Los Angeles Times: Another Bummer Coronavirus Summer For California? Cases Keep Rising Along With Concerns
With coronavirus cases on the rise, California finds itself in a familiar, if frustrating, position — with the threat of another wave looming as summer fast approaches. Coronavirus cases are increasing, in many areas at an accelerating pace. Authorities have not yet expressed alarm about the state of California’s hospitals or imposed far-reaching new rules to blunt the virus’ spread. (Money and Lin II, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: Beverly Hills Mayor, Vice Mayor Test Positive For Coronavirus
Beverly Hills’ mayor and vice mayor have tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the City Council to hold its regular Tuesday meeting virtually. After testing positive for the virus Saturday, Mayor Lili Bosse canceled all her scheduled public events. “Out of an abundance of caution, I regularly test myself before public events,” Bosse said in a Facebook post. “I have always tested negative, however this morning my test came back positive. I am feeling a little tired, but in good spirits overall.” (Poston, 5/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Patients Flag ‘Paxlovid Rebound’ After Taking Antiviral Treatment
When Berkeley resident Myriam Misrach tested positive for the coronavirus last month, she started taking the COVID antiviral pill Paxlovid the same day. Over the five-day course of treatment, her cough and shortness of breath mostly faded, but a couple days after taking the final pill, her symptoms came roaring back. For 48 hours thereafter, she also had a fever, headache, nausea, runny nose and lost her sense of taste, she said. And she once again tested positive for the virus — despite having tested negative and feeling much better just a few days prior. (Ho, 5/21)

Bay Area News Group: 'A Million Stories As Heartbreaking As Mine': Humble Death Notices Capture COVID's Toll
Ryan Elliott couldn’t put off writing his father’s obituary any longer. Word was already spreading through Vallejo that his dad – a well-known commercial real estate broker and civic leader – had died. But he had to work his way up to it. He and his brother, Jason, held warm childhood memories of their father teaching them to waterski at Lake Tahoe and drive off-road along the Rubicon Trail, but like many sons and fathers, their relationship was complicated. Their dad could be difficult – especially when it came to COVID-19. (Sulek, 5/22)

Bay Area News Group: Masks Back On At Berkeley Unified
More than two months after state officials lifted an indoor mask mandate for public school students, Berkeley Unified leaders will require students to mask up again for the last two weeks of the academic year amid a surge of COVID cases. In a memo to parents, Superintendent Brent Stephens said all students, staff and people at district campuses and facilities must begin wearing masks on Monday. The mandate includes people attending indoor school events and indoor graduations, even those taking place off campus. (Jimenez, 5/22)

Fox News: Army Nears 100% Vaccination, Claims Only 1% Refusal Among Troops
The U.S. Army reports that it nears a 100% COVID-19 vaccination rate among troops, claiming the service has issued 3,411 general officer reprimands to soldiers who refused the order to be vaccinated. The active forces have recorded a 97% completion of vaccination regimen, with that number to hit 98% after additional troops complete their current booster regimen. The Pentagon in Aug. 2021 issued a vaccine mandate for the armed forces, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordering each branch to fully vaccinate active duty, Guard and Reserve troops. Troops in various military branches had months to comply with the order, with each branch setting its own deadline to complete the regimen. (Aitken, 5/22)

USA Today: Pfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine For Kids Under 5 Appears Safe, Effective
Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective for children ages 6 months to 5 years, according to a company study released early Monday. The study of nearly 1,700 young children showed the vaccine to be as safe as a placebo and more than 80% protective during the omicron outbreak. No new safety issues were identified during the trial, the companies said in a news release, and the majority of reported adverse events were mild or moderate. (Weintraub, 5/23)

NBC News: Covid Vaccine For Kids Under 5: 3 Doses Of Pfizer Vaccine Is Effective, Pfizer Says
The 80 percent efficacy figure may change as the company gathers more data. It is based on 10 symptomatic cases of Covid that occurred seven days after the third dose of the vaccine as of April 29. A formal analysis will be performed once there are at least 21 positive cases in the clinical trial. The safety and immune response data are finalized, the company said. The first two doses of the vaccine are given three weeks apart, followed by a third dose at least two months later. The findings were announced in a news release, and the full data haven’t been made available for outside experts to review. (Miller and Lovelace Jr., 5/23)

The New York Times: Pfizer Says Three Doses Of Its Vaccine Produce A Strong Response In The Youngest Children
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said the number of children in the trial who fell ill with Covid was too small to make a definitive statement on efficacy. Only 10 children participating in the trial became ill with Covid after those in the vaccination group were given the third dose. The clinical trial’s protocol specified that analysis of vaccine efficacy required at least 21 Covid cases. The companies said that final data on efficacy, a secondary endpoint for the clinical trial, would be shared “once available.” (LaFraniere, 5/23)

CNN: Three-Dose Covid-19 Vaccine Produces Strong Immune Response In Children Ages 6 Months To 5 Years, Pfizer And BioNTech Say
The Phase 2/3 trial included 1,678 children who received a third dose during the period when the Omicron coronavirus variant dominated. Antibody levels tested one month after the third dose showed the vaccine produced a similar immune response as two doses in 16-to-25 year-olds, the companies said in a news release. The data has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. (Kounang, 5/23)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Bay Area Leaders Give Tips On Handling Baby Formula Shortage
Bay Area health officials are encouraging parents of young children to take a series of steps to cope with the nationwide shortage of infant formula. Measures were issued Friday by the Association of Bay Area Health Officials, which includes Sonoma County. They cover a formula shortage that began earlier this month and is blamed on supply line problems and a recent recall by Abbott Nutrition, a manufacturer of baby food. (Atagi, 5/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Baby Formula Crisis: Bay Area Health Officials Offer Advice On Coping With Shortage
As the nationwide baby formula shortage persists, Bay Area health officials have released guidance for parents unable to get the products they need. In a joint statement Friday, officials from all nine Bay Area counties, plus San Benito County and the city of Berkeley, noted that while California is faring better than many other states in the shortage, parents having trouble finding their baby’s formula should use caution when looking for alternatives. (Echeverria, 5/21)

CBS News: Military Plane Carrying 39 Tons Of Baby Formula Arrives In U.S.
Enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles arrived Sunday in Indianapolis, the first of several flights carrying infant formula from Europe expected this weekend to relieve the deepening shortage in the U.S. The formula, weighing 78,000 pounds, or 39 tons, was being transported by military plane, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Biden flew from South Korea to Japan. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Indianapolis to greet the arrival of the first shipment. (5/22)

ABC News: Plane Carrying More Than 75,000 Pounds Of Imported Baby Formula Lands In US 
Another shipment of formula will be flying into Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on a FedEx plane this coming week, the White House announced Sunday afternoon. FedEx has secured a government contract to carry that critical cargo, bringing it from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. From there, the formula will be transported to a Nestlé facility in Pennsylvania via FedEx's integrated air and ground network. The White House said the flight and trucking "will take place in the coming days." (Hutzler, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Abbott CEO Apologizes For Company’s Role In Baby Formula Shortage 
Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Robert Ford apologized Saturday for his company’s role in the nationwide shortage of baby formula and promised production will ramp up again in June. “We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down,” Mr. Ford wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. (Otis, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Abbott CEO Robert Ford: What We're Doing To Fix The Formula Shortage. 
We at Abbott take great pride in helping people with diabetes check their glucose, providing critical coronavirus testing and making lifesaving heart devices. And yes, we take great pride in manufacturing nutrition and formula to feed America’s infants, including our most vulnerable. But the past few months have distressed us as they have you, and so I want to say: We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage. (Robert Ford, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Monkeypox Virus Shouldn’t Spur Covid-19 Level Of Concern, Joe Biden Says
President Joe Biden sought to reassure Americans that the current monkeypox outbreak was unlikely to cause a pandemic on the scale of Covid-19. “I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with Covid-19,” he told reporters Monday in Tokyo at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The US has enough small pox vaccine stockpiled to deal with the outbreak, Biden said. Still, he said people should be cautious. (Cook and Jacobs, 5/23)

The Hill: Biden Says Monkeypox Quarantine Requirements Unlikely, But ‘People Should Be Careful’ 
President Biden on Monday said he does not expect the United States to impose quarantine requirements for individuals infected by or exposed to monkeypox, but he urged Americans to “be careful” as the virus circulates more widely. Biden was asked during a press conference in Tokyo about other countries, namely Belgium, that have required those infected with monkeypox to quarantine for 21 days, and whether Americans should expect something similar. “No, I don’t think so,” Biden said. (Samuels, 5/23)

USA Today: Monkeypox Outbreak: Joe Biden Says US Has Enough Vaccines
A day after saying “everybody should be concerned” about an outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox, President Joe Biden on Monday sent a more reassuring message. Biden said the smallpox vaccine is effective on monkeypox and the United States has enough “to deal with the likelihood of a problem.” (Groppe, 5/23)

AP: Expert: Monkeypox Likely Spread By Sex At 2 Raves In Europe 
A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe. In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals. (Cheng, 5/23)

The Bakersfield Californian: State Bills Propose New Court For Defendants With Mental Health Issues 
A new court may come to Kern County. Two pieces of legislation would create the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court Program: Senate Bill 1338, introduced by state Sens. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton; and Assembly Bill 2830, introduced by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica. Both bills look to establish a new civil court for mentally incompetent defendants charged with a misdemeanor who suffer “schizophrenia spectrum or suffer psychotic disorders,” according to the bills. (Desai, 5/21)

AP: Woman Dies At Sacramento Jail After Medical Emergency 
A 64-year-old woman found dead in a cell at Sacramento County Main Jail had experienced an unspecified medical emergency, sheriff’s officials said. Guards discovered the dead inmate during a cell check early Tuesday, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The woman had been in custody since March 2 on felony domestic violence charges, the Sacramento Bee reported Saturday. (5/22)

The Mercury News: Gun Violence Costs Santa Clara County $72 Million, According To Public Health Report
Santa Clara County incurs $72 million in costs associated with gun violence every year, according to a newly released report by the Department of Public Health. The report, which investigated gun violence incidents going back to 2000, measured the impact on the county’s medical and mental health infrastructure, emergency services and law enforcement. The data did not include costs associated with incarceration or to the private sector. (Greschler, 5/22)

KQED: California Debates Opening Safe Injection Sites To Prevent Overdose Deaths 
Lawmakers in California are debating whether to open sites where people can inject or snort illegal drugs under the watchful gaze of a health care worker. These facilities are an effort to save lives as overdoses skyrocket across the country. "Instead of having people use drugs on the sidewalk when your kid is walking by, we want to give them a place where they can go inside," said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the sponsor of a bill to pilot facilities in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. (McClurg, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times: Drug Checking Aims To Protect Users From Serious Harm
Inside a tent buffeted by the wind, Tara Stamos-Buesig unpacked her testing kit, hoping the shifting hues of its chemicals could help her save a life. Billy, a 38-year-old who first started using oxycodone as a teenager, handed her a set of baggies labeled “ketamine,” “heroin,” “crystal meth” and “fentanyl.” Stamos-Buesig hunted for the right bottle of chemical reagents to mix with each sample. She scrutinized one baggie after a few drops of reagent had mixed with the sample, tapping a polished fingernail to the corner. “Did you guys do the ketamine?” she asked Billy and his girlfriend. Not yet, they answered. “I want to see if it has meth in it.” (Reyes, 5/22)

Sacramento Bee: Parking Lot For Homeless To Open At Sacramento Transit Site
A long-delayed effort to open a safe parking lot for homeless individuals to live in their vehicles at a Sacramento Regional Site site is on track to open this year after a breakthrough between the city and the commuter agency. The Roseville Road Regional Transit light rail station parking lot, near the I-80 overpass, will contain space for unhoused individuals to live in about 70 vehicles, with access to bathrooms, showers, food, water, 24/7 security, and help finding housing. (Clift, 5/23)

Bay Area News Group: Even Apple's Millions Couldn't Pull Them Out Of Homelessness
When Apple wanted to clear a large homeless encampment from its property last year, the tech giant didn’t just sweep everyone off the site — it spent millions of dollars to give dozens of people a nine-month motel stay and help them find housing. Now, that nine-month motel reprieve is set to expire Monday, and while the wealthy tech company’s efforts have helped permanently house eight people, more than three times that many were still awaiting placements days before the deadline. (Kendall, 5/23)

Axios: Jif Peanut Butter Recall: FDA Links Select Products To Salmonella Outbreak
The J. M. Smucker Co. is recalling select Jif peanut butter products for potential Salmonella contamination. The voluntary recall comes amid a multistate outbreak of infections linked to certain Jif peanut butter products produced by the company’s facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Health officials from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the ongoing outbreak and say there have been 14 reported cases of Salmonella Senftenberg infections with two hospitalizations. (Tyko, 5/21)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: 185K Pounds Of Bacon Products Recalled After Nationwide Distribution
An Iowa company has recalled about 185,610 pounds of ready-to-eat bacon topping products that might be contaminated with metal, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release Friday. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said it expects there to be additional products containing the bacon and urges consumers to check back frequently to view updated lists and labels. The product was produced on various dates between Feb. 21 and 23 and March 3 and 5. (Garcia, 5/20)