Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim lives across the country, the flu remains a potentially serious threat to your health. The recommendations medical professionals make about when to get a flu shot are based on the fact that it takes about two weeks after you get vaccinated for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the flu. This flu season, the CDC says that September and October are "generally good times to be vaccinated against flu," and that "ideally, everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October." KQED Read more

If you want the new COVID-19 booster that protects against the latest circulating omicron variants, you have lots of options for appointments, except if you have your heart set on Moderna. People hoping to get Moderna’s version of the new bivalent booster instead of Pfizer’s may have to travel — or wait a while to get their shot. “Moderna bivalent booster supply is temporarily delayed,” Kaiser’s online scheduler tells members, though Pfizer boosters were available in San Jose starting Sept. 27. “If seeking a booster, please select Pfizer-BioNTech.” East Bay Times Read more

UC Davis students are officially back on campus with increased enrollment numbers and more students living in dorms. A major difference from two years ago when Davis housing was nearly empty. In 2020 Claire Daubert was a sophomore at an Arizona high school. "I wouldn't have guessed I'd be here as comfortable as I am." UC Davis is welcoming students back after successfully keeping COVID cases down during the 2021-2022 school year. This year they're ready to relax protocols. Davis will only require a COVID test for all students before Oct. 7 — after that — testing is optional. CBS News Read more

Community non-profit agencies serving residents of the Eden area (Hayward, San Leandro, Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, Fairview, and Hayward Acres) are encouraged to apply for community grants up to $25,000. Key priorities for funding include mental health, housing and homelessness, and food and nutrition. Here is the link to apply: https://ethd.org/grants/application-forms/. Grant applications are due September 30 at noon. Grant awards will be made in December of 2022. Services funded by community grants should start in January of 2023.

For the first time, the United States is rolling out COVID vaccines updated to match variants that are currently dominant, as well as the original strain. This bivalent character will provide a better response to the most threatening variants today but probably to future variants, too, because when the immune system faces different versions of the same virus it generates broader protections overall. This is terrific news, and there’s more. Not only will a booster with the new vaccines decrease the likelihood of infection and severe illness and help reduce transmission of the virus; it could also decrease the likelihood of developing long COVID. The bad news? The boosters are getting so little fanfare, and so much unfounded skepticism, that too few people might get them, and lots of people who need not get sick, suffer or die will get sick, suffer or die. NY Times Read more

Every day in the United States right now, a jumbo-jet full of patients dies from COVID-19. To be more precise, 314 individuals have died every 24 hours over the past week, while 70,000 got infected and 4600 were hospitalized. Even though the Biden Administration predicted in May that 100 million Americans would be infected with the coronavirus this fall and winter, much of the public has put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror in their pursuit for normalcy. That approach carries some risk. “The vast majority of the United States has had COVID at some time, but that is not going to protect you for the rest of your life,” says Katherine Poehling, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “Our immunity is going to wane because it does to all coronaviruses.” Smithsonian Magazine Read more

Tuesday State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón rescinded a public health order requiring that all school employees show proof of vaccination or be tested at least weekly. The new policy became effective Sept. 17. The decision was made to align state and federal health guidance and because most Californians have been vaccinated against the virus, he said. CapRadio Read more

Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant's latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete. The two therapies - which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralize the virus' ability to infect cells - were some of the first medicines developed early in the pandemic. The virus has since evolved, and mounting evidence from lab tests suggests the two therapies - sotrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab - have limited clinical activity against the latest iterations of the virus. As a result, they have also fallen out of favor with the U.S. health regulator. Jerusalem Post Read more

Having improved steadily for the past couple of months, some of California’s key coronavirus metrics have fallen to their lowest levels since spring, as global health leaders also express some optimism about the trajectory of the pandemic. The statewide daily case rate for COVID-19 has fallen to 12.1 per 100,000 residents, California Department of Public Health officials said in a Thursday update, down 30% in the past week for the lowest rate recorded since late April. Test positivity is 6.2%, California’s lowest point since late May and down from 7.3% last week. The most recent surge, fueled by the contagious BA.4 and BA.5 sister subvariants of omicron, peaked around mid-July in California at a daily case rate of about 48 per 100,000 with test positivity at 16.2%. Sacramento Bee Read more

Roshan Kalghatgi was shocked when his 73-year-old mother tested positive for the coronavirus in July, nearly 2½ years into the pandemic. “I thought it was a fluke,” the Redwood City resident said. “I made them do it again.” His mother, Manisha, had eluded the virus at a Pennsylvania assisted living facility as COVID-19 devastated group facilities for the elderly. She had avoided infection again when she flew across the country to join Roshan and his family in San Mateo County, where she would tickle her 4-year-old grandson and faithfully follow his repeated requests to show him her belly button. She had been vaccinated against COVID and received booster shots as well, Roshan said. She died in August. To lose her now, Roshan said, “just seems so strange.” LA Times Read more

Los Angeles County’s requirement that riders wear masks aboard public transit or in transportation hubs such as airports could end this month if coronavirus case rates decline further. And the county Department of Public Health also is moving toward ending its recommendation for universal masking in indoor public settings and businesses. Instead, health officials say doing so would be a matter of personal preference. Officials would still strongly recommend that certain individuals — including older or unvaccinated residents, and those with underlying health conditions or who live in high-poverty areas — mask up in higher-risk settings. Such spaces include those with poor air flow, are crowded or involve close contact with others. LA Times Read more

Has COVID-19 become no more dangerous than the flu for most people? That's a question that scientists are debating as the country heads into a third pandemic winter. Early in the pandemic, COVID was estimated to be 10 times more lethal than the flu, fueling many people's fears. "We have all been questioning, 'When does COVID look like influenza?''' says Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. "And, I would say, 'Yes, we are there.'" NPR Read more

A study using the electronic health records of more than 6 million Americans over age 65 found those who had COVID-19 ran a greater risk of receiving a new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease within a year. The study, led by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, does not show that covid-19 causes Alzheimer’s, but adds to a growing body of work suggesting links between the two. Washington Post Read more

As San Francisco continues its efforts to rein in monkeypox, the city is getting help in the form of 10,000 additional Jynneos vaccines from the federal government, just in time for the beginning of the fall street fair season and associated events. The September 25 Folsom Street Fair itself is expected to draw thousands of visitors from outside the city and, due in part to that, the San Francisco Department of Public Health is expanding vaccine eligibility to non-city residents for the first time, according to a statement. Non-city residents who meet other eligibility requirements can get a vaccine from September 18-October 2, SFDPH stated. Bay Area Reporter Read more

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday launched a pilot program to set aside up to 50,000 doses of JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine for groups disproportionately affected by the outbreak who've faced barriers accessing the shots. White men have received more than twice as many doses as either Hispanic or Black men who account for the majority of confirmed monkeypox cases. State, local and tribal health departments will apply for doses to be administered at pop-ups or other events in non-clinical settings, in coordination with community-based organizations. Axios

U.S. health officials are warning against overuse of the lone drug available to treat monkeypox, saying that even a small mutation in the virus could render the pills ineffective. The Food and Drug Administration updated its guidance this week for Tpoxx, which has been prescribed to tens of thousands of patients afflicted with the virus. In an online update, FDA officials cautioned that a single molecular change to monkeypox “could have a large impact on the antiviral activity of Tpoxx.” Since viruses are constantly evolving to overcome obstacles to infection, including drugs, regulators stressed that doctors should be “judicious” in prescribing the medication. NBC Bay Area Read more

Sources: Johns Hopkins University, SF Chronicle, and dashboards for California and Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The COVID-19 pandemic is still disrupting an essential component of a healthy life: a good night's sleep. In a survey conducted in July of 2,000 adults, released Sept. 13 by the Harris Poll on behalf of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, about 18% of respondents said they get less sleep now than they did before the pandemic, while 19% said they struggle to sleep because they’re worried or stressed (about COVID-19, politics, or other factors). Time Read more