Details Emerge About Hospitals’ Secretive Deal Over Earthquake Standards: The California Hospital Association scuttled a deal that would have imposed minimum pay of $25 an hour for many of the state’s health care workers in exchange for delaying mandated 2030 seismic requirements for hospitals, according to a powerful labor union that had been negotiating the deal. Read more from The Sacramento Bee and Los Angeles Times.

New Law Causing Trouble For Food Banks: A new law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires grocery stores, restaurants, and other food suppliers to donate surplus food. Now, food banks are grappling with inadequate storage, expired food, too few trucks and volunteers, and the timely redistribution of donations. Read more from the Bay City News Foundation.

Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.

Palm Springs Desert Sun: Valley Sanitary District To Start Monitoring Wastewater For Monkeypox Two wastewater treatment plants in the Coachella Valley have announced they will be testing wastewater samples for the presence of monkeypox in order to better track the fast-spreading virus. (Sasic, 8/23)

Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs Businesses Working To Protect Community From Monkeypox When COVID-19 was at its height in 2020, Austin Basford, owner of All Worlds Resort in Palm Springs, decided to do what he could to protect the community. He shut down his resort, which attracts hundreds of guests, primarily men who have sex with men, "when we were not required to close our doors down," he said. A sign on the window read, "We're closed until a vaccine is found," Basford said, and the resort was closed for about four months. (Sasic, 8/23)

Los Angeles Times: Rise Of Monkeypox Worries Sex Workers With monkeypox on the rise, Lady Kay decided to hold off on meeting clients in hotel rooms or private dungeons. The 32-year-old dominatrix had already been taking precautions to protect herself from the coronavirus, insisting that clients show that they were vaccinated against COVID-19 or had recently tested negative. Now the South Los Angeles resident was worried about the newest outbreak — an infectious virus that can travel through skin-to-skin contact and has spread in intimate encounters. (Reyes, 8/24)

CBS News: What Should Schools Do About Monkeypox? New CDC Guidelines Weigh In Schools and child care centers generally do not need to take extra steps to curb the spread of monkeypox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. It advises that they can rely on "their everyday operational guidance" to do things like ensure handwashing and clean surfaces, which help reduce the risk of potential cases from the outbreak this fall. (Tin, 8/23)

CIDRAP: Trials For Monkeypox Antiviral, Fractional Vaccine Dosing Launch As countries contend with more and more monkeypox cases, UK and US officials have announced the launch of clinical trials to gauge how effective the antiviral drug tecovirimat, known as Tpoxx, is for treating the disease, and to establish how protective intradermal fractional doses of the Jynneos vaccine are against monkeypox. In addition, Brazil has confirmed 77 cases of the poxvirus in children, and Spain becomes the latest country to initiate fractional vaccine dosing. (Soucheray, 8/23)

Bloomberg: Siga Monkeypox Antiviral To Undergo First Human Tests In UK Siga Technologies Inc.’s antiviral Tpoxx, which has mainly been shown to fight monkeypox in animal studies, will undergo human testing by University of Oxford researchers as countries look for ways to tackle a growing outbreak with limited vaccine supply. (Lyu, 8/23)

USA Today: Monkeypox Vaccine Side Effects: What's That Lump And Should You Worry? If you've gotten vaccinated for monkeypox, you may be familiar with "the lump." Ever since the viral outbreak reached the U.S. this summer, many people have taken to social media to report side effects of the Jynneos vaccine, which can be injected intradermally (into the skin) or through the more traditional subcutaneous method (below the skin). (Ryan, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gavin Newsom Vetoes SF Supervised Drug Consumption Site, Now What? Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of state legislation that would have allowed San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to launch supervised consumption sites for drug users isn’t the end of local efforts to open these facilities with the hope of reducing the number of fatal overdoses. Shortly after Newsom announced that he was rejecting a state bill that would have authorized sites in the three cities, City Attorney David Chiu said he would support allowing a nonprofit to open one in San Francisco anyway, emulating a model already in place in New York City. (Morris and Moench, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s What Those Struggling With Addiction Say About Newsom’s Veto Of Supervised Drug-Use Sites To Josh Taylor, the equation is simple: If people don’t want to see folks smoking or shooting dope outside and don’t want endless stories about overdose deaths, they need to give homeless people a supervised, safe place to do drugs. But after Gov. Gavin Newsom this week vetoed a bill that would have made it easier to open supervised consumption sites in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, Taylor said, unsheltered drug users like him will have to keep smoking and injecting right where they often do. Outside. Unprotected. With risky, untested dope. (Fagan, 8/23)

CalMatters: California Safe Injection Sites: Why Did Newsom Veto?  Read between the lines of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Monday veto of a controversial bill that would have allowed San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to launch trial supervised drug injection sites in a bid to curb California’s epidemic of fatal overdoses, and you might catch a glimpse of the political tightrope he’s walking. (Hoeven, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Marijuana Use Among Young People In U.S. At Record High, Study Says  Young people used marijuana and some hallucinogens at record levels last year, according to a new report funded by the National Institutes of Health, as recreational cannabis became legal in more states and as attitudes toward other drugs continue to shift. Nearly 43 percent of young people said they had used marijuana in the past 12 months, up from 29 percent in 2011 and nearly 34 percent in 2016, according to the Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan, which surveyed nearly 5,000 young adults between 19 and 30 years old. (Pietsch, 8/24)

The New York Times: Marijuana And Psychedelics Use Soars Among Young Adults, Study Finds  The findings, part of the government’s annual survey of drug use among young Americans, also found that nicotine vaping and excessive alcohol consumption continued to climb in 2021 after a brief pause. Another worrying trend among young people, ages 19 to 30: mounting consumption of alcoholic beverages suffused with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. But there were some bright spots in the survey. Cigarette smoking and opioid abuse among young adults dropped last year, a continuing trend that has heartened public health experts. (Jacobs, 8/23)

Monitoring the Future Panel Study Annual Report 

KPBS: Oversight Board Wants San Diego Jail Staff To Be Scanned For Drugs  If people being detained in San Diego County jails are dying of drug overdoses, the solution seems simple to Paul Parker. Parker, the executive officer of the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board, knows what will work. "As far as contractors, and employees and county employees (go), (there should be) at minimum search, pat down, metal detector — something to make sure that people that are being to be introduced into a facility, no matter who, they are somehow scanned," he said. (Alvarado and Damron, 8/23)

KCRA: Xavier Becerra Talks Abortion, Prescription Drug Prices In CA U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra returned to his hometown of Sacramento on Tuesday to host two separate round tables on abortion and lowering the cost of prescription drug prices. "We’re not going to stand for excluding people from the rights they know they had and should have," Becerra said inside of the headquarters of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. (Zavala, 8/23)

Los Angeles Times: Abortion Is Important In 2022 California Election, Poll Finds A measure to amend the state Constitution to add protections for abortion rights appears on track for victory this fall as the issue of reproductive rights appears to be strongly motivating the state’s voters. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released Wednesday showed 7 in 10 California voters support the proposed constitutional amendment, and majorities back other policies aimed at protecting abortion rights. (Gutierrez, 8/24)

KPCC: How Have Abortion Rights Changed After The Fall Of Roe And Where Are We Headed? The national abortion rights landscape has changed quickly following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization. That ruling effectively dismantled the constitutional right to abortion, originally codified by the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. And so began a patchwork of changes across states. A number of states had trigger laws at the ready, which could outlaw abortions in the wake of the decision. Trigger laws in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho have been temporarily blocked due to legal challenges. As those challenges play out, a bipartisan bill known as The Reproductive Freedom for All Act aims to codify reproductive protections. Sarah McCammon, national correspondent for NPR News covering political, social and cultural divides in America, including abortion and reproductive rights, and Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s professor of law and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy at UC Irvine who’s also the author of “Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood” (Cambridge University Press, 2020), join Larry to discuss where things stand and where they could be headed. (8/23)

Sacramento Business Journal: Karen Baker Named Executive Director Of Yolo Food Bank  In early July, Karen Baker joined the Yolo Food Bank to serve as interim executive director for six months. Now, she's been named as the permanent executive director. (Hamann, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Poop Complaints Rose In All SF Neighborhoods But The Tenderloin Since 2012, San Francisco’s 311 hotline, which allows people to make requests of city service representatives, has received more than 230,000 complaints about human or animal waste in the streets. Over that period, the number of these calls has been steadily increasing in every San Francisco neighborhood, with one exception. (Rezal, 8/23)

EdSource: California Colleges Open For Fall Term With Relaxed COVID-19 Rules Students at California’s public colleges and universities will begin returning to campuses this month, and many of them will be welcomed back to full in-person classrooms, no mask mandates and few Covid-19 testing requirements. At some community colleges, students won’t even be required to be vaccinated. (Burke and Smith, 8/23)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern Public Health: 1,147 New Coronavirus Cases, 10 New Deaths Tuesday  Kern County Public Health reported 1,147 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths Tuesday. That brings the total number of cases reported in Kern County residents to 277,577 with 2,518 total deaths. (8/23)

Los Angeles Times: L.A.'s Kitson Boutique Bans COVID-19 Masks, Citing Crime  Fraser Ross, owner of the once-white-hot boutique chain Kitson, is not shy about two things: dropping the names of celebrities who have shopped at his stores and expressing his dislike for the restrictions politicians put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. ... Ross has banned face masks out of concern for the “safety of our staff & assets of store,” according to a sign posted in a front window. (Hernandez, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Hospitalization, Multiple Symptoms Linked To Long Covid In Children Like adults, children who have tested positive for the coronavirus can develop long covid, with 10 percent of youths who were hospitalized with covid-19 experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, coughing, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath three months later, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Based on data from 1,884 children and youths who were treated for covid-19, the study found that long covid was less likely among those under 18 who did not require hospitalization but instead had been treated in an emergency room and discharged. About 5 percent of those youths had post-covid conditions three months later. (Searing, 8/23)

NBC News: FDA Plans To Authorize Covid Omicron Boosters Around Labor Day The Food and Drug Administration plans to authorize updated versions of Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s Covid boosters around Labor Day, said two people familiar with the discussions. The Biden administration is preparing to distribute the updated booster shots to teenagers and adults as part of its fall booster campaign. (Lovelace Jr., 8/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Booster Campaign Is Expected To Launch Next Month The Biden administration has completed plans for a fall Covid-19 booster campaign that would launch in September with 175 million updated vaccine doses provided to states, pharmacies and other vaccination sites. The administration is procuring the doses, which drugmakers are updating to target the newest versions of the virus. The administration has also informed states, pharmacies and other entities they can begin preordering now through the end of August, according to the administration’s fall vaccination planning guide. (Armour, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna Asks FDA To OK Updated Covid-19 Shot Moderna Inc. has asked U.S. regulators to authorize a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine that targets the latest coronavirus strains. Moderna said on Tuesday that it is ready to ship doses of the new shot in September if it is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. ... Moderna’s new shot is designed to protect against the original coronavirus strain that emerged in China in late 2019, as well as the Omicron subvariants BA. 4 and BA. 5 that are currently dominant in the U.S. (Walker, 8/23)

The Hill: Moderna Seeks FDA OK For Updated COVID-19 Booster  Moderna’s vaccine is intended for adults aged 18 and older. Pfizer’s vaccine will be for adults and adolescents aged 12 and older. ... Like Pfizer, Moderna said it does not have clinical trial data for the vaccine. Instead, the request is based on data from a booster targeting an earlier version of omicron, as well as preclinical data from mice. (Weixel, 8/23)

Reuters: Pfizer's COVID Vaccine 73.2% Effective In Kids Under 5, New Data Shows  Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's vaccine was 73.2% effective in preventing COVID-19 among children aged 6 months through 4 years, new data from the companies showed on Tuesday, two months after the U.S. rollout of the shots began for that age group. The Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), vaccine was authorized for children under 5 years of age in June, based on data that showed the vaccine generated a similar immune response as in older age groups. (8/23)

ABC News: Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine 73% Effective In Children Under 5, Updated Data Shows  Unlike Moderna's two-shot vaccine, Pfizer's vaccine is given as three initial doses for in this age group — considered a "primary" series. ... Among children ages 6 through 23 months, the vaccine was 75.8% effective at preventing COVID-19, a median of 1.9 months after the third dose. For children ages 2 through 4 years of age, the vaccine was 71.8% effective at preventing COVID-19, a median of 2.4 months after the third dose. (Mitropoulos and Salzman, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Your First Brush With Coronavirus Could Affect How A Fall Booster Works  When it comes to viral infections, past is prologue: The version of a virus to which we’re first exposed can dictate how we respond to later variants and, maybe, how well vaccines work. It’s a phenomenon known by the forbidding name of original antigenic sin, and, in the case of the coronavirus, it prompts a constellation of questions. Are our immune systems stuck still revving up defenses against a version of the virus that has vanished? Will updated booster shots that are designed to thwart variants be much better than the original vaccine? How often will we be reinfected? Is there a better way to broaden immunity? (Johnson, 8/23)

Health Care Survey The 2022 CHCF California Health Policy Survey

This recent statewide survey found that one in four Californians had trouble paying a medical bill in the last 12 months. The survey also captures Californians' health care priorities for the governor and legislature to address.

Listening to Black Californians Black Californians on Racism and Health Care

CHCF commissioned interviews with 100 Black Californians to understand their views on health and well-being, their perceptions of discrimination and bias in the health care system, and their views on what a quality health care system looks like.

Mental Health Mental Health in California

Using the most recent data available, CHCF’s 2022 Almanac provides an overview of mental health statewide: disease prevalence, suicide rates, supply and use of treatment providers, and mental health in the criminal justice system.

© California Healthline 1998-2022. All Rights Reserved.

California Healthline is a service of the California Health Care Foundation produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.