COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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What You Need To Know About Getting The Omicron Booster In Alameda County
Michael Souza was trying to get one of the new Moderna COVID-19 boosters, but the 33-year-old Oakland resident wasn’t having much luck finding an available appointment. He tried going through his insurance provider and checked chain pharmacies all over the area, some telling him they were having issues with the supply chain. Souza’s luck changed last Thursday when he learned that the Center of Hope Community Church on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland was hosting a vaccine clinic run by Umoja Health and had doses. Souza was able to get his, just before they closed up for the day around 2:30. The Oaklandside Read more
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S.F. Lost More Than Half Its Restaurant Jobs During The Pandemic
The first months of 2021 were dismal at San Francisco’s storied House of Prime Rib. One year into the pandemic, with indoor dining still forbidden by the city, the restaurant’s more than 90 workers who once carved prime rib and tossed salads table side were nowhere to be seen. With no outdoor dining space, longtime owner Joe Betz had laid them off. “We were told we had to close for a couple of months, and that turned into a long time,” he said. House of Prime Rib was hardly alone, newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau confirms. Between 2019 and 2021 — the depths of the pandemic shutdown — San Francisco lost more than half its jobs in the food service industry, according to data from the bureau’s annual American Community Survey. In 2019, the city had a reported 31,501 food service workers; in 2021, there were just 14,201 — a 55% plunge. It was by far the biggest drop in any sector, according to the survey.
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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FDA Releasing Millions Of Moderna Boosters As States Warn Of Shortages
The federal government is releasing millions of Moderna booster shots that were delayed by the Food and Drug Administration as a result of a safety inspection at an Indiana packaging plant, even as states report shortages and encourage people to get Pfizer boosters instead. The release of the withheld doses, which has not previously been reported, represents the latest wrinkle in the Biden administration’s fall booster campaign, with officials confronting slow uptake of the redesigned shots even before President Biden’s recent comment that the “pandemic is over.” Washington Post
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Updated Moderna COVID Booster Tied To Strong Omicron Immune Response
The new bivalent (two-strain) Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster triggered stronger neutralizing antibody responses against the highly transmissible Omicron variant at 28 days than the previously authorized booster, with no safety concerns, according to the interim results of a phase 2/3 open-label, nonrandomized study published late last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. "These findings indicate that bivalent vaccines may be a new tool in the response to emerging variants," the researchers wrote. CIDRAP Read more
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Experts Alarmed By COVID Vaccination Rates Among America's Youngest Kids
Less than 325,000 of America's youngest children are fully vaccinated as hesitancy continues to dog the pandemic response. Health officials are sounding the alarm over the potential of low child vaccination rates fueling transmission and carrying the risk of severe illness for some of the youngest Americans. What's at stake really with this is that we're going to be setting up a bunch of kids for risk of severe disease in the future," said Daniel Blatt, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the University of Louisville and Norton Children's Hospital. Axios Read more
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State/National/International News |
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COVID Booster Rollout Begins In California With Little Fanfare
Gone are the days when Gov. Gavin Newsom crisscrossed the state urging Californians to roll up their sleeves for their COVID shots. Routine checks of vaccination cards to enter restaurants are a thing of the past. In downtown San Francisco, the Moscone Center, once the site of a mass vaccination clinic, has long since reverted to a convention center. Newly formulated COVID booster shots are now available to those 12 and older, tailored to protect against both the original version of the virus and the Omicron variant. But the distribution of the new shots in California, as in much of the rest of the country, has come with little fanfare. NY Times Read more
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COVID-19 Still Kills In California, But The Demographics Of Its Victims Are Shifting
As California settles into a third year of pandemic, COVID-19 continues to pose a serious threat of death. But the number of people dying — and the demographics of those falling victim — has shifted notably from the first two years. Given the collective immunity, people have garnered through a combination of mass vaccination and protections built from earlier infections, Californians overall were far less likely to die from COVID-19 in 2022, when the Omicron variant dominated, than during the first two years of the pandemic, when other variants were largely at play, amplifying a national trend. Sacramento Bee Read more
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COVID Will Be A Leading Cause Of Death In The U.S. Indefinitely, Whether Or Not The Pandemic Is "Over"
After President Joe Biden said the coronavirus pandemic was "over" in an interview Sunday, many people were left wondering how to reconcile his comment with the fact that the U.S. is still averaging about 500 COVID deaths every day. But disease experts said debating whether the pandemic is over overshadows a more important concern: the reality that COVID will remain a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely. "It’s likely, when we think of the causes of death in our society, that COVID's on the list probably forever,” said Dr. Bob Wachter, the chair of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of medicine. NBC News Read more
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1 In 3 Workers Fear They’ll Catch COVID By Returning To The Office — Here’s How To Keep Yourself Healthy
Workers are starting to return to the office, whether they like it or not. Many appear to share one glaring concern: COVID. A recent Gallup poll found that one in three U.S. workers are “very” or “moderately” concerned about COVID exposure at work. The findings come as many companies — including Apple, Goldman Sachs, Peloton and Capital One — are implementing new return-to-office plans. The in-person work trend has accelerated in recent months: By June, 50% of U.S. workers were already splitting time between home and the office, and 20% were entirely in-person, according to another Gallup poll. Google returned most of its workers to the office three days per week in April — and its employees have been beset by regular COVD infections and exposure notifications, CNBC reported last month. CNBC Read more
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At UN, Leaders Confront COVID’s Impact On Global Education
With COVID-related school disruptions setting back children around the world, activists implored world leaders Monday to prioritize school systems and restore educational budgets slashed when the pandemic hit. The summit on transforming education, held at the U.N. General Assembly ahead of the annual leaders’ meeting, called on the world’s nations to ensure that children everywhere from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States don’t fall too far behind. AP Read more
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Danish Queen Tests Positive For COVID Day After Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral
Queen Margrethe II has cancelled her appointments for this week after the diagnosis on Tuesday evening. The 82-year-old monarch was one of 2,000 guests who attended Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral on Monday. She is Europe's longest-serving head of state following the British monarch's death. In recent days, Queen Margrethe was pictured at several events in London to mark Queen Elizabeth II's death. BBC Read more
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The Fear Of Public Places In The Age Of COVID: Is It Agoraphobia Or Something Else?
Few places are more evocative of early-pandemic anxiety than the grocery store. In that first year before vaccines, when we had much less information about how the coronavirus spread, a jolt of panic would squeeze my chest if someone got too close to me in Trader Joe’s. I power-walked down the aisles, eyes narrowed, tossing oatmeal and bread into my cart with the determination of a permed contestant on “Supermarket Sweep." For those of us who are vaccinated and have strong immune systems, indoor public places like the grocery store can feel much less treacherous these days. But many people still experience mild to significant unease when they leave their homes. LA Times
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Feds Accuse 47 People Of Stealing Cash Meant To Help Feed Needy Kids In "Staggering" COVID Scheme
Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against 47 people accused of carrying out the biggest COVID fraud scheme to date, a theft of $250 million through what officials described as a brazen and staggering plot that exploited a federal program designed to feed needy children in Minnesota. Prosecutors say a web of charities, restaurants and individuals pulled off the fraud by claiming they were providing meals for tens of thousands of underserved children, when in fact the money was going to commercial real estate, luxury cars, fancy homes and even coastal property in Kenya.
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Vaxi-Taxi: Uber To Provide Free Rides To Monkeypox
Vaccination Sites
Uber announced that it will be providing free rides for people seeking monkeypox vaccines on Tuesday morning, in partnership with LGBTQ+ civil rights group Equality California. The offer covers round trip rides, up to $30 each way. This will be the first time the civil rights organization will partner with a rideshare agency to provide free transportation for the community, said Samuel Garrett-Pate, director of External Affairs at EQCA. "Even as access to monkeypox vaccines has significantly increased, there are still disparities in how the crisis is impacting LGBTQ+ communities of color, people in rural communities and those who face other barriers to accessing healthcare," said Garrett-Pate. SF Examiner Read more
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Monkeypox Could Cause Neurological Issues Like Nerve Pain And Brain Inflammation, Researchers Warn
The global outbreak of monkeypox and linked vaccination campaign could lead to a spate of neurological issues like nerve pain, seizures, brain inflammation and mood disorders like anxiety and depression, a group of scientists warned in a review of research published Tuesday in JAMA Neurology, urging further research into the poorly understood disease as the number of new cases in the U.S. falls. Forbes Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,749,991
California: 11,204,226
U.S.: 95,855,885
Alameda County
Primary Vaccine Series and Boosted: 73.5%
Total Cases: 356,900
Total Deaths: 2,545
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 6.5%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 9/22): 101
ICU Beds Available (as of 9/22): 79
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 9,112
California: 95,601
U.S.: 1,054,913
Contra Costa County
Primary Vaccine Series and Boosted: 70.4%
Total Cases: 269,656
Total Deaths: 1,423
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 7.1%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 9/22): 73
ICU Beds Available (as of 9/22): 49
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Exercise Rates Still Haven't Recovered From Pandemic,
Global Study Shows
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped people in their tracks, reducing their physical activity. And daily "step counts" still haven't reached previous numbers, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco examined worldwide trends in physical activity by measuring step counts in the two years following the start of the pandemic. Step counts were distinctly lower early in the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels and remained lower for the first two years of the global crisis, the study team found. U.S. News & World Report Read more
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- COVID-19 testing is a good idea, but keep in mind, people who test negative can still harbor the virus if they are early in their infection.
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A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
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An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 9/22/2022
Oakland: 101,875
Hayward: 43,408
Fremont: 38,829
San Leandro: 21,747
Berkeley: 20,149
Eden MAC: 18,697
Livermore: 17,191
Union City: 15,545
Alameda: 13,185
Dublin: 12,988
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 9/22/2022
Richmond: 37,378
Antioch: 34,283
Concord: 28,206
Pittsburg: 21,248
Brentwood: 17,727
San Pablo: 15,694
Walnut Creek: 14,514
San Ramon: 14,048
Oakley: 13,073
Martinez: 9,758
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About Eden Health District |
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The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Chair Mariellen Faria, Vice Chair Pam Russo, Secretary/Treasurer Roxann Lewis, Gordon Galvan and Ed Hernandez. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Friedman.
The Eden Health District is committed to ensuring that policy makers and community members receive accurate and timely information to help make the best policy and personal choices to meet and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Lisa Mahoney.
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