Tuesday, July 5, 2022 | California Healthline

San Francisco Chronicle:
Why UCSF’s Bob Wachter Says COVID Variant BA.5 Is ‘A Different Beast’

The new BA.5 strain of the COVID-causing virus is “a different beast” from ones we’ve already seen — more infectious and better able to evade immune responses — and “we need to change our thinking” about how to defend against it, according to a data-packed Twitter thread posted today by Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chair of medicine. (Fagone, 7/4)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Is ‘Hybrid Immunity’ Still Possible In The Face Of New COVID Variants?

Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford, suffered the same fate as many people in January. Despite being vaccinated and boosted, he got infected with COVID during the surge of the highly infectious omicron variant. Then, just a few months later in May, he performed a routine COVID test one day before work and found himself infected with the coronavirus yet again. (Echeverria, 7/4)

San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: CDC Data Highlight Benefit From Boosters In Preventing Deaths

Federal vaccine advisers urged the FDA to authorize a COVID-19 booster shot that targets omicron subvariants. Two new highly infectious and immune-evasive versions of the coronavirus known as BA.4 and BA.5 are now dominant in the U.S., and together they may extend the Bay Area’s spring surge into the summer. And with as many as one in 20 people walking around unaware that they’re infected with the coronavirus, what are your chances of catching COVID from somebody who doesn’t even know they have it? (Vaziri and Beamish, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times:
‘Post Roe? Hell No.’ Abortion Rights Activists March In Downtown L.A. 

Hundreds of people marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to protest for abortion rights, the second weekend in a row that Californians have taken to the streets after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. (Nelson, 7/2)

Sacramento Bee:
Video: Abortion Rights Protest Blocks Freeway In Sacramento 

Abortion rights supporters blocked Interstate 5 in downtown Sacramento during a 2022 Fourth of July protest on Monday, before being cleared by California Highway Patrol officers. (Levine, 7/4)

Cronkite News:
After Roe, Blue States Prepare For Patients Seeking Abortion Care

Health care clinics in states including California, New Mexico, Colorado and Washington are preparing to become “safe havens” for pregnant people living in Arizona and other places where abortions are restricted or banned. … .“If you are seeking an abortion, you can come to California, because we are ready to receive you,” said California state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles. “We have the funding, we have the infrastructure, and we have the compassion to receive you.” (Parrish, 7/1)

Voice Of San Diego:
San Diego’s History As A Haven For Desperate Women 

Decades before Roe vs. Wade, San Diego was the last resort for countless pregnant women. They sought abortions at underground clinics that dotted the city, including one linked to an infamous abortion syndicate that spanned the entire West Coast.  These women shared two things in common: desperation and a willingness to take immense risk. As for the physicians and nurses who helped them, their story is – depending on whom you believe – a “story of shame, blood, pain, disgrace, greed, and death” or a tale of generosity and grace. (Dotinga, 7/3)

Sacramento Bee:
1 Killed, 4 Hurt In Shooting Outside Downtown Sacramento Nightclub

Five people were shot, one of whom was killed, early Monday in downtown Sacramento, police say — the second mass shooting in the city’s core in three months. Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said the shooting took place outside the Mix Downtown nightclub at 16th and L streets as the club was closing down. (Stanton, 7/4)

Los Angeles Times:
July 4 Street Takeover In South L.A. Ends In Fatal Gunfire

A rowdy street takeover in South Los Angeles ended in the early hours of Monday with a fatal shooting. About 200 people had gathered by 12:30 a.m. in the Vermont Vista neighborhood, at the intersection of Hoover Street and West Century Boulevard. Cellphone videos posted on KTLA show crowds of people cheering and cars skidding in performative circles. (Xia, 7/4)

KQED:
For These Black Bayview-Hunters Point Residents, Reparations Include Safeguarding Against Rising, Toxic Contamination

Arieann Harrison accepted her calling at her mother’s funeral, sitting in St. John Missionary Baptist Church in the San Francisco shoreline community of Bayview-Hunters Point. “You find out a lot about yourself at a funeral,” said Harrison. Her mother, Marie Harrison, passed away in 2019 at 71 from lung disease. Harrison says her mom believed the illness was tied to pollution from a nearby shipyard, where she once worked and lived close to. (Romero, 7/5)

Oaklandside:
Cooling Centers And Clean Air Sites In Oakland: Where To Go

The longest day of the year was also the hottest in Oakland so far. On June 21, thermometers hovered near the 100-degree mark. And hotter days are likely to come soon, with the Bay Area’s most blistering conditions typically arising in August, September, and October. For people who live outside and others without access to cool indoor spaces, heat waves are deeply uncomfortable and can even be life-threatening. With the typically hottest and most fire-prone months ahead of us, some Oakland residents have wondered about options for staying cool and safe when those days come. (Orenstein, 7/1)

CalMatters:
Will California Cannabis Tax Cut Help Ailing Industry?

California is significantly overhauling its cannabis tax structure, including entirely eliminating a tax on growers, in an effort to boost a struggling legal industry begging for relief. The changes, which were adopted last week as part of a broader state budget agreement, will also create tax credits for some cannabis businesses, expand labor rights within the industry and switch collection of a state excise tax from distributors to retailers. That tax will pause at 15% for three years, after which regulators could raise the rate to recoup lost revenue from discontinuing the cultivation tax. (Koseff, 7/5)

Sacramento Bee:
Placer County Homeless Point-In-Time Count Shows 2022 Growth

Homeless numbers in Placer County have remained virtually unchanged in the past two years, according to a new report released this week. A total of 750 individuals experience homelessness on any given night in Placer county, according to a federally mandated point-in-time homeless count released Thursday. In 2020, the last time the count was conducted using the same method, officials counted 744 unhoused people. (Hodgman, 7/5)

The Mercury News:
Cisco Spent $50M On Silicon Valley Homelessness. What Did It Do?

Cisco made a splash when it ponied up a record-breaking $50 million donation to fight homelessness in Silicon Valley. Now, that money is running out and even more people are sleeping on the streets. So what has it accomplished? The donation helped fund 30 new apartment buildings for low-income and formerly homeless residents, provided cash to prevent struggling tenants from losing their homes and improved internet access in affordable buildings. Cisco was the first local tech giant to commit such a large sum to housing and homelessness, and since then, companies including Google, Facebook (now Meta) and Apple have followed suit. (Kendall, 7/4)