Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Q&A: How Will California’s New 988 Mental Health Line Actually Work?
California Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored legislation to create and fund the state’s new 988 phone line for mental health emergencies, spoke with KHN about the effort and what more will be needed to create a full-fledged response network for people experiencing mental health crises. (Jenny Gold, )
All UC Students, Staff Must Get A Flu Vaccine: The University of California is requiring all students, staff and faulty to receive a flu vaccine on or before Nov. 19. Anyone opting out must wear face masks on campus through the end of the flu season even if covid-19 requirements are relaxed by the respective county or university system. Read more from The Sacramento Bee.
Unvaxxed LAUSD Staff Won’t Be Allowed Back On Campus: Los Angeles Unified School District employees who don’t receive at least one dose of a covid vaccine by Friday won’t be allowed to return to campus Monday, a district official said during Tuesday’s school board meeting, where he also urged patience as schools work through staffing issues next week. Read more from the LA Daily News.
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
CapRadio:
California Passes 70,000 Coronavirus Deaths
California’s coronavirus death toll has reached another once-unfathomable milestone: 70,000 people. The mark recorded Monday by Johns Hopkins University is the highest in the country, the Associated Press reports. Texas is about 3,000 deaths behind. (10/12)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Sonoma County Reaches 400 Official Fatalities Due To COVID-19
The official number of pandemic-related deaths in Sonoma County reached 400 on Tuesday, after local health officials reported two COVID-19 fatalities in what has become one of the county’s leading causes of death. At the end of 2020 — when 194 county residents had succumbed to COVID-19 — the pandemic illness was the sixth leading cause of death, behind cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke and unintentional injury, according to county health data. (Espinoza, 10/12)
Marin Independent Journal:
Marin Only California County In ‘Moderate’ COVID-19 Classification
Marin County’s COVID-19 case rate has entered the yellow tier signifying “moderate” transmission, laying the groundwork for less restrictive mask rules, the public health officer said Tuesday. “We’re the only county in the state currently at that level,” said Dr. Matt Willis. “If you look across the nation, there are less than 1% of counties that are in the yellow ‘moderate’ status.” (Brenner, 10/13)
Bay Area News Group:
Contra Costa Supervisors Catch Flak For Declaring Misinformation About Virus, Vaccines A ‘Public Health Crisis’
Misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines developed to protect against it constitutes a “public health crisis,” the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors declared Tuesday, drawing a backlash from numerous residents. In a statement they unanimously passed, the supervisors asserted the vaccines have met rigorous scientific standards and skepticism about the danger posed by COVID-19 has “created a culture of mistrust” that undermines health officials’ efforts to bring the pandemic to an end. (Mukherjee, 10/12)
Capital & Main:
Rural Clinics And Hospitals Bear The Brunt Of COVID Misinformation
The trendline in California is undeniable: Rural areas with vaccination rates well below the state average are bearing the brunt of COVID-19’s delta strain. In those regions, death rates are vastly outpacing those in urban settings. Nationally, rural areas are currently experiencing twice the death rate of urban areas. While the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020 mostly missed the more lightly populated areas of the country, the dark script has flipped in the fall of 2021. At a time when rates of vaccination increasingly determine COVID-related outcomes, only 46% of rural residents were fully vaccinated as of mid-August. That compared with 60% of urban residents, according to researchers at Syracuse University. (Kreidler, 10/12 )
Modesto Bee:
Biden To Offer Cash For Farm, Food Workers Affected By COVID
Front-line farm, grocery-store and meatpacking workers in California could see financial relief through a federal program designed to alleviate pandemic-related costs. The Farm and Food Workers Relief Program, offered through the United States Department of Agriculture, promises $700 million in grants for those workers across the U.S. The Biden administration has not said when it plans to release the money. (Brassil and Park, 10/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
'COVID Is Never Going To Go Away,' California Scientist Says, Even As Case Numbers Improve
Even as the rate of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues trending downward in California, health experts on Tuesday cautioned that the hard times may not be over. The state’s coronavirus death toll is nearing 70,000 — nearly 1 in 500 Californians. Despite having the lowest rate of new cases among all states, the seven-day average is hovering at 14 per 100,000 residents and vaccination uptake has stalled with a little over 70% of the eligible population fully vaccinated. (Vaziri, 10/12)
CalMatters:
COVID Lungs: Transplants Are Last Resort For Many California Patients
Dr. Shura Alexis Moreno has always been one to count his blessings. Nowadays even more so: Every breath he takes with his new lungs feels like one. His warm smile is back. He’s chatty and at first glance you wouldn’t imagine that just months ago he was on life support. But the flight of stairs in his home leaves him winded. He still doesn’t have the energy to play his drum set. He’s only recently started to gain some weight after losing 40 pounds while hospitalized. Ten months after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, Moreno is finally getting some of his physical strength back. Yet mentally, it’s still tough. (10/13)
ABC News:
Infants Of COVID-Positive Mothers Have High Rates Of Health Complications, Study Finds
Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 are significantly more likely to experience health problems, such as difficulty breathing, compared to infants born to mothers without COVID-19, according to a new study published Monday. The study, published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine, adds a new layer onto the growing body of research showing the potential complications COVID-19 can cause for both pregnant people and babies. (Kindelan, 10/12)
NBC News:
The Covid Vaccine Doesn’t Cause Infertility, But The Disease Might
Worries that the Covid-19 vaccine could cause infertility are among the reasons people give for avoiding vaccination. While there’s no evidence any of the Covid vaccines cause problems with fertility, becoming severely ill from the disease has the potential to do so, reproduction experts say, making vaccination all the more important. “There is evidence to suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to impact both male fertility, female fertility, and certainly the health of a pregnancy of someone infected,” said Dr. Jennifer Kawwass, a reproductive endocrinologist and associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “And there is simultaneously no evidence that the vaccine has any negative impact on male or female fertility.” (Hickok, 10/12)
Los Angeles Times:
The Truth About Pregnancy Risks And COVID-19 Vaccines
Experts say vaccination could have prevented most serious illnesses and deaths in the current surge. But that message was slow to get out to pregnant women due to a long-standing tradition of excluding them from clinical trials of experimental medicines — a practice that extended to COVID-19 vaccines. As a result, for months after the vaccines became available, doctors and their pregnant patients had little relevant safety data to rely on. So they turned to each other in an effort to crowdsource their own best practices. (Khan, 10/13)
Modesto Bee:
U.S. To Require Vaccination For Travelers From Canada, Mexico
Visitors from Canada and Mexico who are vaccinated will be able to drive into the United States for tourism and other non-essential travel again starting next month, when the rules for international air travel are also set to change. The new rules for foreign nationals entering by land are expected to be implemented in early November and will go into effect in two phases. A vaccination requirement will go into effect for non-essential travelers next month, while truck drivers and other individuals who cross U.S. borders for work will have until January to be vaccinated. (Chambers, 10/13)
Politico:
Military Archbishop Says Catholic Troops Can Refuse Covid Vaccines On Religious Grounds
The archbishop of the U.S. military said on Tuesday that Catholic troops could refuse the mandated Covid vaccine on religious grounds. “No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” Timothy Broglio, archbishop for the military services, said in a statement. (Ward, 10/12)
Fox News:
Biden Employer Vaccine Mandate A Step Closer To Reality As OSHA Submits Rule Text To OMB For Review
President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large businesses came one step closer to reality on Tuesday after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) submitted the initial text of an emergency vaccine rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Last month, the president announced businesses with more than 100 employees will be required to mandate coronavirus vaccines or administer weekly tests. Employers are also required to pay employees for time off to get vaccinated and recover from side effects. The rule will take effect once the OMB finishes its review and it’s published in the federal register. (Stimson, 10/13)
AP:
Next On FDA's Agenda: Booster Shots Of Moderna, J&J Vaccines
On Thursday and Friday, the Food and Drug Administration convenes its independent advisers for the first stage in the process of deciding whether extra doses of the two vaccines should be dispensed and, if so, who should get them and when. The final go-ahead is not expected for at least another week. After the FDA advisers give their recommendation, the agency itself will make a decision on whether to authorize boosters. Then next week, a panel convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will offer more specifics on who should get them. Its decision is subject to approval by the CDC director. (Neergaard and Perrone, 10/12 )
Sacramento Bee:
See The Sacramento Neighborhoods Resisting COVID Vaccine
About 70% of residents 12 and older in the four-county Sacramento region were fully vaccinated as of Monday, higher than the national average of 66%, state and federal data show. But there were holdouts. Among ZIP codes with at least 5,000 residents, there were still five communities where most people 12 and older were not fully vaccinated. (Reese, 10/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
State To Launch More Than 100 Vaccine Clinics In Schools
The state will open more than 100 school-located vaccination clinics this fall in vulnerable neighborhoods, officials announced Tuesday. The clinics will offer shots to students and staff at K-8 schools in low socioeconomic zip codes, in an effort to increase access and lower illness-specific school absences. “This is bringing vaccine to where people are,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan. “It’s so much more convenient to go where they are so no family has to be make a special trip to a clinic.” (Fracassa, 10/13)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Anti-Mask Group Sues San Diego Unified Over Vaccine Mandate In Schools
The San Diego-based group that has been fighting the state’s school mask mandate sued San Diego Unified School District for the district’s new COVID vaccine mandate. Let Them Choose, a project of the anti-mask group Let Them Breathe, filed its lawsuit against San Diego Unified Monday in San Diego Superior Court. The lawsuit says the district’s vaccine mandate hurts students because it forces them to learn from home in independent study if they don’t get vaccinated. (Taketa, 10/12)
Modesto Bee:
Oakdale Parents Protest COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
Parents packed an Oakdale school board meeting on Monday to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students, urging trustees to fight it. Under the governor’s Oct. 1 announcement, students at all California public and private K-12 schools will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend in-person classes, following full authorization of the shots for their age groups from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This could apply to grades seven through 12 in July 2022, according to Newsom’s office. (Isaacman, 10/12)
Los Angeles Daily News:
LAUSD Board Approves Pandemic-Era Pact With Teachers
The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct. 12, to ratify an agreement with the teachers union on matters related to quarantine instruction, COVID-19 health-and-safety measures and employee compensation. The agreement also paves the way for more teachers to be reassigned to City of Angels, the district’s online independent study program. The program has been plagued by severe staffing shortages, as a record number of students opted to remain in remote learning this year because of the ongoing pandemic. (Tat, 10/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How The Pandemic Affected Enrollment At The University Of California And California's Community Colleges Differently
California is home to three public higher education systems: the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC). Together, they educate about 80% of the nearly three million college students in the state. But the three systems vastly differ in the types of students they educate and the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on undergraduate enrollment. Overall, the community college system educates more students of color and is experiencing dramatic declines in enrollment, leading to thousands of students of color leaving California’s public higher education system. (Sumida, 10/12)
USA Today:
Baby Aspirin No Longer Recommended To Prevent First Heart Attack
People over the age of 60 should no longer consider taking a daily low-dose or baby aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, according to a draft recommendation issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Tuesday. The announcement marks a change in the 2016 Task Force guidance that recommended aspirin therapy in certain men and women to lower cardiovascular risk. But more recent evidence suggests it also could cause harm, including bleeding in the stomach, intestines, and brain – a risk that increases with age and can be life-threatening. (Rodriguez, 10/12)
The Hill:
FDA Authorizes An E-Cigarette For First Time, Citing Benefit For Smokers
Federal health regulators Tuesday for the first time authorized the legal marketing of an electronic cigarette, saying the product from RJ Reynolds could help addicted adult smokers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the company's refillable Vuse Solo closed device and tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods could benefit addicted adult smokers who switch by reducing their exposure to harmful chemicals. (Weixel, 10/12)
Southern California News Group:
New California Drug Rehab Rules Call For Honest Advertising, Insurance And Naloxone
"Brandon's Law" is just one of several bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this month aimed at reforming California’s troubled for-profit mental health and addiction treatment industry. In addition to the law to change rehab advertising, Newsom also signed into law a bill that will require recovery programs to have liability insurance, a requirement that could go a long way toward weeding out “fly-by-night scammers,” said its author, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach. (Sforza, 10/13)
CBS News:
Baby Cereal Sold Only At Walmart Recalled For Too Much Arsenic
Certain Parent's Choice Rice Baby Cereal sold only at Walmart is being recalled after random tests found "above guidance" levels of naturally occurring inorganic arsenic, a toxin connected to impaired cognitive development for those exposed in early childhood. The product was distributed nationally through Walmart's stores and online, with the retailer pulling the recalled cereal from store shelves, according to a notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Gibson, 10/12)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Arvin Finally Achieves Federal Standard For Arsenic In Drinking Water
Federal and state officials announced Tuesday that Arvin has finally met the federal Safe Drinking Water Act's arsenic health standard after a frustrating, 13-year process that resulted in five new groundwater wells serving about 20,000 people. Area residents no longer have to use tokens to get safe drinking water through free vending machines since tests reported the city's new wells produce water containing 7.3 parts per billion of arsenic, which is below the federal standard of 10 ppb and a big improvement from readings of 20 to 56 ppb reported in 2008. (Cox, 10/12)
Sacramento Bee:
Mosquitoes That Can Cause Zika Found In South Sacramento
The mosquito that can carry the Zika virus, dengue fever and other serious illnesses has been detected near Camelia Park in south Sacramento, according to a Tuesday notice from the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. District officials said a single female aedes aegypti mosquito had been caught in a trap near the park, which is located near the intersection of Elder Creek and Power Inn roads. (Anderson, 10/12)
Bay Area News Group:
PG&E's Wildfire Safety Triggers Sparking Controversy, Not Blazes
During this tinder-dry wildfire season, a change to Pacific Gas & Electric’s power lines has dramatically reduced the risk of sparking calamitous and killer blazes. But every time a rogue squirrel gets zapped, hundreds of rural residents are suddenly plunged into darkness – for hours, sometimes days. (Krieger, 10/13)
KQED:
Unpacking The Rise In Gun Violence
In 2020, homicides in the Bay Area increased by about 25%, according to a Guardian analysis of census and state data. Many of those deaths involved guns. The majority of people killed were Black and Latino, and some of the largest increases took place in Oakland, Vallejo, and Stockton. We don't yet know all of the reasons why this increase occurred, but many local practitioners of gun violence prevention point to factors like economic hardship, and the closures of important community spaces during the pandemic. (Montecillo, Cruz Guevarra and Wolffe, 10/13)
Fresno Bee:
Hackers Hit Fresno-Area Health Clinics In Ransomware Attack
United Health Centers, which operates nearly two dozen health clinics in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, was reportedly targeted in a recent ransomware attack by computer hackers, exposing private patient information to the online world. The data-security news website BleepingComputer.com first reported the August data breach after its editor, Lawrence Abrams, said he was alerted by cybersecurity industry experts. (Sheehan, 10/12)
Orange County Register:
Biotech Lab In Tustin Takes Unusual Donations At $75 A Poop
While the topic of defecation may strike many as both humorous and icky, it is no laughing matter for people who suffer recurrent C. difficile infection, an ailment also known as C. diff. Seres Therapeutics is seeking a cure for the debilitating intestinal disease. After conducting almost a decade of research and clinical trials, Seres is poised to introduce the first FDA-approved microbiome therapeutic that could stop C. diff from recurring. But before it can get there, the Massachusetts-based biotech firm needs stool donations from hundreds of healthy people. (Goulding, 10/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco Mayor Breed Wants To Make It Easier To Turn Gas Stations Into Housing
Mayor London Breed was set to announce Tuesday an ordinance that will make it easier and faster to build housing on properties currently used for automobile-related uses like gas stations, auto body shops or parking lots. Under the ordinance, dubbed “cars to casas,” groups looking to build housing on “car-centric” properties would no longer have to obtain a conditional use authorization from the city Planning Commission — a process that can take 10 to 18 months. (Dineen, 10/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Poll Finds More Than Half Of Bay Area Residents Plan To Leave For Good. Why? 'It's Housing, Stupid'
Another day, another poll about how expensive it is to live in the Bay Area. Only this time, San Jose think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley found a majority of residents actually planning to leave the region in “the next few years” — around 56% of more than 1,600 people surveyed in five counties. That compares to a broader pre-pandemic poll of all nine Bay Area counties by business group the Bay Area Council, which in 2018 found that 46% of residents considered moving away. (Hepler, 10/12)
CNBC:
Safeway Ex-CEO: We Did 'At Least 100 Hours' Of Diligence On Theranos
Former Safeway CEO Steve Burd said on Tuesday that his company knew it was taking a risk by partnering with blood-testing start-up Theranos, and he acknowledged that a deal would have been good for the grocery chain’s stock price. On his second day testifying in the criminal fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Burd told jurors that Safeway ran a thorough independent investigation into the company’s claims about its technology before signing an agreement in 2010. (Khorram, 10/12)
TechCrunch:
The Theranos Fiasco Shows How Much Startup Advisory Boards Matter
The epic fall from grace of Elizabeth Holmes holds lessons for everybody from CEOs to investors, commercial partners, the media — social or otherwise — and the Silicon Valley hype machine that is always hungry for a new breakout star and unicorn company. For pharmaceutical companies, especially medical affairs, the important lesson from this sad and sordid affair is as simple as it is powerful: Your advisory board matters — a lot. (Katz, 10/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
What The Elizabeth Holmes Trial Is Revealing About Theranos
The courtroom testimony that has unfolded so far in the criminal trial of Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes has given even close watchers of the company new nuggets of information. While much of the Theranos story has been closely chronicled by The Wall Street Journal and others, the trial has revealed details about the company’s losses, its fundraising and the lengths to which prosecutors say it went to deceive its partners. (Randazzo and Somerville, 10/12)
The New York Times:
Inside The Courtroom With Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes
Three days a week, Adriana Kratzmann, an administrator, opens the door at 8:30 a.m. to Courtroom 4 of the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. Journalists and spectators present her with numbered paper tickets that they get from security guards at the building entrance. Once Ms. Kratzmann checks their tickets, they stream into the beige-walled room, jostling for a place on five long wooden benches and a single, prized row of cushioned chairs. (Woo and Griffith, 10/11)