Coronavirus in the Bay Area: Helpful Links to Local Resources

Updated August 31, 2022

US Clears Updated COVID Boosters Targeting Newest Variants

The U.S. on Wednesday authorized its first update to COVID-19 vaccines, booster doses that target today’s most common omicron strain. Shots could begin within days. The move by the Food and Drug Administration tweaks the recipe of shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna that already have saved millions of lives. The hope is that the modified boosters will blunt yet another winter surge.

By the numbers: On August 31, the daily average of newly recorded cases in California was 8,314. The state now has a total of 10,268,137 positive cases. There have been a total of 79,522,958 vaccines administered.

Pfizer COVID Shots Appear 73% Effective in Children Under 5

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was 73% effective in protecting children younger than 5 as omicron spread in the spring, the company announced Tuesday. Vaccinations for babies, toddlers and preschoolers opened in the U.S. in June after months of delay. Only about 6% of youngsters ages 6 months through 4 years had gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-August, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Some Schools Hit Hard by Virus Make Few Changes for New Year

As a new school year approaches, COVID-19 infections are again on the rise, fueled by highly transmissible variants, filling families with dread. They fear the return of a pandemic scourge: outbreaks that sideline large numbers of teachers, close school buildings and force students back into remote learning. Some school systems around the country have moved to bolster staffing to minimize disruptions, but many are hoping for the best without doing much else differently compared with last year.

CDC Endorses More Traditional Novavax COVID Shot for Adults

U.S. adults who haven’t gotten any COVID-19 shots yet should consider a new option from Novavax — a more traditional kind of vaccine, health officials said Tuesday. Regulators authorized the nation’s first so-called protein vaccine against COVID-19 last week, but the final hurdle was a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. Officials Working on a Plan to Allow Second Covid-19 Boosters for All Adults

U.S. health officials are urgently working on a plan to allow second Covid-19 boosters for all adults, a senior White House official confirmed to CNN on Monday. The US Food and Drug Administration is making it a high priority, the official said. Second boosters have been authorized for adults 50 and older, as well as some people with weakened immune systems, since late March. But younger adults are eligible for only one booster shot, which was authorized in November. Federal agencies are looking to move quickly on authorizing a second booster for all adults, the source said.

FDA Recommends Including Omicron Subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 in Fall Covid Boosters

The next round of Covid booster shots should be modified to target the extremely contagious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. The FDA has asked Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to develop so-called bivalent vaccines that are designed to target the original coronavirus strain, as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, said in a statement.

Moderna Booster Candidate Shows Strong Response Against Omicron Subvariants

Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) said on Wednesday that an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine designed to target the Omicron variant also generated a strong immune response against the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have gained a foothold in the U.S. in recent weeks. The updated vaccine, which Moderna is hoping will be approved for use as a booster shot for the fall, is a bivalent vaccine, meaning it contains vaccine designed to target two different coronavirus variants – the original variant from 2020 and the Omicron variant that was circulating widely last winter.

FDA Advisers Back Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine for Older Kids

A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens. The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the second option for those children, joining Pfizer’s vaccine.

U.S. Diverts COVID-19 Funds to Secure Vaccines Amid Stalemate

The Biden administration said Wednesday that a funding crunch is forcing it to divert more than $10 billion in coronavirus relief from test procurement and other efforts as it tries to come up with money to secure the next generation of vaccines and treatments for some high-risk Americans. The White House said it has been left with “no choice” but to cut back on orders of at-home rapid tests that have supported a domestic manufacturing base for the easy diagnostic tests.

Alameda County Reinstates Mask Mandate Amid California Surge

Northern California’s Alameda County said Thursday it will reinstate an indoor mask policy as COVID-19 hospitalizations steadily increase in the nation’s most populous state. Daily new hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 have exceeded last summer’s peak and the mandate is meant to “reflect the seriousness of the moment” during another surge in coronavirus cases in California, Alameda County’s health officer, Dr. Nicholas Moss, said in a statement.

Pfizer Says 3 COVID Shots Protect Children Under 5

Three doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company announced Monday, another step toward shots for the littlest kids possibly beginning in early summer. Pfizer plans to submit the findings to U.S. regulators later this week. The Food and Drug Administration already is evaluating an application by rival Moderna to offer two-dose vaccinations to tots — and set June 15 as a tentative date for its independent scientific advisers to publicly debate the data from one or both companies.

Officials Say More Areas of U.S. May See Mask Recommendations

COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking. Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions.

WHO Calls on Pfizer to Make its COVID Pill More Available

The head of the World Health Organization called on Pfizer to make its COVID-19 treatment more widely available in poorer countries, saying Tuesday that the pharmaceutical company’s deal allowing generic producers to make the drug was insufficient. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing that Pfizer’s treatment was still too expensive. He noted that most countries in Latin America had no access to Pfizer’s drug, Paxlovid, which has been shown to cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization or death by up to 90%.

CDC Restates Recommendation for Masks on Planes, Trains

U.S. health officials on Tuesday restated their recommendation that Americans wear masks on planes, trains and buses, despite a court ruling last month that struck down a national mask mandate on public transportation. Americans age 2 and older should wear a well-fitting masks while on public transportation, including in airports and train stations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended, citing the current spread of coronavirus and projections of future COVID-19 trends.

Administration Expands Availability of COVID Antiviral Pill

President Joe Biden’s administration is taking steps to expand availability of the life-saving COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid, as it seeks to reassure doctors that there is ample supply for people at high risk of severe illness or death from the virus. Paxlovid, produced by Pfizer, was first approved in December. Supply of the regimen was initially very limited, but as COVID-19 cases across the country have fallen and manufacturing has increased it is now far more abundant.

Majority of Americans Want Masks for Travelers

A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to that requirement that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of Americans favor requiring people on planes, trains and public transportation to wear masks, compared with 24% opposed and 20% who say they’re neither in favor nor opposed.

CDC Extends Travel Mask Requirement to May 3 as COVID Rises

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.

FDA OKs Another Pfizer, Moderna COVID Booster for 50 and Up

U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older, a step to offer extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to that age group at least four months after their previous booster. Until now, the FDA had cleared fourth doses only for people 12 and older who have severely weakened immune systems. The agency said this especially fragile group also can get an additional booster, a fifth shot.

Moderna Says its Low-Dose COVID Shots Work for Kids Under 6

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine works in babies, toddlers and preschoolers, the company announced Wednesday — a development that could pave the way for the littlest kids to be vaccinated by summer if regulators agree. Moderna said that in the coming weeks it would ask regulators in the U.S. and Europe to authorize two small-dose shots for youngsters under 6. The company also is seeking to have larger doses cleared for older children and teens in the U.S.

Pfizer to Seek Authorization for 2nd Covid Booster for People 65 and Older

Pfizer and BioNTech are expected to seek U.S. authorization this week for a second Covid-19 vaccine booster for people 65 and older, according to a person familiar with the plans. If the Food and Drug Administration grants authorization, the additional shot would go to a group of people who are among those with the highest risk of serious illness and death from Covid. The FDA has authorized booster shots for everyone 12 and older on an emergency use basis.

People in the U.S. Can Now Order 4 More Free Covid Tests Online

People in the United States can now order four more free, at-home rapid Covid-19 antigen tests from COVIDtests.gov as part of the Biden administration’s effort to increase coronavirus testing. The program, run in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, began during the omicron surge in December. As with the last round of test shipments, entering a U.S. home address at COVIDtests.gov will create a free order for four tests. Households that already received a package of tests from the site are eligible to request a new one.

California, Oregon, Washington to Drop School Mask Mandates

Schoolchildren in California, Oregon and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of new indoor mask policies the Democratic governors of all three states announced jointly on Monday. “With declining case rates and hospitalizations across the West, California, Oregon and Washington are moving together to update their masking guidance,” the governors said in a statement. There are more than 7.5 million school-age children across the three states, which have had some of the strictest coronavirus safety measures during the pandemic.

New Reports on Health and Well-being of Children During COVID-19 Pandemic

Today, CDC is releasing two new reports in MMWR that provide important insights on the health and well-being of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first report looked at pediatric emergency department visits. The study found that overall pediatric emergency department visits decreased in 2020, 2021, and in January 2022 compared with visits in 2019, while COVID-19-related emergency department visits increased across all pandemic years and among pediatric age groups.

WHO: New COVID Cases Drop by 19% Globally

The number of new coronavirus cases globally fell by 19% in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable, according to the World Health Organization. The U.N. health agency said late Tuesday in its weekly report on the pandemic that just over 16 million new COVID-19 infections and about 75,000 deaths were reported worldwide last week.

Most Bay Area Counties Will Lift Indoor Mask Mandate; Santa Clara County Will Not

On Wednesday, health officers from the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, San Benito and the city of Berkeley announced they will lift mask requirements for vaccinated people in most indoor public settings on Feb. 16, following what the state of California is doing. That said, the joint statement from most of the Bay Area health officers said they continue to strongly recommend masks be used as an effective tool to prevent the spread of the virus especially when case rates are high or when additional personal protection is needed.

Pfizer Asks FDA to Allow COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids Under 5

Pfizer on Tuesday asked the U.S. to authorize extra-low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5, potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned — and before it’s settled if the youngsters will need two shots or three.

Home COVID Tests to be Covered by Insurers Starting 1/15

Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid rising frustrations. Under the new policy, first detailed to the AP, Americans will be able to either purchase home testing kits for free under their insurance or submit receipts for the tests for reimbursement, up to the monthly per-person limit.

FDA Expands Pfizer Boosters for More Teens as Omicron Surges

The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the omicron surge, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12. Boosters already are recommended for everyone 16 and older, and federal regulators on Monday decided they’re also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds once enough time has passed since their last dose.

Biden Pivots to Home Tests to Confront Omicron Surge

Fighting the omicron variant surging through the country, President Joe Biden announced the government will provide 500 million free rapid home-testing kits, increase support for hospitals under strain and redouble vaccination and boosting efforts. At the White House on Tuesday, Biden detailed major changes to his COVID-19 winter plan, his hand forced by the fast-spreading variant, whose properties are not yet fully understood by scientists.

Pfizer Says Pill is Effective in Protecting Against Severe Disease From COVID

A pill manufactured by the prominent Covid-19 vaccine provider Pfizer is highly effective in protecting against severe disease from coronavirus, the company said on Tuesday. The experimental antiviral pill Paxlovid is also effective against the Omicron variant that is spreading rapidly across the world, the company announced, citing laboratory testing. In clinical trials, Paxlovid showed almost 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalization and death in high-risk patients, Pfizer stated, replicating the results of a smaller-scale trial announced last month.

CDC Tightens Testing Requirement for International Travel to the U.S. to One Day

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is revising the current Global Testing Order to shorten the timeline for required testing for all international air travelers to one day before departure to the United States. This revision strengthens already robust protocols in place for international travel, including requirements for foreign travelers to be fully vaccinated. As we learn more about the Omicron variant, this new one-day testing policy will help to protect travelers and the health and safety of American communities from COVID-19.

CDC Steps up its COVID Vaccine Booster Recommendation Amid Concerns About Omicron Variant

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strengthened its recommendation on Covid booster shots, telling all adults that they “should” get an additional dose amid growing concern about the newly identified omicron variant. “The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement Monday.

CDC Expands Eligibility for COVID-19 Booster Shots to All Adults

CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) expanded recommendations for booster shots to include all adults ages 18 years and older who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months after their second dose. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization and CDC’s recommendation for use are critical next steps forward in our country’s booster program – a program which will help provide increased protection against COVID-19 disease and death.

Pfizer Asks US Officials to OK Promising COVID-19 Pill

Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Tuesday to authorize its experimental pill for COVID-19, setting the stage for a likely launch this winter of a promising treatment that can be taken at home. The company’s filing comes as new infections are rising once again in the United States, driven mainly by hot spots in states where colder weather is driving more Americans indoors.

Pfizer Asks FDA to OK COVID-19 Booster Shots for All Adults

Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Tuesday to allow boosters of its COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older, a step that comes amid concern about increased spread of the coronavirus with holiday travel and gatherings. Older Americans and other groups particularly vulnerable to the virus have had access to a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine since September. But the Food and Drug Administration has said it would move quickly to expand boosters to younger ages if warranted.

CDC Recommends Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine for Children 5 to 11 Years

CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine. CDC now expands vaccine recommendations to about 28 million children in the United States in this age group and allows providers to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible.

U.S. Expected to Authorize Mix-and-Match COVID Booster Shots

Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster doses this week in an effort to provide flexibility as the campaign for extra shots expands. The upcoming announcement by the Food and Drug Administration is likely to come along with authorization for boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots and follows the OK for a third dose for the Pfizer vaccine for many Americans last month.

U.S. to Reopen Land Borders in November for Fully Vaccinated

The U.S. will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel, such as trade, since the earliest days of the pandemic.

AstraZeneca Asks FDA to Authorize COVID Antibody Treatment

AstraZeneca, the drugmaker that developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the emergency use of a first-of-a-kind antibody treatment to prevent the disease. The Anglo-Swedish company said Tuesday that the treatment, known as AZD7442, would be the first long-acting antibody combination to receive an emergency authorization for COVID-19 prevention. If authorized, the drug would likely be limited to people with compromised immune systems who don’t get sufficient protection from vaccination.

U.S. Has Enough COVID-19 Vaccines for Boosters, Kids’ Shots

With more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available, U.S. health authorities said they’re confident there will be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future.

America’s New COVID-19 Rules for International Travel

The Biden administration is rolling out new international travel policies affecting Americans and noncitizens alike who want to fly into the U.S. The goal is to restore more normal air travel after 18 months of disruption caused by COVID-19. The across-the-board rules, which will take effect in November, will replace a hodgepodge of confusing restrictions.

New Studies Find Evidence of “Superhuman” Immunity to COVID-19 in Some Individuals

Over the past several months, a series of studies has found that some people mount an extraordinarily powerful immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Their bodies produce very high levels of antibodies, but they also make antibodies with great flexibility — likely capable of fighting off the variants of coronavirus circulating in the world but also likely effective against variants that may emerge in the future.

FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine

The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

U.S. Likely to Authorize COVID Booster Shots

After struggling for months to persuade Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. health officials could soon face a fresh challenge: talking vaccinated people into getting booster shots to gain longer-lasting protection as the delta variant sends infections soaring again. As early as this week, U.S. health authorities are expected to recommend an extra dose of the vaccine for all Americans eight months after they get their second shot, according to two people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

CDC Reverses Indoor Mask Policy, Saying Fully Vaccinated People and Kids Should Wear Them Indoors

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Tuesday that fully vaccinated people begin wearing masks indoors again in places with high Covid-19 transmission rates. The agency is also recommending kids wear masks in schools this fall. Federal health officials still believe fully vaccinated individuals represent a very small amount of transmission. Still, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and potentially transmit it to others.

Surgeon General Urges U.S. Fight Against COVID Misinformation

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday called for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, journalists and everyday Americans to do more to address an “urgent threat” to public health. In a 22-page advisory, his first as President Joe Biden’s surgeon general, Murthy wrote that bogus claims have led people to reject vaccines and public health advice on masks and social distancing, undermining efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic and putting lives at risk.

FDA Adds Warning About Rare Reaction to Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

U.S. regulators on Monday added a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine about links to a rare and potentially dangerous neurological reaction, but said it’s not entirely clear the shot caused the problem. The Food and Drug Administration announced the new warning, flagging reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an immune system disorder that can causes muscle weakness and occasionally paralysis. Health officials described the side effect as a “small possible risk” for those getting the shot.

Biden to Zero in on Delta Variant as U.S. Approaches 160 Million COVID-19 Vaccinations

U.S. President Joe Biden will encourage Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus, the White House said on Tuesday. Biden is scheduled to make remarks on Tuesday afternoon after receiving a briefing from his advisers. A White House official said the country will be “nearing” 160 million people fully vaccinated by the end of the week.

AstraZeneca, Pfizer Vaccines Effective Against Delta COVID-19 Variants (Study)

COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance remain broadly effective against Delta and Kappa variants of the COVID-19 causing virus, which were first identified in India, according to a scientific study, underpinning a continued push to deliver the shots. The study by Oxford University researchers, published in the journal Cell, investigated the ability of antibodies in the blood from people, who were vaccinated with the two-shot regimens, to neutralize the highly contagious Delta and Kappa variants, a statement said.

California is Moving Beyond the Blueprint to Safely and Fully Reopen the Economy

As of June 15, 2021, the Governor terminated the executive orders that put into place the Stay Home Order and the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. He also phased out the vast majority of executive actions put in place since March 2020 as part of the pandemic response, leaving a subset of provisions that facilitate the ongoing recovery. The new public health order effective June 15 supersedes all prior health orders. The order has limited restrictions, only related to masking and mega-events, as well as settings serving children and youth pending an expected update to the K-12 schools guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC COVID-19 Study Shows mRNA Vaccines Reduce Risk of Infection by 91 Percent for Fully Vaccinated People

A new CDC study finds the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) reduce the risk of infection by 91 percent for fully vaccinated people. This adds to the growing body of real-world evidence of their effectiveness. Importantly, this study also is among the first to show that mRNA vaccination benefits people who get COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated (14 or more days after dose 2) or partially vaccinated (14 or more days after dose 1 to 13 days after dose 2).

WHO Will Turn to the Greek Alphabet to Help Avoid Stigma Around Coronavirus Variants

The World Health Organization is hoping to simplify the way the public talks about the growing number of variants of the coronavirus. It will start assigning different letters of the Greek alphabet to each new mutation of the virus. The new system takes the names of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and moves them away from what can be sometimes confusing scientific nomenclature, or shorthand that puts heavy emphasis on where the variants were first discovered.

COVID Testing’s Value Shrinks as Vaccines Beat Back Virus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that most people who have received the full course of shots and have no COVID-19 symptoms don’t need to be screened for the virus, even if exposed to someone infected. The change represents a new phase in the epidemic after nearly a year in which testing was the primary weapon against the virus. Vaccines are now central to the response and have driven down hospitalizations and deaths dramatically.

Largest CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Study in Health Workers Shows mRNA Vaccines 94% Effective

A new CDC study adds to the growing body of real-world evidence (outside of a clinical trial setting) showing that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protect health care personnel (HCP) against COVID-19. mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) reduced the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 by 94% among HCP who were fully vaccinated.

Younger Adolescents Get Ready to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

Parents, schools and vaccine clinics rushed to begin inoculating younger adolescents Tuesday after U.S. regulators endorsed Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 12, a decision seen as a breakthrough in allowing classroom instruction to resume safely around the country.

U.S. to Reallocate COVID Shots to States With Greater Interest

The change away from a strict by-population allocation comes as demand for the coronavirus vaccines has dropped nationwide, but especially precipitously in some areas, with some states turning down part or all of their weekly dose allotments. The federal government will now shift some of those doses to areas with higher demand, in an effort to speed shots in those areas.

CDC Says Many Americans Can Now Go Outside Without a Mask

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some cases, too.

White House Offers New Tax Credit to Help Spur Vaccinations

The White House is trying to overcome diminishing demand for COVID-19 shots by offering businesses a tax incentive to give employees paid leave to get vaccinated. The move comes as the United States is set to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of administering 200 million coronavirus doses in his first 100 days in office.

President Biden to Move COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Date to April 19

President Joe Biden was announcing Tuesday that he’s bumping up his deadline for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines. With states gradually expanding eligibility beyond such priority groups as older people and essential, front-line workers, the president will announce that every adult will be eligible by April 19 to sign up and get in a virtual line to be vaccinated, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

CDC Real-World Study Confirms Protective Benefits of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

A new CDC study provides strong evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections in real-world conditions among health care personnel, first responders, and other essential workers. These groups are more likely than the general population to be exposed to the virus because of their occupations.

CDC Updates Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools to Reflect New Evidence on Physical Distance in Classrooms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is updating K–12 school guidance to reflect the latest science on physical distance between students in classrooms. CDC now recommends that, with universal masking, students should maintain a distance of at least 3 feet in classroom settings.

Fully Vaccinated People Can Gather Without Masks, CDC Says

Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.

The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.

Merck Will Help Manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Pharmaceutical giant Merck will help manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced, calling it “an unprecedented historic step,” considering that the two companies are normally competitors.

Merck will produce the drug substance at the heart of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine as well as work on filling vaccine vials and getting them ready for distribution.

FDA Says Single-Dose Shot From J&J Prevents Severe COVID

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe COVID-19, according to an analysis released Wednesday by U.S. regulators that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic.

The long-anticipated shot could offer the nation a third vaccine option and help speed vaccinations by requiring just one dose instead of two. Food and Drug Administration scientists confirmed that overall the vaccine is about 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, and about 85% effective against the most serious illness. The agency also said J&J’s shot is safe.

Schools Plan for Potential of Remote Learning Into the Fall

Parents of schoolchildren learning from home shouldn’t necessarily count on reclaiming the dining room table any time soon. After seeing two academic years thrown off course by the pandemic, school leaders around the country are planning for the possibility of more distance learning next fall at the start of yet another school year.

“We have no illusions that COVID will be eradicated by the time the start of the school year comes up,” said William “Chip” Sudderth III, a spokesperson for Durham, North Carolina schools, whose students have been out of school buildings since March.

“Simple is Beautiful”: One-Shot Vaccine Proves Effective

The first one-shot COVID-19 vaccine provides good protection against the illness, Johnson & Johnson reported in a key study released Friday, offering the world a potentially important new tool as it races to stay ahead of the rapidly mutating virus.

The pharmaceutical giant’s preliminary findings suggest the single-dose option may not be as strong as Pfizer’s or Moderna’s two-dose formula, and was markedly weaker against a worrisome mutated version of the virus in South Africa.

California Lifts Virus Stay-at-Home Orders, Curfew Statewide

California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions, state health officials announced.

The order had been in place in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, covering the majority of the state’s counties. The change will allow businesses such as restaurants to resume outdoor operations in many areas, though local officials could choose to continue stricter rules. The state is also lifting a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

Quick Treatment With Antibody-Laden Blood Cuts Risk of Severe COVID

A clinical trial in older adults with COVID-19 shows that an early dose of blood plasma from recovered people helps to prevent the progression to severe disease.

The plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19 contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. But treatment with such plasma has had mixed results, and some scientists have suggested that plasma needs to be given early in the disease course to be effective. Fernando Polack at Fundación INFANT in Buenos Aires and his colleagues conducted a rigorous clinical trial to assess the effect of treatment with plasma within 72 hours of symptom onset. Participants included people over the age of 75 and those between 65 and 74 with at least one pre-existing condition such as diabetes. Read More

By the numbers: On January 11, there were 39,839 newly recorded confirmed cases in California. The state now has a total of 2,710,801 positive cases. There have been a total of 29,965 deaths in the state.

The Data on Coronavirus and Public Holidays

As worldwide coronavirus cases continue to surge, countries are grappling with how to manage big public holidays such as Christmas and Lunar New Year, which researchers are warning could become superspreader events.

“We’re already at a high level of community spread, and we’re about to see a lot of people traveling and gathering indoors,” says Julia Marcus, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. “It’s hard to see any way that this is going to go well.”

Nature examines what scientists have already learned about the spread of COVID-19 during holidays. Read More

California Rolls Out New App to Alert People of Potential COVID-19 Exposure

As California’s latest coronavirus surge spreads at a record-setting pace, state officials on Monday unveiled a new cell phone app aimed at helping Californians track their exposure to the virus.

Starting Thursday, December 10, Californians will be able to opt into the new app — dubbed CA Notify — and receive notifications on their cell phones informing them if they have been in close proximity to someone who has tested positive for the virus.

California joins more than a dozen states, including New York, Michigan and Washington, to launch exposure notification apps in recent months. Read More

COVID-19 Travel Health Notice Levels and Testing for International Travelers

On November 21, CDC revised the Travel Health Notice system for COVID-19 and released new recommendations for testing before and after international air travel to help the public make informed decisions for safer, healthier, and more responsible travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CDC’s Travel Health Notices inform travelers and clinicians about current health issues in destinations around the world. For most diseases, the Travel Health Notices have 3 levels. This new 4-level travel health notice system is specific to COVID-19 and details the level of COVID-19 in international destinations and U.S. territories. The COVID-19 Travel Health Notices now indicate low, moderate, high, and very high levels of COVID-19 for each destination and are based primarily on incidence rate (or new case counts in destinations with populations of 200,000 or less) and trajectory of new cases (whether new cases over the past 28 days are increasing, decreasing, or stable). Read More

Pfizer Says its Coronavirus Vaccine is 90% Effective in a Large Trial

Today, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their experimental vaccine against the novel coronavirus is more than 90 percent effective in preventing the disease COVID-19, based on initial analysis of results from their large phase III trial. The two companies also report that no serious safety concerns have arisen thus far. To create the vaccine, researchers genetically engineered SARS-CoV-2 genes, captured their blueprint, embedded that blueprint into an RNA molecule in solution and injected the solution into the bodies of trial participants. The trial’s data have not yet been submitted for peer-review publication. If the results hold up, Pfizer and BioNTech say they could manufacture large quantities of the genetically engineered vaccine quickly. Read More

New “Close Contact” Guidelines (10.21.20)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) this week broadened its definition of a “close contact” with an infected person, thereby expanding “the pool of people considered at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus,” writes Lena H. Sun at The Washington Post (10/21/20). To be considered a “close contact,” the 15-minute exposure time for individuals within six feet is now cumulative or total time during a 24-hour period, not sequential, consecutive time. State and county health departments use the definition for contract tracing efforts, the story states. The CDC’s change “is likely to have its biggest impact in schools, workplaces, and other group settings where people are in contact with others for long periods of time,” Sun writes.

New Reopening Guidelines (8.28.20)

On August 28th, Governor Newsom released a new reopening framework with four tiers with colors attached to them to indicate severity. Case rates and test positivity rates will be the metrics that determine movement within the tiers which run from purple (the most restrictive) to red to orange to yellow (the least restrictive). These categories replace the state watchlist that had previously dictated whether counties could reopen or would need to close.

reopening guidelines california

Reopening rollback (7.13.20)

On July 13, Gov. Newsom ordered a rollback of the state’s reopening plan in an attempt to curb the recent resurgence of COVID-19. The rollback mandates closure of restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and cardrooms throughout the state. Newsom ordered even more business sectors to close in counties that are on the state’s monitoring list for more than three days; these include gyms, hair salons and barbershops, nail salons, indoor malls, non-essential offices, and places of worship. To keep track of where your county stands on reopening, take a look at this interactive map.

Around the House

We just wrapped up a team meeting on Zoom. I learned that we all spent the majority of the weekend cleaning and organizing. We assume that many people in the Bay Area are doing the same. To help, we have put together some of our favorite articles on cleaning and organizing for you:

Home With the Kids

Scholastic Learn At Home – classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
www.khanacademy.org

Beware of Scammers

We are hearing reports that scammers are taking advantage of the COVID-19 situation. Over the years, our research team has produced several articles on how to keep your family safe from scammers. Here are links to a few of these articles: