergency room backups have had some ambulances waiting “hours” to offload patients and the county’s critical care network “may collapse unless emergency directives are implemented now.” The grim assessment was sent to Orange County’s 26 emergency receiving centers, as well as ambulance companies and 911 paramedic providers, late Wednesday, Dec. 9, by Dr. Carl Schultz, director of the agency’s Emergency Medical Services. (Wheeler and Kopetman, 12/10)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Coronavirus Surges Hit Upscale Suburbs As Well As The Inner City
Working-class areas of Los Angeles County with dense, crowded housing and neighborhoods with many essential workers have long suffered from high coronavirus cases, and Latino residents are getting infected, hospitalized and dying at disproportionate levels compared to white residents. But the dramatic rise in cases in relatively more affluent communities such as Westchester, Claremont and Silver Lake demonstrates how the coronavirus can easily radiate out to other communities. (Lin II and Money, 12/11)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Order Would Enforce Compliance On Backyard Parties
A split Fresno City Council narrowly approved an order Thursday that gives the city leeway to enforce coronavirus-related safety orders on large backyard parties, which leaders say have become a super spreader concern. The order does not designate the size of a party that would be in violation nor does it mention citations, but leaders who supported it said they have to do something to slow the spread of the disease. (Miller, 12/10)
AP:
California's Health Order Falling On Many Deaf Ears
In the Southern California oceanside city of Manhattan Beach, one arm of government is urging residents to stay home except for essential needs while another is encouraging them to get out and shop and even providing places where they can sit down to relax, eat takeout and watch the sun set on the Pacific. It’s one example of confusing messages from governments as most of California is under a broad shutdown order that includes an overnight curfew to try to stem record-breaking coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the hospital system. (Taxin, Dovarganes and Rodriguez, 12/11)
Sacramento Bee:
California Lottery Will Stop Sending Workers To Stores Amid Feared COVID-19 Spread
The California State Lottery will stop sending sales representatives to liquor and convenience stores starting Monday to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The lottery announced the change to employees Wednesday, after The Bee wrote about workers’ concerns that they could contract and spread the virus on the job. “The lottery is committed to doing its part to help flatten the curve and reduce community spread of the coronavirus,” spokeswoman Carolyn Becker said in an email. “Along with other state agencies, we regularly assess risk and make adjustments as needed.” (Venteicher, 12/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Teams Go Door-To-Door To Administer At-Home Coronavirus Tests To Residents In East San Jose
Alarmed with the disproportionate toll that the latest coronavirus surge is taking on Latinos in Santa Clara County, health officials this week launched a pilot program sending Spanish-speaking volunteers door-to-door to offer at-home coronavirus tests to residents in some of the hardest-hit areas of the county. The county is partnering with two community groups out of East San Jose — Somos Mayfair and META, which stands for Mujeres Empresarias Tomando Accion — to help identify residents who may be infected with the virus and connect them to services and treatment before the disease turns fatal. (Angst, 12/11)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Petaluma Site Adds To COVID-19 Testing Capacity In Sonoma County
Sonoma County is expanding public testing for COVID-19 as a dangerous new period in the coronavirus pandemic sets in, with rising infection rates and hospitalizations in the county and across the state and nation. (Barber, 12/10)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Shipment Of Illicit COVID-19 Tests Seized Off Flight At San Diego Airport
The shipment that arrived at the San Diego International Airport from Mexico was labeled as “plastic card.” Instead, the the two parcels held 251 illicit COVID-19 testing kits, authorities said this week. The Dec. 1 seizure at the Port of San Diego is part of a larger trend seen at border crossings and commercial ports, as the black market rises to profit off the demand for testing. (Davis, 12/10)
Fox News:
California Pastor Blasts 'Tyranny Masquerading As Safety' From Politicians Who Break Own COVID Rules
California pastor Mike McClure is refusing to shutter his church despite a wave of coronavirus regulations he says subvert the nation's founding principles. "I think the shutdowns are an absolute violation of the centrality of our liberty -- and that is the freedom to believe, the freedom to express our belief, [and] the freedom to worship," he told Fox News on Thursday. McClure has joined a growing list of religious leaders who are defying public health guidelines, maintaining that those restrictions infringe on their First Amendment rights. (Dorman, 12/11)
LA Daily News:
LA City Council Votes To Create New Families, Youth Department
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday, Dec. 9, to create a new department to assist families who were already vulnerable to economic uncertainty before the COVID-19 pandemic and are far more so now. Council President Nury Martinez and Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez proposed establishing the Department for Families, Children and Community Investment in October. “COVID-19 has demonstrated that in the face of a crisis, problems that our families face arise not independently but are compounded by ones that already existed, especially for our low-income families,” Martinez said. “Our working-poor families need a focused commitment from the city of Los Angeles in order to help them recover and allow their children to reach their full potential.” (12/10)
LA Daily News:
Nurses, Healthcare Workers Authorize Possible Strike At 3 Area Hospitals
Registered nurses and other healthcare professionals at three local hospitals have authorized their bargaining team to call an unfair labor practice strike if deemed necessary, alleging their facilities were “alarmingly unprepared” for the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Riverside Community Hospital and West Hills Hospital and Medical Center claim they are grappling with staffing shortages and inadequate COVID-19 safety protections for employees and patients. (Smith, 12/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Schools Left To Fend For Themselves On Coronavirus Tests
Lennox School District Supt. Scott Price has dealt with academic programs, union negotiations and budget deficits. But nothing has prepared him or other education leaders to make decisions about a pressing medical issue: How to — or even whether to — provide school-based coronavirus testing to students, teachers and other staff. Many experts view regular, universal testing at schools as a crucial component to helping campuses reopen and remain open, while also contributing toward curbing the raging pandemic. Yet California does not require school-based testing and no one has offered to pay for it. So, Price is going to take a pass — with some misgivings — and try to keep his staff and 5,000 students safe through other means when they are able to return to campus. (Blume, 12/11)
LA Daily News:
Free Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Flu Vaccination Clinics Continue Around Region
Even amid the pandemic — well, ESPECIALLY during the pandemic — getting an annual flu shot is vital, say such experts as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Everyone over 6 months of age should receive a flu vaccine every year, they say. To that end, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have been offering a series of free family flu vaccination clinics this month. (12/11)
Fresno Bee:
Contamination At Fresno Community Center Upsets Residents
It started as a community meeting. It ended as a venting session for southwest Fresno residents to share their frustration and distrust with the city over contamination at the Maxie Parks Community Center. Among the issues raised by the participants: Why did the city delay the notification about the contamination to the community, especially those who worked in the building? Why has the city not notified people who live near the center about toxins in their neighborhood? And why is the city just coming around to a forum to seek community input? Other concerns expressed by members of the community are related to pre-inspection of the site of the Maxie Park Community Center. Particularly, were city officials negligent in not ensuring that pre-construction studies of the site were completed? And what are the health implications of the long exposure to the toxins? (Ugwu-Oju, 12/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Developers Want To Build 4,000 Homes On A Toxic East Bay Site. Activists Want A Full Cleanup First
Sherry Padgett’s activism started in 2004 after she developed cancerous tumors on her left ribs, fibroid tumors in her uterus and had to have her thyroid removed because of cancer. She could never prove her illness was linked to her time spent working across the street from a polluted site in Richmond. But when other workers near her electrical business told her they had similar health issues, Padgett embarked on a nearly 17-year battle to get the city to fully clean up the site. (Ravani, 12/11)
Bay Area News Group:
San Jose Reaches ‘Long Overdue’ Deal For Clearing Of Trash, Encampments Along Union Pacific Tracks
Because San Jose does not maintain jurisdiction over the railroad operator’s right-of-way, city officials historically have had little control over the state of the tracks. But as the city’s homeless population has ballooned and complaints from residents grew louder in recent years, city officials have put considerably more pressure on Union Pacific to maintain its property. Officials say they want to rid nearby residents of the eyesore caused by the blight and illegal dumping and to protect homeless residents from the dangers of living close to the railroad tracks. (Angst, 12/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Wish Book: Baby Care Packages Needed During Pandemic
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in California was a little less than a month away when 40-year-old San Jose resident Vicky Zarzosa Valencia gave birth to her second child, Dennis, on Dec. 28, 2019. The first few months were a struggle for mother and son. Born with a respiratory condition, Dennis spent the first 27 days of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit. And he returned to the hospital within two weeks of being released, to be treated for bronchitis. (Green, 12/11)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Coronavirus Outbreak Detected At San Diego Convention Center Homeless Shelter
City officials confirmed Thursday that an outbreak in the emergency homeless shelter at the San Diego Convention Center hit 120 cases Thursday. Given that the number was just 27 prior to Dec. 3, that’s more than a four-fold increase in just seven days. Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of the county’s epidemiology department, said in a statement that the increase is “not unexpected given the recent surge in cases throughout the county.” (Warth and Sisson, 12/10)
Fresno Bee:
Clovis Breaks Ground On New Habitat For Humanity Homes Intended For Veterans
The City of Clovis has again partnered with Habitat for Humanity Greater Fresno Area to build the city's 25th and 26th Habitat for Humanity homes. These affordable family homes will be intended for local military veteran families. (Kohlruss, 12/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Program To Put Homeless Into Hotel Rooms
[Hayward] is launching a program that will allow some homeless people to temporarily stay in hotel rooms in anticipation that the number of people living on the street will climb as COVID-19 continues to squeeze the economy and put people out of work. It echoes Project HomeKey, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan that moved people out of crowded shelters and into hotel rooms, a project that also includes helping cities and counties purchase hotels, apartments and other buildings and turn them into long-term housing for homeless people. (Hegarty, 12/11)
Los Angeles Times:
A Lawsuit Alleges 'Unchecked Groping' And Other Sex Abuse At O.C. Homeless Shelters
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that sex abuse, overcrowding and unhealthy conditions are rampant in three Orange County homeless shelters, saying conditions had not improved since it released a scathing 2019 report on the county’s emergency shelters. “To spend nights in Orange County emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness, women have had to endure relentless sexual harassment, including highly invasive body searches and voyeurism from staff members, as well as unchecked groping and lewd propositions,” the ACLU said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. (Smith, 12/10)
LAist:
A Devastating Fire Underscores The Crisis Of Veteran Homelessness
In September, Manuel Bernal got horrible news: a fire had destroyed the nearly-finished Nuevo Amanecer apartment complex in East L.A. It would have provided desperately-needed low-income housing, including 30 units for veterans. Bernal is president of the East LA Community Corporation, a nonprofit affordable housing developer. Standing in front of a massive pile of rubble at the intersection of 1st Street and Rowan Avenue, Bernal said work on the complex was 70% finished and move-ins were slated for the end of the year. (Garrova, 12/10)
LA Daily News:
California’s Leaders Should Focus On Securing Vaccine Supplies
California and other states are discussing how to disseminate COVID-19 vaccinations and who will be offered them first. The state’s plan says when California gets its first batch of vaccines that health care workers who interact with patients at acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals, workers at skilled nursing facilities, paramedics, and workers at dialysis centers will be the ‘tier one’ priorities. (Marc Joffe, 12/7)
San Jose Mercury News:
Bay Area Faces Major Vaccine Distribution Challenges
The distribution of COVID-19 vaccine is shaping up as America’s biggest logistical challenge since World War II. Bay Area residents should prepare for logistical issues that could delay immunization beyond the end of 2021, when health officials forecast a return to “normalcy.” In order to reach herd immunity, at least 70% of the Bay Area population of 7.75 million would need to be immune through a vaccine or prior infection. That equates to 4.2 million people. Assuming 500,000 Bay Area infections by the end of 2021 would translate into the need to inject more than 7 million doses, since the most promising vaccines require two doses to be effective. (12/9)
Bay Area News Group and CalMatters:
Who Will Have Priority For COVID-19 Vaccine In California?
There’s nothing new about political jousting over shares of a limited but valuable resource. For instance, Californians have been squabbling for decades over divvying up water supplies among agricultural interests, municipal consumers and the natural environment. The conflict never goes away but increases in intensity every time the state experiences one of its periodic droughts — and this so-far dry autumn may be a harbinger of another such dry spell. (Dan Walters, 12/8)
LA Daily News:
Hypocrisy On Pandemic Rules Contributes To Cynicism
Amid a surge of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and new government-ordered restrictions, tensions and anxieties are understandably high. Not only are lives at risk from COVID-19, but livelihoods too are under growing strain. Which makes it all the more regrettable that a number of public officials have fanned the flames of cynicism with inconsistent and even hypocritical personal behaviors. Gov. Gavin Newsom violated his own public messaging and state guidelines to attend a birthday dinner for a lobbyist at The French Laundry. Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, just after voting to ban outdoor dining in the county, dined at a local restaurant outdoors. (12/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Domestic Stress During COVID Shows Need For Change In Family Courts
Throughout the pandemic, we have seen the effects that COVID-19 has had on families across the country. But little attention has been given to the increasing rates of divorce and domestic violence, combined with the decreased access to family courts with long delays. Which makes now the perfect time to make some long-overdue changes to the divorce process that will benefit the system in the long term. Personality disorders are a huge and largely unrecognized problem in society and they are dominating our family courts. (Bill Eddy, 12/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
What California Learned On The Pandemic Playground
Playgrounds, as the state of California has learned, are serious business, especially for working parents and school-deprived children. So those who dutifully observed pandemic-induced closures of playgrounds for months joyously welcomed their reopening in October. Then, last week, with the coronavirus spreading faster than ever, officials closed them again. It’s been dizzying and discouraging, for parents and children alike. (12/11)
Bay Area News Group:
Child Care Is Essential Work, And It’s In Crisis
I left the corporate world to open a child care center in my home. Now, I am drowning from the strain of operating it during COVID-19.And I’m one of the lucky ones. While my child care center’s doors remain open, a third of my peers in Alameda County have closed. As debts pile up around me, I’m always fighting the fear that I could go under at any time. (Jill Burns, 12/8)