San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco, Other Counties Suspend Use Of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
San Francisco is halting the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after federal health agencies urged local governments to do so due to reports of rare blood clots in six recipients. The city’s announcement came shortly before Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday morning that California would also temporarily suspend the use of the vaccine. (Thadani, 4/13)

Fresno Bee: What Does The Hold On Johnson & Johnson’s COVID Vaccine Mean For Fresno County, Valley?
Fresno and other counties in the state have been ordered to put a hold on the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine after rare but severe blood clotting in some recipients, the state Department of Health said on Tuesday. Of the 6.8 million distributed doses in the country, there have been six cases of a “rare and severe type of blood clot” that occurred six to 13 days after the shot, according to Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist for CDPH. Meanwhile, California counties have received about 900,000 doses of the J&J shot, which makes up about 4% of all the vaccines, according to department. (Miller, 4/13)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus County Suspends Use Of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
Kamlesh Kaur, a spokesperson for the county agency, said the Turlock clinic is not injecting the Johnson & Johnson product after it was flagged by federal officials. The clinic at 893 Lander Ave. runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. “We have switched to Moderna vaccines at the Salvation Army today,” Kaur said by email. The county health agency will administer the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines at clinics the rest of this week, she said. In a message posted on social media, the county said clinics previously planned this week for J&J shots will take place as planned using Moderna vaccine. (Carlson, 4/13)

Orange County Register: Scientists Delve Into Clotting Issues Associated With J&J Vaccine As Pause Disrupts Local Distributions
Federal officials were drilling down on the details Tuesday, April 13, as they recommended that J&J’s one-and-done shot be removed from America’s vaccination rotation until more is understood. Though it wasn’t required, California and its counties joined much of the nation in pausing use of the J&J vaccine out of an abundance of caution, offering the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna regimens to those who had appointments for the J&J vaccine instead. This was expected to be little more than a hiccup in California’s vaccination campaign, as Johnson & Johnson comprised just 4% of the state’s vaccine supply, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. In Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, J&J is responsible for some 6% to 7% of those vaccinated so far, officials said. (Sforza, 4/13)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern Public Health Asks Local Vaccine Providers To Pause Administering Johnson & Johnson 
The Kern County Public Health Services Department asked all local COVID-19 vaccination providers to put a temporary halt on Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution following the CDC’s recommendation to pause its administration. During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, public health director Brynn Carrigan said that while the recently reported negative effects from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine haven’t been common, it’s in the county’s best interest to proceed with caution. (Feinberg, 4/13)

Vallejo Times Herald: Solano County: Previous Johnson And Johnson Vaccinations Appointments To Continue
Although California health officials have told health care providers to suspend the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, no Solano County appointments will be canceled. Those clinics in the county will instead switch to either Moderna or Pfizer, Solano County Public Health Administrator Jayleen Richards told the Times-Herald on Tuesday. (Gase, 4/13)

And in related news from other vaccine manufacturers --

The Hill: Pfizer Pushes To Speed Up Its Vaccine Delivery After J&J Pause
Pfizer's CEO said Tuesday that the company has ramped up its vaccine production to deliver doses more quickly following a pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, tweeted that the company could complete an order of 300 million COVID-19 vaccines two weeks early following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier Tuesday urging states to halt distribution of the J&J vaccine. (Bowden, 4/13)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: Moderna Says Its Shot Is 90% Effective 6 Months After Second Dose
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against Covid and more than 95% effective against severe disease up to six months after the second dose, the company said Tuesday, citing updated data from its phase three clinical trial. The update brings Moderna a step closer to filing its request for full U.S. approval for its vaccine. Full approval requires a more rigorous review process to show the shot is safe and effective for its intended use. Once it gets full approval, Moderna can begin marketing the shots directly to consumers and selling them to individuals and private companies in the U.S. (Lovelace Jr., 4/13)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Discovers 39 Fully Vaccinated People Were Infected By COVID-19
At least 39 Sonoma County residents who were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus have subsequently contracted the infectious disease, with two of the cases known to involve a West Coast virus mutation. The discovery local public health officials acknowledged Tuesday represents the first information released about county residents who have gotten completely inoculated, then two weeks or more later tested positive for the virus. Such instances are rare nationally and known as “breakthrough cases,“ meaning the virus has broken through despite the protection from vaccinations. (Espinoza, 4/13)

Orange County Register: OC Will Offer Digital Vaccine Record As An Option, Not A Mandate
Orange County health officials still plan to provide digital proof people can use to show they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, but county leaders stress they will not mandate that anyone get a so-called “vaccine passport” and one won’t be required to get services from the county. The OC Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 13, faced an angry crowd demanding the county abandon plans to require that people carry proof of vaccination to go about their daily lives – but no such plans exist. Currently, when people get a vaccine shot, they’re given a white card issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It gets filled out by the vaccine provider with the name and birth date of the recipient, the date and location of the shot, and the maker and lot number of the vaccine. (Robinson, 4/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Driving To Sacramento Or Tulare For A COVID Vaccine? Read This Before Looking Outside Your County
Bay Area residents having trouble finding COVID-19 vaccine appointments in their area may have luck if they are willing to trek beyond the region — but providers are sounding some notes of caution. Some vaccination sites across California have expanded their eligibility to everyone 16 and older before the state’s formal statewide opening Thursday to all residents in that age range. While some providers are welcoming anyone, some are discouraging people to sign up for a slot, to allow their local residents to get vaccinated first. (Flores, 4/13)

KQED: Advocates Work To Combat Vaccine Distrust In ICE Detention Facilities
Immigrant advocates are pushing state officials to increase outreach at facilities where ICE detainees are being held, to combat distrust over the COVID-19 vaccine. "Immigrants inside were saying: 'Hey, they're offering us a vaccine, but we have no information. We have no idea what it's about, if there are any side effects,'" said Edwin Carmona-Cruz. He's the director of Community Engagement at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, a coalition of pro-bono legal service providers that offer support to immigrants in detention facilities. (Wiley, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: One California County In Purple Tier Amid COVID Reopenings
Only one county remains in the strictest section of California’s reopening road map, a heartening sign of progress in the battle against the coronavirus as businesses and other public spaces continue wider reopenings. The lone remaining denizen of the purple tier is Merced County, according to state data released Tuesday. Inyo County had been keeping it company but officially moved into the less-restrictive red tier. The recent exodus from the purple tier has been stunning. Thirty-four of California’s 58 counties were in that category on March 9. The month before, all but five counties were in the tier. (Money, 4/13)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus Again Meets Criteria For Coronavirus Red Tier
Stanislaus County remained securely in the red tier of the state’s coronavirus reopening strategy Tuesday. The county has spent three weeks in the tier category for counties with “substantial” spread of COVID-19 illness, which allows more flexibility for restaurants, retail stores, fitness centers, yoga studios and other businesses. California is aiming for June 15 to fully reopen its economy after more than a year of battling the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, Stanislaus County’s Health Services Agency reported 74 additional COVID-19 cases and two deaths, pushing the death toll to 1,020 since April 2020. (Carlson, 4/13)

Sacramento Bee: CA County Tier Changes Small, COVID-19 Rates Staying Low
Four counties making up a small fraction of California’s population were promoted to looser tiers of COVID-19 restrictions in the state’s reopening framework Tuesday morning. Inyo County advanced out of the strict purple tier and into the red tier; Kern and Lake counties moved from red to orange; and Lassen joined Alpine and Sierra counties as the only three in the least-restrictive yellow tier. Inyo’s promotion leaves Merced as the only county among the state’s 58 still in the purple tier. Merced again on Tuesday failed to record a week of progress toward that tier, meaning it may not move until April 27 at the earliest. (McGough, 4/13)

Fresno Bee: Two More COVID ‘Variants Of Concern’ Detected In Fresno County. Here’s What We Know
Two new coronavirus variants have been detected among Fresno County residents, public health officials said Tuesday. The news means four coronavirus strains identified by federal health officials as “variants of concern” are now present in Fresno County. Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health, said Tuesday that two people tested positive for the B.1.351 strain of COVID-19, virus, also known as the South African variant, and one confirmed to have had the P.1 strain, referred to as the Brazilian variant. (Sheehan, 4/13)

The Mercury News: Offices Are Still Dangerous Places, Bay Area Residents Say In COVID Poll
Half of Bay Area residents believe working in an office is still risky, according a new poll from a prominent business group, reflecting the difficulties big employers may have in bringing workers back after more than a year of social distancing. About one in five of those surveyed said working in the office was “very unsafe,” while a third described it as “somewhat unsafe” in a poll of 1,000 registered voters for the Bay Area Council. But other experiences — from dining inside to attending sports events — were deemed even riskier by respondents, the poll found. (Baron, 4/13)

CalMatters: Child Care Providers Still Waiting For Relief Checks
Desperate child care providers who look after state-subsidized children are anxiously waiting on a much-needed one-time stipend of $525 per child promised by Gov. Gavin Newsom back in February. The stipends, which could tally in the thousands for some providers, might mean the difference between staying open or turning out the lights. (Aguilera, 4/13)

inewsource: San Diego County Will Pay SDSU $140K To Review Troubled COVID-19 Hotel Program
In the wake of an inewsource investigation that uncovered problems at a county-run COVID-19 hotel, officials agreed Monday to pay San Diego State University $140,000 to review the sheltering program’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as to provide best practices moving forward. A final report is due June 1. San Diego County supervisors ordered the review eight days after inewsource reported gaps in services and a high volume of calls to police at the county’s main isolation hotel, the Crowne Plaza in Mission Valley. A county official provided a copy of the contract to inewsource Tuesday afternoon. (Dulaney, 4/13)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Makes Long-Awaited Ambulance Provider Switch To Improve Response Times, Equipment 
San Diego will have a new ambulance provider for the first time in 23 years after the City Council voted 9-0 Tuesday to switch from American Medical Response to Falck, a Danish company that is the largest ambulance operator in the world. The motivation for switching providers is Falck’s plan to put more ambulances on the road and boost response times in ethnically diverse and low-income neighborhoods south of state Route 94. (Garrick, 4/13)

The Bakersfield Californian: Adventist Names Medical Campus But Hasn't Decided Whether It'll Be A Hospital
Adventist Health Bakersfield said Tuesday it's not quite sure what it will build — a hospital or something else health-care related — on vacant land it recently bought on the eastern side of Coffee Road north of Brimhall Road. But now at least the future development has a name: the Roth Family Campus. Though still without a formal construction timetable, the project has been named after the owners of South Gate-based World Oil Corp., Steve and Robert "Bob" Roth, who in late December sold Adventist roughly 40 acres at the site for $11 million. (Cox, 4/13)

Sacramento Bee: Debate Over $167 Housing Stipend For Medical Residents Stalls Talks Between Guild, UC Davis
A disagreement over how much UC Davis Medical Center will pay to offset housing costs has stalled contract talks between the hospital and nearly 800 residents, fellows and interns who formed a union more than a year and half ago. The union is seeking an annual stipend of $5,500, while the hospital has offered $2,000, or about $167 a month. That lags what other UC medical schools provide and would make it difficult to recruit and retain low-income students and students of color, said organizers from the local labor union Committee of Interns and Residents. (Yoon-Hendricks, 4/14)

LAist: 'We Can Come Together': LA Events Recognizing Black Maternal Health
In L.A. County there are, and have been for years, stark health disparities between Black families and those of other races. Black babies born here are three times more likely than white babies to die before their first birthday, and Black moms are four times more likely than white moms to die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Research suggests the root cause is not any singular behavior, rather it's a lifetime of living with racism, an experience sometimes called "weathering." (Dale, 4/13)

The New York Times: The White House Issues Its First-Ever Proclamation On Black Maternal Health.
The White House on Tuesday issued its first-ever presidential proclamation marking Black Maternal Health Week as part of the administration’s broader efforts to draw attention to and address the vast racial gaps in pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths and complications in the United States. “Black women in our country are facing a maternal health crisis,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who hosted a round table on the issue alongside Susan Rice, director of the Domestic Policy Council. “We know the primary reasons why: systemic racial inequities and implicit bias,” Ms. Harris added. (Haridasani Gupta, 4/13)

AP: 'Zoom In A Room'? California's Schools Lag In Reopening Push
Frustrated parents in San Francisco have coined a new phrase for their latest classroom reality: “Zoom in a Room.” In Los Angeles, students can start going back to school in person, but more than half say they will stick with distance learning. More than a year after the coronavirus pandemic forced California’s classrooms to close, some of the largest school districts are welcoming back students this week. But the most populated state is lagging the rest of the country — and in some cases offering options that parents say are unacceptable. (Gecker, Har and Taxin, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Plaintiffs Want L.A. To Step Up In Homelessness Lawsuit
The plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit about homelessness are calling for the city and county of Los Angeles to offer some form of shelter to skid row’s most vulnerable by August. The legal move — a request for a preliminary injunction — comes as lawyers for the group of mostly downtown business owners and residents are said to be inching toward a settlement with the city that would require it to provide new housing or shelter for thousands of homeless people across the city. At the same time, it would allow the city to use anti-camping laws to clear anyone remaining on the streets. (Oreskes, 4/13)

AP: California Targets Urgent Projects As Wildfire Season Looms
California is in such an urgent race with another devastating wildfire season that officials began soliciting local project ideas even before they had money to pay for them. It faces such a threat of drought that the governor said Tuesday that he has executive orders drafted and ready to sign as needed. In normal years, the worst of the fires don’t start until late summer or fall, leaving a window through about May to thin forests, clear buffer zones designed to slow the spread of fires near communities, and beef up the state’s seasonal fire crews. Not this year, officials said. (Beam and Thompson, 4/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Study Suggests NFL Crowds May Have Led To Coronavirus Spikes
As spectators return to sports venues across the nation — including A’s and Giants home games earlier this month, and Warriors home games starting April 23 — they convene amid scarce data measuring the impact of such crowds on the coronavirus pandemic. But new academic research suggests a connection between large gatherings of NFL fans and an increase in coronavirus cases where games were played in front of crowds last season. Santa Clara County public health officials did not allow the 49ers to host spectators at Levi’s Stadium in 2020, unlike several NFL teams. The Dallas Cowboys, for instance, averaged 27,378 fans for eight home games, including more than 30,000 four times; and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had six crowds exceeding 15,000, plus 24,835 for the Super Bowl, on Feb. 7. (Kroichick, 4/13)