San Francisco Chronicle: One COVID-19 Bivalent Booster Is Enough For Now, CDC Finally Decides
There is finally clarity for Americans wondering whether it’s time to get another COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines on Monday emphatically stating that one updated dose is sufficient, even for individuals who received their last vaccination more than six months ago. (Vaziri, 3/28)

Reuters: WHO Revises COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations For Omicron-Era 
The World Health Organization has tailored its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for a new phase of the pandemic, suggesting that healthy children and adolescents may not necessarily need a shot but older, high-risk groups should get a booster between 6 to 12 months after their last vaccine. (3/28)

CIDRAP: Lucira Announces US Launch Of Combo COVID-Flu Home Test
Lucira today announced the US launch of its at-home combination COVID-19 and flu test, the first of its kind, following the February emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The biotechnology company, based in Emeryville, California, also announced that the test is now cleared for use as a point-of-care test in Australia. (Schnirring, 3/28)

U.S. News & World Report: CDC Data: Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.5 Responsible For 90% Of New COVID-19 Cases
Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 remains dominant over all other coronavirus strains in the U.S. but appears to be plateauing. The subvariant was responsible for approximately 90% of new infections [last] week, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Smith-Schoenwalder, 3/24)

CIDRAP: COVID Infection Within 60 Days Not Tied To Adverse Postsurgical Outcomes
COVID-19 infection within the previous 60 days was not tied to a risk of adverse postsurgical outcomes, regardless of timing, according to a study of more than 29,000 US veterans published today in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 3/28)

Politico: Newsom Slams Blackburn For Voting Against Gun Control Bill In Wake Of Nashville Shooting 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Twitter Monday night for voting against gun safety laws and accepting over $1 million in donations from the NRA over her career after the senator tweeted she was “ready to assist” in the wake of the deadly elementary school shooting in Nashville. ... Newsom responded with, “You received $1,306,130 in donations from the NRA. You voted against the most recent bipartisan gun package in June. If you’re so ‘ready to assist’ -- start by doing your job and passing commonsense gun laws that will help prevent tragedies like the one today.” (Frazier, 3/28)

The Hill: Biden Raises Pressure On GOP To Take Action On Guns
President Biden is focusing his anger over the elementary school shooting in Nashville this week squarely on Republicans, calling for lawmakers to show courage and warning that Congress will have to answer to families that have lost loved ones through gun violence. “The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that,” Biden said on Tuesday. “I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act reasonably.” (Gangitano and Lillis, 3/28)

CNN: Why Corporate America Has Grown Silent On Gun Violence 
America’s biggest companies rushed to strengthen their gun safety policies after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. Dick’s Sporting Goods stopped selling semi-automatic, assault-style rifles at stores. Citigroup put new restrictions on gun sales by business customers. A year later, after mass shootings at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio, Walmart ended handgun ammunition sales. But the groundswell of corporate action on guns has ended. In the aftermath of the latest mass shooting at a school in Nashville, most companies declined to speak out. Much of Corporate America has grown silent on guns. (Meyersohn, 3/28)

CNN: Killer Was Under Care For Emotional Disorder And Hid Guns At Home, Police Say
The 28-year-old who killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville was under care for an emotional disorder and had legally bought seven firearms that were hidden at home, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Tuesday. The parents of the shooter, Audrey Hale, spoke to police and said they knew Hale had bought and sold one weapon and believed that was the extent of it. “The parents felt (Hale) should not own weapons,” the chief said. On Monday morning, Hale left home with a red bag, and the parents asked what was inside but were dismissed, Drake said. (Levenson, Alonso and Salahieh, 3/29)

Vox: America’s Unique, Enduring Gun Problem, Explained
No other high-income country has suffered such a high death toll from gun violence. Every day, 120 Americans die at the end of a gun, including suicides and homicides, an average of 43,475 per year. Since 2009, there has been an annual average of 19 shootings in which at least four people are killed. The US gun homicide rate is as much as 26 times that of other high-income countries; its gun suicide rate is nearly 12 times higher. Gun control opponents have typically framed the gun violence epidemic in the US as a symptom of a broader mental health crisis. But every country has people with mental health issues and extremists; those problems aren’t unique. What is unique is the US’s expansive view of civilian gun ownership, ingrained in politics, in culture, and in the law since the nation’s founding, and a national political process that has so far proved incapable of changing that norm. (Narea, Zhou and Millhiser, 3/27)

NBC News: Fear Pervades Trans Community Amid Focus On Nashville Shooter's Gender Identity
Shortly after news broke Monday of a fatal shooting at a private Christian Nashville elementary school, police said the suspect was transgender. This detail, according to trans people in the state, has poured fuel on an already combustive environment that has led many of them to fear for their safety. (Lavietes and Murcaba, 3/29)

Insider: Republicans Blame Nashville Shooting On Shooter's Suggested Trans Identity
Following a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Tennessee, some prominent Republicans are highlighting evidence that the perpetrator was transgender — and suggesting that gender identity played a role in causing the violence. Details continue to emerge about the shooting, but there is no evidence to suggest that identifying as transgender leads to a propensity for inflicting violence. By contrast, several studies have found that transgender people face disproportionate levels of violence by virtue of their identity. (Metzger, 3/28)

ABC News: Anti-Transgender Sentiment Follows Nashville Shooting
“Every study available shows that transgender and non-binary people are much more likely to be victims of violence, rather than the perpetrator of it,” the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement following the shooting. “Regardless of the reason for this shooting, the use of violence is reprehensible and we renew our call for common-sense gun safety.” (Alfonseca, 3/28)

The Guardian: Nashville School Shooter’s Identity May Make Them An Exceptionally Rare Perpetrator
One of the rock-solid truths about the US epidemic of mass shootings is that these catastrophic events, which tear families and communities apart, are committed overwhelmingly by cis males. According to the Violence Project (TVP), men are responsible for carrying out more than 97% of all public mass shootings. ... The number of shooters who are trans or gender nonconforming is even rarer, placing Hale in an almost unique class. The only other member of this category known in recent years is the 22-year-old shooter who killed five people in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last November who, according to defense lawyers, is non-binary. (Pilkington, 3/28)

KQED: ‘We’re Just A Community Under Siege’: A Therapist Discusses The Impact Of Anti-Trans Hate On Her Clients
Anti-trans hate is on the rise. Republicans have introduced more than 400 anti-trans bills in state legislatures around the country. 1 in California would force educators to out trans kids who may not be ready to come out to their parents. Last year, California became the first sanctuary state in the country for trans youth. But a transgender therapist in the Bay Area says the anti-trans hate is still having a real effect on her trans clients. (Guevarra, Herdman, Esquinca and Montecillo, 3/29)

Stat: GOP Presses Becerra On Gender-Affirming Care, Reproductive Rights
Republicans hammered the health secretary in hearings Tuesday, previewing a line of health- and science-related political attacks likely to dominate the 2024 elections. GOP members of the House Appropriations Committee repeatedly interrogated Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra about issues like gender-affirming care, reproductive rights, and migrant children at the border, continuing a theme laid out by two Senate committees last week as Becerra embarks on a committee tour to sell President Biden’s proposed 2024 budget. (Owermohle, 3/28)

NBC News: Republican Senator Draws Blowback For Blocking Military Promotions Over Abortion Policy
A Republican senator is drawing bipartisan criticism for stalling promotions for over 150 military generals and flag officers in protest of a new Defense Department policy that provides travel expenses and paid time off for service members and their dependents seeking abortions. The Senate must approve the promotions of top-level officers and generals, a task that is typically quick and smooth. But any one senator can throw sand in the gears, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is using a procedural tactic to block the speedy consideration of 158 generals and flag officers, as well as two civilian nominees. (Thorp V, Kapur and Gains, 3/28)

The Washington Post: Pentagon Chief Warns Senate Amid Abortion-Policy Showdown
The nominations can still move ahead, but would require time-consuming steps by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D.-N.Y.), who complained Tuesday that Tuberville’s gambit was tantamount to “hostage taking.” “The women of our military,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor, “are more than capable of making their own decisions when it comes to their health. They do not need the senior senator from Alabama making decisions on their behalf. And they certainly do not need any senator throwing a wrench in the function, the vital functioning of our military when they work every day to keep us safe.” (Lamothe, 3/28)

WBUR: As New Military Policy On Abortion & Reproductive Health Takes Effect, GOP Vows To Fight It 
A new Department of Defense policy allows service members to take up to three weeks off for abortion or IVF and reimburses them for travel expenses. This comes in the wake of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. But some Republicans in Congress are trying to block the policy. Texas Public Radio's Carson Frame reports for the American Homefront Project. (3/28)

KQED: 'You Have To Make This Work': A Day In The Life Of A Rural EMT During California's Winter Of Atmospheric River Storms
Hours into the rescue mission, paramedic Jessica Farmer realized her toes were completely numb. It was a late afternoon in early March, and Farmer and her partner found themselves standing in thigh-deep snow above a steep canyon in the Sierra foothills outside of Grass Valley. The pair were still dressed in their standard uniforms, without snow pants or heavy socks, heading slowly toward a cabin deep in the woods, where a man had called hours earlier complaining of severe chest pain. (McClurg, 3/28)

California Healthline: A Progress Check On Hospital Price Transparency
Hospitals are facing mixed reviews regarding their efforts to comply with a federal requirement that they post information about prices related to nearly every health care service they provide. (Andrews, 3/29)

California Healthline: Bill Of The Month: ER’s Error Lands A 4-Year-Old In Collections (For Care He Didn’t Receive)
A Florida woman tried to dispute an emergency room bill, but the hospital and collection agency refused to talk to her — because it was her child’s name on the bill, not hers. (Chang, 3/29)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Nonprofit Sees Drop In Downtown Homeless Count
The number of homeless people sleeping outdoors in downtown Sacramento has decreased by 40% in the past five months, according to a recent monthly census from a nonprofit business group. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership in its census for February counted 120 unhoused people sleeping on the streets downtown, a decrease from 200 in September 2022. (McGough, 3/28)

The Mercury News: State To Audit San Jose Homelessness Spending, In Push For Accountability
Following an 8% increase in homelessness in San Jose from 2019 to 2022, California is set to take a close look at how much the city is spending on addressing the issue. On Wednesday, the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted unanimously to approve an audit request made by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) last year. The audit comes at a time when California has spent $15 billion on homelessness over the last several years. (Hase, 3/28)

inewsource: San Diego's Tent Encampment Crackdown Faces Latest Challenge
A Superior Court judge could undermine San Diego’s strategy to clear homeless encampments from city sidewalks and parks. This afternoon, Judge Yvonne Campos is set to hear final arguments in a pretrial hearing for a misdemeanor case against a 59-year-old unhoused woman charged with encroachment. It’s a city law that was intended to prohibit trash cans from blocking a sidewalk, but San Diego police have increasingly used it to break up tent encampments that officials say pose a risk to health and safety. (Dulaney, 3/28)

Orange County Register: Fentanyl Admonition Blocked Again In What Father Calls California Senate’s ‘Disgusting Display’
In an attempt to rein in the devastation wrought by fentanyl-laced street drugs, the stunningly bipartisan Senate Bill 44 would have required courts to issue warnings to convicted fentanyl dealers that their fake Oxycontin or Xanax pills can kill — and that if they keep selling the drugs, and someone dies from a fentanyl overdose, they could be prosecuted for homicide. (Sforza, 3/28)

Los Angeles Times: TikTok 'Bucket' Prank Sends A Tustin Mother To The Hospital 
It was supposed to be a social media prank, police said, but a Tustin mother of twins passed out and was hospitalized after she was the unwitting target of the stunt. “This is not OK,” said Lana Clay-Monaghan, 35, who said she was shopping at Target in Tustin by herself when someone put a bucket over her head. “I was fearful for my life, but I could hear laughing behind me.” ... Clay-Monaghan said the shock and fear caused her to lose consciousness, black out and fall to the floor. (Hernandez, 3/28)

The New York Times: Her Doctor Said Her Illness Was All In Her Head. This Scientist Was Determined To Find The Truth.
A little nausea and vomiting in pregnancy were normal, she knew. But she experienced weeks of debilitating illness when she was pregnant with her son, and when expecting her second child, Fejzo was so ill that she couldn’t move without vomiting. ... Fejzo, who was then a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA, is now a faculty researcher in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. (Callahan, 3/28)