Vaccine Delivery Hits Snags: The delivery of the coronavirus vaccine to California suffered its first hiccups Wednesday when several shipments carrying thousands of vials were delayed by authorities or sent back because of irregularities. In one instance, vials were returned after they were stored at the wrong temperature. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle, CNBC, Reuters and STAT.
In related news: Hospitals Discover a Surprise in Their Vaccine Deliveries: Extra Doses
Trump Administration Blocks $200M In Medicaid Funding For California: The U.S. Health and Human Services Department will withhold $200 million in Medicaid funding from California due to the state's requirement that state insurance companies provide abortion insurance coverage. Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the Trump administration of looking to "threaten Californians' health just to score cheap political points." Read more from CNN and Fox News.
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
Sacramento Bee:
COVID Vaccine Arrives In Placer County As Hospitals Face ‘Toughest Part Of The Pandemic’
About 4,000 Placer County health care workers will receive the first dose of the vaccine this week, Dr. Rob Oldham, the county’s director of health and human services and interim health officer, said in a public meeting Tuesday. And another 3,000 doses are on the way for the county’s most vulnerable residents living in long-term care facilities. “Our entire community has sacrificed and suffered throughout this pandemic, but our health care workers and long-term care facility residents have made special sacrifices and have faced especially significant burdens,” Oldham said. “So we are so happy to see some potential relief coming their way soon and to have the real hope of having a vaccine available to the rest of our community in the coming months.” (Sullivan, 12/16)
AP:
California Sets Teachers, First Responders For Next Vaccines
Teachers, first responders, and grocery and restaurant workers were among those recommended Wednesday to get the next round of scarce vaccines in California, as were florists and sawmill operators who fall into the same broad category of those deemed essential workers. “We’ve got to figure who we’re going to prioritize,” said Dr. Oliver Brooks, co-chairman of a 16-member panel of medical experts recommending who makes the potential life-and-death cut after the first round of about 3 million vaccines began going this week to health care workers and those in long-term care facilities. (Thompson, 12/17)
Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska Health Care Worker Hospitalized Overnight And Another Received Brief Emergency Treatment After COVID-19 Vaccine
A Juneau health care worker was hospitalized and treated for a serious allergic reaction after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, hospital and health officials said Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening, hospital officials reported that another worker who received a vaccine at the hospital that day received brief emergency treatment as well, but did not experience anaphylaxis, or what’s known as a life-threatening allergic reaction. Multiple health care workers and officials on Wednesday were adamant about the importance of people continuing to receive the vaccine, and the state’s top health official said no changes to the vaccination plan were expected. (Krakow, 12/16)
USA Today:
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Goes Before FDA Committee For Final Review
A second COVID-19 vaccine likely will receive a thumbs up Thursday from an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which authorized the first one a week ago. This time, the committee is reviewing a vaccine made by Cambridge, Massachusetts, biotech Moderna, with similar technology and results as the one it supported last week by Pfizer and its German collaborator, BioNTech. (Weintraub, 12/17)
Politico:
‘We Want Them Infected’: Trump Appointee Demanded ‘Herd Immunity’ Strategy, Emails Reveal
A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a "herd immunity" approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by a House watchdog and shared with POLITICO. “There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD," then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials. (Diamond, 12/16)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: California Breaks Daily Death Record As ICU Capacity Dwindles
California has moved on from record case numbers to record fatalities from COVID-19. On Tuesday, county health departments combined to report 31,394 new cases and 255 new victims of the virus, California’s largest single-day death toll of the pandemic, according to data compiled by this news organization, coming one day after the state reported a record number of new infections. All the while, medical resources continue to dwindle to dangerous levels around the state. (Webeck,12/16)
Los Angeles Times:
California's Record COVID-19 Surge Persists: 51,724 Cases And 393 Deaths In A Single Day
Single-day pandemic records were shattered across California yet again on Wednesday. For the first time, a Los Angeles Times county-by-county tally found more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases and nearly 400 deaths in California reported in a single day. The Times survey Wednesday night found 51,724 new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, shattering the state’s single-day record broken on Monday, when 42,088 cases were reported. (Lin II, Money and Greene, 12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Are COVID Cases Spiking Across All Age Groups In California?
California’s current coronavirus surge appears to be sparing no one demographic. Recent data compiled by George Lemp, an infectious disease epidemiologist and retired director of the California HIV/AIDS research program at the University of California, show that cases have risen meteorically among every age group in the state. New COVID-19 cases increased 350% overall in the period from Nov. 15 to Dec. 12, compared to the previous four weeks. Each age group saw increases well over 300%, and the highest was 360% among individuals 80 years and older. While not significantly higher than the other age groups, the primary concern is older individuals are at higher risk for severe illness with COVID-19. (Hwang, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times:
California Hospitals Struggle With COVID-19 Surge
In the last week, California has averaged more than 32,000 coronavirus cases each day, according to The Times tracker. That’s a 129% increase from two weeks ago. What’s more, those figures are also contributing to higher hospitalization rates than at any other point during the pandemic. To the outside world, the numbers may be little more than statistics, but inside Southern California’s hospitals, conditions are rapidly deteriorating as beds fill up and workers burn out. (Smith, 12/16)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
ICUs Reach Unsettling Milestone As Surge Shows No Signs Of Slowing
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started in San Diego County, the number of COVID-19 patients in local intensive care units exceeded the number requiring critical care who do not have the disease. According to the county health department’s latest COVID-19 tracking report released Wednesday, there were 301 patients in intensive care units with the disease and 282 without as of Tuesday, the most recent day for which comprehensive data were available. (Sisson, 12/16)
LA Daily News:
Hospitals ‘Under Siege’ As LA County Confronts Deadliest-Ever Coronavirus Day, 21,411 New Cases
Los Angeles County reported its deadliest day of the pandemic so far on Wednesday, Dec. 16, adding 138 more lives lost to the unrelenting novel coronavirus. Officials warned, however, that the worst is likely yet to come. Average daily deaths reported over the past week in L.A. County now surpass 60, a new high, as a total of 8,568 people have lost their lives here so far. The county on Wednesday also reported 21,411 new cases, another record for daily reports. Not counting the 7,000 that were related to a reporting delay, the numbers still toppled the previous high of 13,815 on Dec. 11. (Rosenfeld, 12/16)
Bay Area News Group:
COVID: Bay Area Falls Below 15% ICU Bed Capacity, Triggering Regionwide Stay-At-Home Order
In a sobering milestone on another record day of coronavirus cases and deaths in California, the availability of ICU beds at hospitals across the Bay Area on Wednesday fell below 15% for the first time, triggering state rules that will place every county in the region under a stay-at-home order. The alarming trend came as the Golden State suffered by far its most gruesome day since the pandemic began: more than 51,000 new cases and at least 428 new COVID-19 deaths were reported, obliterating the record 255 from only the day before. (Rogers and Prodis Sulek, 12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Falls To 12.9% ICU Availability, Triggering State’s Stay-At-Home Order In San Mateo, Napa, Solano Counties
Intensive care availability plummeted in the Bay Area on Wednesday to fall under 15% for the first time, forcing the entire 11-county region under the state stay-at-home order. And as of Thursday night, more than 98% of California will be shut down as the pandemic rages on. The state mandate will affect only five counties in the Greater Bay Area region: Napa, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Solano. The other six counties had preemptively adopted stay-at-home directives earlier this month. (Vaziri and Allday, 12/16)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Bakersfield Hospitals Mount Intense Effort To Care For Influx Of Patients
The situation in local hospitals continues to intensify as a spike in COVID-19 admissions in recent days has pushed some facilities past their worst points this summer, hospital administrators said Wednesday. At the two Mercy hospitals in Bakersfield, space for critical care patients has run out. There were 32 ICU patients in the downtown and southwest hospitals at one point Wednesday morning but only 28 beds, according to Bruce Peters, CEO of the two hospitals. Almost half the ICU patients were on ventilators, he said. (Shepard, 12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Nurses Battle Hospitals Over How Many Patients They Can Handle As Coronavirus Cases Surge
The most visible symbol of California’s devastating wave of COVID-19 has been the dwindling supply of intensive-care beds, a marker forcing regions to close businesses and ban even outdoor dining if the numbers get too low. But hospitals say another shortage is tying their hands: Nurses are in critically short supply at every level. “It’s not about beds, mattresses or pillows. It’s about the care team at the bedside,” Carmela Coyle, president of the California Hospital Association, told The Chronicle. “There is no cavalry coming with more nurses.” (Asimov, 12/16)
Fresno Bee:
Huge Spike In Fresno County Coronavirus Cases. Was A California Computer Backlog To Blame?
The California Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 2,590 new coronavirus cases in Fresno County — which would be the biggest spike since the pandemic started in March. It was a trend repeated across the state as California blew past the previous single-day record for new cases by nearly 20,000 and also reported the highest daily death toll of the pandemic. The state added 53,711 lab-positive cases of COVID-19 and 293 deaths, compared to a previous high of 225 disclosed Saturday. (Galaviz, 12/16)
Fresno Bee:
COVID-19 Safety Steps Urged For Fresno Farmworkers. Will It Protect Food Supply Chain?
To slow the coronavirus’ spread in the agricultural industry, Fresno County officials launched new safety guidelines to protect farmworkers. Among the slew of recommendations announced Wednesday, the Fresno County Health Department wants employers to implement screening and testing guidelines for farmworkers, advising that at least 10% of their employees get tested every two weeks. The goal is to weed out workers who may be COVID-19 positive but asymptomatic and prevent a super spreader event, they said. (Lopez, 12/17)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Outbreak In Contra Costa Jails Under Investigation
Contra Costa Health Services said its staff is investigating an outbreak of COVID-19 among three dozen inmates at two detention sites. In a statement Wednesday evening, the department said 36 inmates at the Martinez and West County detention facilities have tested positive for COVID-19, but none required hospitalization as of Wednesday morning. The outbreak apparently began in the Martinez jail, followed by cases in Richmond after a transfer of one or more inmates, and staff have not yet found if all cases are part of a single outbreak. (Kelly, 12/16)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Hundreds Of Donovan State Prison Inmates Sickened With COVID-19
More than 400 inmates at Donovan State Prison have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, making the Otay Mesa lockup the site of one of the worst outbreaks for the deadly virus within the state prison system. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported 411 active cases inside Donovan on Tuesday. All but three of the cases occurred in the past two weeks. (McDonald, 12/16)
Orange County Register:
Coronavirus: Unprecedented Order Issued Suspending Ambulance Diversions In Orange County
The Orange County Health Care Agency on Wednesday issued an order suspending the ability of hospitals that take part in the 911 system to request a diversion of ambulances to other medical centers. Dr. Carl Schultz, the agency’s EMS medical director, said in a statement that hospital emergency rooms have become so overwhelmed due to the COVID surge that “almost all hospitals were going on diversion.” (12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Sued Over New Coronavirus Workplace Rules
A group of small California businesses and national business groups sued California state agencies Wednesday, seeking to rollback broad workplace protections against the coronavirus implemented last month. The National Retail Federation and the National Federation of Independent Businesses say rules adopted by the California Department of Industrial Relations to prevent virus infections in the workplace violate the state’s Administrative Procedures Act and weigh too heavily on businesses that have been pushed to the breaking point by the pandemic. (DiFeliciantonio, 12/16)
Modesto Bee:
Long Beach, CA Groups Say Police Held Superspreader Event
Two community groups in California filed a complaint on Monday alleging the Long Beach Police Department’s senior staff held a coronavirus superspreader event last month. The Long Beach Reform Coalition and People of Long Beach accused Chief of Police Robert Luna of holding a gathering of approximately 300 police officers Nov. 5 inside the Long Beach Convention Center, according to the complaint filed with the Citizen Police Complaint Commission. The groups said that the event was held “without requiring compliance with Health Department mandates associated with social distancing and masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, thereby knowingly and willfully ordering a superspreader event to take place.” (Lin, 12/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Maskless Christmas Singalong With Kirk Cameron ‘Un-Christian’ In Pandemic, Mayor Says
Actor Kirk Cameron faces backlash over a Christmas carol singalong Sunday night that he promoted as a protest against coronavirus restrictions. “Liberty and freedom are very fragile and they come with great responsibility,” said Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Pena, KABC reported. “Continuing to hold large gatherings and ignoring all guidelines, I feel, is un-Christian.” In an Instagram post before the event — held in a Thousand Oaks shopping mall parking lot — Cameron said the gathering would serve as a protest against coronavirus stay-home orders in California. (Sweeney, 12/16)
Bay Area News Group:
COVID Relief Checks: Will They Be Enough For The Bay Area’s Unemployed Workers?
With another federal stimulus package within reach, some Bay Area workers — many who have been unemployed and struggling for months — are breathing a cautious sigh of relief. But they worry the package, which may include stimulus checks of between $600 and $700, won’t be enough. “You can give me an extra $600 once, but who’s going to help me over the next months?” Alma Cardenas, a single mother of two living in East San Jose, asked in Spanish. “I owe $14,000 on my credit card even with unemployment.” (Kendall and DuSalt, 12/16)
LA Daily News:
9 Months In, How Are People Dealing With COVID-19 Stress?
Depression, anxiety, a feeling of doom.COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on households and businesses as the health crisis continues to surge. Scores of people are struggling to cope with the stress that can arise from wearing masks, social distancing, constant sanitizing and the uncertainty of when their lives will return to normal. (Smith, 12/16)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto Nurses Charge That Change In Staffing Ratios Is ‘Not Safe’ For COVID Patients
Nurses at two Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the Northern San Joaquin Valley are protesting a state executive decision to allow more flexible nurse-to-patient ratios as medical centers struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. The hospital industry, along with state officials, said the more flexible ratios are necessary as crowded hospitals deal with a serious shortage of critical care nurses. Members of the California Nurses Association said Wednesday the waivers are not safe for patients. More than 35 nurses held an informational picket outside the Kaiser Modesto Medical Center on Dale Road in Modesto. (Carlson, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times:
California Opens COVID-19 Field Hospitals Across The State
California is opening temporary field hospitals to help with overflow patients as COVID-19 surges fill intensive care units across the state. The field hospitals will care for non-ICU patients in places such as Costa Mesa, Porterville, Sacramento and Imperial; other facilities are on standby status in Riverside, Richmond, Fresno, San Diego and San Francisco. (Lin II and Gutierrez, 12/16)
LAist:
California Turns To Traveling Nurses, Help Overseas, As Hospitals Face Staffing Shortage
On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom said California is now looking to other countries to potentially fill staffing shortages at hospitals, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. State officials are also discussing the possibility of bringing back the USNS Mercy hospital ship to the Port of Los Angeles. They've now requested 10 teams of 20 medical personnel from the Department of Defense. State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly says hospitals are usually able to fill shortages without intervention from the state, by using staffing companies for traveling nurses. But those companies are already stretched thin. (Pollack, Nguyen and Bushman, 12/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Unions Call For Emergency L.A. County COVID-19 Shutdown
In a move that reflects the desperation of teachers, nurses, healthcare, grocery and hotel employees, their influential unions are calling for a strict month-long Los Angeles County shutdown in January to control the raging COVID-19 pandemic, save lives and ultimately allow for a quicker reopening of schools and the economy. (Blume, 12/17)
Bay Area News Group:
Analysis: With New COVID-19 Guidelines Out, Next Step For California High School Sports Is Clear
California Interscholastic Federation officials and the governing body’s 10 section commissions met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the just-released state youth sports COVID-19 guidelines. If they care about this school year’s senior class — and we know they do — their task is clear. (Sabedra, 12/15)
LA Daily News:
More Southern California Kids Are Killing Themselves During Coronavirus Pandemic
Melinda Robbins was driving home with her family in late August when she learned a former student had killed himself. “I cried all the way home,” the high school language arts teacher said. “His passing broke me. ”In spring, the boy left her class at Lee Pollard High School in the Corona-Norco Unified School District and shifted to home schooling. “This is not the first student that I’ve lost in my career, and I hope and pray it will be the last,” Robbins said. (Escobar and Yoarbrough, 12/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Feds Seize 10 Pounds Of Fentanyl In Tenderloin Trafficking Case, ‘Crime Family’ Accused
Kristen Marshall, manager of the DOPE Project, which manages the city’s overdose response, said arresting “mid-level drug dealers” does not reduce demand on the streets — but instead prompts people to seek out drugs from other sources, potentially with different potency or a more dangerous supply. The arrests may dent the street-level market for “maybe a week, tops,” she said, and those in the harm reduction community are “bracing” for the fallout. Last year when Anderson announced a similar Tenderloin anti-dealer initiative, Marshall said she saw a slight, but temporary, disruption in the market, but also an uptick in overdoses. “Immediately after operations like that, it’s important to understand that it creates an inconsistent and chaotic market,” she said. “We have to let everyone know because this will increase overdose risk and prepare programs for mass withdrawal symptoms.” (Thadani and Cassidy, 12/16)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego's Carlsmed Corrals $10 Million To Bring Personalized Medicine To Spine Surgeries
San Diego’s Carlsmed, which received regulatory clearance last week for personalized implants used in complex spine surgeries, has raised $10 million in a Series A round of venture capital funding. The 10-employee startup will use the money to further commercialize its “aprevo” implants for adult degenerative scoliosis. The condition results in curvature of the spine that can lead to lower back and leg pain, among other things. It affects about 6 million adults in the U.S. (Freeman, 12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘This Isn’t The Golden State Of The Past’: California Is Barely Growing
The state added 21,200 people in the year that ended July 1, a growth rate of 0.05%, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Finance. That nudged California’s population to 39.78 million. It was the state’s lowest recorded population growth rate since 1900. The previous record for sluggish growth was set just one year earlier. Among the reasons: More people are leaving California than are moving in from other states, immigration is down, births are dropping and deaths are up because of an aging population and the coronavirus pandemic. (Gardiner, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID-19 Drives California Population Growth To Record Lows
California’s population is now growing at its slowest rate in more than a century. The California Department of Finance, which monitors the state’s population data, found that from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020, California saw a net gain of only 21,200 new residents — a 0.05% growth rate not seen since 1900. As of July, the state’s population was 39.78 million. Over that period, Los Angeles County reported a net loss of 40,036 people, more than any other county in the state. (Smith and Branson-Potts, 12/16)
LAist:
Motel Dwellers Say They Were Forced Into Homelessness—So The Motel Could House Homeless People
L.A. County was all set to purchase its 10th vacant hotel and convert the property into housing for the homeless as part of California's new Project Homekey program, but there was one minor problem: the Studio 6 motel in Commerce wasn't vacant. Earlier this month, after the motel owner kicked everyone out, dozens of occupants claimed they'd been living in the motel for months — or even years — and were being forced into homelessness. (Schrank, 12/16)