Judge orders all employees at California prisons to get vaccinated

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California prison employees must get shots, by judge’s decree: A federal judge on Monday ordered that all employees entering California prisons be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a religious or medical exemption. The ruling is part of an effort to head any new outbreak like the one that killed 28 inmates and a correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison last year. Inmates who want in-person visits or who work outside prisons, including as firefighters, must also get shots or have a religious or medical exemption. “All agree that a mandatory staff vaccination policy would lower the risk of preventable death and serious medical consequences among incarcerated persons,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar. “And no one has identified any remedy that will produce anything close to the same benefit.” Tigar has broad authority to direct medical care within California prisons under a long-running lawsuit over over poor health care.

Children account for more than a quarter of new COVID cases in U.S.: There were 206,864 child COVID-19 cases reported in the United States for the week ending Thursday, with children representing 26.7% of the total weekly reported cases, according to the latest report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. This marks the fifth consecutive week that children’s COVID cases have topped 200,000, with the cumulative number of cases rising 8% over the past two weeks. “The number of new child COVID cases remains exceptionally high,” the report said. Children’s hospitalizations remain low, ranging from 1.6%-4.1% of total cumulated hospitalizations in states reporting.

Federal charges for pharmacy that vaccinated children under 12: A pharmacy owner in Puerto Rico has pleaded guilty to federal charges after giving 24 children between ages 7 and 11 a full dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to documents published Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice. Lizz Ann Banchs, the owner of Farmacia Gabriela, was charged with participating in a felony conspiracy to convert government property and to commit health care fraud. Banchs faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

Many N.Y. health workers defy vaccination mandate: Tens of thousands of health care workers in New York appeared to be risking their jobs by defying a state mandate to receive a coronavirus shot by Monday, setting up an early test for similar employer mandates across the United States, the New York Times reported. In New York, Rhode Island, Maine, Oregon and the District of Columbia, health care workers must get vaccinated to remain employed. In California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois, workers have the option to be tested regularly if they choose not to get inoculated. On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration said that about 5,000 employees at the city’s public hospital system — roughly 10% of the workforce — had not been vaccinated and could not come to work or get paid. Health officials in the city said they had not heard of any major staff shortages at hospitals so far.

“The data doesn’t lie”: Gov. Gavin Newsom greeted the news that California has the lowest COVID-19 case rate in the country with another call for people to get vaccinated. “The data doesn’t lie – vaccines work,” his office tweeted. According to the CDC, 83.7% of eligible Californians have received at least one dose of vaccine as of Sunday. That compares to 75% having at least one dose nationwide.

No virus spike from BottleRock festival: Napa County health officials on Monday reported 11 cases of COVID-19 in residents who attended the BottleRock Napa Valley Festival over Labor Day weekend — a figure they said showed the success of measures to reduce the virus’ spread. “In the 14-day period after BottleRock Napa Valley took place, we are pleased to report that Napa County did not experience any material impact on COVID case numbers as a result,” said Dr. Karen Relucio, the county’s public health officer. The county’s total cases decreased by 28% in the 14 days following the sold-out concert that drew about 120,000 attendees to the Napa Valley Expo from Sept. 3 to 5, compared to the 14 days leading up to the festival. Read the full story here.

California leads all states lowest case rate, and only 1 in “moderate” infection category: California is now the only state with “moderate” levels of coronavirus transmission, according to data published Monday by the federal CDC. That puts California two tiers ahead of nearly every other state. Forty-eight states remain in the “high” transmission category, represented in red. Vermont has dropped into the “substantial” tier, represented in orange. Read the full story.

Warriors’ manager plans on fully complement of vaccinated players: Warriors general manager Bob Myers said Monday that the team is banking on starting its season with all players vaccinated against COVID-19. Forward Andrew Wiggins has yet to get vaccinated. He would have to start missing home games if he isn’t fully vaccinated — meaning having completed his shots two weeks before playing — by the team’s Oct. 15 preseason game at Chase Center against Portland. San Francisco policy as of Oct. 13 requires full vaccination for anyone 12 and older who attends large indoor events. The NBA recently denied Wiggins’ request for a religious exemption. “I’m optimistic that, come the first game here at Chase, we’ll have our full complement of players,” Myers said Monday. “I’m not really preparing for anything different right now.” Read the story here.

Santa Clara County has mass booster clinics: COVID-19 Pfizer booster shots are now available at five large-scale vaccination sites in Santa Clara County for eligible people vaccinated with Pfizer shots. County health officials announced Monday that the boosters will be given at the Mountain View Community Center on S. Rengstorff Avenue, Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Jose, DePaul Health Center Vaccination Site in Morgan Hill, San Martin Vaccination Site on West Highland Avenue, and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Expo Hall. Appointments are needed, at sccfreevax.org, except at the Gilroy site, which accepts drop-ins. Doctor and pharmacies also are offering boosters. The county is following CDC guidelines allowing boosters for those 65 and older, people in high-risk jobs or living settings and those with underlying medical conditions. “The CDC definition of an underlying medical condition is very broad; a significant portion of the population now qualifies for a booster,” said a statement from county health officials.

U.S. males saw biggest decline in life expectancy during pandemic: The life expectancy of men dropped by more than two years in the U.S. as the pandemic in 2020 reduced overall life expectancy “at a scale which wiped out years of progress on mortality,” according to an Oxford University study published Monday in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries in the study, which spanned Europe, the United States and Chile. It dropped in 27 of the 29 countries overall. The decline was greater for men than women in most countries, and most significant among American men: Their life expectancy dropped by 2.2 years compared to 2019. Said co-lead author Dr José Manuel Aburto: “For Western European countries such as Spain, England and Wales, Italy, Belgium, among others, the last time such large magnitudes of declines in life expectancy at birth were observed in a single year was during WW-II.” The researchers tied the life-expectancy reductions to COVID-19 deaths.

Biden gets booster, calls out unvaccinated: The 23% of U.S. adults who still haven’t gotten a COVID-19 shot “is causing an awful lot of us, an awful lot of damage for the rest of the country,” President Biden said Monday. “This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” he added in a favorite refrain as he went before cameras to roll up his sleeve and get a booster shot. As an American over 65, Biden is eligible for the third shot under new CDC guidelines that also recommend the booster for certain at-risk populations. Biden said he’s going to Chicago this week “to talk about why it’s so important that more businesses are instituting their own vaccine requirements. We know that to beat this pandemic and to save lives, to keep our children safe, our schools open, our economy going, we need to get folks vaccinated,” he said. “Please, please do the right thing. Please get the shots and you can save your life and save the lives of those around you.” CDC data shows 77% of Americans 18 and older have gotten at least one shot and 66% are fully vaccinated.

Outbreaks have been rife in L.A. police, firefighter ranks: Los Angeles County health officials have identified hundreds of coronavirus outbreaks at police and fire agencies since the start of the pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing public records. The outbreaks account for more than 2,500 coronavirus cases in public safety agencies across the county. More than half were in the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department — where members are actively fighting public health measures to control such spread.

Pfizer developing pill it hopes will prevent COVID: Pfizer has started testing its potential COVID-19 treatment as a preventive medicine aimed at warding off the virus if a close contact gets it, the Associated Press reports. The drugmaker said Monday that it will study the pill it is developing in combination with a low dose of the HIV drug ritonavir in people who are at least 18 years old and live in the same household with someone who is infected. “If successful, we believe this therapy could help stop the virus early — before it has had a chance to replicate extensively,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Mikael Dolsten said in a statement.

San Diego school board considers shot mandate for students, teachers: The San Diego Unified School District board is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to require COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible students, staff and contractors. The district now requires students and staff to show proof of vaccination or get tested weekly to attend or work in person. A mandate would require anyone on campuses to be fully vaccinated on or before Dec. 20. “If a parent decides that they don’t want their students to get the vaccine…what’s available to them is our online learning program,” school district President Richard Barrera told NBC 7.

“View” hosts say they had false-positive COVID tests: The two cohosts of “The View” whose COVID-19 tests derailed a planned interview with Vice President Kamala Harris last week said Monday that their results turned out to be false positives, the Associated Press reports. Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro were pulled off the air Friday in a startling moment of live television that forced an abbreviated Harris interview to be conducted remotely. Hostin and Navarro, along with cohosts Joy Behar and Sara Haines, were tested multiple times over the weekend and all results were negative, the show said. “It really was uncomfortable for my results to be released publicly before I even knew what was going on,” Hostin said on Monday.

Trekking to the top of the world is back: Nepal has reopened to tourists in an effort to revive a crucial industry battered by the pandemic, the New York Times reports. The Himalayan nation began offering visas to foreigners at Kathmandu airport last week, and vaccinated tourists and those with negative coronavirus tests will no longer have to quarantine in hotels, officials said. Nepal had canceled Himalayan expeditions early in the pandemic; attempts to allow some back this past spring were marred by large coronavirus outbreaks at Mount Everest base camp. That took a major toll on the trekking and climbing industry that employs more than 1 million Nepalis.

Vaccination decisions at local level present new, tricky twist: Vaccination requirements for school kids are nothing new, but leaving this medical matter up to local school district officials is. In the past, vaccine mandates have come almost exclusively from state legislatures. Thus the emotional battles and decisions taking place around the COVID-19 shots are especially fraught because they are being fought in so many individual districts. But there’s no sign that California state officials will take on the responsibility any time soon. Read the full story by Erin Allday.

Biden to get booster shot: President Biden was set to receive a COVID-19 booster shot on Monday, the White House said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has newly recommended a third shot for older Americans, like Biden, who have received two shots of Pfizer’s vaccine, along with certain at-risk populations. The CDC guidance follows research showing that the vaccine wanes over time. People who got the Moderna vaccine who are severely immunocompromised are also eligible for boosters. Read the full story on who is eligible here.

Stricken Grand Princess docked off Bay Area as COVID was just hitting. Now it’s back at sea: The Grand Princess cruise ship, which drew international attention when it docked in the Bay Area at the beginning of the pandemic with a harrowing COVID outbreak, is back at sea after a year and half hiatus. Read the story here.

Pfizer CEO says company will ask FDA to authorize vaccine for kids in ‘days, not weeks:’ Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for some children 12 years old and younger in a matter of “days, not weeks,” during an appearance on ABC News Sunday.

Vaccine mandates face a test in New York: How New York officials will respond to the tens of thousands of health care workers who did not receive a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday’s deadline could serve as a barometer for other states’ vaccine mandates, the New York Times reported. The state is bracing for potential staffing disruptions at health care facilities, as workers could face dismissal if they continue to refuse a vaccine.

‘Our goal … is to stay ahead of the virus,’ CDC director says: Increasing vaccination rates is the key to preventing the rise of new coronavirus mutations — which could in turn circumvent the need for additional vaccine booster shots, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration last week recommended COVID-19 boosters for some Americans, but CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that if transmission is reduced, “We are anticipating and hoping we will not have more mutations that will require more boosting in the future,” CNN reported.

Studies indicate
Moderna may protect better than Pfizer: The COVID vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech accounts for the majority of coronavirus immunizations in California and nationwide — but data increasingly shows that the other mRNA vaccine available in the U.S., made by Moderna, might have the edge in effectiveness. In California, about 53% of people vaccinated against COVID have received the Pfizer version, compared with 40% who received Moderna, according to federal data compiled by the Los Angeles Times. But last week, the CDC shared data showing that while very effective in preventing severe illness, Pfizer’s vaccine may offer somewhat less protection against hospitalizations compared with Moderna. It was one of a raft of recent studies indicating that Moderna’s vaccine is more protective during the months after immunization. Read the full story.

Dozens of S.F. police officers seek vaccine exemption: Nearly 200 members of the San Francisco Police Department have applied for a religious exemption from the city’s employee vaccine mandate, the highest number of waiver requests from any city department, by far. About 91% of the city’s 35,140-person workforce is fully or partially vaccinated, but 2,706 employees, or 7.7%, still have not been vaccinated. Meanwhile, 1.4% of workers — 489— haven’t reported their status. Read the full story.

Data shows delta
’s impact in different
S.F. neighborhoods: In most San Francisco neighborhoods, there were fewer coronavirus cases during summer’s delta-driven surge than over the winter, when cases peaked in the city. But a few neighborhoods — primarily young and affluent ones — actually had worse case rates over the summer, according to a Chronicle analysis of data from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Read the full story.