ABC News: FDA Expected To Recommend Boosters For Immunocompromised Americans Within Weeks: Source 
Many immunocompromised Americans have not had high immune responses to the vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to the virus even after getting a shot. Response has been low particularly in transplant recipients, cancer patients or people on medications that suppress their immune response. Last month, experts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory panel were largely supportive of giving those people a third dose to boost their immunity and called on the FDA to move on the issue. (Haslett, Strauss and Pezenik, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Plan Could Be Ready Within Weeks 
The Food and Drug Administration expects to have a strategy on Covid-19 vaccine boosters by early September that would lay out when and which vaccinated individuals should get the follow-up shots, according to people familiar with discussions within the agency. The Biden administration is pushing for the swift release of a booster strategy because some populations—people age 65 or older and people who are immunocompromised, as well as those who got the shots in December or January shortly after they were rolled out—could need boosters as soon as this month, two of the people said. (Armour and Hopkins, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Hundreds Of People Have Gotten 'Supplemental' Vaccine Dose Offered By S.F.
Just over 420 people have received a “supplemental" shot of mRNA vaccine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said Thursday. The department is allowing people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to get a shot of Pfizer or Moderna at city-run clinics if they’ve consulted with their doctor about it. San Francisco, which is not officially recommending this practice, is believed to be the first jurisdiction to allow it under these limited circumstances. Federal officials have not recommended booster shots. (Vaziri, Ho, Galbraith, Buchmann and Fracassa, 8/5)

CNN: Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine Shows 93% Efficacy Through 6 Months
Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine showed 93% efficacy against symptomatic disease through six months, and the company expects to complete its application for full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration this month, the company said Thursday. The efficacy data came from a final analysis of the vaccine's Phase 3 study, which enrolled thousands of participants who received both doses last year, before it was made available to the wider public. "In final analysis" of the study, "the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine showed 93% efficacy, with the efficacy remaining durable through six months after administration of the second dose," Moderna said in a news release. (Thomas and Hanna, 8/5)

Bloomberg: J&J Vaccine Up To 96% Protective Against Death In Mass Trial 
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine helps prevent severe disease among those infected with the delta variant, according to a trial involving almost 480,000 health workers in South Africa. The study, known as Sisonke, provides the first large-scale evidence that the J&J vaccine works against this dominant variant, according to trial co-lead Glenda Gray. It’s probably more protective against delta than it was with the earlier beta strain, she said in a presentation Friday. The single-dose shot was 71% effective against hospitalization and as much as 96% effective against death, she said. It also demonstrated durability of eight months. (Kew and Sguazzin, 8/6)

Orange County Register: LA County Court Staffers Must Get COVID Vaccines To Keep Their Jobs 
All Los Angeles Superior Court employees will soon need to get vaccinated if they want to keep their jobs, leaders of the nation’s largest trial court system announced on Thursday. The more than 4,500 Los Angeles Superior Court employees will have until 45 days after the FDA gives final approval to at least one COVID vaccine to comply with the new vaccine requirement, Presiding Judge Eric C. Taylor announced in a statement. (Emery, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Court To Staff: Get COVID Vaccine Or Get Fired 
Los Angeles County Superior Court, the nation’s largest trial court system, told employees Thursday they must show proof of being fully vaccinated soon after a COVID-19 vaccine receives final government approval or face termination. In a letter to the court’s roughly 5,000 staffers, the top executive, Sherri Carter, said staffers will be required to provide proof of vaccination no more than 45 days after the federal Food and Drug Administration gives its final approval to one of the vaccines available in the U.S. Those with medical conditions or religious beliefs that prohibit vaccination will be eligible for exclusion from the mandate, but otherwise inoculation will be considered “a condition of employment,” she said. (Hamilton, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: Palm Springs Will Require Vaccinations Or Negative Covid-19 Tests For Indoor Dining
The Palm Springs City Council has passed a motion that will require proof of vaccination — or recent negative COVID-19 test results — in order to dine or drink indoors. The regulations were approved unanimously during a special — and virtual — meeting Wednesday that was convened to discuss a series of new measures meant to curb the spread of the virus. Effective immediately, customers, employees and other visitors must wear face coverings in indoor settings. The same goes for large ticketed city events outside, such as the two-weekend music festival Splash House, which begins Aug. 13. (Breijo, 8/5)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Kings Order Employees To Get COVID-19 Vaccines 
The Sacramento Kings became the latest high-profile area employer Thursday to require its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The Kings announced that full- and part-time employees must get the COVID vaccine by Nov. 1, as the organization ramps up employment in anticipation of a full slate of NBA games, concerts and other events at Golden 1 Center this fall. (Kasler, 8/5)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento COVID Updates: Cases, Vaccinations Both Rising 
Sacramento County COVID-19 cases remain on the rise due to the delta variant, but the latest data continue to reflect strong effectiveness of vaccines against severe illness, and demand for them has been increasing, local health officials said Thursday. Of 98 recent hospital admissions for the virus in July, 89 of the patients, or 91%, were not fully vaccinated, county immunization program manager Rachel Allen said during a weekly call with reporters. (McGough, 8/5)

Modesto Bee: COVID Delta Variant Hits Younger People In Stanislaus County 
The latest surge of COVID-19 in Stanislaus County is affecting younger populations not protected by vaccine, while infecting fewer older people who have higher vaccination rates, a top health official said. The county Health Services Agency reported 352 cases among children in July, or 17% of the 2,017 people who tested positive last month. (Carlson, 8/5)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus Tops 60,000 Cases Of COVID-19. Deaths Near 1,100 
Stanislaus County surpassed 60,000 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, 512 days after its first was announced. The milestone came as the world contends with the delta variant of the virus, which threatens to undo the progress in recent months. (Holland, 8/5)

Santa Cruz Sentinel: Santa Cruz Health Officials Attribute Delta Variant To Doubling Of COVID Case Rate 
Santa Cruz County’s COVID-19 case rate has doubled due to the Delta variant, health officials said Thursday. The County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency said in a statement released in the afternoon that COVID-19 disease transmission, case rates and hospitalizations have spiked in the last two weeks. The county’s death rate, the remaining factor used to measure activity on the county’s coronavirus data dashboard, was not mentioned. However, Health Services Agency Spokesperson Corinne Hyland said in an email Wednesday that medical providers had reported two new COVID-19 related deaths. The dashboard has yet to be updated. (Hartman, 8/6)

Bay Area News Group: New Santa Clara County Dashboard Shows Coronavirus Case Rate By Vaccination Status
The coronavirus case rate for unvaccinated people in Santa Clara County is roughly four times the rate for those who have been inoculated against the deadly virus. According to the county’s new dashboard, the case rate — the total number of cases on a given day per 100,000 people — is 25.3 for unvaccinated residents and 6.8 for vaccinated residents. (DeRuy, 8/5)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma County Reports 3 More COVID-19 Deaths, Bringing July Spike To 14
Sonoma County public health officials Thursday reported three more deaths attributed to the coronavirus, including two local residents who were fully vaccinated. The fatalities add to the virus-related death spike, raising the July total to 14. That’s after four deaths in June and a single death in May related to COVID-19. (Espinoza, 8/5)

Orange County Register: Coronavirus: L.A. County Reported 3,672 New Cases And 19 New Deaths, Aug. 5
Los Angeles County public health officials reported 3,672 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 1,315,313 as of Thursday, Aug. 5. The total number of cases represents 13.1% of Los Angeles County’s population. Officials reported 19 new deaths linked to the coronavirus, for a total 24,739 deaths since tracking began. The total number of deaths represents 0.25% of Los Angeles County’s population. (Goertzen, 8/5)

Los Angeles Daily News: Amid Growing COVID Concerns, L.A. County Sees Possible ‘Leveling Off’ Of Virus’ Growth 
The risk of catching a coronavirus in Los Angeles County remained “extraordinarily high” on Thursday,  Aug. 8,  but there were signs of hope that the delta variant-fueled surge may be leveling off here. The urgent push to persuade people to get vaccinated and to wear masks in public was having a positive effect, public health officials said, even as woeful numbers continued to be reported. (Carter, 8/5)

CapRadio: The Delta Variant Is Spreading In California. Immunized People Can Contract And Spread It. Here’s What You Can Do 
The delta variant has changed California’s COVID-19 landscape in a big way. New research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that even fully immunized people can contract the virus and pass it onto others. But health experts say vaccines are still our best chance at reducing viral transmission, since fully vaccinated people are far less likely to get infected. Over the past few weeks California has recommended masking indoors in public for all people, and more counties are making that mandatory, including Sacramento. Here's a look at some key questions around the delta variant, vaccines, and how to stay safe in this new stage of the pandemic. (Caiola, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Most Bay Area Companies Don't Expect Employees Back In The Office Five Days A Week
More than two-thirds of Bay Area companies plan to have workers in the office three days a week or less after the pandemic, a shift that could lead to a permanent drop of more than 1 million commuters a day, according to a new poll. A Bay Area Council poll of 205 companies found only 1% plan to be fully remote, 5% plan to require workers in the office one day a week, 22% plan to require two days, 40% plan to require three days, 13% plan to require four days and 19% are returning to a full five days. Before the pandemic, 93% of the companies said workers were in the office four or five days. (Li, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: We Asked 40 Bay Area Residents: What Are You Doing - And Not Doing - As The Delta Variant Surges?
Beyond the obvious health perils and the economic harm to working families and small businesses, the persistence of COVID-19 has forced us to recalibrate, again and again, how we live our lives from day to day. This has been true since last March, and the convulsive spread of the delta variant shows that deciding how to navigate the social landscape is as volatile as ever. In the wake of surging infection rates and a new regional edict to wear masks inside, some people are pulling back from activities they had resumed just weeks ago. Others are following the same path as before, but with more vigilance. (8/5)

Daily News: COVID-19 ‘Whiplash’ Is Messing With Southern California’s Psyche
It wasn’t that long ago that Southern California was gearing up for bidding the coronavirus a collective “good riddance.” On June 15, the state lifted the bulk of its COVID-era restrictions, setting off significant buzz about weddings, family reunions, music festivals and a general return to normal, pre-pandemic activity. Finally, we sighed, we are starting to see each other’s faces again. (Carter, 8/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Delta Plus Variant: What You Need To Know In The Bay Area
With the delta variant fueling a coronavirus surge in the Bay Area and California, experts are keeping an eye on a related strain: delta plus. First identified in March in Europe, delta plus is a sublineage of the highly contagious delta variant. The strain has been identified in several other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and India. On Tuesday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said it had detected the first two delta plus cases in South Korea, Reuters reported. (Flores, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Napa County Mandates Indoor Mask Use
Napa County will require everyone to wear masks, whether vaccinated or not, beginning Friday morning just after midnight. The county becomes the eighth in the Bay Area to mandate universal masking. Only Solano County has not issued a similar order. (Galbraith, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: 3 Reasons The Bay Area And California Aren't Planning New Lockdowns Even Amid Delta Surge
The spike in coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant has prompted the return of a familiar restriction to the Bay Area: an indoor mask mandate for everyone. But could this latest surge bring back a far more disruptive measure in the Bay Area or even statewide — namely, lockdown orders? The answer so far, according to California and many county officials, is no. (Vainshtein, 8/5)

The Monterey Herald: Two Monterey High Students Test Positive For COVID-19 On First Day Of School
Two students at Monterey High School tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday after attending in-person class for the school’s first day of fall instruction. While Monterey High’s first day of school was underway, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District nurse received a call from a parent who had a child sick at home, according to MPUSD Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh. The parent reached out to have their two other children who were at Monterey High tested for COVID-19. (Kenny, 8/6)

Orange County Register: Mater Dei’s Football Opener Against Centennial Canceled Because Of COVID-19 Safety Protocols 
Mater Dei’s football season opener against Centennial of Corona was canceled Thursday night after two players in Centennial’s football program tested positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing revealed that they might have exposed other players on the team to the coronavirus. It was the second time this week that Mater Dei had a game canceled because of a COVID-19-related issue. The Monarchs are down to just seven regular-season games on their schedule out of a possible 10. (Fryer, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Community Colleges To Require COVID-19 Vaccine Or Testing 
The Los Angeles Community College District will require proof of vaccination or regular testing for students and faculty members during the fall semester. The use of masks will continue to be required — a policy throughout Los Angeles County as coronavirus cases continue to rise due to the Delta variant. The logistics for the vaccination policy at the nine campuses are still being hashed out, LACCD spokesperson William Boyer said, but students and faculty members will have the option to get tested. Vaccination status will not prevent anyone from enrolling, working at or attending campus. Systemwide enrollment in the LACCD was about 230,000 in the most recent data available, from the 2019-20 school year. (Shalby, 8/5)

AP: 'We Lost Greenville': Wildfire Decimates California Town, Prompts Lassen Volcanic National Park Closure 
A three-week-old wildfire engulfed a Northern California mountain town, leaving much of the downtown in ashes, while a new wind-whipped blaze also destroyed homes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday in the midst of dangerous weather. Cal Fire says the Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40 mph gusts, is now the sixth-largest in state history. (Weber and Berger, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Dixie Fire Grows To 361,000 Acres After Wiping Out Much Of Greenville In Plumas County
Almost no structures are left standing in the center of town, except for a Dollar General store, a bank and a small supermarket. The Dixie Fire laid waste to the historic Gold Rush town and then moved on with ferocious speed. Among the ashen remains: a general store built around 1881, the collapsed brick facade of a Masonic lodge and the fallen sign of the former Pioneer Cafe. (Gardiner, Swan and Alexander, 8/5)

Bay Area News Group: Crews Dig In To Protect Communities From Raging Dixie Fire
Firefighters on Thursday night were digging in to protect communities from the volatile Dixie Fire, which has already destroyed at least one town in Plumas County. Mike Wink, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief, said crews were battling spot fires in West Almanor, where at least two structures and a garage were reported to have been destroyed. Crews were also gearing up to face down flames being pushed by winds east toward the Lake Almanor Peninsula and Westwood. (Green, 8/5)

Sacramento Bee: River And Dixie Fires Growth, Containment
Northern California was on fire Thursday, with explosive growth at the River Fire, the continued spread of the Dixie Fire and multiple fires in the Klamath and Shasta-Trinity National forests. More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel battled 97 active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles in 13 U.S. states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. (Hsieh, 8/5)

KQED: California's Big Summer Wildfires Keep Sending Up Dangerous Fire-Triggered Thunderstorms 
The photo of the Dixie Fire captured by Cal Fire’s Santa Clara unit last month is composed like a Renaissance religious painting. Rocks frame the subject — in this case, a towering smoke plume — pine trees point to the sky, while small human figures stand in awe. But the cloud is a product of an earthly inferno, not heaven sent. The pyrocumulus cloud rose above the Dixie Fire on the afternoon of July 19, nearly growing into pyrocumulonimbus — a wildfire-driven thunderhead. (Dillon, 8/5)

AP: California Spending Billions To House Homeless In Hotels
Gov. Gavin Newsom has made tackling homelessness one of his top priorities. Now that the governor faces a recall election, Republican candidates have released their own plans to combat the crisis. John Cox wants to require unhoused people to receive any needed treatment for addiction or mental illness before they can get housing. Kevin Faulconer wants to build more shelters to make it easier to clear encampments. It’s not just Republicans who are exasperated. The mostly progressive Los Angeles City Council this month passed a controversial anti-camping measure to remove homeless encampments. (Weber, 8/5)

Newsweek: California Used COVID Funds To Build 6K Units To Combat Homelessness
California used COVID-19 finds to build 6,000 units to house the homeless, the Associated Press reported. Homekey is an outgrowth of Project Roomkey, which helped supply shelter for those susceptible to the coronavirus. Governor Gavin Newsom's office said $800 million, most of which was federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money, was spent on Homekey in 2020 to provide shelter for 8,200 people. (Gile, 8/4)

San Luis Obispo Tribune: SLO County Homeless Shelter Hit By COVID Outbreak. What’s Being Done To Stop Spread?
A San Luis Obispo homeless shelter is experiencing a coronavirus outbreak involving dozens of people — prompting facilities throughout San Luis Obispo County to limit intake and institute rapid testing.40 Prado Homeless Services Center in San Luis Obispo has identified more than 30 positive COVID-19 cases since July 26, said Tara Kennon, a spokeswoman for the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department. (Holden, 8/4)

Red Bluff Daily News: Northern California Child Diagnosed With Rare Brain Infection; Cause Likely Swimming In Warm, Fresh Water 
A Tehama County child younger than 10 years old has been diagnosed with an extremely rare and devastating infection in the brain known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM. Testing performed by the California Department of Public Health and specialty laboratories were positive for evidence of Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba responsible for PAM, according to a press release issued Wednesday evening by Tehama County Health Services Agency Public Health. The most likely source of infection for this child was swimming in a freshwater lake in Tehama County. (8/5)

The Bakersfield Californian: Bristol Hospice Holds Grief Camp For Children 
Children squealed and laughed as they rowed colorful canoes across glistening lake waters. Legend has it a sea monster will soon overturn the boat, said camp counselor Sabrina Quevedo. Farther away, an instructor wields a bow and arrow at the Bristol Hospice Foundation of California annual kids camp, specifically made for children experiencing the death of a loved one. Tucked into the golden-brown hills past Bakersfield’s China Grade Loop, the 26-year-old camp, located at Gergen Ski Ranch, offers children ages 5-16 the ability to express their grief through physical activity and journaling, said Cherie Shoemake, the director of the Bristol Hospice Foundation. (Desai, 8/5)

The Mercury News and East Bay Times: Californians Should Mask, Vaccinate, Stop Repeating Mistakes
The sad thing about the current surge of COVID-19 in the Bay Area, California and the nation is that it was totally preventable. But a lack of political will and personal responsibility has brought us to the point where we must, once again, don masks and ratchet back daily activities as we watch cases and hospitalizations rise rapidly. (8/4)

The Mercury News: Biden Must Shoulder Portion Of Blame For Vaccine Wariness
It was always going to be a Herculean task to inoculate, with an untried vaccine, a multi-ethnic nation of 330 million people across a vast continent — in an era when the media routinely warps the daily news. Many African Americans understandably harbored distrust of government inoculations after the infamous Tuskegee experiment. Nearly 40 million foreign residents in America were born in other countries, many of which have corrupt governments that long ago lost the trust of the population. (Victor Davis Hanson, 8/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: People Who Won't Get COVID-19 Vaccine Shouldn't Complain About Restrictions 
It would be helpful if people who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine started viewing themselves as a public safety threat rather than victims of the growing requirements aimed at keeping them from spreading the deadly virus to others. Then they might understand why a majority of the public is frustrated and angry with them, as well as why businesses and governments are putting restrictions on commercial, employment and social opportunities for people who won’t get vaccinated. (Michael Smolens, 8/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: Make Vaccination The Price Of Admission To Society
Will the pandemic ever be over? We’ve tried hoping, waiting for and wondering whether it would end, to no avail. With a resumption of regular business and a more effective variant fueling a fourth surge, perhaps more of us can finally agree it’s time to make it go away. That means, above all, that more of us have to be vaccinated. And since we’ve already tried waiting and hoping for that, let’s force the issue by making vaccination the price of admission to society. In the meantime, effective and largely painless precautions such as masks make sense. (8/2)

Los Angeles Times: No More Playing Around For The Unvaccinated 
It may soon be tougher to be unvaccinated against COVID-19 in Los Angeles — and that’s a good thing. Last week, state agencies and the city of Los Angeles imposed rules requiring their employees to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing, and this week L.A. County officials moved to mandate vaccines for their workforce. Other employers have mandated immunization as well. Since then, the rate of vaccinations in California has increased. (8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: I Was Pregnant. I Was Scared. I Got My COVID Vaccine Anyway
It was the latter half of 2020 when my husband and I found out I was carrying our first child. There were happy tears, of course, and congratulations from family and friends. But my future — and my baby’s future — felt uncertain. Just like everyone else, I couldn’t take my mind off of COVID-19. (Sonya Logman Harris, 8/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Masks Are The New Condoms
As new reports raise questions about the latest dangers from the COVID delta variant, a widespread return to the use of masks, even if you have been vaccinated, has become a controversial topic. Many who have received their jabs with the promise of a return to normal resent the idea of going back to what feels like square one. Schools are struggling with conflicting mask messages for their staff and students — just weeks before they are set to open to in-person instruction. CDC guidelines, medical professionals like the American Academy of Pediatrics, and local laws have provided recommendations that often clash. Meanwhile, some parents are protesting for masks. Others against. Teachers are stuck in the middle. (Stephen Sroka, 8/5)

Sacramento Bee: Reports Muddle Picture On Breakthrough COVID Infections 
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned many of us into armchair statisticians and epidemiologists as we pore over infection trends and calculate our risk and, not surprisingly, often misread the numbers.That failing turns up in media reports, too, and it’s causing dismay among those who really are experts in assessing the pandemic’s shifting statistics. (Ned Barnett, 8/4)

Southern California News Group: Coronavirus Economy: Could Delta Stop The Business Rebound?
Just as the coronavirus chill was thawing, the Delta variant is pushing coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths back to levels not seen since early 2021. How will the business bounce-back evolve as consumers, corporations and governments react to new health risks? (Jonathan Lansner, 8/5)

Orange County Register: How Drug Warriors Made The ‘Opioid Epidemic’ Deadlier
According to the lawsuits that four drug companies agreed to settle last week, the “opioid epidemic” was caused by overprescription of pain medication, which suggests that curtailing the supply of analgesics such as hydrocodone and oxycodone is the key to reducing opioid-related deaths. But that assumption has proven disastrously wrong and revealed how prohibition makes drug use deadlier. Per capita opioid prescriptions in the United States, which began rising in 2006, fell steadily after 2012, reflecting the impact of government efforts to restrict and discourage medical use of these drugs. Yet in 2019, when the dispensing rate was lower than it had been since 2005, the U.S. saw more opioid-related deaths than ever before. (Jacob Sullum, 8/3)