Bay Area News Group: Can California Speed Up Its Vaccine Distribution?
Conceding its coronavirus vaccination program has lagged so far, California is enlisting dentists, pharmacy technicians and even the California National Guard to join the effort to deliver shots to millions of residents. The state’s distribution process “has gone too slowly,” Newsom said during a press briefing Monday. “As we move into January we want to see things accelerate, and we want to see things go much faster.” To speed the rollout, California’s Department of Consumer Affairs this week issued an emergency waiver to allow the state’s more than 36,000 dentists to administer the vaccine if they complete about three hours’ worth of video training. The department issued a similar waiver last month for pharmacy technicians. (Savidge and Woolfolk, 1/5)

Fox News: Coronavirus Vaccines Now Can Be Administered By Dentists In California
In an effort to speed California’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, dentists in the state have been given the green light to administer the jab. On Monday, the California Department of Consumer Affairs approved a public health emergency waiver that will officially allow dentists to administer the vaccines to patients 16 years of age or older. "Dentists acting within the scope of this Order may independently initiate and administer to persons 16 years of age or older any COVID-19 vaccines that are approved or authorized by the FDA, as specified, and may also initiate and administer epinephrine or diphenhydramine by injection for the treatment of a severe allergic reaction," the order reads. (Farber, 1/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s Vaccination Efforts Are Off To A Slow Start. Here’s Why
Vaccine supply, which gets allocated by the federal government to states, has been sporadic and often not finalized until the last minute — making it difficult for local health departments to plan when and where to administer the doses. Complicating matters, some health care workers, who along with nursing home residents are in the first group eligible for vaccinations, are declining the vaccine at rates of up to 50% in some Southern California counties and health systems. It’s unclear what percentage of the health care workforce statewide is declining vaccine, Newsom said Monday, but the state is conducting a survey on the matter that it will release soon. Also, it is taking some health care providers longer than expected to obtain the vaccine because they must register with the state, and the state does not always have enough staff to approve those requests right away, some local health departments said. (Ho, 1/5)

Sacramento Bee: Here’s Why Sacramento’s COVID Vaccine Rollout Has Been So Slow
In Sacramento County, health officials say they’ve received only limited shipments of vaccine doses and they are being cautious. As the public health department prepares to bring more vaccination sites online, they are wrestling with a lack of concrete guidelines from the state and uncertainty about when they will get more doses or how many. The effort is essentially being managed on the fly, with changing information on a weekly basis, said Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. Nearly a month after federal approval of the first vaccines, the county is still lining up clinics and other private partners to will help conduct the inoculations. (Bizjak and Yoon-Hendricks, 1/5)

Bay Area News Group: Amid Slow Federal Rollout, Some Bay Area Counties Taking On COVID-19 Vaccination Of Senior Care Homes
Residents of long term care homes were supposed to be first in line to receive a precious COVID-19 vaccination, through an innovative federal partnership. But so far the vaccine rollout for the state’s most vulnerable population has resulted mostly in frustration — and now some counties are offering vaccinations to nursing homes and assisted living facilities from their limited supply rather than continue to wait for the federal vaccination program. Using vaccine doses provided by Contra Costa County, John Muir Health on Wednesday will vaccinate people at Byron Park in Walnut Creek, following last week’s shots given to residents and employees of another facility, Viamonte, which had expected to rely on the federal program. And this week, staff and residents of Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, one of the largest skilled nursing facilities in the state, received their shots from San Francisco Department of Public Health. (DeRuy and Sciacca, 1/5)

Orange County Register: Some Health Care Workers Snub COVID Vaccines In Campaign’s Sluggish Start
Frontline health care workers are about as skeptical of COVID-19 vaccination as the population at large, surveys have found, but the reluctance of some to roll up their sleeves has surprised nonetheless. About half of hospital workers in Riverside County are passing on the vaccine for now, county spokeswoman Brooke Federico said. In Orange County, health providers report that some 30% of workers are holding back, said Dr. Clayton Chau, O.C. Health Care Agency director. Other health care systems have reported that a quarter or more of their staffers are hesitant, and these concerns may play a role in the slower-than-expected rollout of the largest mass vaccination campaign in history. (Sforza, 1/5)

Los Angeles Times: People Skip COVID Vaccine Line For L.A. Healthcare Workers
Crowds of desperate people seeking early access to the vaccine led to longer lines and headaches for workers at four sites run by the city of Los Angeles set up to provide doses exclusively for healthcare employees. But at one South L.A. vaccination site, a Times reporter watched as about 100 people were admitted for immunizations without showing proof that they worked in the healthcare industry. One woman said she received the vaccine at Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Pacoima even after telling workers she was not a healthcare employee. By Tuesday, officials appeared to have closed that loophole, requiring a photo ID and documentation of a job in the healthcare industry in order to receive a dose of the vaccine. (Nelson, Lau and Rubin, 1/6)

Fresno Bee: Only Half Of Fresno County Health Care Workers Want COVID Vaccine. Why Isn’t It More?
Only about half of Fresno County’s 58,000 health care workers have asked to be given a COVID-19 vaccine, according to health officials. The county has received 44,000 doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines through Tuesday. About 47% have been distributed to clinics and other health care facilities, according to Joe Prado, the county’s community health division manager. In terms of why only about half of Fresno County heath care workers who’ve been asked have accepted the offer to get vaccinated, Prado said a common hesitation was related to the vaccine being rushed. (Miller, 1/5)

LA Daily News: 20% Of LAPD Officers, Civilian Employees Say They Won’t Take COVID-19 Vaccine
One-fifth of the 9,500 sworn and civilian Los Angeles Police Department employees who took a survey said they would not take the COVID-19 vaccine if offered, the police chief said on Tuesday, Jan. 5.Another 20% said they would take the vaccine with more information. The results of the survey, sent to all LAPD employees in late December, show the vast majority would take the vaccine, with 60% answering they would sign up to get their doses. The 9,500 who responded represent around 75% of LAPD’s entire workforce. (Cain, 1/5)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Dozens More Cases Of Highly Contagious COVID-19 Variant Identified In San Diego County 
County health officials have confirmed what they’ve suspected from the start — the more contagious variant of the coronavirus known as B.1.1.7 has infiltrated San Diego communities. And it’s spreading fast. On Tuesday, county officials announced 24 more cases of the variant had been identified within COVID-19 test samples collected from Dec. 27 through Dec. 31. The variant is also suspected in four other infections. (Winkley and Sisson, 1/5)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Residents Warned COVID-19 Is 'Everywhere'
The risk of getting coronavirus in Los Angeles County has never been greater. About one in every five people getting tested for the coronavirus are positive — a quintupling since Nov. 1. And conditions are expected to worsen in the coming weeks as people who got infected during the winter holidays get sick. “Everyone should keep in mind that community transmission rates are so high that you run the risk of an exposure whenever you leave your home,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Assume that this deadly invisible virus is everywhere, looking for a willing host.” (Lin II and Money, 1/5)

SF Gate: 1 In 17 People In Los Angeles County Currently Has COVID-19, Model Projects
A leading COVID-19 model cited by the New York Times, FiveThirtyEight and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that roughly 1 in 17 people in Los Angeles County are currently infected with the virus. Youyang Gu's covid19-projections.com works off the assumption that county-reported case counts are an undercount of actual infections, and estimates the current number of individuals infected in each county by calculating the base reproduction number (R0), using data from Johns Hopkins University and the COVID Tracking Project. (Ting, 1/5)

Modesto Bee: First Child Death From COVID Reported In Stanislaus County As Crisis Intensifies
Stanislaus County’s top health official said Tuesday the county received the first report of a child who died from COVID-19. Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county health officer, reported the death during an update to the county Board of Supervisors on the coronavirus crisis. The age and gender of the child was not released. Vaishampayan said the child had severe underlying medical conditions. The county Health Services Agency did not release details on the county’s first pediatric death related to the coronavirus pandemic. (Carlson, 1/5)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Closes COVID-19 Testing Sites Dedicated To School Staff 
San Diego County has shut down four COVID-19 testing sites that were dedicated to school staff, because testing resources are needed more elsewhere, officials said. The county has “paused” the testing sites “until area school districts get closer to reopening for wider in-person instruction,” the San Diego County Office of Education said Sunday. (Taketa, 1/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County To Weigh New Approach To COVID-19 With Focus On Equity 
The county Board of Supervisors will consider a new approach to battling the COVID-19 pandemic, with more funding directed to communities hardest hit by the disease and more cooperation with state and county health officials. Board Chair Nathan Fletcher, who sits on the county’s COVID-19 subcommittee with newly elected Supervisor Nora Vargas, said the proposal being presented to the board of supervisors next Tuesday is a step toward undoing some actions by the previous board so the county will have a more cooperative relationship with the state. (Warth, 1/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Airbnb Is Asking Guests For A New Requirement Before Booking Stays In California During Pandemic 
Airbnb is imposing a new requirement on travelers throughout California to explain why they are booking rentals through the service during stay-at-home orders. The move follows a five-day shutdown of new reservations in the Lake Tahoe area by the San Francisco company last week. Officials there had raised concerns about tourists booking short-term rentals through Airbnb and VRBO during the health crisis. (Thomas, 1/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: In The Bay Area, Casinos Still Offer On-Site Dining As Lockdown Continues 
Under the Bay Area’s current shelter-in-place order, it would seem there is nowhere in the nine regional counties you can legally sit down and be served in a restaurant. Yet there are a few exceptions: Bay Area casinos located on tribal land that are not subject to state law or COVID-19 restrictions. (Duggan, 1/5)

SF Gate: A Bay Area Supermarket Held A Maskless Holiday Party For Staff. Now, One Has COVID-19.
More than a week after employees at a Raley’s Supermarket in Benicia held a maskless celebration, an employee in attendance tested positive for COVID-19.The Christmas Eve dinner first elicited controversy after photos posted online showed unmasked employees of the grocery store sitting and eating near each other. (Bote, 1/5)

Fresno Bee: Man Positive For COVID After Spitting On Cops, CA Police Says
A California man who spit on multiple police officers and all over the back of a patrol car tested positive for COVID-19, the Palm Springs Police Department said. Concerned callers reported a man throwing things at vehicles and running in and out of traffic on Sunday, according to the police department. (Capron, 1/5)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County May Mandate 'Hero Pay' For Grocery, Drugstore Workers
Grocery and retail drugstore employees who work in unincorporated Los Angeles County could see a pay bump of $5 an hour if the county Board of Supervisors approves a “hero pay” ordinance later this month. The measure was quickly opposed by grocery industry leaders, who said it could require stores to raise prices at a time when their customers are struggling to make ends meet. (Cosgrove, 1/5)

LA Daily News: Pandemic-Era Heroes: San Gabriel Valley’s Henry Miao Donated Thousands Of Masks To Frontline Workers 
Henry Miao, who owns a clothing company called Henrial, donated 10,000 masks that were distributed to Emanate Health’s Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina in March. A month later, he donated another 5,000 masks to the city of West Covina that were distributed to frontline healthcare workers in the community. Miao hasn’t stopped donating masks and essential equipment for those working on the front lines during the pandemic. His donations have gone to school districts, small businesses, nursing homes, workers at City Hall and people throughout the community. (Haddock, 1/6)

Orange County Register: USNS Mercy Won’t Be Deploying For COVID-19 Relief Anytime Soon 
The USNS Mercy, a Navy hospital ship that in March took aboard non-COVID-19 patients to help with a surge of patients in Los Angeles area hospitals, is not likely to be deployed to help again anytime soon, Navy officials said on Tuesday. The 1,000-bed hospital ship is presently in a shipyard in Portland undergoing scheduled maintenance. The maintenance was planned before the ship’s LA deployment, but deferred. (Ritchie, 1/5)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Surge Hits Healthcare Workers, Straining Hospitals
The astronomical coronavirus surge in Los Angeles has infected thousands of healthcare workers in recent weeks and exacerbated the strain on hospitals struggling to care for critically ill patients. More than 2,200 people who work at hospitals in L.A. County tested positive for the virus in December alone, constituting roughly a third of all hospital infections reported during the pandemic. Whereas in previous months nursing homes and outpatient clinics suffered the most illnesses, besieged hospitals and their beleaguered workers have been hit hardest by the winter surge. (Karlamangla, 1/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: State COVID Unit At Palomar Aims To Help Decompress SoCal Hospitals 
With hospitals throughout Southern California increasingly overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, and another surge linked to holiday activity expected to arrive this month, plans to help take the pressure off have continued to evolve at Palomar Medical Center Escondido north of San Diego. (Sisson, 1/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Physician Creates Yoga How-To Book For Those With Disabilities 
A long and varied path led Ingrid Yang to her multifaceted career. An internal medical physician with the Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, Yang, 41, also has been a yoga teacher for 22 years. Because her residencies included physical therapy and rehabilitation, it was a natural progression to develop yoga poses specifically designed for people with disabilities. Yang collaborated with physical therapist Kyle Fahey to write the book, “Adaptive Yoga: Designed for a variety of bodies and conditions,” published in November. (Wood, 1/5)