LA Daily News and Orange County Register: Coronavirus Vaccination Plans Begin To Take Shape In Southern California 
Public health officials in Southern California are making a big push this week to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations and make the in-demand vaccines more widely available quickly. To counter the sluggish pace of vaccinations in the region, officials in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties are in the process of setting up “supersites” or “superpods” — large, well-known venues such as Disneyland and Dodger Stadium — where mass vaccinations can take place, some as early as this week. In addition to the slow vaccine distribution, Southern Californians have also taken to social media to express frustrations about the lack of information about how, when and where to get vaccinated. (Bharath, 1/12)

Capital Public Radio/KXJZ: Some California Health Systems Start Vaccinating Patients As Roll-Out Expands
UC Davis Health vaccinated its first round of patients for COVID-19 Tuesday, some of the first people other than health workers and long-term care facility residents to get their shots in Sacramento County. After vaccinating its own employees, the health system began reaching out to certain patients over age 75 to offer them the vaccine by appointment. They’ve compiled a list of roughly 500 high-risk patients to invite in, such as those with cancer or severe lung conditions or people waiting for transplants. Jim Clark, an 86-year-old Folsom resident with diabetes, high blood pressure and several other medical conditions, says he got a call from UC Davis Monday night and didn't hesitate to make an appointment. (Caiola, 1/12)

Orange County Register: Orange County Opens Coronavirus Vaccinations To Anyone 65 And Older
Any Orange County resident age 65 and older is now eligible to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, county health officials said Tuesday, Jan. 12. People age 75 and older were recently given preference by the OC Health Care Agency as it starts up the vaccination campaign’s next stage, but after reviewing some alarming statistics on who is hospitalized and in intensive care because of COVID-19, the county’s vaccine task force late Sunday recommended expanding vaccinations to people 65 and older, County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. (Wheeler and Robinson, 1/12)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Santa Clara County Residents Misinformed About Extra Vaccine 
Santa Clara County officials said Tuesday that an untold number of residents were wrongly invited to receive extra COVID-19 vaccine doses by erroneous text messages. County officials said that some community members reported receiving text messages wrongly informing them of “extra” vaccine supply availability and providing them with registration links for appointments at vaccination sites in Santa Clara County. “The County is investigating the source of this misinformation and reminds the public that vaccination appointments are currently being scheduled for healthcare workers who qualify for vaccination under Phase 1A,” county officials said in a statement Tuesday. (Woolfolk, 1/12)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County Ups The Enforcement Ante As State Considers Federal 65+ Vaccination Mandate 
As the number of staffed and available intensive care beds continued to run low Tuesday, county supervisors moved forward with the biggest changes to date in enforcement of local health orders, bringing in 17 more workers and allowing more proactive pursuit of blatant violations. Those changes came on the same day that federal officials urged states to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to people age 65 and older and anyone with pre-existing medical conditions. Though some places have already implemented such changes, San Diego County, home to more than 473,000 people in that age bracket, isn’t among them. (Sisson, Wosen and Weisberg, 1/12)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Safeway To Open Drive-Through Coronavirus Vaccination Site At Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Sonoma County will expand its vaccination campaign this week when Safeway Pharmacy employees begin inoculating about 5,000 county caregivers who help low-income seniors and people with disabilities remain in their homes. (Barber, 1/12)

Fresno Bee: Fresno County Announces Fairgrounds As Site For COVID-19 Vaccine 
Fresno County Board of Supervisors announced rollout tiers and that the Fresno Fairgrounds will be a vaccine site as well as many others during a press conference Tuesday in Fresno. (Zamora, 1/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Could Bay Area Teams Help Speed Vaccinations? 49ers, Giants, A’s, Sharks Offer Sites
The A’s, Giants, 49ers and Sharks have offered or are in talks with officials about the possibility of using their stadiums in California’s coronavirus vaccination effort. The A’s and 49ers, in particular, have stadiums with large adjacent parking lots that could accommodate large turnout. The A’s are in discussions with state and local officials and local health care providers about launching a drive-through vaccination site at the Coliseum, a team spokesperson said Monday. The Coliseum has served other purposes in recent months, as a voting center during the November election — which offered drive-in “curbside” voting — and a flu vaccination site. The Coliseum Authority board plans to take up the COVID-19 vaccine site idea when it meets Friday, executive director Henry Gardner said. (Kawahara, 1/12)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area: Declining COVID Vaccine, Then Changing Their Minds
It’s unclear exactly how many people who have had the opportunity to get the vaccine have chosen to pass. About 60% of Stanford health care workers have gotten vaccinated so far. More than 90% of employees at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital have been vaccinated, according to San Francisco’s COVID Command Center, and more than 80% of the staff at Laguna Honda, the city’s skilled nursing facility, have gotten the vaccine. At UCSF Health, nearly 20,000 frontline workers have been invited to get the vaccine and more than 80% have accepted so far. A broader survey by the University of California found only 2% of the system’s health care workers have declined or postponed getting a vaccine. (DeRuy, 1/13)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Santa Clara County Warns Of Phony Vaccine Texts
Santa Clara County officials said Tuesday that an untold number of residents were wrongly invited to receive extra COVID-19 vaccine doses by erroneous text messages. County officials said that some community members reported receiving text messages wrongly informing them of “extra” vaccine supply availability and providing them with registration links for appointments at vaccination sites in Santa Clara County. “The County is investigating the source of this misinformation and reminds the public that vaccination appointments are currently being scheduled for healthcare workers who qualify for vaccination under Phase 1A,” county officials said in a statement Tuesday. (Woolfolk, 1/12)

Fresno Bee: Does Body Size Affect How Well A COVID Vaccine Works?
If someone has a headache, they may take an ibuprofen pill. If they have a really bad headache, that person may take more than one. In other words, they’re increasing their dosage to guarantee relief from their pain. And oftentimes, older, heavier or taller people may need more of the medicine to benefit from its therapeutic effects. But does the same thinking apply to the COVID-19 vaccines? Not quite, experts say, because medications and vaccines have different goals that work in different ways. (Camero, 1/12)

San Diego Union-Tribune: UCSD Says New Strain Of Coronavirus Found In Japan Also Likely Present In U.S. 
A new variation of the coronavirus discovered in Japan is “very likely already in the U.S.” as well, according to Davey Smith, director of infectious diseases at UC San Diego. Japanese health officials said Sunday that the variant, known as B.1.1.248, appears to have been brought into their country by four travelers from Brazil. (Robbins, 1/12)

Fresno Bee: COVID May Eventually Evolve Into A Seasonal Illness — Like Common Colds, Study Predicts
A new study predicts that SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — could eventually become no more infectious than the common cold, seasonally reappearing each year alongside other pathogens in the coronavirus family that bring about mild sniffles. But that’s only until the coronavirus becomes endemic, the point at which spread among human communities in a way that doesn’t cause massive outbreaks or serious illness is the norm, according to the researchers from Emory University in Georgia and Penn State University. (Camero, 1/12)

Sacramento Bee: COVID Cases Among Federal Inmates Spike In Sacramento Jail
The number of COVID-19 positive inmates at Sacramento County Main Jail has more than tripled in the last week, alarming defense attorneys who say their access to clients is severely limited because of the spike. The precise number of inmates testing positive at the jail was not immediately available Tuesday morning. County figures show 28 were positive as of last Wednesday. The county’s dashboard on such figures is updated weekly on Wednesdays and a county spokeswoman could not immediately provide current figures Tuesday morning. (Stanton, 1/12)

The Bakersfield Californian: Community Rallies Around Beloved Local Choir Teacher With COVID-19 
When Kenneth Whitchard was taken in an ambulance to Memorial Hospital with a fresh COVID-19 diagnosis, he thought that was the end of it for him. “I counted myself out,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m 31, I hope that I have made an impact on someone’s life.'" It wouldn’t be long before Whitchard, the school choir director at McKinley Elementary and a mainstay in local choral and theater scenes, would realize just how much he meant to his community. But he says those five days in the hospital, especially those early days, were really isolating and scary. (Gallegos, 1/12)

Bay Area News Group: Fifteen Kaiser San Jose Patients Now Covid-19 Positive After Christmas Day Outbreak
The Christmas Day coronavirus outbreak at Kaiser Permanente San Jose continued to spread Tuesday — and hospital workers aren’t the only ones getting sick. For the first time, 15 patients on Tuesday were added to the growing list of people infected after an employee traipsing through the emergency department in an inflatable tree costume Dec. 25 may have been a super spreader, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced. (Sulek, 1/12)

The Bakersfield Californian: Health Care Workers Can Receive COVID-19 Vaccinations At Kern County Wonderful Wellness Centers In Lost Hills, Delano 
The Kern County Wonderful Wellness Centers, located in Lost Hills and Delano, are extending their COVID-19 vaccinations to all eligible health care professionals in Kern County. According to a news release from The Wonderful Company, the Wonderful Wellness Centers will follow the Kern County Public Health Services Department COVID-19 vaccination guidelines in order to ensure safe, effective and equitable distribution. (1/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can You Pay Someone To Stop Using Meth? Proposed California Legislation Would Boost Drug Treatment Option
As overdose deaths soar throughout California, proposed state legislation would legalize a program that encourages people to curb their methamphetamine use with incentives like gift cards and cash. The approach, called contingency management, is a controversial but effective practice. Researchers have found it helps people control their substance use, particularly for methamphetamine. It’s yet another approach that San Francisco officials hope they can use to address the deadly drug epidemic that killed approximately two people a day in the city last year. (Thadani, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Wildfire Smoke Leads To Fine-Particle Pollution In Western U.S.
Wildfire smoke now accounts for up to half of all fine-particle pollution in the Western U.S., according to a new study that blames climate change for worsening air quality and health risks in both urban and rural communities in recent years. The study by researchers at Stanford University and UC San Diego found that the concentration of tiny, lung-damaging pollutants known as PM2.5 that are attributable to wildfire smoke roughly doubled between 2006 and 2018, while the share of pollution from other sources like car and truck exhaust declined. (Barboza, 1/13)

The Bakersfield Californian: Air District Warns Of High Pollution Concentrations, Poor Air In Coming Days 
The San Joaquin Valley portion of Kern County is expected to receive higher pollution concentrations through the middle of next week, which will result in poorer-than-usual air quality. According to a news release from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, conditions are expected to be cold, dry and stagnant in the coming days. That will cause PM2.5 emissions (particulate matter pollution) to accumulate, which will lead to an extended “pollution trap” in much of the Central Valley. (1/12)

The Bakersfield Californian: Houchin Stresses Need For Blood Donations 
Houchin Community Blood Bank said it's in urgent need of blood donations. In a news release, the organization said the sense of urgency for the donations exists locally and nationwide. "As the need for blood continues to rise, it is important to remember how critical blood donations are,” President and CEO Sean McNally said in the release. “One whole blood donation can save the lives of three people in our community. In this unprecedented time, this is our moment to step up and be real community heroes." (1/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: These Charts Show The Startling Picture Of A ‘Very Abnormal’ Bay Area Flu Season
The “twindemic” of influenza and coronavirus feared by public health officials has so far failed to materialize. The flu typically kills tens of thousands of Americans and can account for hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations during the winter season. But this year, it’s fizzled almost entirely in the Bay Area — a stroke of fortune needed as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths surge uncontrolled statewide. (Vainshtein, 1/13)