Public Health

Latest California Healthline Stories

California Is Overriding Its Limits on Nurse Workloads as Covid Surges

As covid patients flood California emergency rooms, hospitals are increasingly desperate to find enough staffers to care for them all. But some nurses worry hospitals will use the pandemic as an excuse to permanently roll back their hard-won nurse-patient ratios.

Delicate Covid Vaccines Slow Rollout — Leading to Shots Given Out of Turn or, Worse, Wasted

“Thaw. Rest 15 minutes. Do not shake. Do not refreeze.” Moderna’s vaccine comes with complicated instructions. And both available vaccines are good for only six hours once the vial is open. So at day’s end, health workers are left to either throw out precious doses or get shots into any arm that’s available.