Palm Springs Desert Sun: COVID-19: Cases, Hospitalizations Continue To Climb In Riverside County
Local COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued on their upward trend this week, but county officials hope the "current trend will remain" and not worsen this summer. The nine Coachella Valley cities saw a slight improvement in COVID-19 cases last week, but substantial gains were made again. The cities added 642 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Tuesday. That's up 11% from the previous week, when there were 578 cases reported between June 1 and 8. (Sasic, 6/15)

Los Angeles Times: Being ‘Fully Vaccinated’ But Not Boosted Won't Stop Omicron
Two shots of COVID-19 vaccine without an additional booster offer essentially no lasting protection against infection with Omicron, and a coronavirus infection is as effective as a recent booster shot in preventing a new Omicron-fueled illness, researchers reported Wednesday. At the same time, any immunity to the highly contagious variant, either from infection or vaccination, appears to offer significant and lasting protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death, the researchers found. And if you haven’t had either the virus or the vaccine, doctors urged, it’s better to get the jab. (Purtill, 6/15)

NBC News: 'Part Of A New Normal:' Covid Reinfections Are Here To Stay
In 2020, Covid reinfections were considered rare. In 2021, breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals could occur, but again, the risk was low. In 2022, that's no longer the case for either. As more immune-dodging coronavirus variants emerge, reinfections and breakthrough infections appear increasingly normal. The United States isn't currently tracking Covid reinfections. However, U.K. researchers have found that the risk of reinfection was eight times higher during the omicron wave than it was in last year's delta wave. (Syal and Miller, 6/16)

NBC News: Rapid Covid Tests Give Many False Negatives, But That Might Mean You're Not Contagious
Dr. Calvin Hwang, a clinical assistant professor at Stanford, and two other disease experts said rapid tests (also known as antigen tests) are good indicators of when a person might be contagious. "Only the people shedding the most virus are going to be positive with a rapid test, but those are the people you especially want to identify because they’re the most infectious," said Dr. Sheldon Campbell, an associate professor of laboratory medicine at the Yale School of Medicine who wasn't involved in the research. (Bendix, 6/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Virus Update: COVID Can Cloud The Brain For Half A Year, Study Finds
The neurological impact of a COVID-19 infection often persists after other symptoms have cleared up, according to an initial round of research published Wednesday by scientists at UCSD. A majority of patients in the study, published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, reported symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, memory impairment, and decreased concentration for up to six months after a mild or moderate case of COVID-19. Some also had coordination and cognitive issues. While the symptoms generally improved after half a year, only one-third of the participants said they were completely resolved at that point. None of the individuals in the study had any history of pre-existing neurological conditions prior to their infections. (Vaziri and Ho, 6/15)

NBC News: Covid Vaccines For Children Under 5 Endorsed By FDA Panel
Food and Drug Administration advisers voted Wednesday to recommend authorizing both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccines for young children, clearing one of the final hurdles to getting the youngest Americans vaccinated. The Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee held a vote for each vaccine during its Wednesday meeting. Both recommendations were unanimous: 21-0. Moderna’s vaccine is for children ages 6 months to 5 years, while Pfizer’s is for children ages 6 months to 4 years. (Lovelace Jr., 6/15)

Stat: FDA Panel Backs Use Of Pfizer, Moderna Covid Shots In Young Kids
Before families can start to avail themselves of the vaccines, though, an advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs to recommend the shots, too, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must accept the recommendation. The group meets Friday and Saturday, when the votes will be held. (Herper and Branswell, 6/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna To Study Its Covid-19 Vaccine In Babies As Young As 3 Months 
Moderna Inc. is planning to test its Covid-19 vaccine in babies 3 months to 6 months old, the youngest age group studied to date. The Cambridge, Mass., company said Wednesday it is in the final stages of planning the study, to be called BabyCove and expected to begin enrolling as many as 700 babies in September. BabyCove would be the first study of Moderna’s vaccine in infants younger than 6 months. (Loftus, 6/15)

Sacramento Bee: CalPERS Health Insurance Prices To Increase Next Year
Premiums are projected to grow an average of about 7% for CalPERS health insurance policyholders next year, with two popular PPOs spiking by more than 14%, according to preliminary prices posted online Tuesday by the retirement system. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System provides health insurance for about 1.5 million people, including roughly 750,000 state and local public employees and retirees and about 770,000 dependents. (Venteicher, 6/16)

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Nurses At Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center To Hold One-Day Strike 
Nurses at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center announced they will stage a one-day strike on June 23, 2022, claiming they are understaffed, overworked and lacking in needed supplies to adequately do their job. The workers, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), gave their 10-day notice of the walkout late last week, saying they are burned out. (Smith, 6/15)

AP: High Court Rules Against Government On Drug Reimbursement
The Supreme Court said Wednesday that the federal government improperly lowered drug reimbursement payments to hospitals and clinics that serve low-income communities, a reduction that cost the facilities billions of dollars. The high court ruled unanimously in a case involving payments for drugs, largely for cancer, that are used by Medicare patients in hospital outpatient departments. The Biden administration had stood by a Trump administration decision to reduce the payments. (Gresko, 6/15)

Bloomberg: US Elderly Skimp On Food, Clothes To Pay For Health Care: Survey
Older Americans are sacrificing basic necessities to afford costly health services, according to a survey that shows how many elderly people cut personal expenses to take care of medical needs. Out-of-pocket health costs for elders in the US rose 41% from 2009 to 2019, according to findings from analytics firm Gallup Inc. and West Health, a nonprofit that focuses on senior care. About 9% of Americans 65 and older spent less on food, 6% cut spending on utilities and 19% trimmed clothing expenditures to help cover health costs, according to the survey. (Taylor, 6/15)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Sheriff's Department Agrees To Make Naloxone More Accessible In Jails 
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has started the process of installing boxes of naloxone, a life-saving medication that can reverse an opiate overdose, in communal areas in all six of its jails. The action follows a formal recommendation by the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board last month that asked that naloxone, also known as Narcan, be “readily available” to all incarcerated people. (6/15)

Los Angeles Times: Companies, Organizations Address Youth Mental Health
A major entertainment studio says it will feature plotlines about mental health in teen-targeted shows. Celebrity athletes say they will help destigmatize talk about mental health among young people. A Los Angeles nonprofit is expanding training for professional youth mentors. Big technology and media companies, local groups, youth leaders, basketball players and educators are pledging to come together in response to the U.S. surgeon general’s public health advisory last December, warning of an “urgent” need to address a national youth crisis. (Blume, 6/14)

CalMatters: Day Camp: Will California Start Regulating Them?
As summer kicks off, more than a million California children are gearing up for horseback riding, swimming, archery, computer coding, and hip hop day camps. As parents scout out fun activities for their kids, most are likely unaware of the risks. Unlike child care facilities and schools, children’s day camps are not required to conduct employee background checks, be licensed by the state, require CPR certification or report injuries or deaths to the state. No state agency conducts inspections for child safety, audits lifeguard certifications or reviews safety plans for activities that include zip-lining, swimming and shooting guns. (Aguilera, 6/16)

AP: Judge OKs Los Angeles' Lawsuit Settlement On Homelessness
A federal judge this week gave final approval to a lawsuit settlement that commits the city of Los Angeles to sheltering or housing thousands of homeless residents within five years. In approving the deal reached in April, U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote Tuesday that the agreement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate.” (Weber, 6/15)

Axios: Monkeypox Outbreak "Poses A Real Risk" To Public Health, WHO Says
The monkeypox outbreak "poses a real risk" to public health, said the World Health Organization's European chief Wednesday. "The magnitude of this outbreak poses a real risk; the longer the virus circulates, the more it will extend its reach, and the stronger the disease’s foothold will get in non-endemic countries," said Dr. Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, in a statement. Kluge said governments, health officials and general society "need to act with urgency" in order to control the outbreak. (Scribner, 6/15)

AP: WHO To Share Vaccines To Stop Monkeypox Amid Inequity Fears 
The World Health Organization said it’s creating a new vaccine-sharing mechanism to stop the outbreak of monkeypox in more than 30 countries beyond Africa. The move could result in the U.N. health agency distributing scarce vaccine doses to rich countries that can otherwise afford them. To some health experts, the initiative potentially misses the opportunity to control monkeypox virus in the African countries where it’s infected people for decades, serving as another example of the inequity in vaccine distribution seen during the coronavirus pandemic. (Cheng, 6/15)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Monkeypox Case Reported In Las Vegas Area
The U.S. outbreak of monkeypox has touched Clark County, with a presumptive positive case reported in a local man who recently traveled within the country, the Southern Nevada Health District said on Wednesday. The man, who is in his 20s, was not hospitalized and is isolating at home. The health district is coordinating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to perform confirmatory testing of the case, which was detected through the presentation of lesions and testing by the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory. The district has not identified any additional cases through its investigation and contact tracing. (Hynes, 6/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: State Supreme Court Allows Customers To Sue Amazon Over Hazardous Products
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed consumers to sue Amazon for failing to warn the public about potential harm from products sold on its website, such as mercury in skin-lightening creams. This is the first time a California court has allowed damage claims for online advertising of products manufactured and sold by others. A state appeals court ruling in March reinstating the lawsuit became final Wednesday when the state’s high court denied review of Amazon’s appeal and allowed the ruling to stand as a binding precedent for lower courts statewide. (Egelko, 6/15)

Sacramento Bee: Forest Service Warns Against Toxic Blue-Green Algae By Lake Tahoe. How Can It Be Avoided? 
As temperatures rise, the U.S. Forest Service has issued a warning against toxic blue-green algae detected at two Lake Tahoe beaches. Posted on Wednesday to the Forest Service’s social media, the alert urges caution while visiting Kiva Beach and Taylor Creek, where mats of blue-green algae have been detected. Also known as cyanobacteria, the algae has adverse health effects on people and animals. (Hodgman, 6/15)

USA Today: EPA Finds No Safe Level For Toxic PFAS In Thousands Of Water Systems
The Environmental Protection Agency stunned scientists and local officials across the country on Wednesday by releasing new health advisories for toxic "forever chemicals" known to be in thousands of U.S. drinking water systems, impacting potentially millions of people. The new advisories cut the safe level of chemical PFOA by more than 17,000 times what the agency had previously said was protective of public health, to now just four "parts per quadrillion." The safe level of a sister chemical, PFOS, was reduced by a factor of 3,500. The chemicals are part of a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals due to their extreme resistance to disintegration. They have been linked to different types of cancer, low birthweights, thyroid disease and other health ailments. In effect, the agency now says, any detectable amounts of PFOA and PFOS are unsafe to consume. (Bagenstose, 6/15)

Axios: Most Americans Live With Unsafe Air Pollution Levels
More than 92% of Americans live in a region with unsafe air pollution, which could lead to reduced life expectancy, according to the latest University of Chicago Air Quality Life Index. Some Americans could add more than a year to their lives if they lived in a place with cleaner air. Air pollution can affect not only the lungs but also the heart, upper airways and many other organs. (Dreher, 6/15)

The New York Times: Dangerously Hot Weather Descends on 60 Million Americans
Millions of people were expected to suffer through blistering conditions again on Thursday with heat-related warnings and advisories in effect, mostly in the Midwest and Southeast, the National Weather Service said, adding that it may take weeks to see relief. More than 60 million people from Southern California to West Virginia and as far south as Florida were under an excessive heat warning or heat advisory, meteorologists said. Residents in several states on Wednesday saw temperatures rise well into the 90s, and in some cases into the 100s, according to forecasters at the National Weather Service. They said hot temperatures were likely to persist across large sections of the country for several days. (Albeck-Ripka and Bryson Taylor, 6/15)

Fox Business: Baby Formula Production Halted At Abbott's Michigan Plant Due To Flooding After Severe Storms
The Abbott Laboratories plant in Michigan that was at the center of the nation's baby formula crisis has stopped production again. Production of its EleCare specialty formula was stopped after severe storms in southwestern Michigan flooded areas of its Sturgis, Michigan plant. This is the same plant that forced Abbott to issue a recall of some of its formulas in February due to contamination issues. The closure of the Sturgis facility, the largest in the U.S. and source of leading brands like Similac, exacerbated the industry-wide baby formula shortage. For several months, parents and caregivers have been scrambling as shelves increasingly become more barren. Meanwhile, retailers were forced to put purchasing limits on the product to try and curtail stockpiling. (Martin, 6/16)

CNN: Formula Production At Abbott's Michigan Plant Delayed After Flooding From Severe Storms 
In tweets Wednesday night, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said, "We know Abbott is working quickly to assess the damage and will be reporting its progress to us in the days ahead. Once the company establishes a plan, FDA will be back in the facility working to ensure that they can restart producing safe and quality formula products quickly." (Gumbrecht, 6/15)

Fox Business: Baby Formula Shortage: White House To Ship More Than 44,000 Pounds 
The Biden administration announced a seventh mission for "Operation Fly Formula," amid the nationwide shortage of infant formula. In a release, the administration said it would facilitate the shipment of approximately 548,000 eight-ounce bottle equivalents of Nestlé Alfamino® and Alfamino®Junior specialty infant formula this week, or more than 44,000 pounds. The Nestlé formula will be transported from Switzerland to Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday. (Musto, 6/15)

Reuters: Baby Formula Makers Raced For FDA Approval. They May Be Waiting A While 
To ease the U.S. shortage of baby formula, Nature's One and Holle are poised to ship hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions of pounds, of additional formula into stores, company executives told Reuters. They may be waiting a while. (DiNapoli, 6/15)

CNBC: What Led To The Baby Formula Shortage − How Lawmakers Are Trying To Prevent Another
More than 40% of baby formula in the U.S. was out of stock at the beginning of May and the problem has continued, according to Datasembly, a retail tracking group. And it wasn’t just a factory shutdown that led to the crisis. America’s strict formula import regulations and a nutritional program for low-income families may have contributed to the disaster. (Baldwin, 6/15)

National Geographic: The Microbe Behind The Baby Formula Recall Can Be Benign—Or Deadly
Cronobacter sakazakii, a little-known microbe, has evolved traits that make it difficult to destroy, posing a threat to our food safety. (Chang, 6/15)

Politico: Biden Launches Plan To Protect Transgender Youths’ Health Care 
President Joe Biden on Wednesday will order his health agency to begin efforts to ban conversion therapy and expand access to gender-affirming treatment after a slew of state attempts to limit transgender health care, particularly for children. The president’s executive order will call on the Department of Health and Human Services to clarify that federally funded programs cannot offer conversion therapy, a widely discredited practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and work on a public information campaign about the practice. Biden is also directing HHS to take “steps to address the barriers and exclusionary policies” to different types of health care and treatment. (Owermohle and Daniels, 6/15)

Bloomberg: Biden Blocks Funding For LGBTQ Conversion Therapy With Order Marking Pride 2022
President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop guidance blocking federal funding for organizations that subject LGBTQ youth to harmful and discredited practices known as conversion therapy. In an effort to counter a series of state-level anti-LGBTQ legislation and policies, Biden on Wednesday signed the order as a show of support for LGBTQ people and children in particular, senior administration officials said. (Ceron and Fabian, 6/15)

Times of San Diego: Mayor Gloria At White House Wednesday For Special LGBTQ Pride Celebration 
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria [was] in Washington on Wednesday to join President Biden, members of Congress and local elected leaders in a special LGBTQ Pride celebration at the White House. Gloria, who is head of the LGBTQ Alliance in the U.S. Conference of Mayors, was invited to the White House event by the President and First Lady.  (Jennewein, 6/15)

AP: Trans Kids' Treatment Can Start Younger, New Guidelines Say
A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at age 15 or 17, a year or so earlier than previous guidance. The group acknowledged potential risks but said it is unethical and harmful to withhold early treatment. (Tanner, 6/15)