COVID-19
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Newsom, Schaaf, Get Boosters, Urge Jabs Ahead Of Holidays
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and other local leaders rolled up their sleeves Wednesday for extra COVID-19 vaccine shots as they called for eligible Californians to get boosters and made plans to inoculate young kids as early as next week, hoping to keep the virus in check over the coming holidays. Citing concerns about another possible winter surge of infections even with California’s high vaccination rates and cautionary measures such as requiring face masks in schools, Newsom and others urged people to get the vaccine or a booster and get their kids the shots when they become available, as early as next week. “We’re not just here to promote boosters in the abstract,” Newsom said after Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly gave him a booster during a visit to Asian Health Services in Oakland. “We’re here to promote caution.” East Bay Times Read more
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Bay Area Health Experts Weigh In After F.D.A. Advisers Back Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids 5 To 11
Pfizer’s request to roll out COVID-19 vaccines for Americans as young as 5 years old cleared a key regulatory hurdle Tuesday, after a panel of the Food and Drug Administration’s outside vaccine advisers voted by a majority to back Pfizer’s request. The vote paves the path for 28 million American kids to get vaccinated as early as next week. “I’m hoping that this is kind of the final frontier of when we go back to normal life,” said University of California San Francisco Prof. of Medicine Dr. Monica Gandhi. “It’s kind of a ticket to normalcy.” KPIX5 Read more
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Vaccines "A Step Closer" For Berkeley Kids Under 12 After FDA Panel Recommendation
A panel of advisors recommended Tuesday that the FDA approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in children under 12 years old. The FDA does not have to follow the recommendation, but is expected to follow suit in the next few days. If approved, vaccines could be available for children ages 5 to 11 as soon as next week. In anticipation of the approval, Berkeley Unified School District has partnered with the city of Berkeley to organize three vaccine clinics for students and their families at district elementary next month. The clinics will be held at Malcolm X Elementary School Nov. 6, Rosa Parks Nov. 13, and Sylvia Mendez Nov. 20. Berkeleyside Read more
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Santa Clara County Considering "Long COVID-19" Clinic At Valley Medical Center
Santa Clara County may establish a specialized clinic at Valley Medical Center that would help treat those with long term COVID-19 symptoms and is waiting on the recommendations of physicians at the hospital before it forges ahead. Long COVID, also known as long hauler syndrome, is a phenomenon where symptoms of the virus last more than a couple of months after initial infection and include fatigue, shortness of breath and memory problems. It’s estimated that around 15 to 25 million people in the United States may have long COVID, according to Brian Block, a UCSF doctor who joined supervisors for a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
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Contra Costa County Shuts Down In-N-Out Over Defiant Refusal To Follow Vaccine Rules
Contra Costa County health officials on Tuesday indefinitely shut down the In-N-Out restaurant in Pleasant Hill for defying COVID-19 vaccination rules for indoor dinners. The action comes a week after the county fined the popular fast-food burger joint $750 for twice violating the rules, which require restaurants to ask customers 12 and older for COVID-19 vaccination cards or proof that they tested negative for the coronavirus in the past 72 hours. The county had first issued a warning after receiving numerous complaints from residents. Mercury News Read more
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Where Every Bay Area County Stands On Metrics To Lift COVID Mask Mandates
All eight Bay Area counties still enforcing an indoor mask mandate are using the same shared metrics that will determine when the mandates will be lifted, and some counties are closer to hitting those metrics than others. Currently, four Bay Area counties - Marin, San Mateo, Alameda and San Francisco - are in the yellow tier. Marin was the first to enter the yellow tier a week and a half ago, and was followed shortly after by San Mateo County. Alameda County was added to the yellow tier last week, and San Francisco joined on Monday. SFGate
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Where Can I Get A Moderna, Johnson & Johnson Or Pfizer COVID Booster Shot Near Me?
Don't assume you'll be proactively contacted about getting your COVID-19 vaccine booster. Remember that a certain location may only be offering a certain type of booster, whether that's Moderna, Pfizer or J&J. Make sure that the location you're walking into or making an appointment for offers the type of vaccine you need or want. Read more about "mixing and matching" COVID vaccines boosters. If you're eligible, make sure that enough time has passed between your first shot(s) and your booster. When you're making an appointment for a booster shot, you'll likely be asked for the date of your last COVID vaccine dose, to ensure you're not getting your booster shot too soon. KQED Read more
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Moderna Says Its Low-Dose COVID Shot Works For Kids 6 To 11
Moderna said Monday that a low dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to work in 6- to 11-year-olds, as the manufacturer joins its rival Pfizer in moving toward expanding shots to children. Pfizer’s kid-size vaccine doses are closer to widespread use. They are undergoing evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration for youngsters in nearly the same age group, 5 to 11, and could be available by early November. The company’s vaccine already is authorized for anyone 12 or older. Moderna hasn’t yet gotten the go-ahead to offer its vaccine to teens but is studying lower doses in younger children while it waits. AP Read more
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Immunocompromised May Need A Fourth COVID-19 Shot, CDC Says
People with certain health conditions that make them moderately or severely immunocompromised may get a fourth mRNA COVID-19 shot, according to updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC authorized a third dose for certain immunocompromised people 18 and older in August. It said a third dose, rather than a booster - the CDC makes a distinction between the two - was necessary because the immunocompromised may not have had a complete immune response from the first two doses. CNN Read more
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It Turns Out Paying People To Take The COVID-19 Vaccine Doesn’t Really Work
Financial incentives, public-health messages and other tactics used by state and local governments and employers to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine didn’t have a noticeable impact on vaccination rates among those who already were hesitant about getting the shot, new research shows. What’s more, the strategies sometimes had the opposite effect of their intended design on certain groups of people, illustrating how difficult it has been to lift U.S. vaccination rates as the pandemic drags on, according to a recent study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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You Can Now Add Your COVID Vaccine Card To iPhone's Apple Wallet. Here's How To Set It Up
Own an iPhone? You can now keep a digital version of your COVID-19 vaccine card right in your phone's Apple Wallet. On Monday, Apple released iOS 15.1, an update to its operating system for iPhones which will introduce features including SharePlay to share experiences like watching movies directly in FaceTime. The update also includes the option for iPhone owners to add their COVID vaccine cards directly in Apple Wallet. USA Today Read more
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Why Puerto Rico Leads The U.S. In COVID Vaccine Rate - And What States Can Learn
The highest rate of COVID-19 vaccination in the United States is not in a liberal-leaning Northeastern or West Coast state. It's in Puerto Rico, where more than 73% of the total population is fully vaccinated. The U.S. national average is just over 57%. The high vaccination rate stands in contrast to Puerto Rico's initial vulnerability to the coronavirus. One reason for the success with vaccination is a difference in political culture to the mainland United States. NPR Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Thousands Of State Workers Are Unvaccinated. California Isn’t Testing Half Of Them For COVID As Required
Three months after Gov. Gavin Newsom required state workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, his pledge that California government would lead by example has not been fulfilled: Many public agencies face low vaccination rates, and most state-run workplaces have failed to test unvaccinated employees. At the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, for example, fewer than a third of employees have provided proof they are fully vaccinated, while 6,700 employees are either not vaccinated or have declined to provide their status. Cal Fire said it is testing just 75 employees. LA Times Read more
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California Rejected 6% Of Medical Exemptions For School Vaccinations This Year, In Hint Of Fight Ahead
As California moves toward requiring all students to be inoculated against COVID-19, state officials have revoked more than 180 medical exemptions granted to families for other required school vaccinations since the start of the year. The revocations, which reflect a tension that may grow in coming years, came under a new law that seeks to crack down on suspected abuse in the process for forgoing the immunizations that every California student must get. SF Chronicle Read more
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Days Away From Its Deadline, Tyson Foods Reaches A 96 Percent Vaccination Rate
Nearly three months after Tyson Foods mandated coronavirus vaccines for all its 120,000 U.S. workers, more than 96 percent of them are vaccinated, the company’s chief executive, Donnie King, said in an employee memo on Tuesday. Less than half of Tyson’s work force was inoculated when it announced on Aug. 3 that it would require vaccines. Nearly 60,000 more Tyson employees got the shot following the announcement, Mr. King said. Tyson has said workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 as a condition of employment. NY Times Read more
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Three California Teens Developed Severe Psychiatric Symptoms After COVID. Here's What Scientists Say About The Cases
Three California teenagers who developed psychiatric symptoms seemingly overnight are helping researchers at University of California San Francisco better understand how COVID-19 can affect the brain, even in young people. A study of the three, published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology, is the first to examine how rogue antibodies can attack the brains of pediatric patients who previously tested positive for COVID. Though too small a study to offer broad conclusions, the profiles of the three teens shed light on COVID as a potential cause of psychiatric symptoms in young people, and suggest directions for treatment and further study. SF Chronicle Read more
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Merck Will Share Formula For Its COVID Pill With Poor Countries
Merck has granted a royalty-free license for its promising COVID-19 pill to a United Nations-backed nonprofit in a deal that would allow the drug to be manufactured and sold cheaply in the poorest nations, where vaccines for the coronavirus are in devastatingly short supply. The agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool, an organization that works to make medical treatment and technologies globally accessible, will allow companies in 105 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, to sublicense the formulation for the antiviral pill, called molnupiravir, and begin making it. NY Times Read more
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New COVID Vaccine, Testing Requirements For Travel Into U.S.
The Biden administration on Monday released updated guidelines for traveling into the United States, including stricter requirements on U.S. citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 as well as some exceptions for foreign travelers. Beginning Nov. 8, unvaccinated U.S. citizens and long-term residents will have to present a negative COVID test taken a day before re-entering the country, and unvaccinated foreign nationals will be able to enter only in limited circumstances. Fully vaccinated Americans will have to be tested three days before travel. NBC News
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 595,371
California: 4,854,041
U.S.: 45,671,820
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,479,793
Total Cases: 118,586
Total Deaths: 1,418
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.3%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 10/27): 117
ICU Beds Available (as of 10/27): 105
As of October 27, cases have stayed about the same recently but are still high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen the Alameda County area. Deaths have increased. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID spread in the area. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,635
California: 71,417
U.S.: 740,560
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 1,769,645
Total Cases: 98,753
Total Deaths: 1,016
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.0%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 10/27): 56
ICU Beds Available (as of 10/27): 43
As of October 27, cases have decreased recently but are still high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also fallen in the Contra Costa County area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area. NY Times
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Top Safety Tips For Attending Large Events During The Pandemic
After more than a year of pandemic restrictions and lockdown, many of us are eager to get back to the activities we enjoyed pre-pandemic, including attending large, exciting events, such as music festivals and sporting events. So how can you have your fun and stay safe during a pandemic? Lonely Planet 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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Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 116 new cases and 3.3 new deaths per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 97 new cases and 3.1 new death per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 10/27/21
Oakland: 37,250
Hayward: 17,122
Fremont: 10,497
Eden MAC: 7,430
San Leandro: 7,331
Livermore: 6,433
Union City: 5,054
Berkeley: 5,006
Castro Valley: 3,701
Newark: 3,509
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 10/27/21
Richmond: 14,949
Antioch: 14,448
Concord: 11,125
Pittsburg: 9,458
San Pablo: 6,529
Brentwood: 6,163
Oakley: 5,218
Walnut Creek: 4,274
Bay Point: 3,770
San Ramon: 3,200
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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 Varsha Chauhan. 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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