Audit Finds Large-Scale Fraud In California’s Hospice Industry: A rapid boom in the number of hospices and other factors strongly point to a large-scale organized effort to defraud federal end-of-life care programs in Los Angeles County, putting vulnerable dying patients at risk of harm, according to a long-awaited state audit released Tuesday. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and AP.
Vaccine Mandate Bill Put On Pause: Legislation that would have required all California businesses to vaccinate their employees and contractors against covid was put on hold Tuesday by the bill’s sponsor. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, said she was postponing to allow for negotiations with public safety unions and others who came out in opposition to the bill. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and The Sacramento Bee.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
FDA Approves Pfizer And Moderna Second Booster Shot For People 50+
A second booster shot of either the Pfizer or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines was authorized for people 50 or older and certain immunocompromised individuals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday. This is the fourth dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine approved by the FDA for people 50 and older. Individuals who are 50 years of age or older can get a second booster dose at least four months after receiving their first booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Flores, 3/29)
Los Angeles Daily News:
LA County Green-Lights Second Boosters; Shots Start Wednesday
Los Angeles County health officials wasted no time after federal approval was handed down, giving the green-light to second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine to eligible residents starting Wednesday, March 30. U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older, a step to offer extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds. (3/29)
VC Star:
One More Shot? Fed Approval Of Extra COVID-19 Booster To Give Older People A Choice
John Wingate will have a choice coming if California leaders sign off on Tuesday's federal approval of an additional COVID-19 vaccine booster for people 50 and older. The 57-year-old Ventura resident said he would probably get the shot, baring his shoulder for the fourth time. "The first three have worked for me so far," Wingate said outside a Ventura grocery store. "I haven't gotten COVID." (Kisken, 3/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How To Get Your Second COVID Booster Shot In The Bay Area If You Are Eligible
After another round of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for some groups got the green light Tuesday from federal regulators, newly eligible people may be seeking their next dose in the Bay Area. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a second booster dose of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines for those 50 and older who are at least four months past their first booster. (Hwang, 3/29)
The Washington Post:
CDC: If You Got J&J’s Vaccine And Booster, Consider An MRNA Shot Now
The nearly 17 million Americans who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine are less protected against serious illness and hospitalizations than those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, according to federal data released Tuesday. The latest data suggest Johnson & Johnson recipients should get a booster with one of the messenger RNA vaccines, if they haven’t already done so — and even consider a second messenger RNA booster for the greatest protection. The data come from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that analyzed the results of mix-and-match vaccine-and-booster combinations during a four-month period when the highly transmissible omicron variant was dominant. (Sun, 3/29)
Bay Area News Group:
Should I Get A Second COVID Booster?
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster shot for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, citing dwindling immunity in older Americans as a new omicron variant gains a firm foothold in the nation. So should you rush out and get that new booster? And is that even a possibility yet? Here are some answers: (Krieger, 3/29)
CapRadio:
Do I Really Need Another Booster? The Answer Depends On Age, Risk And Timing
The Biden administration has given the go-ahead for another COVID vaccine booster for people aged 50 and older and certain people who are immunocompromised. They can now get another Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech booster at least four months after their last dose. But just because you can get an additional booster, does that mean you need to? Health officials argue that the protection provided by the COVID vaccine booster shots wanes over time. And they are concerned about people considered to be at highest risk of getting severe COVID. (Godoy, Aubrey, and Greenhalgh, 3/30)
Los Angeles Times:
Omicron BA.2 Now Dominant Version Of Coronavirus In U.S.
The highly infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now the dominant version of the coronavirus circulating in the United States, according to federal estimates, a development that is triggering fresh concerns of a potential springtime wave. How big that potential upswing might prove to be remains the subject of much debate. Some experts believe California is well-armored against another significant surge — largely because the vast majority of residents have either been vaccinated or likely have some natural immunity left over from a recent infection. (Money and Lin II, 3/29)
The Wall Street Journal:
Omicron BA.2 Variant Is Dominant Covid-19 Strain In U.S., CDC Estimates
The Food and Drug Administration said last Friday that providers should no longer use GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Covid-19 antibody treatment sotrovimab in Massachusetts, New York and several other states, after finding that the drug is likely ineffective against the BA.2 variant. The agency also said it would track BA.2’s prevalence around the U.S. and might need to further limit where sotrovimab can be used. (Kamp and Abbott, 3/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID Cases In California Are Leveling Off, But Here’s How BA.2 Variant Might Change That
After more than two months of dramatic decline, COVID-19 cases are leveling off in the Bay Area and most of California while the BA.2 coronavirus subvariant supplants omicron as the dominant strain circulating in the western United States. BA.2 now makes up roughly half of cases nationally and 60% of COVID cases in the western region, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released its latest variant analysis on Tuesday. Health officials said they don’t yet know what impact the highly transmissible BA.2 will have on cases — or subsequent hospitalization and death rates — in the weeks to come, especially in well-vaccinated places like the Bay Area. California officials hoped to see cases continue dropping, perhaps to levels reported last spring and early summer, but they may stabilize or climb again as BA.2 gains traction. (Allday, 3/29)
Voice of OC:
Orange County Residents Should Expect, Prepare For Indefinite COVID Waves
What does it mean to “learn to live with COVID”? Some local public health experts say it means residents should get used to virus waves, keep their masks handy, expect more vaccinations and be ready to shift to outdoor settings when positivity rates increase. “We have to unpack what that means,” said UC Irvine epidemiologist Andrew Noymer. “COVID is absolutely not going away. It’s going to go in cycles and it’s going to go perhaps in regular cycles, but cycles nonetheless. There’s going to be periods when it peaks, and periods where it drops.” (Custodio, 3/29)
CapRadio:
Free COVID Tests And Treatments No Longer Free For Uninsured, As Funding Runs Out
The first real-world consequences of dwindling federal COVID-19 funds have started to be felt in recent days. Coronavirus tests for uninsured patients are no longer free in some places. That's because the program that reimbursed clinics and hospitals for the testing, as well as for treating uninsured patients with COVID-19, stopped accepting claims last week "due to lack of sufficient funds." Some clinics have already started to turn away people without insurance who come to get tested and can't afford to pay for it. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/29)
ABC News:
How To Use The CDC's New COVID Quarantine And Isolation Calculator
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an online calculator Thursday to help people determine if they should isolate or quarantine after contracting COVID-19 or being exposed to someone with the virus. The tool can be accessed on a desktop or on a mobile device. Once a person answers a few questions, the calculator will help discern how long one should isolate or quarantine, whether they should get tested, and how long they should take precautions, such as wearing a mask around others in public. (Thomas and Kekatos, 3/29)
City News Service:
LA City Council Set To Lift Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, March 30, is expected to finalize the process of lifting the city’s mandate that requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter many indoor establishments and large outdoor events. The council took a preliminary step in that direction last Wednesday when it voted 13-1 to rescind the vaccine-mandate ordinance that went into effect Nov. 8. (3/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Truckers Protesting COVID Mandates Will Head To California
A group of truck drivers that have protested COVID-19 mandates in the Washington area for several weeks is returning to California to protest bills coming up for votes soon in the Legislature, organizers said Sunday. (Ding, 3/29)
AP:
Navy Barred From Acting Against Religious Vaccine Refusers
A federal judge in Texas is barring the Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had in January issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the Navy’s vaccine policy while their case played out. On Monday, O’Connor agreed the case could go forward as a class action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction covering the approximately 4,000 sailors who have objected on religious grounds to being vaccinated. ... While the case is still at an early stage, the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief order Friday narrowed the impact of O’Connor’s original injunction, saying that the Navy could still consider the vaccination status of the sailors who sued in making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions. (Gresko, 3/29)
The New York Times:
Supreme Court, In Case On Veteran Hurt By Burn Pits, Debates War Powers
A Supreme Court argument on Tuesday about an Army reservist injured by burn pits in Iraq turned into a seminar on the scope of Congress’s war powers, federalism, the Vietnam War and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This has the potential of being a pretty important case for the structure of the United States of America,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer said as the argument progressed. (Liptak, 3/29)
Orange County Register:
Stronger Sentences For Fentanyl Dealers Face Uphill Battle In State Legislature
On the same day that state legislators shot down one bill to increase penalties for selling fentanyl, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Noris pitched another that would send the worst fentanyl dealers to prison for 20 years to life. But Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach, acknowledged that even with the rise of synthetic, cheap fentanyl — sparking a wave of drug deaths nationally and in Southern California — her bill, AB 2246, faces an uphill battle getting through the Assembly Public Safety Committee. (Saavedra and Sforza, 3/29)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Sutter Health Unveils Its New Expansion Tower At Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
Standing outside Sutter Health’s new 60,000-square-foot hospital expansion tower at its regional hospital in north Santa Rosa, CEO Dan Peterson proudly points out that the new addition was “born and raised during the pandemic.” “I started here in the beginning of 2020, and they had just started prepping the ground out there,” Peterson said Tuesday, during a tour of the three-story structure, which seamlessly sits on the east end of the hospital that was built eight years ago and was originally 184,000 square feet. (Espinoza, 3/29)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
From Zebra Fish To Bacteria, Diabetes Research Connection Celebrates A Decade Funding Novel Ideas
Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the guiding spirit of San Diego’s Diabetes Research Connection can be seen in the labs across the country, including one run by developmental geneticist Duc Dong at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Research Institute, in La Jolla. (Sisson, 3/29)
Redding Record Searchlight:
STDs In Shasta County On The Rise During Pandemic
Shasta County Public Health is battling increasing outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases, including a steep rise in the number of newborn babies with syphilis. The agency is expanding its education and prevention programs, and creating a mobile clinic to help vulnerable groups and rural parts of the county. While the number of STDs are increasing statewide, Shasta County’s case numbers are even higher, said Public Health Community Development Coordinator Shellisa Moore, who supervises the county’s sexually transmitted infections program. (Skropanic, 3/28)
Berkeleyside:
Kidney Donation Saves Life Of Berkeley's Former Fire Chief
Former Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong has been through a lot since he left the department in 2017.Dong was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease, in 2001, which first showed up in the form of fatigue and joint pain. While he was able to treat it with medication, by 2017 his health had worsened enough to force his retirement. One of his kidneys had failed to the point where he needed dialysis. (Wall, 3/29)
The Oaklandside:
In Eastmont Hills, Mixed Reactions To Plans For New Neighborhood Stairways
Oakland’s old neighborhood staircases, created nearly 100 years ago to make it easier for residents to connect with public transit and roads, are cherished by residents in the hilly parts of the city where they’re mostly found. From Upper Rockridge to Crocker Highlands to Trestle Glen, these “secret staircases” offer walkers a hearty workout and breathtaking views. Unbeknownst to many, there are also paths in parts of the East Oakland hills and foothills. Over the years, many have fallen into disrepair or gotten blocked off by homes, weeds, and overgrowth. Now, the city of Oakland is planning to restore several sets of paths in Millsmont and the Eastmont Hills or create new stairways on them. (Fermoso, 3/29)
Fresno Bee:
CVS Gives $18.4 Million To Fresno Housing Authority
Fresno Housing Authority received more than $18 million from CVS Health for the development of a new affordable housing complex in central Fresno, covering a majority of the project’s cost. The Arthur @ Blackstone, at 3039 N Blackstone Ave., has been in the works since 2017 and will break ground this summer, with plans to be completed 18 months after construction begins. The 41-unit apartment complex will replace vacant office and retail spaces near the intersection of Blackstone and Shields avenues. (Garibay, 3/29)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Fletcher Announces Initiatives To Tackle Homelessness, Mental Health, With $10M In Grants For Cities
New initiatives to fight homelessness and addiction, boost housing and improve childcare are on the horizon for San Diego County next year, Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher said in his State of the County speech Tuesday. Despite the pandemic, Fletcher said the county has added affordable housing, mental health services and jobs. (Brennan, 3/29)
EdSource:
After Living In Her Van In A City Lot, She Now Feeds Others Who Park There
Out of her new apartment’s kitchen, Tami Rossell spends hours each week cooking and preparing hot meals for those who live in their vehicles and sleep in city-designated safe parking zones. Three nights a week, Rossell visits that night’s designated parking lot in Union City. From her vehicle, she brings out about a dozen plastic foam food containers that she has prefilled with the evening’s fare. It’s always nighttime and dark by the time she arrives, but she insists on scanning the parking lot for vehicles she might recognize so she can personally deliver the food and ask how they are holding up. She leaves behind enough meals for others to get when they are ready. (Marquez Rosales, 3/30)
BuzzFeed:
What People With Alopecia Think About That Chris Rock Joke
For the 6.8 million people in the US with alopecia, it was Pinkett Smith’s face when the joke dropped, not the slap, that was the important part. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, triggering a spectrum of hair loss anywhere on the body. It’s unpredictable and can happen to anyone at any time, no matter their age, sex, race, ethnicity, or health status. (Camero, 3/29)
The Washington Post:
Why A Single Slap Struck So Many
Psychologists and experts on violence aren’t surprised by the strong emotions generated by the incident, and their variety. “The complexity right now does center around the talks and discussions we’re having around race, gender and disability … and survivorship,” said Apryl Alexander, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Denver. “All of those things combined impacted the lens in which we saw this unfortunate event.” (Chiu, 3/29)