Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
For Counties and Clinics, Blue Shield Takeover of Vaccination Task Fixes What Wasn’t Broken
Rural Mendocino County had finally figured out its vaccination program. But now the community clinics that helped make it happen are changing course as Blue Shield of California takes over the state vaccine program. (Rachel Bluth, )
Will California Avoid A 'Fourth Wave'?: On the good news side of the covid ledger: All adults over 50 will be able to get vaccinated starting tomorrow. And California continues to defy the national trend for surging cases, allowing more counties to reopen further. But some public health experts warn that the state has been here before and that California is still vulnerable to yet another coronavirus resurgence. News outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and CalMatters, report on that possibility.
Sheriff Who Overruled Health Officials Helped Fuel Vaccine Misinformation: The Sacramento Bee exclusively reports on tense emails that show Placer County Sheriff’s office overruled health officials and put out a statement in January that implied an Auburn man had died from the covid vaccine. Experts say what the Sheriff’s office did was a case study in what not to tell the public before an actual cause of death is known — a process that takes time. Get more details from The Sacramento Bee.
More News From Across The State
AP:
California Counties Ease Restrictions As COVID-19 Cases Fall
Nearly half of California’s 40 million people are living in areas where coronavirus restrictions are easing and some of the largest counties are preparing to expand movie theater and restaurant reopenings despite worries about a new surge and demand for limited vaccine supplies. Massive Los Angeles County and neighboring Orange County dropped into orange, the state’s second-least restrictive of four color-coded tiers, according to a weekly state update Tuesday. They and 11 other counties moving into the less-stringent category — including Santa Cruz and Alameda — altogether have a population of around 17 million. (Har and Dazio, 3/31)
LAist:
More LA County Businesses — Including Bars — Will Reopen As Region Enters Orange Tier
L.A. County will soon be out of the red and into the orange tier of the state's coronavirus reopening framework. State health officials updated their data today and L.A. County's test positivity rate, case rates, and health equity metrics now meet the requirements to move into the less restrictive orange tier on Monday. The move allows for higher capacity limits at businesses, churches, gyms, and restaurants. Bars could reopen for the first time for outdoor service only. (Nguyen, 3/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
The Steep Dive In The Bay Area's Coronavirus Numbers Has Stopped. How Worried Should We Be?
The Bay Area has been here before — enjoying a period of loosening pandemic restrictions after a steep drop in coronavirus cases. But as they did last fall, the numbers appear to be flattening out for the first time in more than two months. Statewide, the case rate has also flattened and the death rate has even edged up. (Hwang, 3/30)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego County Remains In The Red Tier As Vaccine Supply Surges
San Diego County has no chance of squeaking out of the red tier this week even if the state loosens the limits for the next-least-restrictive orange tier. A technicality in the state’s reopening blueprint, the California Department of Public Health confirmed in an email Tuesday, means the soonest the region could go orange is Wednesday, April 7.Meanwhile, the number of vaccine doses expected to arrive in the region continues to look up. (Sisson and Wosen, 3/30)
AP:
Pfizer Says Its COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Younger Teens
Pfizer announced Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall. Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic — and helping schools, at least the upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption. (Neergaard and Perrone, 3/31)
LAist:
You're About To Be Eligible For A COVID-19 Vaccine In California. Now What?
On April 1, all Californians 50 and older will be eligible for a free COVID-19 vaccine. On April 15, all Californians 16 and older will also be allowed to book appointments for shots. So it's time to make a plan, and we're here to help with a checklist of things to consider, links to guides and resources, and action items every step of the way. (Javier, 3/31)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Vaccine Eligibility Opening To People As Young As 50 - 'Except We Don't Have The Vaccine'
Bay Area counties have a message for hundreds of thousands of patient 50- to 64-year-olds who become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination as of Thursday: Stay patient. “We just don’t have the supply right now,” said Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which sent a letter over the weekend begging state health officials for more vaccine. Hopkins told the state that the county could vaccinate 40,000 people each week, but has only been getting 15,000 doses a week — and less than 13,000 this week. (Asimov and Ho, 3/30)
Los Angeles Times:
In Hard-Hit L.A., A Two-Person Team Busts COVID Vaccine Myths One Person At A Time
Armed with a clipboard and a face shield, Maria Mejia takes off running through the Food 4 Less parking lot in Boyle Heights. Few people escape the 53-year-old outreach worker without hearing her straight talk about the COVID-19 vaccines. Not the grandfather of one heading for his car, not the young store employee, not the woman unloading bags into her trunk, not even the maskless man who told her he didn’t need her advice. (Shalby, 3/31)
Los Angeles Times:
California Republicans Lead In Vaccine Hesitancy, Poll Shows
Skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine has fallen steadily in California as inoculations increase. But resistance still remains particularly high among one group: Republicans. In a poll released late Tuesday by the Public Policy Institute of California, 26% of registered Republicans said they will definitely not get vaccinated, and 13% said they probably won’t be. The 39% hesitancy rate is the highest of any group surveyed. (Nelson, 3/31)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Residents Are The Least Vaccine Hesitant In The U.S. - Driving Up Demand For Shots
Over 72% of unvaccinated residents of the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan area say they will “definitely” get the vaccine once it’s available, according to the COVID-19 Household Pulse Survey, a U.S. Census survey that collects responses from Americans on a range of questions about their social and economic conditions. That’s a greater percentage than residents of any other major metropolitan area in the country save Seattle. (Neilson, 3/31)
CapRadio:
As Access Expands, California Is Set To Close 2 Mass Vaccination Sites In Oakland, LA
As COVID-19 vaccinations ramp up around the nation and more adults become eligible to get the shot, FEMA is slated to pull out of two of California’s mass vaccination sites, taking thousands of vaccines with it. The reason? The state never asked the federal government to keep operating them. (Nixon, 3/30)
San Jose Mercury News:
California's Vaccine Equity Depends On Community Outreach
For the past three weeks, volunteers from True Vine Ministries have answered hundreds of phone calls each day from people hoping to secure appointments at the West Oakland church’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic. So far, 5,600 people have gotten the single-shot Johnson & Johnson dose there over 12 clinic days this month. But with California set to open vaccine eligibility to 7.6 million residents 50 and older on Thursday — and everyone 16 and older on April 15 — the clinic just off West Grand Avenue is facing an uncertain future. Set up to last four weeks, its final vaccination days are set to run this Friday, Saturday and Monday, with a break for Easter Sunday. Dr. Donna White Carey, a physician and True Vine’s executive pastor, said she isn’t sure what will happen after that. (Savidge, 3/31)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County Drops Age Limit For COVID Vaccine Clinics
Stanislaus County officials announced Tuesday the county’s public clinics will start giving coronavirus vaccinations to county residents age 16 and over starting Thursday. A state order will make Californians in the 16 to 64 age group eligible for COVID-19 vaccine on April 15. But Gov. Gavin Newsom has given health providers the discretion to vaccinate anyone living in underserved communities, regardless of their age or vocation. (Carlson, 3/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
CSUB Vaccination Site Will Be Closed Easter Sunday
Cal State Bakersfield’s COVID-19 mass vaccination site will be closed on Easter Sunday, according to a news release from Kaiser Permanente. The vaccination hub will reopen Monday and will remain open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (3/30)
The National Law Review:
California COVID-19 Sick Leave Expanded
On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law S.B. 95, which requires covered California employers to provide qualifying employees with up to 80 additional hours of COVID-19-related paid sick leave through September 30, 2021, upon oral or written request by the employee. The new state law, which goes into effect beginning March 29, 2021, applies to all California employers with more than 25 employees. (3/30)
The Sacramento Bee:
New Sick Leave Is Available For California State Workers. Here Are The Details
A new allotment of paid leave is available for California state workers affected by the coronavirus, including those with children whose schools or child care centers are closed, the state Human Resources Department announced this week. The department issued guidelines for state employees to use up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave under Senate Bill 95, a piece of legislation from Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, that makes the leave available to most private and public employees. (Venteicher, 3/31)
The National Law Review:
Can You Add Your Parents To Your Health Plan? California Considers It
California's Assembly Bill 570 was introduced, which mandates that health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies cover dependent parents. The bill requires health coverage that provides dependent coverage to make coverage available to a qualified dependent parent or stepparent. (3/30)
Los Angeles Times:
Most California Voters In New Poll Oppose Recall Of Newsom
A majority of likely California voters would keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office if a recall election were held today, according to a new poll conducted as vaccinations in the state increase and the Democratic governor ramps up his campaign to fight the effort to remove him. Among the 1,174 likely voters surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California, 56% said they oppose the recall and 40% support it, with the remaining undecided. More than three-quarters of likely voters said the worst of the pandemic is over. (Luna, 3/30)
Southern California News Group:
California Man Accused Of ‘Body Brokering’ – Receiving Illegal Kickbacks From Sober Living Homes
A Santa Ana man suspected of taking part in a “body brokering” scheme by accepting kickbacks from sober living homes in exchange for providing them with new patients was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday. Darius Jarell Moore, 27, is facing a federal count of solicitation and receipt of payment in return for referring a patient to a recovery home or clinical treatment facility after he received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of kickbacks from several Orange County-based facilities, prosecutors say. (Emery, 3/31)
LA Daily News:
Southern California Suicides Down During Coronavirus Pandemic — But Not Among Young People
In late December, freshman Rodney Moore Jr. went back-to-school shopping with his family after getting a message that Anaheim High School — closed since March by the coronavirus pandemic — might reopen. “He got so excited; he even picked out a new backpack at Costco,” his mother Adriana Moore said through tears. “He never got to use it. ”Not long after, the school sent another notice: It wouldn’t reopen for in-person classes at least until March 2021. “That’s when we began to notice his attitude change,” said Moore, a 49-year-old Anaheim resident. “He was speaking negatively about everything, like nothing was going to get better.” Weeks later, on Jan. 2, the boy who loved to play saxophone in the marching band, took his own life. He was 14. (Escobar and Yarbrough, 3/30)
CapRadio:
‘Coming Back To God’: Religious Leaders Say Sacramentans Relied More On Faith During Pandemic
People leaned heavily into their faith communities over the past year to help them through the COVID-19 crisis and explain the turmoil. National polling suggests that experience may be widespread. (Bartolone, 3/30)
Wildfires and Environmental Health
AP:
California To Add Nearly 1,400 Firefighters Amid Dry Weather
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said the state will hire nearly 1,400 additional firefighters as an unusually dry winter stokes fears of another devastating wildfire season. California depends on snowfall in the mountains for much of its water. But the latest snow survey recorded a statewide “snow water equivalent” of just 15 inches, or about 54% of average for April 1, when the state’s snowpack is the deepest. (Beam, 3/30)
AP:
US Departments Urged To Become Year-Round Wildfire Agencies
California’s U.S. senators and nearly two-dozen representatives asked the Agriculture and Interior departments on Monday to transition their agencies to a year-round wildland workforce because blazes are no longer limited to traditional fire seasons. The move would require reclassifying more seasonal federal firefighter positions as permanent, said a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (3/30)
Los Angeles Times:
Report: LAUSD Students Saw 'Alarming' Learning Harm In Pandemic
Students at all levels have suffered academically since the Los Angeles Unified School District closed its campuses more than a year ago, with the greatest harm falling on younger ones and those who were faring worse before the pandemic, a new report has concluded. “We may not know the full impact of this last year on our students for another year or more, but the preliminary data we have paints an alarming picture,” says the report, titled “Educational Recovery Now” and released Wednesday by Great Public Schools Now, a local advocacy group. (Blume, 3/31)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County Could Dissolve Emergency Services Pact
Stanislaus County could serve notice it is withdrawing from a joint powers agency that regulates local ambulance service. The county once again is looking for another option to replace the multi-county arrangement. For quite some time, county leaders have not been happy with its partnership in Mountain Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency. The joint powers agency including Stanislaus, Calaveras, Mariposa, Amador and Alpine counties has existed since the early 1980s. (Carlson, 3/29)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto-Area Veterans Welcome Expanded Agent Orange Coverage
Vietnam War veteran Lyle Ducheneaux traces his bladder cancer to exposure to Agent Orange nearly a half-century ago. Monday in Modesto, he praised a new federal law that provides disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for his disease and two others tied to the herbicide. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, sponsored the bill. It was included in an overall defense spending package approved in December. (Holland, 3/31)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Service Dogs May Be Trained By Owner And Allowed Into Shops And Restaurants, Court Rules
People with mental or physical disabilities can train their own dogs to aid them and accompany them into restaurants, shops and hospitals without having to formally certify them as “service animals,” a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The service designation lets owners bring their dogs into businesses and other establishments that do not otherwise allow them. Allowing owners to self-certify their pets, after training and subject to reasonable limits, promotes the goals of the 1990 federal law banning discrimination against the disabled, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said. (Egelko, 3/30)