San Francisco Chronicle: Children Ages 12 To 15 Approved For COVID Vaccinations By FDA
Federal regulators granted emergency use authorization Monday for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to be given to children ages 12 to 15, which will open the door for 2.1 million California adolescents to get their shots. The expansion, authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” the agency’s acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said in a statement. (Ho, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Vaccine Is Now Authorized For Kids As Young As 12. Here’s Why That Matters
In a first, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for use in kids ages 12 to 15 — terrific news for adolescents (and their parents) who have been waiting anxiously for this cohort to be eligible for the shot. In some cases, Monday’s FDA action on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will allow entire families — not just mom and dad — to safely eat indoors at a restaurant, watch a movie in a theater, attend a baseball game or even hang out at a friend’s house with minimal risk of becoming ill. (Netburn, 5/10)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Pfizer Vaccine Authorized By FDA For 12-15-Year-Olds, Setting Stage For New Phase Of Campaign In Sonoma County
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine Monday for 12-15-year-olds, providing another tool in the public health campaign to make schools, families and communities safer. The authorization adds an estimated 23,300 kids to Sonoma County’s vaccine eligibility pool. Dylan Hansen is one of them, and he’ll be lining up soon. “We will be online making an appointment as soon as it’s open,” said his mother, Jennifer Hansen. “My children all receive their vaccinations. And I think of parents who didn’t have those options. Measles, mumps, rubella, smallpox — at some point, brave parents had to step up and get these shots for their children.” (Barber, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here's When Kids Age 12-15 Might Get Vaccinated In The Bay Area
The first coronavirus vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds received federal authorization on Monday, and Bay Area public health and school officials were preparing for how best to reach this young group and persuade kids — and their parents — to get the shots. Pfizer filed its formal request for vaccine authorization in this age group in early April. Public health experts had anticipated the Food and Drug Administration to authorize it sometime this month. Moderna is expected to file for authorization for the same age group soon. Thus, two vaccines may be available for children 12 and older by the end of summer. (Allday, 5/10)

KQED: Why This Bay Area Family Had Their 3-Year-Old Vaccinated 
While an unfortunate number of people are still hesitating about the remarkably effective vaccines, let alone enrolling their kids in clinical trials, Angelica LaCour speaks of the importance of getting children inoculated. "I think it's just really important to highlight that we're not going to get to herd immunity as a country if children are not vaccinated," she said. "We don't know the long-term impacts of the virus. And we know that this is a well-tolerated vaccine that's saving people's lives. And it's important that our children get that as well. " (McClurg, 5/10)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Health Systems Ask For Fewer Vaccine Doses, Turn Down Extra Amid Supply Glut 
After months of overwhelming vaccine demand in San Diego County, some local health systems are turning down doses. Others are asking for less vaccine. That would have seemed unthinkable a few months ago, when San Diegans scoured the Internet for appointments, spent hours locked in bumper-to-bumper traffic and lined up late into the evening outside immunization sites — all in the name of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. (Wosen, 5/10)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus COVID Vaccine Sites Offer Johnson & Johnson Shots 
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency is moving forward with plans to close large vaccination clinics and hold more mobile clinics to administer coronavirus vaccine. It also has plenty of opportunities this week for county residents who would prefer to get a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as protection against COVID-19 illness. (Carlson, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Giants Will Reach 85% Vaccination Threshold Thursday, Loosening COVID-19 Protocols
On their trip to Pittsburgh this week, Giants players who are fully vaccinated will be able to go maskless in the dugout. They’ll be able to congregate in the clubhouse, they can work out at indoor facilities without a mask. Vaccinated players will be able even to use ride-share services or carpool to the park, and they can enjoy indoor dining, all thanks to reaching the 85% vaccination threshold, joining at least 11 other teams who have met the minimum criteria by the end of this week. (Slusser, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Vaccines Hold Their Own Against Coronavirus Variants 
Confidence is growing that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are holding their own against the coronavirus variants now in circulation. “Everything we’ve seen with the variants should provide marked reassurance, as far as the protection that is afforded by vaccines — particularly the vaccines that we have in the United States,” said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla. (Lin II, 5/11)

CapRadio: No, The Death Rate For Vaccinated People Is Not Higher Than That Of Unvaccinated People 
A screenshot of a tweet shared more than 42,000 times on Instagram falsely claimed that the death rate for fully vaccinated people sick with COVID-19 is “significantly higher” compared to unvaccinated individuals. That’s false. Public health experts agree that the author of the post likely miscalculated the death rate among fully vaccinated adults. Furthermore, experts say that it is flawed and misleading to use these figures to calculate a death rate and compare it to the unvaccinated population. (Fertel, 5/10)

Fresno Bee: Rate Of New COVID Cases In Fresno County Ticks Higher. Plus, Two More Deaths
Eighty-nine new cases of COVID-19 were reported Saturday in Fresno County, along with 104 on Sunday and Monday, pushing the total number of patients with confirmed cases of coronavirus since Friday to 193. The 89 new patients reported on Saturday by both the Fresno County and state health departments were the highest one-day report in almost four weeks. The date indicates when the cases were confirmed through testing, not when a person contracted the coronavirus or began showing symptoms. (Sheehan, 5/10)

Orange County Register: Orange County Reported 46 New Cases And No New Deaths, May 10 
The OC Health Care Agency reported 46 new cases of the coronavirus, increasing the total number of cases there have been in the county to 254,357, as of Monday, May 10.There were 693 new cases of the coronavirus reported in the past 14 days. No new deaths were reported Monday, keeping the total number of deaths at 5,008. (Goertzen, 5/10)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus County Adds 1 Death, 89 Cases Of COVID-19
Stanislaus County reported one death to COVID-19 and another drop in hospital cases Monday. A total of 1,056 residents have died from the virus since April 2020, the Health Services Agency said. Hospital cases had topped 100 in late April but have since declined by about a third. The count is far below the 300-plus during the worst of the winter surge. (Holland, 5/11)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Doctors Fundraising To Send India Oxygen 
Sacramento-based doctors of Indian descent are raising money to send oxygen to that country as a sudden spike in COVID-19 rates has led to thousands of deaths daily and overwhelmed medical facilities there. “You see the difference between the two health-care systems (of the U.S. and India) … Then you hear (about) people who are dying on the street because they can’t even get into the hospital,” said Dr. Manoj Mittal, an ICU physician at Sutter General Hospital. “How do you even comprehend that?” (Wong, 5/11)

Sacramento Bee: How CA Is Updating Its COVID-19 Workplace Safety Rules 
California workers won’t have to physically distance themselves from each other at workplaces starting in August under a proposed update to the state COVID-19 safety rules. The proposal, which would adjust California workplace regulations adopted in November, also specifies fully vaccinated workers will not have to wear face coverings when they are outdoors and don’t have COVID symptoms. (Park, 5/11)

Los Angeles Times: How Fauci, Other Experts Feel About Easing Mask Guidelines 
As COVID-19 vaccinations increase and nationwide case rates continue to decline, the country’s top health experts are considering whether and when face mask guidelines can become more lenient. “We do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” But Fauci also said the country was averaging about 43,000 coronavirus cases daily and noted that “we’ve got to get it much, much lower than that” to effectively reduce the risk from the virus. (Smith, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Schools Report Handful Of Coronavirus Cases, None Among Vaccinated People
Twenty cases of the coronavirus have been recorded among the 20,000 staffers and students who have returned to San Francisco elementary school campuses since the district reopened for in-person learning three weeks ago, health officials said Monday. All the cases reported by the school district were related to community transmission in unvaccinated people, according to city officials. (Vaziri, 5/10)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Schools Offer COVID Vaccine Clinics To Get Students, Teenagers Vaccinated 
When the COVID vaccine became available to young people ages 16 and older, Evelyn Arce heard students say they wouldn’t get vaccinated because they don’t trust the vaccine. They had Evelyn convinced for a day or two. But the 17-year-old senior at Hoover High in City Heights soon changed her mind based on data, not peer pressure. (Taketa, 5/8)

Los Angeles Times: An Alarming 7% Of LAUSD High Schoolers Back At Open Campuses 
Only 7% of high school students and 12% of middle school students have returned to reopened campuses in the Los Angeles school district, sounding alarms about what these figures portend for next fall and highlighting the need for intense intervention when more traditional in-person schooling resumes. As the school year winds down with the vast majority of students at home online, an uncertain summer and fall back-to-school future is emerging: How soon will families be ready to return children to campus? Will many demand an online option? Will students attend summer school to stem learning loss? (Blume, 5/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Seniors Might Go Back To School For Only One Day Before Term Ends. Parents Are Furious
When the teachers union over the weekend announced the “exciting news” that San Francisco’s high school seniors will get a chance to go back to classrooms starting Friday, they left out details about the plan, including that students might only be back for just one day. In addition, the class of 2021 won’t get any in-person instruction while they’re at one of two school sites. Instead, they have “in-person supervision.” In what some are calling a blatant money grab, the deal between the district and teachers union will bring seniors back “for at least one day before the end of the school year,” so the city’s public schools can qualify for $12 million in state reopening funds. (Tucker, 5/10)

CapRadio: Sacramento Parents Are Concerned About Children Falling Behind, COVID-19 Poll Finds 
In the latest Valley Vision and CapRadio COVID-19 Resilience poll — the third in the past year — 70% of parents in the six county greater Sacramento area said they were concerned that their kids are falling behind in school.More than 40% of parents in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter and Yuba counties said they were extremely or very worried about their children academically. (Bartolone, 5/10)

Orange County Register: Police Advise Los Alamitos School Board To Go Virtual As Anger Grows In Social Justice Debate 
Over the weekend, Los Alamitos Unified Unified School District sent out a message informing parents that the board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 11, would be held virtually “in an effort to protect public health and safety.” But the potential threat to health and safety isn’t coronavirus — it comes from some people engaged in the increasingly heated debate over proposed classes and teaching standards aimed at recognizing the contributions of people of color. (Christian Goulding, 5/10)

Orange County Register: Two-Thirds Of Californians To Receive $600 Stimulus Checks Under Gov. Newsom’s New Proposal 
Gov. Gavin Newsom today unveiled plans to deliver a second round of $600 stimulus checks — this time for middle-class residents in addition to low-income families — in an effort to speed up California’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor’s proposal to award two-thirds of Californians with stimulus checks is part of his $100-billion “California Comeback Plan,” which stems from an unprecedented $75.7 billion surplus in the state’s general fund projected for the upcoming fiscal year and an additional $26 billion from the federal coronavirus relief package. (Angst, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom's California Stimulus Checks: Who Gets $600, $1100? 
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a second round of $600 state stimulus checks on Monday to hasten California’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to expand the payments from low-income residents to also include middle-class families, and noting that doing so would ensure benefits for 2 out of 3 state residents. The proposal to deliver $8 billion in new cash payments to millions of Californians is part of a $100-billion economic stimulus plan made possible in part by a budget that has swelled with a significant windfall of tax revenues, a surplus the governor put at $75.7 billion. (McGreevy and Myers, 5/10)

CapRadio: Millions Of Californians May See A State Stimulus Check This Year 
Millions of California workers and families may get another stimulus check this year — but this one is from the state.Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed an expansion of his “Golden State Stimulus” plan on Monday. The program put $600 checks in the pockets of low-wage workers and undocumented families earlier this year. Now, with a record budget surplus, Newsom wants to send stimulus checks to families with children and workers who earn up to $75,000 a year. (5/10)

CalMatters: Newsom Proposes Expanding Golden State Stimulus To Middle Class 
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to use federal relief money and California’s record-setting tax revenue from the wealthy to send $600 stimulus checks to four out of five tax filers, pay down back rent for tenants and help millions catch up on utility bills. (Botts, 5/10)

Sacramento Bee: Next Round Of Sacramento Rental Assistance Opens Tuesday 
Sacramentans can apply for the next round of coronavirus rental assistance starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. To qualify, renters must: Be renting in the city or county of Sacramento Have household gross income at or below $50,750 for a household of one ranging to $95,700 for a household of eight Have at least one household member who is unemployed or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs or has experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19. (Clift, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Is Aiming For 100% COVID Rent Relief. Will It Actually Happen?
Thousands of Bay Area renters who have fallen behind on payments during the pandemic could soon see that debt reduced, thanks to $2.6 billion in new rent relief funding announced Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But that’s only if they and their landlords can navigate a confusing patchwork of state and local programs that advocates say are already leading to people falling through the cracks. With rent relief once again wrapped up in the state’s contentious annual budget process, they expect more clashes over income limits for debt forgiveness, whether to pay the money to landlords or tenants, and how to address closely related issues like eviction protections and forgiveness for other kinds of pandemic-induced debt. (Hepler, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Bay Area's Housing Production Plummeted In 2020. Here's A Look At The Trend By County
Housing production continues to plummet in the Bay Area. For the second year in a row, the number of new units built declined in California overall, with the Bay Area seeing sharper decreases in home-building than the rest of the state. New housing statewide fell by 10% in 2020, with most of the decrease coming from multi-family unit production, according to the data. The state saw an 18% decline in multi-family permits — just 43,500 were issued, the lowest number since 2012. Single-family permits declined statewide by 2%. (Neilson, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Wants To Spend Additional $9 Billion To House California Homeless In Converted Hotels, Motels
Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to spend nearly $9 billion on his signature program to house the homeless as advocates push him to dedicate twice as much to one of California’s most persistent problems. Newsom’s revised budget proposal, due Friday, would dedicate $8.75 billion over two years to creating new housing for homeless Californians through the hotel and motel conversion program Homekey, according to a summary provided by the governor’s office. It would also provide $3.7 billion for rental support and other services to end family homelessness over the next five years. (Koseff, 5/11)

Modesto Bee: What Are The Rules For Staying In Turlock Homeless Shelters? 
Since Turlock began its homeless emergency plan in March, some unsheltered people have raised longtime concerns over shelter policies on pets, couples and belongings. Some rules at the two non-profit shelters in Turlock are clear cut, but providers explained other policies are more flexible and complex than common objections describe. (Lam, 5/11)

KQED: Project Homekey Provides Some Hope For Californians Experiencing Homelessness 
Project Homekey allows cities and counties to purchase buildings and then covert them into long-term housing for the homeless. Martha Fuentes of Los Angeles says it's been a lifesaver and sanctuary as she's had to live in her car. (Gonzalez, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Homeless Encampments Have Seen A Spike In Blazes. Firefighters Are Worried
As Oakland grapples with a swelling homeless population and as fires at encampments and in RVs become more prevalent, city leaders are scrambling to find ways to address a growing need for services. Fire officials say they have seen a rise in RV and encampment fires — a concerning trend that could turn tragic. So far, no one has died and injuries have been minimal, but dozens have lost their vehicles, sometimes the only roof over their heads, and their belongings. (Ravani, 5/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Man Accused Of Stabbing 2 Asian Women In S.F. Will Not Face Hate Crime Charges For Now
The 54-year-old man accused of stabbing two women in San Francisco last week pleaded not guilty Monday to a number of charges, including two counts of attempted murder. Patrick Thompson was arrested last Tuesday after reports of a double stabbing around Fourth and Market streets. Thompson is accused of stabbing the two women, ages 63 and 84, multiple times as they waited at a bus stop. Both victims are expected to recover. (Vainshtein, 5/10)

Orange County Register: Disneyland Tests Virtual Queue With Indiana Jones Adventure Ride 
Disneyland plans to test a virtual queue on Indiana Jones Adventure as the Anaheim theme park tries to reduce the length of the socially distanced standby queue for the popular Adventureland attraction. Disneyland will begin testing the Indiana Jones Adventure virtual queue on Tuesday, May 11 as a temporary measure to alleviate foot traffic pinch points in front of the attraction that returned when the park reopened last month at limited capacity after a 13-month coronavirus closure. (McDonald, 5/10)

Orange County Register: Disneyland Sets Reopening Date For Blue Bayou With Booze — Plus A Passholder Exclusive Returns 
Disneyland will break with the long-standing prohibition on alcohol in the Anaheim theme park by offering a boozy rum-fueled cocktail made famous in New Orleans at the Blue Bayou when the restaurant reopens later this month. The Blue Bayou will begin serving meals along with beer, sparkling wine and Hurricane cocktails when the New Orleans Square restaurant reopens on May 27. (MacDonald, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: LA Opera Requires COVID-19 Vaccination Or Test For Indoor Show 
Los Angeles Opera is returning to the great indoors much sooner than expected: The company is scheduled to announce Monday that it will stage a free performance of “Oedipus Rex” inside Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on June 6. That covers the who, what and when, but arts groups plotting their future with the pandemic not yet ended may be most interested in hearing the how: To attend the Chandler show, patrons must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results. (Gelt, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: Memorial Day Travel 2021: National Park Roadtrips Trend Up 
Nearly 90% of Southern Californians will travel by car during the Memorial Day weekend — seven percentage points higher than before the pandemic, according to the Auto Club of Southern California travel forecast, released Tuesday. And three of the five most popular destinations are expected to be national parks. Crowded urban destinations like San Francisco and Anaheim have dropped out of the top five list for the first time in recent memory primarily because travelers believe that outdoor vacations let them worry less about mask mandates and COVID protocols, Auto Club representatives said. (Martín, 5/11)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Nine Days In, Cyberattack Continues At Scripps Health 
Scripps Health remained significantly impacted by a ransomware attack Monday, the ninth-straight day since hackers sent the region’s second-largest health system reeling May 1. The system’s website, scripps.org, continued to host only a one-paragraph message with a notice of a network outage, an apology and a phone number for patients to call under the headline “Scripps.org will be back soon.” (Sisson, 5/10)

San Diego Union-Tribune: It's Not Just Scripps. Ransomware Has Become Rampant During Pandemic 
On a local level, the ransomware attack that engulfed Scripps Health this past week, paralyzing digital resources from hospitals to outpatient clinics, was isolated. Other health care systems in the region have been unaffected and able to assist diverted patients with serious and immediate needs including heart attacks and strokes. But, look around and it is obvious that Scripps is not alone. (Sisson, 5/9)