Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
It’s Not Just QAnon. Democrats and Independents Also Want to Recall California’s Governor.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is painting the effort to remove him from office as a partisan power grab. But among the tens of thousands of Californians who signed the recall petition are Democrats and independent voters frustrated by his pandemic policies, from school closures to vaccine distribution. (Angela Hart and Samantha Young, )
Vaccine Rush Is On: Since it was announced that California will expand covid vaccination eligibility to all adults starting April 15, residents aged 50 to 64 have rushed to slot in their shot ahead of that date, according to The Associated Press. The urgency is high for millions to take advantage of this time with growing concerns over vaccine supplies and wait times for appointments. And two FEMA-managed mass sites are set to close soon. More coverage of California's widened rollout are reported by AP, ABC7 and CalMatters.
Fighting The Vaccine 'Infodemic': Disinformation posted on social media and distributed through messaging apps like WhatsApp are fueling hesitancy and distrust in the coronavirus shots. And, as reported by USA Today, experts worry that people of color -- who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic -- are being targeted by the campaigns. One daughter, who runs an elder-care facility in Northern California, tells of combatting her mother's fears triggered by an online video: “It took me seven weeks to convince my mother to take the vaccine. And she’s in the health care profession ... She was embarrassed to tell me why. So, I think deep down she knew something was off, but she didn’t know how to explain it to me.” Get more details on USA Today.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
Return To Pre-Pandemic Normal? Some Bay Area Residents Say 'Not So Fast'
Case rates plummeting, vaccines injected, restaurants opening their doors again. These are signs of hope and normalcy for many, after a year spent hunkered down in sweatpants. But not everyone relishes the thought of returning to the way things were before the pandemic. For those who learned to embrace the slower pace of life ushered in by sheltering in place, that very idea can produce great anxiety. Yes, a baseball game or music festival may be enticing. But leaving quarantine behind also means returning to hectic daily commutes, school drop-offs, office meetings, small talk in line at the post office and face-to-face social obligations. (Vaziri and Hwang, 3/28)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Cautions Holiday Vigilance As COVID-19 Case Numbers Rise In Other States
Los Angeles County public health authorities are urging people to remain vigilant in observing coronavirus protocols when traveling or socializing during the spring holidays, cautioning that other states are seeing a rise in cases. The county reported 538 new coronavirus cases and one related death on Sunday. There are 669 people in the county hospitalized with COVID-19; 25% of them are in intensive care. (Smith, 3/28)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Experts Demand Discipline As COVID-19 Eases: 'We Don't Want To Have To Start Over'
Restoring San Diego County’s long-severed social connections is starting to feel less and less risky now that nearly 80 percent of its residents age 65 and older are vaccinated. The state’s tiered reopening system rests on emergency powers Gov. Gavin Newsom granted himself on March 4, 2020, and used to put and keep in place the stay-home order that, to this day, declares COVID-19 a public menace. (Sisson, 3/28)
Marin Independent Journal:
Marin Escalates Screening For COVID Variants
Marin County is increasing testing for COVID-19 variants that could potentially spark a new infection surge and force another economic shutdown. “There is a lot happening right now,” said Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer. “Sequencing is being ramped up across the region.” “We need to be doing more,” he added. “The state needs to establish a robust and standard surveillance system for the detection of variants. Right now we’re using a variety of different laboratories that don’t necessarily report into the same system.” (Halstead, 3/28)
Los Angeles Times:
From Across The U.S., These Nurses Traveled To Save Californians ‘One Vaccination At A Time’
As of March 15, there were nearly 2,000 travel nurses deployed by the California Department of Public Health across the state to help with vaccinations. In San Bernardino County, including Upshaw, there are 160 SnapNurse workers. “We had a sense of relief when we saw their five buses arrive,” said Melissa German, public health program manager for San Bernardino County. “It’s just what we needed. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.” It had been a journey. (Mejia, 3/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Open Season For Vaccines Presents Advantages, New Challenges For Equal Access
Greg Garrett was overjoyed when he heard that California was abandoning its vaccine eligibility restrictions and opening shots to everyone 16 and older on April 15. “Hallelujah!” said Garrett, chief operating officer of the Native American Health Center, where staff have been working furiously to set up vaccination sites at churches, in affordable housing common rooms and community center parking lots in East Oakland. (Ho and Bobrowsky 3/27)
San Jose Mercury News:
One In Three Californian Adults Have Received At Least One Vaccine Dose
More than a third of Californians 18 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, a significant milestone just weeks before the state makes everyone 16 and older eligible for a shot. California has administered 16,775,843 vaccine doses so far, 79 percent of the doses delivered to the state, and is averaging 288,010 shots every day, according to the Department of Public Health. Three-quarters of California residents 65 and older have received at least one dose and nearly half are fully vaccinated, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (Castaneda, 3/27)
Long Beach Press-Telegram:
LA County’s Vaccine Supply Is Growing, But The Future Of Mass Cal State LA Clinic Is Unclear
Los Angeles County’s vaccine supply is growing — just as it may lose a large-scale vaccination site. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced Friday, March 26, that next month they will stop running the inoculation clinic at Cal State Los Angeles, which they have jointly managed since February. Officials, though, are scrambling to prevent its closure, which is set for April 11. (Munguia, 3/26)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Shots In Arms Increase But Kern's COVID-19 Vaccinations Still Low Compared To Other Counties
Vaccinating the masses is underway in California, but Kern County continues to lag behind almost all other counties in its vaccination rates, as it has since the start of the vaccine rollout more than two months ago. A Californian analysis shows Kern County ranks 33rd out of 35 of the state's most populous counties in terms of doses of vaccine administered per 100 residents. That is despite a recent visit here by Gov. Gavin Newsom and pledges by his administration to make vaccine distribution more equitable. (Shepard, 3/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Contra Costa County May Offer Vaccination To All 16 And Up This Week
Contra Costa County is expecting to offer coronavirus vaccinations this week to everyone 16 and older who lives or works in the county as it anticipates a surge in supply from the state and federal government, the county health department announced Sunday. The move would make Contra Costa County the first in the Bay Area to offer such sweeping eligibility for the lifesaving shots. Contra Costa Health Services in a news release on its website Sunday stated: “CCHS expects to open eligibility to those 16 years or older later this week. Timing for that decision will depend on how quickly available appointments fill in the coming days.” (Moench, 3/28)
LA Daily News:
Volunteers And Nonprofits Step In To Help Non-English Speakers Get COVID-19 Vaccines
When a vaccine first became available, Jung Koo Kang, 78, a Korean immigrant who doesn’t speak English, started receiving brochures about registering online. All the materials he received were in English. Kang couldn’t find any assistance when he tried to register. Calling on the phone didn’t help, either. “At the beginning, I got a lot of fliers and pamphlets in the mail about vaccination but all of them were in English and it created a lot of confusion for me,” said Kang through a translator. (Grigoryants, 3/28)
Hospitals & The Health Industry
Los Angeles Times:
A Beloved L.A. Hospital Is About To Close. Why No One Could Save Olympia Medical Center
The announcement of Olympia Medical Center’s sale and closure came on New Year’s Eve. Before the clock struck midnight, the community began mobilizing against it. City Council members wrote letters, healthcare workers signed petitions, and union groups staged protests in the days and weeks that followed. By the end of January, the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency had passed a resolution calling on officials to keep its doors open for at least another six months. None of it worked. (Smith, 3/28)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Long-Term Health Problems Part Of ‘Toll Of Racism’
The Kaia Rolle Act goes into effect July 1, and the new Florida law prohibits the arrest and charging of children under 7 years old, unless a forcible felony has been committed. The little girl the law is named after, Kaia Rolle, was bound in zip ties, fingerprinted, and had to stand on a step stool to have her mugshot taken in 2019. Her offense was having a tantrum at school, triggered by her sleep apnea that her family says the school was aware of. She was 6 years old at the time. Since the initial arrest by a school resource officer, Kaia’s charges were dropped and her record was expunged, and the arresting officer was fired. Her grandmother says that her granddaughter’s emotional scars remain almost two years later: extreme separation anxiety, night terrors, wetting the bed, and a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis. (Deaderick, 3/28)
The Fresno Bee:
Native Americans Underserved, ‘Erased’ In Fresno County Health Data, Investigation Finds
In Fresno County, a Native pregnant mom is much more likely to experience complications during her pregnancy than a white mom. And these bad outcomes not only endanger Native women but also threaten their infants. The county lags behind the state in virtually every category that contributes to infant death. In 2018, 6.5 infants died for every 1,000 births in Fresno County, a rate over 50% higher than the state average. (Lange, 3/27)
Southern California News Group:
Worry Not, Experts Say: 'Swiss Cheese Model' Allows California Schools To Open Safely Despite Coronavirus
Rewind one year: Fresh finger-paintings dry inside silent classrooms. Half-read books gather dust on shelves. The plant on the teacher’s desk is starting to wilt. If we knew then what we know now, schools wouldn’t have closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic — or at least, not for very long, said George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC San Francisco. (Sforza, 3/27)
Los Angeles Times:
School Reopening Safety Is A Tough Sell For LAUSD Parents
The theme of the moment is that L.A. schools are safe — but it's hard to turn on a dime after months of a contrary message. (Blume, 3/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Some Oakland Schools Won't Reopen As Planned After Teachers Opt Not To Return Early: 'Very Frustrated'
More than a dozen Oakland elementary schools and preschools will not reopen as planned Tuesday after the majority, if not all, teachers at the sites opted not to return until required to do so in mid-April, despite an $800 incentive and prioritized vaccinations. District officials had to rescind reopening plans at six elementary schools and 10 preschools Thursday, days before preschool through second graders were scheduled to head back after seven months of distance learning. (Tucker, 3/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Cal State Students Keep GPAs Up During Pandemic, But Troubling Equity Gaps Persist
After a tumultuous year online and off-campus, students attending the nation’s largest four-year higher education system, the California State University, have persevered through the pandemic by largely maintaining their grades and course loads — although some troubling numbers point to the struggles of Latino and Black students, a Times survey has found. (Agrawal, 3/29)