Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Racism a Strong Factor in Black Women’s High Rate of Premature Births, Study Finds
Dr. Paula Braveman, director of UCSF’s Center on Social Disparities in Health, shares her insights on a provocative new study that identifies racism as a decisive factor in the gap in preterm birth rates between Black and white women. (Anna Maria Barry-Jester, )
Santa Cruz Health Officials Honored for Persevering in Covid Battle Against Tide of ‘Denialism’
Mimi Hall and Dr. Gail Newel, health director and health officer for Santa Cruz County, California, will receive PEN America’s 2021 PEN/Benenson Courage Award for soldiering forward in their work amid death threats and personal attacks. (Anna Maria Barry-Jester, )
Two California Scientists Awarded The Nobel Prize In Medicine: Ardem Patapoutian, a neuroscientist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, and his partner physiologist David Julius of UC San Francisco were awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday for discovering receptors that enable people to sense heat, cold and touch. The discovery is essential to understanding a key part of human life, enabling a person to do everything from feel the caress of a finger on their skin to gauge the temperature of a cup of coffee. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune, The Mercury News, The New York Times and CNN.
All Eligible California Students Must Get A Covid Vaccine: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced a vaccine mandate for students ages 12 and older, making California the first state in the nation to require students to be fully vaccinated for in-person instruction. Read more from CalMatters, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and The Modesto Bee.
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
AP:
COVID-19 Deaths Eclipse 700,000 In US As Delta Variant Rages
It’s a milestone that by all accounts didn’t have to happen this soon. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 700,000 late Friday — a number greater than the population of Boston. The last 100,000 deaths occurred during a time when vaccines — which overwhelmingly prevent deaths, hospitalizations and serious illness — were available to any American over the age of 12.The milestone is deeply frustrating to doctors, public health officials and the American public, who watched a pandemic that had been easing earlier in the summer take a dark turn. Tens of millions of Americans have refused to get vaccinated, allowing the highly contagious delta variant to tear through the country and send the death toll from 600,000 to 700,000 in 3 1/2 months. (Webber and Hollingsworth, 10/2)
City News Service:
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Fall Again In Los Angeles County
COVID-19 hospitalization numbers dropped again on Saturday, Oct. 2, in Los Angeles County, continuing a month-long downward trend. According to state figures, there were 825 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals Saturday, down from 862 on Friday. Of those patients, 231 were being treated in intensive care, down from 234 the previous day. (10/2)
Sacramento Bee:
CA National Guard Helps With Shasta County COVID Surge
Widespread evacuations from the Fawn Fire and a surge COVID-19 infections have put a significant strain on medical staff and hospitals in far Northern California, as rural areas continue to show significantly lower vaccination rates than urban counties. The two main hospitals in Shasta County, Mercy Medical Center and Shasta Regional Medical Center, last week received a deployment of 16 National Guard medics and other staff to help treat patients at the overwhelmed facilities that serve as a major medical hub for a wide swath of rural Northern California. The medics will stay and help for at least another week. (Sabalow and Reese, 10/3)
Los Angeles Times:
National Guard To Assist Hospitals In Rural California
The California National Guard has dispatched medical teams to three beleaguered hospitals in Northern California and the Central Valley, where exhausted healthcare workers are weathering another surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Teams of 16 people have been deployed to assist healthcare staffs at Memorial Hospital and Mercy Hospital Southwest in Bakersfield and Mercy Medical Center Redding, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma, a California National Guard spokesman. (Sheets and Nelson, 10/1)
Bay Area News:
Expectant Mothers Remain At High Risk Of COVID-19
In the early days of the pandemic, expectant mothers grappled with uncertainty about the longstanding impact of the coronavirus. Many wondered how the virus would affect their pregnant bodies and worried whether they would pass it to their babies and if it would cause complications or even death — questions not many health care workers were able to answer at the time. Now, while experts are still collecting data and conducting research, they have been able to identify risk factors and find effective prevention measures for expectant mothers and their newborns. (Grigoryants, 10/3)
Orange County Register:
Vaccinated Or Not, Everyone Is Likely To Get COVID-19 At Some Point, Many Experts Say
Sooner or later, we’re all going to get COVID-19, many experts say. Even if we’re fully vaccinated. “The idea that we’re going to live our lives without ever getting it is a fantasy — and a dangerous one,” said Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and demographer at UC Irvine. “A lot of people just don’t understand that. We’re all going to get it.” (Sforza, 10/3)
inewsource:
San Diego County Releases Plans To Improve Troubled COVID-19 Hotels
San Diego County officials insist they’ve already fixed most of the problems outlined in a scathing independent review of the county’s COVID hotel sheltering program. And despite recommendations from San Diego State University, officials said they will not provide around-the-clock nurses, mental health services or over-the-counter medications for people isolating in the hotels. (Dulaney, 10/1)
Marin Independent Journal:
Marin Tenants Face Complications As Eviction Ban Ends
While the end of a state eviction moratorium has created uncertainty for indebted tenants in Marin, county officials say they are working to get relief money to people who need it. The moratorium, which expired Thursday, banned landlords from evicting people for unpaid rent because of COVID-related hardships. Now tenants in arrears can only be protected from evictions if they have applied for assistance. (Halstead, 10/3)
Sacramento Bee:
Vaccine Rates For CA Health Workers Rose After Mandates
California in August gave the state’s health care workers an ultimatum: Get vaccinated by Sept. 30 or submit to twice-weekly COVID-19 testing. So far, it appears to be working. Three major Sacramento-area health care systems say vaccination rates among employees are now higher than the general population. “It’s more than good, it’s very good,” said Dr. Bradley Pollock, associate dean and Rolkin Chair of Public Health Sciences at University of California, Davis.. “Mandates, so far, seem to be the most effective thing we have to overcome the vaccine hesitancy.” (Korte, 10/3)
Sacramento Bee:
CA To Bargain With SEIU Local 1000 Over COVID Vaccines
The state Human Resources Department agreed this week to negotiate with California’s largest state worker union before imposing new vaccine rules, backing away from a proclamation Gov. Gavin Newsom made two months ago. The agreement won’t change much immediately for California state workers. If they do not show proof of vaccination, they will have to accept regular testing for COVID-19. (Venteicher, 10/2)
Bay Area News Group:
Bay Area, California Public Employees Find Religion To Avoid COVID Vaccine
With the clock ticking, thousands of public employees — many of them police and firefighters — are claiming and receiving religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine requirements that state and local governments have adopted in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. The vaccine mandates have been pushed by public officials looking to crack down on shot-shunners they blame for facilitating the virus’s deadly spread. But the number of granted exemptions suggests it can be challenging to enforce the mandate on unwilling workers whose religious beliefs are protected under federal and state law, especially if those workers are backed by a strong labor union. (Woolfolk, 10/3)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Cops And COVID-19: Despite Risks As Front-Line Workers, Many Local Police, Sheriff’s Deputies Hold Out On Vaccines
Even as most San Diego County residents — 88 percent — eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccines have opted to do so, hundreds of law enforcement officers continue to hold out as unions representing San Diego police and sheriff’s deputies push back against vaccine mandates. (Hernandez, 10/3)
The New York Times:
Johnson & Johnson To Seek F.D.A. Authorization For Booster Shot
Johnson & Johnson is planning to ask federal regulators early this week to authorize a booster shot of its coronavirus vaccine, according to officials familiar with the company’s plans. The firm is the last of the three federally authorized vaccine providers to call for extra injections, amid mounting evidence that at least the elderly and other high-risk groups need more protection. Federal officials have become increasingly worried that the more than 15 million Americans who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine face too much risk of severe Covid-19. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday scheduled a meeting on Oct. 15 of its expert advisory committee to discuss whether to grant emergency use authorization of a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. (LaFraniere, 10/4)
Reuters:
EU Finds J&J COVID Shot Possibly Linked To Another Rare Clotting Condition
The European Union's drug regulator on Friday identified a possible link between rare cases of blood clotting in deep veins with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine and recommended the condition be listed as a side-effect of the shot. The European Medicines Agency also recommended that immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a bleeding disorder caused by the body mistakenly attacking platelets, be added as an adverse reaction with an unknown frequency to the J&J vaccine product information and to AstraZeneca's vaccine. J&J said while the chances of experiencing these conditions were very low, the product information would be updated accordingly as it continues to work closely with authorities including EMA. (10/1)
NBC News:
FDA Won't Extend Shelf Life Of J&J Covid Vaccine Doses, May Extend Life Of Millions Of Moderna Shots
The government will not extend the shelf life of hundreds of thousands of unused Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine doses, but may soon extend the life of millions of Moderna vaccine doses, according to an internal email obtained by NBC News. In an email sent to state health officials and health-care providers Friday morning, the Centers for Disease Control said the Food and Drug Administration will not further extend the life of Johnson & Johnson vaccines sitting on states' shelves across the country, leading to the potential waste of hundreds of thousands of doses. (Strickler and Tirrell, 10/1)
KQED:
What’s The Deal With COVID-19 Booster Shots?
The news about COVID-19 booster shots has been confusing. In mid-August, President Biden announced that a COVID-19 booster would roll out to all eligible U.S. residents starting the week of Sept. 20. But then, amid disagreement among federal health officials, that plan was scaled back. Now, the federal government is recommending that some people get a third shot. Today, we break down who is eligible, and how to get one. (Cruz Guevarra, Severn, Montecillo and Bandlamudi, 10/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
New Population Figures Change What We Thought We Knew About COVID In San Francisco
If you look at the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s data on neighborhood vaccination rates, Mission Bay looks like it’s way ahead of the curve. Almost 91% of the neighborhood’s estimated 13,222 residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the department. But if you incorporate the latest population data from the 2020 U.S. census, the picture changes dramatically. Just 69% of Mission Bay’s estimated 17,432 residents are at least partially vaccinated — lower than the city average. (Neilson, 10/1)
AP:
Women's March Targets Supreme Court, With Abortion On Line
The first Women’s March of the Biden administration headed straight for the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday, part of nationwide protests that drew thousands to Washington to demand continued access to abortion in a year when conservative lawmakers and judges have put it in jeopardy. Demonstrators filled the streets surrounding the court, shouting “My body, my choice” and cheering loudly to the beat of drums. (Knickmeyer, 10/2)
Bay Area News Group:
‘I’m Furious’: Bay Area Residents Rally For Abortion Rights
More than 50 years have passed since Linda Ellner traveled from Youngstown, Ohio to Puerto Rico for an abortion as a teenager, but she still remembers the visceral terror she felt throughout the trip. On Saturday, the 71-year-old Planned Parenthood volunteer joined her daughter and some 300 others in downtown San Jose, and thousands more across the country for a 5th annual women’s march aimed at voicing opposition to a recent Texas law they consider the greatest threat to abortion rights. (Kelliher, 10/2)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto Marchers Call For Abortion Rights To Be Protected
About 100 protesters marched and rallied in Modesto on Saturday morning following legal threats in other states to abortion rights. Men and women from across the county gathered behind Graceada Park’s Mancini Bowl to march after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas to ban abortions at six weeks. The high court is set to hear arguments in a Mississippi abortion case in December that could also change laws in that state. (Briseño, 10/3)
NPR:
The Supreme Court's Conservatives Cook Up A Stew Of Abortion, Guns, Religion And More
The docket for this term is a humdinger, with major cases involving the biggest social issues of the day: abortion, guns, separation of church and state, and potentially affirmative action in higher education. "It seems like every few years, we say we're going to see radical conservative takeover of the Supreme Court in American law," says Tom Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog. But this time, he adds, "We really mean it. " (Totenberg, 10/4)
AP:
What's Old Is New Again: Justices Back At Court For New Term
The Supreme Court is beginning a momentous new term with a return to familiar surroundings, the mahogany and marble courtroom that the justices abandoned more than 18 months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. Abortion, guns and religion all are on the agenda for a court with a rightward tilt, including three justices appointed by President Donald Trump. The justices will meet in person for arguments Monday, although Justice Brett Kavanaugh will participate remotely from his home after testing positive for COVID-19 late last week. Kavanaugh, who was vaccinated in January, is showing no symptoms, the court said. All the other justices also have been vaccinated. (Sherman and Gresko, 10/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Why Did It Take So Long To Identify Orange County Oil Spill?
TK Brimer was getting ready to close up his surf shop, Frog House, Friday evening when he smelled something like tar in the air. Brimer, who has owned the shop just steps from the sand on West Coast Highway for more than 40 years, is used to the unique odors that sometimes drift from the nearby coastline. But the aroma that hung outside his shop at 6:30 p.m. was unique, he said. Around that time, the Newport Beach Police Department’s phones started ringing with residents throughout the city reporting the smell of gas. Police received enough inquiries that the department sent out a community advisory about 7:45 p.m. saying authorities were checking it out. (Fry, Cosgrove, Lin II and Do, 10/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Health Questions Linger In Wake Of Aliso Canyon Leak
Joannie Summers feels perpetually uneasy living near Aliso Canyon in Porter Ranch. There is the strange laundry-detergent odor she sometimes smells. The people she’s known who have died of cancer. The headaches that she never got until a massive gas leak spewed from an underground storage facility in the mountains above her home. As with many in her neighborhood, unresolved questions still swirl in Summers’ mind nearly six years after the largest methane leak in U.S. history. (Miller and Barboza, 10/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Smoke From Distant Wildfires To Again Cloud Bay Area Skies
Wildfire smoke from Southern California was expected to drift into the Bay Area on Monday, causing hazy skies, officials said. The Bay Area Air Quality District did not extend a Spare the Air alert, set for expiration on Sunday, and the air quality was not expected to be unhealthy. The agency updates an air quality index throughout the day. (Li, 10/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Opioid Overdose Epidemic Is Rapidly Spreading Across The Bay Area
In just the past week, three people died at three different stations inside the vast Bay Area Rapid Transit system from causes believed to be drug overdoses. Efforts to resuscitate them, including by administering the opioid reversal drug Narcan, were unsuccessful, reports said. The deaths occurred in Fremont, Daly City, and Pleasant Hill, cities in three different counties — Alameda, San Mateo, and Contra Costa, respectively — that are all miles from San Francisco’s toughest streets. (Jung, 10/4)
Politico:
The Wild West Of CBD Products Could End Soon In California
California is poised to clamp down on the fast-growing hemp market in a push to make sure CBD-infused products are accurately labeled and safe — a shift that could be felt nationwide, given the state’s formidable purchasing power. The extract used in soap, food and other wellness goods has exploded in popularity since Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 farm bill. But the FDA has refused to regulate CBD, or cannabidiol, as a dietary supplement because it’s an active ingredient in a federally approved medication. In the absence of federal oversight, states largely have been left to monitor the products — and untested and mislabeled items have been flooding stores. (Nieves, 9/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Marijuana Megacampus With 45 Greenhouses Is Going Up On The Bay Area Shoreline. Will It Become The 'Apple Of Cannabis'?
Richard Treiber had the epiphany in December 2015, while ambling down a busy road in Richmond. Squinting at the northern shoreline, he saw a bare stretch of land and knew exactly how to fill it: with cannabis. Enough cannabis, he later said, to inject 500 jobs and up to $11 million in annual tax revenue into the local economy, and enough to draw tourists to a city long dominated by its Chevron oil refinery. The 18.8-acre development that crystallized in Treiber’s mind that day was the type of hub that many investors and entrepreneurs began contemplating when California voters legalized sales of recreational marijuana in 2016: solar-powered green houses, nurseries, tasting rooms — something akin to a Ferry Building for cannabis. And, as it turned out, the land was for sale. (Swan, 10/2)
CapRadio:
Many In The Sacramento Region Lack Access To Fresh And Local Food
Most Sacramentans have at some point driven past the boastful marketing slogan on the glimmering silver water tower while heading north on Interstate 5. It proclaims the region as “America’s Farm To Fork Capital,” a nod to the valley’s admittedly generous, multibillion-dollar agricultural bounty of more than 250 diverse crops. But a new survey released Monday by CapRadio, Valley Vision and Sacramento State’s Institute for Social Research suggests that food access and systems in the region are not inclusive of all Sacramentans, especially residents of color. (Miller, 10/4)
Sacramento Bee:
Stolen Ambulance From Sacramento Hospital Leads To Arrest
An ambulance was stolen from Mercy General Hospital in East Sacramento on Saturday night, leading to an arrest, according to the Sacramento Police Department. Officer Karl Chan, a police department spokesman, said that reports were made just after 11:30 p.m. of an ambulance driving recklessly in Sacramento. Officers determined that the ambulance had been stolen from Mercy General Hospital on J Street and headed west, according to Chan. (Moleski, 10/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Pacemaker, Ultrasound Companies Seek Priority Amid Chip Shortage
In the race to secure computer chips amid a global shortage, medical device makers say they have found their ace card: their products save lives. While only a tiny fraction of the world’s chips end up in medical equipment compared with cars and consumer electronics, the components are key to a range of vital devices like MRI machines, pacemakers and blood-sugar monitors for diabetes. To win priority over larger buyers, medical device makers say their most effective tactic is to raise awareness with executives at chip suppliers. (Roland, 10/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
From COVID To Cancer, Gene-Mapping Tool Could 'Revolutionize' Treatment, UCSF Studies Say
New research by UCSF and UC San Diego scientists involving techniques also deployed to fight COVID-19 has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment by creating opportunities for more precision treatments, they say — which can be far less harmful than chemotherapy. The collaborative effort — called the Cancer Cell Map Initiative — found that mapping the protein disruptions caused by DNA mutations, rather than just the mutations themselves, is very useful for grouping different kinds of cancer-causing mutations together. That opens up the opportunity to create precision treatments that can target groups of mutations, rather than just one. (Echeverria, 10/3)