Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
In Los Angeles and Beyond, Oxygen Is the Latest Covid Bottleneck
The oxygen delivery infrastructure is crumbling under pressure in Los Angeles and other covid hot spots, jeopardizing patients’ access to precious air and limiting hospital turnover. (Rae Ellen Bichell and Lauren Weber, )
Health Officials Plead With Californians To Change Their Behavior: Worried Los Angeles County health leaders said Wednesday that the region was rapidly losing its battle against covid-19 and that only immediate and decisive changes in behavior can prevent a steep rise in deaths. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune.
More OC Homeless Died In 2020 Than Ever Before: As the pandemic has gripped Orange County for nine months, the homeless have had few places to turn. As a result, more homeless people — 330 — died in Orange County in 2020 than any other year, according to the coroner’s office. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
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
Los Angeles Times:
Congress Confirms Biden Win, Trump OKs Transition
After being interrupted by a mob of Trump supporters unwilling to accept the result, the U.S. Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s win — the last procedural step before his inauguration Jan. 20. Some Republican lawmakers tried to block certification of Biden’s victory in states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, but the Senate and House swept those objections aside. The joint session adjourned after Vice President Mike Pence declared that Biden had won 306 electoral college votes to President Trump’s 232. (1/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Lawmakers Flee, Hunker Down As Chaos Overtakes Capitol
As rioters seeking to install President Trump in a second term contrary to November’s election results breached the Capitol building, California’s lawmakers were spread throughout the complex. They were told to draw the curtains and stay away from the windows. They were urged to remove the lapel pins that identify them as members of Congress. They could hear unidentified explosions and the din of a mob outside. (Kopan, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Woman Killed In Capitol Was From San Diego, Family Says
The woman shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol Building during a violent pro-Trump siege Wednesday was an Ocean Beach resident, according to her extended family and media reports. Her husband confirmed to KUSI that the woman, whose shooting was captured on video, was 35-year-old Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt, and said she was an Air Force veteran. (Figueroa and Riggins, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Democratic Wins In Georgia Ease Biden’s Path, Starting With Xavier Becerra’s Confirmation
Xavier Becerra’s path to President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet just got smoother, $2,000 relief checks for Americans became significantly more likely, and a passel of Trump-era regulations got shakier Wednesday as advocates and strategists began calibrating how Democratic control of the Senate would reshape the new administration’s agenda. (Lauter and Hooker, 1/6)
USA Today:
Georgia Senate: How Democratic Control Could Advance Biden’s Agenda
The Senate sweep in Georgia gives the party control of the upper chamber for the first time since the 2014 elections and boost President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to carry out his early legislative agenda. ... Biden has said he would rejoin the World Health Organization, which President Donald Trump began to withdraw from in July, and reestablish the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which was eliminated by the Trump administration in 2018. ... Biden [also] hopes to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, which provides health care for millions of Americans. (1/6)
The New York Times:
With New Majority, Here’s What Democrats Can (And Can’t) Do On Health Care
The Democrats’ new congressional majority puts a variety of health policy ideas suddenly into reach, even if big structural changes remain unlikely. A series of tweaks bolstering the Affordable Care Act stands the best chance of passage. Legislators could make insurance subsidies more generous, get coverage to low-income Americans in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, and render moot a pending Supreme Court lawsuit that aims to overturn the entire law. (Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 1/7)
ABC News:
Members Of Trump Cabinet Discussing Invoking 25th Amendment: Sources
There have been discussions among some members of the Trump Cabinet and allies of President Donald Trump about the 25th Amendment, which would be a vehicle for members of the cabinet to remove Trump from office, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell ABC News. It is unclear how extensive these conversations have been or if Vice President Mike Pence is supportive of such action. Many have been horrified by Wednesday's events and Trump's encouragement and lack of engagement to call in resources to stop the protesters, the sources said. (Santucci, Faulders, Shapiro, and Karl, 1/6)
Bay Area News Group:
California Vaccine Committee Prioritizes Seniors In Next Wave
California is changing its COVID-19 defense strategy to offer the vaccine earlier to a broader segment of the elder population, protecting the most medically vulnerable populations. Elaborating on guidelines outlined by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week, on Tuesday during California’s community vaccine advisory committee meeting, Dr. Robert Schechter unveiled criteria that elevate people in two groups: ages 50 and 64, and 65 to 74 years old. The timing of this next step has not yet been announced, and the state’s coronavirus vaccination program for first priority workers and residents is lagging so far. “Very soon, as the supply increases over the next weeks, be expecting a formal announcement of when (the next phase)is in effect,” said Schechter, chief of the Immunizations Branch of the California Department of Public Health and co-chair of the state’s drafting guidelines workgroup. (Krieger, 1/6)
Southern California News Group:
California Health Leaders Want 1 Million Vaccinations In 10 Days
One million vaccinations over the next 10 days. That’s the working goal of one of California’s COVID-19 vaccination planning groups, which convened Wednesday, Jan. 6, and echoed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desire this week to speed up the state’s mass vaccination campaign. California currently is in the first stage – Phase 1A – of the drive, which sent a first wave of shots to hospitals and pharmacies to inoculate frontline health care workers and long-term care residents. Phase 1A kicked off in mid-December, but has been slow going as health providers confront the logistical dilemma of redeploying staff to inject other staff in the middle of a winter rush on hospitals. There are also health care workers opting out. (Wheeler, 1/7)
LA Daily News:
As 258 More COVID Deaths Are Posted, LA County Urges People To Wait Their Turns For Vaccines
As Los Angeles County lost another 258 lives to coronavirus — one of the highest single-day totals of the pandemic — health officials pleaded on Wednesday, Jan. 6, with residents not to sign up for a vaccine appointment meant for healthcare workers. “Please do not sign up for an appointment if you’re not an eligible frontline healthcare worker,” said Barbara Ferrer, the public health director, acknowledging that some people have been inoculated inappropriately because they were not asked for verifications at local vaccine sites. Officials, however, have closed a loophole and the sites now require a photo ID and documentation of healthcare employment, Ferrer said. (Grigory Ants and Rosenfeld, 1/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How Will You Know When You Can Get A Coronavirus Vaccine? Officials Explain Rollout
As California hospitals and public health officials gear up to vaccinate the next, much larger group of people eligible for coronavirus vaccines — essential workers and people 75 and older — many in this group are wondering how they will be notified that they are eligible for vaccines, and when they can expect them to begin. It is unclear when exactly this next phase, known as Phase 1b of the vaccine rollout, will start. Some Bay Area counties estimate it will begin in late January or early February. Others do not have a projected timeline. Counties and hospitals are largely still vaccinating people in Phase 1a, who are health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. (Ho, 1/6)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Health Department Outlines Plan To Vaccinate Kern County
The Kern County Board of Supervisors heard the outline of a plan to vaccinate county residents against COVID-19 on Tuesday morning. It includes opening up the Kern County Fairgrounds for mass vaccination clinics, sending out mobile clinics and allowing state-approved local providers to administer vaccinations. “Theoretically, we have 920,000 to vaccinate countywide,” Kern County Public Health Services Director Matt Constantine told the board. “This is going to be one of our biggest endeavors.” (Gallegos, 1/6)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern Public Health: More People Now Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccination
The Kern County Public Health Services Department said Wednesday that more people are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. It said priority groups within Tier 2 of Phase 1a of the COVID-19 Vaccine Schedule are now able to be vaccinated in Kern County. Residents within Phase 1a – Tier 1 also remain eligible. The county said these groups are eligible in Phase 1a – Tier 2: (1/6)
LA Daily News:
4 New COVID-19 Vaccination Sites For Health-Care Workers Open In San Fernando Valley And LA’s Eastside
Four additional vaccination sites for health-care workers opened Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley and Eastside of Los Angeles, bringing city sites’ collective capacity up to about 2,000 vaccinations per day. The new locations — at the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center in Pacoima, the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, the Hazard Recreation Center in Boyle Heights and the El Sereno Recreation Center — will be able to provide 300 vaccinations per day, Garcetti said. (1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
CDC: Severe Allergic Reactions To Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Rare’
Severe allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech were “rare” in the first 10 days of its rollout across the country, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 21 cases of anaphylaxis — none of them fatal — has been confirmed among nearly 1.9 million doses administered, CDC researchers wrote Wednesday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That works out to 11.1 cases per 1 million doses. (Kaplan, 1/6)
Stat:
More Allergic Reactions To Covid-19 Vaccines Seen, But Cases Remain Few
Twenty-nine people in the United States have developed anaphylaxis after being vaccinated against Covid-19 since the vaccine rollout began, health officials reported Wednesday, with cases occurring after vaccination using both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. (Branswell, 1/6)
ABC News:
Doctors Encourage COVID Vaccination Despite Reports Of Cosmetic Facial Filler Swelling
A recent update from the Food and Drug Administration has many people concerned that the COVID-19 vaccination may have an unexpected side effect among people who had previously received cosmetic facial fillers. Many people who have received cosmetic injections to smooth wrinkles, plump lips or otherwise rejuvenate their facial appearance are wondering if they should delay their COVID-19 vaccination. But experts caution that side effects from these cosmetic fillers are so rare and so mild that they should not dissuade people from getting the vaccine. (Farber, 1/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Hospitals Slammed By COVID-19 Surge: ‘The E.R. Is Full’
For the 20th straight day, there were virtually no vacant intensive care beds available across much of California as hospitals scrambled to treat wave after wave of new COVID-19 patients. “This surge has been relentless,” said Dr. Ahmad Kamal, Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 director, during a Wednesday press briefing. “It is straining our health care system to a breaking point.” Intensive care bed availability in the Bay Area rose fractionally on Wednesday to 7.4%, but the overall picture across the state looked grim. Capacity remained at 0% in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, the two hardest-hit regions. (Vaziri, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Overwhelmed By COVID-19, Hospitals ‘Making Difficult Decisions’ As Patient Care Deteriorates
Conditions at Los Angeles County hospitals are worsening by the day, forcing officials to take increasingly desperate measures to prevent the healthcare system from crumbling under a crush of COVID-19 patients. Methodist Hospital of Southern California has taken the grim step of convening a triage team that will “make the difficult, but necessary decisions about allocating limited resources” to critically ill patients “based on the best medical information available,” officials said in a statement. As of Wednesday, that team “has yet to find the need to ration any care,” said Cliff Daniels, a senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the Arcadia-based hospital. (Lin II, Money and Campa, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Central Valley Hospitals Brace For Worsening COVID Crisis
Officials in Fresno County are scrambling for oxygen-making machines to care for the rising tide of those sick with COVID-19, as the number of bodies has placed greater pressure on funeral homes. Officials in California’s 10th most populous county say the situation is not as severe as that in Los Angeles County. But health authorities officials are seeking to ease pressure on hospitals by sending home COVID-19 patients who would normally stay in the hospital — and to do so, they’re searching for machines that can generate oxygen for patients at home. (Lin II and Money, 1/6)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Santa Clara County Hospitals, Already On Brink Of Capacity, Await ‘Most Challenging Month’ Of Pandemic
Hospitals in Santa Clara County are on the brink of capacity, already resulting in downstream effects, county officials said Wednesday as they prepared to face what is expected to be the most challenging month yet of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a chilling reminder of the current scarcity of medical capacity, residents were asked to think twice about calling 911 for an ambulance, with some emergency vehicles unavailable for hours at a time as they wait to offload patients at overloaded hospitals. Six weeks after Thanksgiving, the county is already feeling the full effects of the first of what could be three holiday surges. “We are at an unprecedented level of cases and hospitalizations coming out of the Thanksgiving surge,” county counsel James Williams said Wednesday during a news conference. “We are extraordinarily concerned about what might be coming in the next few weeks.” (Webeck, 1/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Outbreak At Gilroy Hospital Infects 8 ER Staffers
Nearly 10% of emergency room staff at a Gilroy hospital have tested positive for the coronavirus, the second outbreak to hit South Bay hospitals in recent weeks. Eight out of around 80 emergency department staff in St. Louise Regional Hospital contracted the coronavirus in the past week, Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System said Wednesday. Infected staff are quarantining and none required hospitalization. (Arredondo, 1/6)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Yes, L.A. Hospitals Were Packed With COVID-19 Patients, Contrary To Viral Video’s Claims
A deceptive and widely viewed Facebook video claimed Los Angeles hospitals did not face a recent surge of COVID-19 patients. The footage made the rounds and was believed by Facebook users despite strong evidence to the contrary from health officials and media reports. The anti-mask activist who shot the video made a sweeping conclusion: There are “absolutely no patients” at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, according to the video, posted on New Year’s Day. The activist also referred to hospital staff as “useful idiots.” A hospital representative rejected the video’s assertions as baseless. (Nichols, 1/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Health Official Fumes As Sheriff, Newsom Critics Plan COVID Conference Near Sacramento
To the dismay of Sacramento County’s health officer, a group pushing back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 restrictions is hosting a conference in Rancho Murieta this weekend, bringing in sheriffs, elected officials and business lobbyists to make the case that Newsom’s stay-at-home orders have harmed the California economy. Calling itself Re-Open Cal Now, the group plans multiple panel discussions at Murieta Equestrian Center, a horse-show venue, as well as a rally at the Capitol. One of its leading organizers, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt, said the weekend is designed to explore the ramification of the shutdown orders with a “nice, non-partisan voice.” Hewitt is a Libertarian. (Kasler, Pohl and Bizjak, 1/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom Push To Reopen Schools Runs Into COVID Surge
With 1 in 3 students testing positive for the coronavirus in some Los Angeles neighborhoods, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to reopen campuses is clashing with the reality of a raging pandemic as many school districts opt for January shutdowns and superintendents call for clearer guidance on when it will be safe to unlock their campus doors. The swift-moving developments come one week after Newsom announced financial help — totaling $2 billion — that would go to elementary schools that reopen as early as next month and later to schools serving older students. Newsom cited the widely acknowledged harms of learning loss and social isolation — especially for Black and Latino students from low-income families — after in-person instruction shut down nearly 10 months ago across the state. (Blume, Gomez and Myers, 1/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Richmond Sued Over Plan To Develop Site Laden With Pollutants
The 86-acre project on the Zeneca site in south Richmond, just east of Marina Bay and west of Interstate 580, had been rejected in 2018 by the Richmond City Council, which called instead for a full cleanup of contaminated soil. But after the state Department of Toxic Substances Control opted in 2019 for a partial cleanup plan that included groundwater treatment and barriers to prevent escape of remaining soil pollution, the council voted 4-2 last month to approve the development. Opponents said the purported cleanup plan would remove less than 2% of the contaminated soils. Because of the hazards, no schools, preschools, health care or senior care facilities will be allowed in the area, but “everyone who lives there will be at risk by living on a toxic site while the health and environmental impacts worsen as sea level rises,” the plaintiff organizations said in a statement. (Egelko, 1/6)
Modesto Bee:
Why Are There So Few Flu Cases This Year?
Deadly coronavirus pandemic aside, the U.S. would normally be seeing loads of flu cases this time of year. But health care professionals aren’t seeing their standard influenza-ridden patients this season, suggesting the virus isn’t making its usual rounds in the northern hemisphere. “We are testing thousands of people in our emergency room settings and in our hospitals for a combination of COVID and flu, and we’re essentially seeing no flu,” Dr. Randy Bergen, a flu expert with health care company Kaiser Permanente, told ABC7. “Some weeks we’ll have no cases, others we’ll have maybe one or two.” (Camero, 1/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Zoom Face And Stealth Recovery: Plastic Surgery Booming Amid Pandemic
For months during the pandemic, Bay Area professionals have been working from home, connecting over Zoom, and deciding they don’t like what they see. It’s not their colleagues they’re objecting to, but their own faces — double chins, brow furrows and hooded eyelids. And they’re doing something about it, in droves. (Zinko, 1/6)