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California Watch

News stories in this section spotlight activities in California, including actions by the state Assembly and state Senate; proposed legislation; regulators like the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance; and the state ACA exchange, Covered California.

‘The Problem Is Tomorrow’s Variants’: Renowned Bay Area Epidemiologist Predicts Prolonged Pandemic

It will take years, not months, to gain the upper hand in the coronavirus pandemic — and it will require thinking well beyond our borders, says Dr. Larry Brilliant. The 76-year-old Bay Area epidemiologist, who has worked to eradicate smallpox, polio and co-founded the Seva Foundation in Berkeley to combat blindness, has a unique perspective ...

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Pentagon Approves Over 1,000 Personnel to Help FEMA with COVID-19 Vaccines

The Pentagon has authorized more than 1,000 active-duty service members to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with its vaccination effort against COVID-19. The 1,110 active-duty troops will be broken up into teams of 222 people to support five state vaccination sites, according to a Defense Department fact sheet released Friday.

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California Nurses Declare Victory In Battle Over How Many Patients They Must Handle In COVID Era

Nurses are cheering California’s decision to end emergency waivers to hospitals and nursing homes, which have allowed the institutions to require nurses to care for more patients than state law allows at any one time.

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DOL Drops Support for CalSavers Suit

Citing the “change in administration,” the Department of Labor (DOL) has backed off its previous support for a lawsuit challenging the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program.

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California’s Smallest County Makes Big Vaccination Gains

In the winter, the roughly three-hour drive from Alpine County’s main health clinic in Woodfords to the remote enclave of Bear Valley winds along snowy two-lane roads and over 8,000-foot mountain passes, circumventing the more direct route, which is closed for the season.

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Oscar Health Files To Go Public

Oscar Health has officially filed to go public. The tech-enabled startup insurer filed for its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, where it intends to list its stocks under the ticker OSCR. Details on the plans beyond that were limited. “The number of shares of Class A common stock to be offered ...

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Newsom Says California Still Not Receiving Nearly Enough Vaccine Doses, Even as Coronavirus Cases Plummet

California is not receiving nearly enough COVID-19 vaccine to meet overwhelming demand, and that won’t change in the near term, Gov. Gavin Newsom conceded Monday. About 800,000 Californians are fully immunized now but millions of others who are eligible have yet to get their first doses. Newsom said the state received just over 1 million ...

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Republicans Seek To Pin California’s Covid-19 Problem On Biden’s HHS Pick

Senate Republicans plan to link President Joe Biden’s pick for Health secretary with California’s troubled pandemic response in a long-shot bid to sink the nomination later this month. As the state’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra enforced stay-at-home orders and other restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including limits on indoor religious services that outraged many ...

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Californians Ask: Where Are Our Coronavirus Vaccines?

With Californians growing desperate to protect themselves from COVID-19 and put the pandemic behind them, many want to know: where are their vaccines? State officials have mostly pointed to insufficient federal supply as the culprit for a slower than expected vaccine rollout.

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Head-Scratching Over Newsom’s Choice of Blue Shield to Lead Vaccination Push

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, struggling to salvage a once-bright political future dimmed by his mishandling of the covid crisis, tapped nonprofit health insurer Blue Shield of California last week to allocate the state’s covid vaccine.

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