Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Schools Walk the Tightrope Between Ideal Safety and the Reality of Covid
Across the country, politics have muddied the question of when and how to reopen schools. Even though teachers continue to fear for their safety, lawmakers and parents are demanding that schools take advantage of declining infection rates to open safely and quickly. (Laura Ungar and Samantha Young, )
US Supreme Court Strikes Down California Ban On Indoor Church Services: Some California churches reopened their doors for services Sunday after the Supreme Court ruled last week that the state’s orders prohibiting indoor services during the pandemic appeared to violate the Constitution. But the court said that the state, for now, can keep in place indoor restrictions on singing and chanting. Read more from the Los Angeles Times, AP and NPR.
Active-Duty Troops To Help With California’s Vaccinations: The federal government will send hundreds of troops to California in the coming weeks to help bolster the administration of vaccines in the state. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle and The Hill.
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
LA Daily News:
L.A. County’s First Priority Will Be Second-Dose COVID Vaccinations This Week
If you’re looking to get your second coronavirus vaccination this week, you’re Los Angeles County’s first priority. Appointments for first doses, meanwhile, may be difficult to come by. At the county-operated large-scale vaccination sites, only a limited number of first doses will be administered Monday, Feb. 8; the rest of the week’s mega-site appointments will be reserved solely for people in need of their second dose of the medication. (2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Clinic In Latino Area Gets 100 Vaccines For 12,000 Patients
“How is 100 going to take care of the 12,000 patients and the surrounding community of 1 million?” asked Dr. Don Garcia, the clinic’s medical director. “This is embarrassing.” In California, Latino residents have been disproportionately affected by the virus. Latinos are an estimated 40% of the state’s population, but represent 55% of its COVID cases and 46% of its deaths from the novel coronavirus. The number of Latino residents in L.A. County who are dying from COVID-19 daily — on average, over a two-week period — has skyrocketed: 40 deaths per 100,000 Latino residents. That’s nearly triple that of white residents, a segment of the population that sees an average of 14 deaths per 100,000. (Carcamo, 2/6)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Severely Limited In 1st Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccines
The chance to get the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will be at a premium in Los Angeles County next week as a continuing supply crunch and a hefty queue of those needing a second shot will leave few opportunities for those looking to start their inoculations, a top health official said Friday. Most appointments offered at the major county-run vaccination sites will be needed for second doses, according to Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the L.A. County Department of Public Health. At the county’s five mega-PODs, or mass points of distribution, only a very limited number of people will be able to receive their first doses Monday. (Money, Lin II and Shalby, 2/5)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County Considers Latino COVID-19 Vaccine Access
As Latinos continue to experience the highest COVID-19 case rates in Stanislaus County, officials in the last week announced measures designed to ensure the most vulnerable can get vaccinated. Some community advocates welcomed the county’s mobile clinic pilot program and plans to consider health equity ratings, but identified additional strategies to clearly communicate vaccine information and make the shots accessible for Latinos. Suggestions included increasing the number of Spanish-speaking staff at county vaccine clinics, providing transportation to clinics, giving shots at churches and building trust with more outreach and education. Latinos in Stanislaus County account for 64% of known COVID-19 cases despite making up 47% of the population, representing a disparity that has persisted since health officials began releasing ethnicity data in May. (Lam, 2/8)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Mass Vaccination: Taft Works To Get COVID-19 Vaccines Into The Arms Of West-County Residents
The goal was to vaccinate 300 patients in Taft on Friday, with no fuss, no muss — and without making them wait or inconveniencing anyone. People came from Frazier Park, Pine Mountain Club, Bakersfield and even from as far away as Atascadero to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations at no cost. (Mayer, 2/5)
Monterey Herald:
Vaccines For Veterans Coming To Marina
The Veterans Administration Palo Alto Healthcare System received approval to administer 600 doses of Moderna vaccine Feb. 13 at the Gourley Clinic in Marina it was announced Friday evening. According to a county email, appointments are limited to veterans in the area who are 75 years old and older. To schedule an appointment veterans can call VA Palo Alto at (650) 496-2535 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Previously, the COVID-19 vaccine was being offered to eligible veterans through the Veterans Administration but for the estimated 17,500 veterans in Monterey County, that meant a round trip to Palo Alto to get the inoculation. (2/6)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Life After The COVID-19 Vaccine: Relief, But No 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card
Like many other San Diegans, Patricia Horvath has been daydreaming for months about what life will be like once she gets the COVID-19 vaccine. Hug the grandkids. Take an international cruise with friends. It’ll be a real shot in the arm, the 81-year-old Point Loma resident figured, in more ways than one. Except now that she’s received the vaccine, she’s finding out it’s not that simple. (Wilkens, 2/6)
The New York Times:
Anti-Vaccine Activists Emboldened In California
An out-of-work stand-up comic originally from New Jersey. An actor and conservative podcast host dressed in a white lab coat. A gadfly who has run several unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Los Angeles. And at least a few who had been in Washington the day of the Capitol riot. They were among the motley crew of so-called anti-vaxxers who recently converged on the entrance of the mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium to protest distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. The loosely formed coalition represents a new faction in California’s long-established anti-vaccine movement. And the protest was the latest sign that Californians have become the unlikely standard-bearers for aggressive criticism of the vaccines even as virus cases continue to spread in the state. (Fernandez, 2/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
As Coronavirus Variants Spread, California Worries That Vaccines Won't Come Quickly Enough To Prevent A New Wave
“We would all love to be able to say it’s all downhill from here, but we can’t say that based on these variants,” said Dr. Nicholas Moss, the health officer in Alameda County, which reported its first six cases of the variant from the U.K. last week. “The virus is adapting more quickly than we initially had thought.” Public health experts have said for weeks that the United States is in a race against variants, to vaccinate as many people as possible before new mutations of the coronavirus cause even more widespread disease or make the vaccines less effective. (Allday, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Tracking Coronavirus Mutations Can Help Predict Pandemic’s Future
“We’re working with blindfolds on if we’re unable to track the emergence and spread of these new SARS-CoV-2 variants,” said Dr. Charles Chiu, a UC San Francisco geneticist whose lab played a key role in uncovering a homegrown variant that is growing fast in California. If the surveillance program succeeds, Chiu added, “we’ll be prepared not only for SARS-CoV-2, but also for any other emerging infectious threat in the future.” To gain that visibility, seven universities and a welter of private labs across the country have ramped up their efforts and are now analyzing 3,000 new viral samples a week, said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As more universities come online in the next month or so, the CDC’s goal is to coordinate the genetic sequencing of 7,000 samples each week and disseminate insights gleaned from them to states and the public, she said. (Healy, 2/7)
Bay Area News Group:
San Francisco, San Mateo County Record Most Coronavirus Deaths Ever
San Francisco and San Mateo counties reached grim milestones Saturday as health officials reported the most deaths ever from COVID-19 in each county while a surge in fatalities continued to sweep across the Bay Area. New coronavirus case and deaths numbers compiled by this news organization show the city recorded 17 new fatalities and its neighbor to the south reported 41. After holiday surges, the number of new COIVD-19 cases and hospitalizations is declining, but numbers from the Peninsula show the death toll has not slown. Often called the pandemic’s lagging indicator, deaths across California now total 43,974 even as the latest surge in cases appears to be under control. In the Bay Area so far, 4,548 people have died from the virus as of Saturday. (Toledo, 2/7)
Bay Area News Group:
"Extraordinary Explosion" Of COVID Deaths Strain Bay Area's Funeral Industry
After the holiday surges, the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining, but the deaths — the pandemic’s lagging indicator — are enduring “an extraordinary explosion,” as one funeral home operator puts it. California has tallied more than 43,000 deaths so far, with nearly 15,000 of those coming in January, and is on pace to surpass New York, which leads the nation with more than 44,000 deaths, within a week. And the “last responders” are struggling to keep up. Crematories are operating on double shifts — and some would run three, one operator said, if they had enough trained workers. Embalmers are working 7 days a week. Across the Bay Area, some families have to wait a week or even two to set up an initial meeting with a funeral home. (Prodis Sulek, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A.'s COVID Stats Improve, But Officials Worry Of New Surge
Despite the recent declines in coronavirus figures, officials remain concerned because the trends are still higher than pre-surge levels last year, and they continued urging residents to avoid exposing friends, family members and co-workers to the disease. Another concern is the rise of the more contagious and possibly deadlier strain of the coronavirus first identified in Britain, B.1.1.7, that has seen considerable growth in San Diego County, which has already probably resulted in one death there and at least 137 confirmed cases. (Stiles, 2/7)
LA Daily News:
L.A. County Confirms 9 New Cases Of MIS-C In Children
Los Angeles County reported 4,860 new cases of COVID-19 and 193 additional deaths on Saturday, Jan. 6, and confirmed nine new cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals was 4,421, according to the state dashboard, with 28.8% of those people in intensive care units. (2/6)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Active Outbreaks In Local Nursing Homes Drop For First Time In Months
For the first time in more than two months, the number of active outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities has decreased instead of rising or remaining unchanged. County health officials announced Wednesday that there are 60 active outbreaks in the region’s nursing homes, down from the 64 that were reported last week. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 154 total outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities, which includes one newly announced this week. (Mapp, 2/6)
The Press-Enterprise:
Months After Fighting Coronavirus, Some Now Face Heart, Lung Or Neurological Problems
“There is a small group of patients that seem to have long-term complications of this acute infection,” said Dr. Adupa Rao, an assistant professor of clinical medicine and the director of research for USC’s Center for Advanced Lung Disease. “We think that number is something around 10% of the infected people.” More than 3 million Californians have contracted the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Ten percent — 300,000 people — is more than the population of Irvine. Patients who suffer long-term effects of the virus can suffer a wide variety of symptoms. (Yarbrough and Sforza, 2/6)
The Bakersfield Californian:
County Data Shows Men, People Over 65 Most Likely To Die From COVID-19 In Kern
Kern County Public Health on Friday provided its first update in four months about county residents who have died from COVID-19, and while the data holds no major surprises it does show that men and people over age 65 have borne the brunt of the virus locally. (Shepard, 2/6)
KQED:
California Has A Rule To Protect Workers Against Pandemics. Here’s How It’s (Not) Working
A nation-leading workplace safety rule specifically designed to combat the risks of an airborne virus should have been protecting hundreds of thousands of California workers from COVID-19. The Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Standard took effect 12 years ago — and it anticipated a pandemic. But one year into the pandemic, workers say enforcement is mixed, and problems continue. Regulators at Cal/OSHA have issued more citations on this rule in the last five months than they did in the previous five years. (Peterson, 2/5)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Pediatricians: Schools Must Reopen Now To Relieve Children’s Suffering
Pediatricians across San Diego County say they are deeply troubled by what they see school closures doing to children. Dr. Janet Crow, a pediatrician at UC San Diego, talks every day with middle and high school kids who are heading toward depression or are flat-out depressed, she said. (Taketa, 2/7)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern Medical To Shutter 2 Retail Pharmacies
Kern Medical will soon shutter its two retail pharmacies that have operated for more than 20 years based on a coming change in state reimbursements that it says make their continued operation unsustainable. The outpatient pharmacies will close March 31 when the reimbursement ends. (2/6)
Orange County Register:
Tustin Doctor Faces State Discipline For False Promises To Cure Diabetes, Hyperthyroidism
The medical director of a high-profile health clinic in Tustin has been charged by state regulators with gross negligence. Dr. Neil K. Hersh of Next Advanced Medicine faces potential suspension or revocation of his license for failing to properly treat patients with diabetes and hyperthyroidism, an accusation filed in January by the Medical Board of California. Next Advanced Medicine has had problems in the past. Chiropractor Candice Hall was fined $500 in 2014 and $1,000 the next year by the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners for false advertising, according to published accounts. (Saavedra, 2/5)
Bay Area News Group:
He Got A Cancer Screening That Helped Save His Life. But Many People Are Skipping Them During The Coronavirus Pandemic
The first thing Charlie Harrington noticed when he woke up that September day was his fiancée, Carly, staring back at him. Odd, considering he’d expected to meet her at the car. And the UCSF nurses were there too, looking glum. Then the news, emerging from the colonoscopy he’d just completed: We know you have cancer, but we can’t tell you yet how bad it is. (DeRuy, 2/8)
Sacramento Bee:
Protesters At Sacramento Mayor’s Home Criticize Handling Of Homeless
A small but rowdy group of protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s house in the Pocket neighborhood on Saturday night, voicing concerns over the city’s handling of homelessness amid the coronavirus pandemic. Criticism of Steinberg and other city leaders on homelessness renewed after a vicious winter storm ravaged Sacramento in late January, which killed at least one and may have contributed to the deaths of several other unsheltered people. At the time, City Manager Howard Chan declined to open a warming center on the worst night of the storm despite calls from Steinberg and other members of City Council to do so. (Moleski, 2/7)