Latest California Healthline Stories
Journalists Examine Vaccination Rates Among Student Nurses and in Covid Hot Spots
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
New Law Bans Harassment at Vaccination Sites, but Free Speech Concerns Persist
Effective immediately, it will be a misdemeanor in California to harass people on their way to get a covid, or any other, vaccine. But First Amendment experts say the new law violates free speech protections and could face a constitutional battle.
Organ Centers to Transplant Patients: Get a Covid Shot or Move Down on Waitlist
At issue is whether transplant patients who refuse the shots are not only putting themselves at greater risk for serious illness and death from covid-19, but also squandering scarce organs that could benefit others.
NY Reaches Agreement With DOJ Over Vaccine Access for Blind People
Following a February KHN investigation into covid vaccine accessibility, the Department of Justice reached an agreement with five New York government agencies to make their websites accessible to people who are visually impaired.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Abortion Politics Front and Center
The polarizing abortion issue threatens to tie up Congress, the Supreme Court and the states for the coming year. Meanwhile, Congress kicks the can down the road to December on settling its spending priorities. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Aneri Pattani, who delivered the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a covid test that cost as much as a luxury car.
Covid Immunity Through Infection or Vaccination: Are They Equal?
As scientists argue whether a previous bout of covid offers the same amount of protection as vaccinations, people turn to the courts to decide.
Our Covid Cocoon: The Parents Aren’t Alright (But Help May Be Coming)
After experiencing multiple quarantines and school closures in less than two months, covid vaccine approvals for 5- to 11-year-olds can’t come soon enough for a KHN editor in Montana.
Ser inmune a covid por haberlo tenido o estar vacunado, ¿es lo mismo?
Hay pruebas de que contraer SARS-CoV-2 genera inmunidad. Pero muchos científicos creen que no son contundentes.
California Vaccine Mandate Extends to Aides for People With Disabilities
Even though they perform the same intimate tasks as nursing home and hospital workers, in-home health aides initially were left out of California’s vaccine mandate. They must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30.
Student Nurses Who Refuse Vaccination Struggle to Complete Degrees
The Biden administration is requiring workers at health care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. For the minority of nursing students who have refused a shot, the new policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.