Judge Blocks Vax Mandate For Prison Workers: A judge on Wednesday blocked an order due to take effect Friday that required California prison employees to be vaccinated against covid-19. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association opposes mandates for its members. Read more from The Sacramento Bee, AP and SFGate.
Hollywood Strike Planned For Monday: The union representing Hollywood crews announced Wednesday that its members will go on strike Monday if they can’t reach agreement on a new contract. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents about 60,000 film set workers nationwide, is asking for better working hours, safer workplace conditions and improved benefits. A walkout would bring film and TV production to a standstill. Read more from the Los Angeles Times, Variety and CNBC.
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
San Francisco Chronicle:
Mixing And Matching On Boosters Is Effective For Johnson & Johnson Recipients, Study Finds
People who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will receive increased protection from a supplemental dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, compared to a booster produced by Johnson & Johnson, according to a study published Wednesday by the National Institutes of Health. The report, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that mixing and matching vaccines is safe and effective in producing a strong antibody response. Those who received either of the two-shot mRNA vaccines will also benefit from a third dose. The findings of the report will be reviewed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee charged with recommending boosters. (Vaziri, Ho and Fracassa, 10/13)
NPR:
A Moderna Or Pfizer Booster Appears Better For J&J COVID Vaccine
If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as your first COVID-19 shot, a booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine apparently could produce a stronger immune response than a second dose of J&J's vaccine. That's the finding of a highly anticipated study released Wednesday. And if you started out with either Pfizer or Moderna, it probably doesn't matter that much, the research suggests, as long as you get one of the two mRNA vaccines as a booster. The study, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, involved 458 volunteers. They were divided into nine groups with roughly 50 volunteers in each group. Those who initially got the two-dose Moderna vaccine got either another Moderna shot, a Pfizer shot or a Johnson & Johnson shot as a booster four to six months after their primary immunization. (Stein, 10/13)
CNBC:
J&J Covid Booster Shot: FDA Scientists Strike Favorable Tone Ahead Of Vote This Week
The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday struck a more favorable tone on Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 booster shots, saying there may be a benefit to administering a second dose two months after the initial shot. The staff acknowledged, however, the data to support boosters was limited and the agency hasn’t verified all the information yet. (Lovelace Jr., 10/13)
City News Service:
LA County’s Coronavirus Hospitalizations Creep Up Again; 17 More Deaths Reported
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Los Angeles County rose for a third straight day on Wednesday, Oct. 13, hovering around the 700 mark, while health officials reported another 17 virus-related deaths and 1,005 new cases. The county Department of Public Health also reported a continued decline in COVID cases among the homeless, with just 107 new cases this week, compared to about 188 per week in August. Health officials noted that the 107 new cases being reported actually includes 67 that occurred previously, but were only recently classified as involving a homeless person. (10/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
New At-Home Rapid COVID Test Will Soon Hit Bay Area Stores. Here's What We Know About FlowFlex
Another at-home COVID rapid testing kit will soon be on the way to store shelves, made by a California company — welcome news in the Bay Area, where the tests have been hard to find amid a nationwide supply crunch. The FlowFlex test, from San Diego-based Acon Laboratories, received emergency use authorization last week from the Food and Drug Administration. The agency said the new option should double at-home rapid testing capacity in the U.S. in the next few weeks. FlowFlex is already available in some other countries including the United Kingdom, where it was distributed widely through the national health care system. (Hwang, 10/13)
CalMatters:
California Rent Relief: Are Immigrants Being Left Out?
Now that eviction protections in California are tied exclusively to whether a tenant applies for rental assistance, advocates are urging the state to take a closer look at who’s being left behind. The tenants living in the most precarious conditions — immigrants who speak limited English, don’t have a traditional lease or face digital barriers — are not applying for aid at the same rate as their estimated need, advocates say. “Everything shows you how it’s people, who were already more vulnerable to the pandemic’s health and economic impacts and past burdens of systemic racism and exclusion, who are being left out of this program,” said Sarah Treuhaft, vice president of research at PolicyLink, a nonprofit that has been tracking data on renters at risk of eviction. (Tobias, 10/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento School District To Mandate Student Vaccines
The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted at a special meeting Tuesday night to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all eligible students and staff. The mandate, which requires full vaccination, will go to into effect on Nov. 30, and also includes all dependent charter schools and adult education centers. (Morrar, 10/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Marin County, Now With Moderate Transmission, Might Be Able To Lift Mask Mandate In Three Weeks
Marin County is the only county in California that has a “moderate” level of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Wednesday, the county became the first in the Bay Area to advance into the category, depicted as yellow on the agency’s color-coded map, following the summer surge driven by the highly transmissible delta variant. (Vaziri, 10/13)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Unlike LA, No COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Coming To San Diego
San Diego County officials don’t plan to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for entry into restaurants, shopping centers and other indoor settings, local officials announced Wednesday. The news comes a week after the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 to require proof of full vaccination at indoor venues throughout the city. That mandate takes effect in November. (Wosen, 10/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Coachella, Stagecoach Won't Require COVID Vaccine For Entry
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has reversed its requirement for attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of its events next spring. Festival organizer Goldenvoice announced the decision Tuesday, which now gives attendees the option to present a negative COVID-19 test as a substitute for being vaxxed prior to entry, rather than only proof of vaccination. The decision also applies to country fest Stagecoach, Goldenvoice’s other marquee event that takes place in late April and early May. (Saad, 10/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Anti-Abortion Activists Have Already Sued Over California's New Law Limiting Vaccination Site Protests
Anti-abortion activists have sued to overturn a new California law that restricts protests outside vaccination sites, just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure despite warnings from First Amendment experts that it would violate free speech rights. The lawsuit, filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, argues that the state went too far in trying to protect people from harassment as they get vaccinated. Buffer zones for demonstrations established under the law, according to the complaint, unfairly burden and deny free speech in public spaces. (Koseff, 10/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Sutter Roseville Set To Become Teaching Hospital Next Summer
Sutter Health became the first institution to announce a medical residency program for Placer County, saying the company’s Roseville hospital will begin training 19 fourth-year medical students in summer 2022 and ultimately expand to 150. Sutter Roseville Medical Center received accreditation to teach graduate courses in both internal medicine and surgery, company leaders said, so they will be able to compete for talent in the National Residency Matching Program that pairs medical students with teaching hospitals. (Anderson, 10/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Judd Announces Plans To Retire From Kern Medical As Hospital Board Taps Thygerson To Replace Him As CEO
Kern Medical announced Wednesday CEO Russell Judd will retire Dec. 1 after an eight-year stint in which he turned around the designated safety-net hospital's finances, expanded its teaching capabilities and widened its network of outpatient clinics. Chairman Russell Bigler of the Kern County Hospital Authority said the board accepted Judd's retirement and voted unanimously Wednesday morning to appoint a successor — Scott Thygerson, currently president of Kern Medical's hospital and clinic operations — effective Dec. 1. (Cox, 10/13)
KQED:
Walgreens To Close 5 More Stores In San Francisco
Drugstore chain Walgreens plans to close five of its San Francisco stores next month, claiming rampant theft as the primary reason. "Due to ongoing organized retail crime, we have made the difficult decision to close five stores across San Francisco," a Walgreens spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. "Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average." (10/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
State Begins Effort To Clean Up Toxic 'Delano Plume'
More than a decade after elevated levels of a cancer-causing chemical were found in downtown Delano, residents now believe a solution has been reached. On Wednesday, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control showed off new construction that is meant to filter the toxic chemical Tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, from beneath buildings near Main Street in Delano. In 2008, a groundwater test of a nearby Chevron station revealed the presence of PCE in the soil. The state allows for a maximum PCE level of five parts per billion. The level found in the groundwater test was 440 parts per billion, according to DTSC. (Morgen, 10/13)
PBS NewsHour:
As Toxic Smoke And Dust Batters Parched California, It Can Feel ‘Like You Are Eating Pollution’
A new analysis of air quality in the United States clears up just how far smoke from wildfires burning in the western part of the nation can travel, as the fires continue to pose significant health risks to nearby communities. Wildfire smoke produced in the west reached as far east as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, increasing the number of smoky days in the east by 40 percent, according to an analysis released in September by NPR’s California Newsroom and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab. Researchers analyzed more than 10 years of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While the smoke was dispersed widely, California communities closest to the wildfires have experienced high amounts of air pollution lasting for days in the past two months. In some cases, pollution indexes reached levels unlike any seen before, according to health and education officials who spoke to the PBS NewsHour. (Rodriguez-Delgado, 10/13)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. City Council Considers Action On Heat-Related Deaths
Members of the Los Angeles City Council are urging new measures to protect residents from extreme heat, citing a recent Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed the state has failed to adequately address the health dangers of worsening heat waves or accurately count heat-related deaths. City Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a motion this week directing the city’s Emergency Management Department, among other actions, to report back on the status and cost of a surveillance system to track “when and where heat-related deaths are occurring, the identification of vulnerable populations in those locations, and the development of plans to minimize to near-zero deaths related to heat.” (Barboza, 10/13)
NBC News:
Sweeping FDA Guidance Would Drastically Cut Salt In American Foods
The Food and Drug Administration is asking food manufacturers and restaurants to cut the salt in their products over the coming 2½ years, hoping to reduce Americans' overall sodium intake by 12 percent. The sweeping recommendation, announced Wednesday, is expected to cover a wide variety of foods — from chain restaurant meals to processed food on grocery store shelves and even baby food. (Edwards, 10/13)
The New York Times:
Social Security Cost Of Living Increase Will Be 5.9% In 2022
Benefits from Social Security, which tens of millions of retired Americans rely on to pay their bills, will increase by 5.9 percent in 2022, the Social Security Administration said on Wednesday. It is the biggest boost in 40 years as prices for food, cars and rent keep climbing. The increase, known as a cost of living adjustment, is the largest since 1982, when the adjustment was 7.4 percent, according to data from the administration. The average benefit — 70 million Americans receive them — would climb to $1,657 a month, up $92 from this year. (Ngo, 10/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
McCarthy Reintroduces Valley Fever Bill
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, as well as a group of other House representatives from California and Arizona, reintroduced a valley fever bill aimed at incentivizing research for valley fever and other fungal diseases this week. Valley fever task force co-chairs McCarthy and Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, reintroduced the Finding Orphan-disease Remedies with Antifungal Research and Development
bill along with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Rep. Tom O’Halleran D-Arizona. (10/13)
Sacramento Bee:
More Lidocaine Recalled For Dangerous Super Potency
For the second time in just over six weeks, Teligent Pharma recalled Lidocaine HCl Topical Solution 4%, 50ml for super potency. This time, instead of just one lot, Teligent pulled five lots, four distributed by Teligent and one by Sky Packaging. (Neal, 10/13)
Axios:
U.S. Sees Record High Of 96,000 Drug Overdose Deaths In 12 Month Period
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded over 96,000 deaths from drug overdoses in a twelve-month period ending in March 2021, according to provisional data released Wednesday. It's a nearly 30% jump over the preceding 12 months and coincides with one of the deadliest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home orders radically changed daily life for most Americans. (Garfinkel, 10/13)
Everyday Health:
1 In 5 ‘Opioid-Naive’ People Continue To Take Pain Medication 3 Months After Surgery
New research shows that approximately 1 in 5 “opioid-naive” adults continued to use the pain medication three months after having a procedure. People with depression, bipolar disorder, pulmonary hypertension, or who were smokers were among those with the highest risk for continuing to take opioids, according to the findings which were presented at the Anesthesiology 2021 annual meeting held October 8 to 12 in San Diego, California. “The more than 100 million surgeries in the United States every year create an unintended and alarming gateway to long-term opioid use,” said Gia Pittet, PhD, doctor of audiology, lead author of the study and visiting graduate researcher for anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles, in a release. (Upham, 10/12)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Shigella Outbreak Reported Among San Diego Homeless
County health officials are monitoring an outbreak of shigellosis among homeless people after six cases were reported since Sept. 30. Shigellosis, caused by the shigella bacteria, can cause fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea, sometimes bloody. It is a contagious infection typically spread by contaminated surfaces, food or water, or sometimes person to person, such as men who have sex with men, the county Health and Human Services Agency reported. (Warth, 10/12)
The Mercury News:
Elizabeth Holmes Trial: Walgreens Put $140 Million Into Theranos
Drugstore giant Walgreens paid Palo Alto blood-testing startup Theranos $100 million, and invested $40 million more in the failed company, a former Walgreens executive testified at Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal fraud trial Wednesday. Former Walgreens chief financial officer Wade Miquelonleft Walgreens before the deal with Theranos fell apart, but he continued to believe in her and her startup’s technology, he told the jury, which had seen displayed copies of emails between the two. (Baron, 10/13)