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Not a subscriber? Sign up | | | | Daily Edition | | | More News From Across The State Los Angeles Daily News: It's Official: Second COVID Boosters Are Being Administered In LA County
With federal approval granted, Los Angeles County health officials and other providers began offering second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine to eligible residents on Wednesday, March 30. Business was brisk at mid-day on Wednesday at Obregon Park in East Los Angeles, with a dozen people lined up outside the door and another half-dozen already inside. (3/30) The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Second Booster Shots Now Available For Sonoma County Residents 50 And Up, Immunocompromised People
Second booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are now available for Sonoma County residents 50 and older and those who are immunocompromised, county officials announced late Wednesday. Officials said the boosters can now be obtained at local pharmacies and health care providers in the county. (Espinoza, 3/30) Bay Area News Group: Where Can You Get That Second COVID-19 Vaccine Booster?
Looking to get your next COVID-19 booster — now? Walgreens and Rite Aid have begun giving out second booster shots along with Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties since federal health officials Tuesday greenlighted them for all Americans who are 50 and older. Second boosters are also available to anyone who initially had Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine and those with compromised immunity. Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties started the latest round of booster shots shortly after Tuesday's OK from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Woolfolk, 3/30) The New York Times: Covid Vaccines Did Not Protect Adolescents As Effectively During The Omicron Surge
In yet another twist to the debate over how best to protect children against the coronavirus, researchers reported on Wednesday that Covid vaccines conferred diminished protection against hospitalization among children 12 and older during the latest Omicron surge. Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization held steady in children aged 5 to 11 years, however, and among adolescents ages 12 to 18 years, two doses of the vaccine remained highly protective against critical illness requiring life support. (Mandavilli, 3/30) The New York Times: Ivermectin Does Not Reduce Risk Of Covid Hospitalization, Large Study Finds
The anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has surged in popularity as an alternative treatment for Covid-19 despite a lack of strong research to back it up, showed no sign of alleviating the disease, according to results of a large clinical trial published on Wednesday. The study, which compared more than 1,300 people infected with the coronavirus in Brazil who received either ivermectin or a placebo, effectively ruled out the drug as a treatment for Covid, the study's authors said. "There's really no sign of any benefit," said Dr. David Boulware, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Minnesota. (Zimmer, 3/30) KQED: The Omicron Subvariant BA.2 Has Been In The Bay Area For Weeks — With Limited Impact
We've seen this play out before: Just as we start letting down our guard, the coronavirus mutates into another insidious version, wreaking havoc on our plans. Cue BA.2, or stealth omicron. Earlier this month when mask mandates started falling away, the subvariant struck parts of Europe and Asia, driving unprecedented spikes. Now, it's traveling fast within the U.S. (McClurg, 3/30) Modesto Bee: White House Launches New Website For COVID Information
The White House on Wednesday, March 30, launched a "one-stop shop" website where people in the United States can keep up with COVID-19 developments and access resources for tests, vaccines, masks and treatment. Now, you can visit COVID.gov "with a click of a button" and get connected to information related to the virus in one place, the White House said in a fact sheet. The site includes a new Test-to-Treat locator, which helps people find testing centers and treatment. The White House called it "easy-to-use." (Marnin, 3/30) Modesto Bee: U.S. Prepares to End Pandemic-Era Title 42 — and for Record Migration to Follow
The Biden administration is preparing to lift a pandemic-era restriction on migrants entering the United States to claim asylum, a move that will please Democrats long opposed to the measure but could surge arrivals at the U.S. southern border to record highs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to announce an end to Title 42, a program that restricted land border crossings in an effort to thwart the spread of COVID-19, within a matter of days, two government sources familiar with the decision told McClatchy. (Wilner, Charles, and Ortiz-Blanes, 3/30) AP: CDC Drops COVID-19 Health Warning For Cruise Ship Travelers
Federal health officials are dropping the warning they have attached to cruising since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving it up to vacationers to decide whether they feel safe getting on a ship. Cruise-ship operators welcomed Wednesday's announcement, which came as many people thought about summer vacation plans. (Koenig, 3/30) The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Hacking Group Claims Responsibility For Ransomware Attack On Northern California Health Care Network
A ransomware group called Hive is claiming to have stolen private data for 850,000 members of Partnership HealthPlan of California, a nonprofit that manages health care for Medi-Cal patients in 14 counties. (Espinoza, 3/30) San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital Faces Potential Closure After Patient Overdoses Trigger State Review
Federal regulators have threatened to pull critical funding from San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital after two patients overdosed at the facility last year, a dramatic measure that could force the hospital to shut down. Officials with San Francisco's health department, which runs Laguna Honda, said Wednesday that the hospital had fallen out of regulatory compliance, putting its funding from Medicare and Medicaid in jeopardy. Laguna Honda, one of the largest skilled nursing facilities in the country, is run by the city and cares for more than 700 patients, including people with dementia, drug addiction and other complex medical needs, who live on the hospital's campus. (Swan, 3/30) San Francisco Chronicle: Bong Smoke Is Worse Than Secondhand Tobacco Smoke, UC Berkeley Study Finds
Turns out that the lasting stink of bong water spilled onto the carpet is not the only danger to smoking marijuana through a tall tube cooled by water at its base. A study conducted at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and published by the journal JAMA Network Open on Wednesday declared that secondhand cannabis smoke released during bong hits contains fine particulate matter at a concentration dangerously higher than that released by secondhand tobacco smoke. (Whiting, 3/30) Los Angeles Times: Concerns About Bruce Willis' Declining Cognitive State Swirled Around Sets In Recent Years
Just days before Bruce Willis was scheduled to turn up on the set of one of his latest action films, the director of the project sent out an urgent request: Make the movie star's part smaller. "It looks like we need to knock down Bruce's page count by about 5 pages," Mike Burns, the director of "Out of Death," wrote in a June 2020 email to the film's screenwriter. "We also need to abbreviate his dialogue a bit so that there are no monologues, etc." (James and Kaufman, 3/30) The Washington Post: Bruce Willis Stepping Away From Acting After Aphasia Diagnosis
Aphasia is classified as an "acquired neurogenic language disorder" that often occurs after a stroke or a brain injury, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, affecting the comprehension and expression of written and spoken language. While speech and language therapy can help those suffering from aphasia recover their language skills, it is "usually a relatively slow process," and although "most people make significant progress, few people regain full pre-injury communication levels. "It is unclear what brought on Willis's aphasia or whether the "Die Hard" actor is suffering from any other impairments. (Andrews, 3/30) AP: Brain Condition Sidelining Bruce Willis Has Many Causes
A brain disorder that leads to problems with speaking, reading and writing has sidelined actor Bruce Willis and drawn attention to a little-known condition that has many possible causes. A stroke, tumor, head injury or other damage to the language centers of the brain can cause aphasia. A brain infection or Alzheimer's disease can trigger it. Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, wounded in a 2011 shooting, has aphasia from that injury. (Johnson, 3/30) The New York Times: What Is Aphasia? Bruce Willis's Diagnosis, Explained
Aphasia is a constellation of symptoms that make it difficult or impossible to express or comprehend language. The disorder stems from damage to the parts of the brain that are responsible for language functions, which are typically housed on the left side of the brain. Aphasia can be devastating for patients, disrupting their ability to take part in everyday life. All cases of aphasia stem from neurological changes in the brain. Strokes resulting in brain damage are the number-one cause, said Dr. Shazam Hussain, director of the Cerebrovascular Center at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. But it can also be caused by degenerative conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's disease. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, other triggers include brain injuries, including from severe blows to the head; brain tumors; gunshot wounds and brain infections. (Blum, 3/30) Modesto Bee: Modesto Awarded $3.9M For Apartments For Homeless Youth
California has awarded Modesto $3.9 million to purchase and convert a downtown office building into a 14-unit apartment complex for young people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Gov. Gavin Newsom's office issued a news release Wednesday announcing the award, as well as awards for nine other projects across the state, including $24 million to Merced to purchase and convert a motel into 96 studio apartments. (Valine, 3/30) Los Angeles Times: L.A.'s Homelessness Crisis Boils Over After Voucher Rumor
The nonprofit advocacy group had planned three events at a South Los Angeles office to help unhoused people obtain emergency shelter. Nothing more. Nothing less. But then an unofficial social media post erroneously promised that those who showed up would get rare vouchers for permanent, subsidized housing. And Fathers and Mothers Who Care was swamped. Homeless people lined up on a corner in West Athens before daybreak on Friday and Tuesday only to have their hopes dashed. (Sheets, 3/30) | | | | | |
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