Already paralyzed from a stroke and suffering from COVID-19 pneumonia, the 65-year-old man contracted a serious infection and landed in the hospital. The California Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes, investigated and in September 2020 fined the nursing home $60,000, concluding that the patient’s care at Longwood Manor Convalescent Hospital was so deficient […]
Barbara Feder Ostrov/CalMatters
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Breakthrough COVID is Rare in California
About 7,550 out of more than 19.5 million Californians who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have contracted the disease, a minuscule percentage that provides strong evidence of the vaccines’ effectiveness, according to state data. The breakthrough infections through June 23 amount to 0.039 percent of vaccinated Californians — or one case out of every 2,583 […]
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Vaccine Passports in California? Answers to Your Questions
Now that more than 7.5 million Californians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Newsom administration has set a goal of reopening the state’s economy by June 15. So what does the state plan to do when it comes to proving that people are vaccinated? State health officials said Tuesday that verification of immunization or […]
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J & J Vaccine Encounters Glitch as State Expands Eligibility
Gov. Gavin Newsom said today that California will still receive safe shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a nationwide batch was discarded because of a manufacturing problem. The news couldn’t have come at a worse time as California dramatically expands vaccine eligibility to people 50 and older starting today. All Californians 16 and older […]
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California Upends How It’s Divvying Up Scarce Vaccines; More May Land in Humboldt
Another sudden shift in state policy has triggered an array of concerns and confusion today about how California’s still-scarce COVID-19 vaccine supplies will be divvied up. Mark Ghaly, the state’s top health official, announced that 40 percent of California’s vaccine supply, starting with 2 million doses, will go to the poorest and most diverse communities. […]
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When Will Nursing Homes Reopen to Visitors? State Officials Won’t Say
Before the pandemic, Nancy Klein would spend up to seven hours a day at a nursing home in Riverside County, caring for her 53-year-old son, who was left unable to speak and move his limbs after a massive brain hemorrhage. She would suction his tracheotomy tube and massage his neck, arms and legs. But Klein […]
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Phasing in of New State Vaccine System Set to Begin Today
State health officials announced Friday that all counties will start playing by the same rulebook today, when Blue Shield will take over distribution of vaccines in California. A patchwork of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility policies that differ from county to county has deeply frustrated Californians. So state officials hired Blue Shield, one of the state’s largest […]
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California Shifts Vaccine Priorities Again: People with Health Conditions Eligible Next Month
Californians with high-risk medical conditions will qualify for COVID-19 vaccines starting March 15, the state’s health secretary announced today. Under the state’s previous guidelines, people with chronic conditions did not qualify for vaccinations until people 65 and older, first responders, food industry workers and educators were vaccinated. Under the new guidelines, people ages 16 to […]
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COVID Advisory Panel Rejects Higher Vaccine Priority for Disabled Californians, Those with Chronic Conditions
An influential group of California health experts is holding fast for now to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to make age the primary criteria for getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The decision announced Wednesday dismayed advocates who hoped the group would recommend moving disabled people and those with chronic medical conditions to the front of the line […]
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California’s New Goal: 1 Million Vaccinations in 10 Days
Getting the coronavirus vaccines into the arms of as many Californians as possible has become a race against time as COVID-19 cases continue to spiral upward and a more infectious variant of the virus takes root. Many questions remain unanswered about how the next — and much larger — wave of Californians will be vaccinated, […]
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Questions Answered About the New COVID Strain
As California continues to ride its worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have more unsettling news: Four cases of a worrisome, potentially more infectious new coronavirus variant have been detected in California. The new strain, first detected in the United Kingdom, also has been seen in Colorado and Florida and 33 other […]
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California’s COVID-19 Vaccine Plan
California is in the throes of another COVID-19 surge — cases are skyrocketing and hospital beds are filling up quickly. On Tuesday, hospitals had 3,300 more COVID patients than at the beginning of this month, state health officials said. But a glimmer of hope has emerged in the last leg of 2020: The first batch […]