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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:40 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Have you been wondering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960155/new-covid-booster-to-protect-against-worrisome-variant-lab-data-suggests\">“When will the new COVID vaccine be available?” \u003c/a>The short answer is: It’s here, but it’s still taking a while for these shots to become widely accessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back on September 12, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0912-COVID-19-Vaccine.html\">updated COVID vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer (also known as Comirnaty) were formally authorized\u003c/a>, and are now starting to roll out across the United States, amid \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957790/the-new-covid-eris-variant-and-rising-cases-what-you-need-to-know\">a rise in COVID cases locally and nationally. \u003c/a>This was after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on making these updated shots available to everyone age 6 months and older through health care providers and county public health departments, as well as at health centers and pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Safeway. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-updated-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-formulated-better-protect-against-currently\">new Novavax COVID booster has now also been authorized\u003c/a> for people age 12 and older, and will be available soon too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find a new COVID vaccine near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#doihavetopayfornewcovidvaccine\">Why was I asked to pay for my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#kaisernewcovidvaccine\">Why can’t I get a new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy if I have Kaiser health insurance?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Unlike previous rounds of the vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aren’t calling this latest shot a “booster” — so you won’t see that language online around appointments. Instead, they’re referring to it as a “new” or “updated” COVID vaccine for 2023 that’s been updated to better target a more recent strain of the coronavirus than previous vaccines: This time, the omicron variant known as XBB.1.5.[aside postID=news_11954507 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS66630_GettyImages-1369841386-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the new COVID booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna and how to find a free COVID vaccine near you. Or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find the new COVID vaccine near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#shouldigetnewcovidvaccine\">If I don’t have major health risks, should I still get the new COVID vaccine now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#howsoonaftercovidgetvaccine\">I’ve had COVID recently. Can I still get the new COVID vaccine?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#shouldigetfluandcovidvaccine\">Should I get my 2023 flu shot at the same time as my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"doihavetopayfornewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Why has the new COVID vaccine rollout seemed so different this time? Do I have to pay for it now?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re wondering why the new COVID vaccine seems to be taking so long to become widely available, or why \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">you’re hearing reports of people being charged over $150 to receive the new vaccine at a pharmacy\u003c/a>, it’s because of one major change for 2023: This is the first time during the COVID pandemic that the federal government \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> footing the bill for these vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/09/fact-sheet-end-of-the-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html\">The shots have now transitioned into the traditional health care market\u003c/a>. So for most people with health insurance, their insurer will now cover the cost of getting the new COVID vaccine direct, much like your plan might cover your flu shot — and this is why many county public health officials are urging people to first seek out the new vaccine via their health care provider. (It’s also why those county-run vaccination sites that were so common at the height of the pandemic will now not exist on the same scale, and will primarily be targeted toward folks without insurance.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">And if you’re one of those people who don’t have insurance, the White House will still cover the costs of your COVID vaccines\u003c/a> through a federal program until December 2024. But this means you may now have a narrower choice of places to get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bottom line is that your updated vaccine \u003cem>should\u003c/em> still be free, the way COVID vaccines have been throughout the pandemic. But because of delays in the rollout, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">some people have reported being asked to pay\u003c/a> at pharmacies for their new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This change in who pays for your COVID vaccine, and how, has already caused issues for folks seeking vaccines, as their public health officials have urged them to. As the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> reported, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">some Medicare patients have found themselves being charged large sums to receive the vaccine at pharmacies\u003c/a>, when the costs should have been covered. Representatives from the pharmacies and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cms.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services\u003c/a> attributed this to a glitch in the system around billing codes, with a CVS spokesperson telling the \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> that some “payers are still updating their systems and may not yet be set up to cover the updated COVID-19 vaccines.” If this happens to you, CVS says that a pharmacist can help you reschedule your appointment for a later date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have also experienced making an appointment for your new COVID vaccine and having it canceled due to a lack of supply. If so, you’re not alone. As \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em> has reported, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/covid-vaccine-update-us-appointments\">CVS and Walgreens blamed canceled appointments on supply-chain issues\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/well/covid-vaccine-booster-insurance.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Moderna and Pfizer told The Associated Press\u003c/a> that they had sufficient supply and had, in fact, delivered millions of doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University, also told \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/covid-vaccine-update-us-appointments\">some pharmacies did not initially stock enough of these new vaccines\u003c/a> because they weren’t sure how large the public demand for the shots would be. Corporations “fear that vaccines will sit around on their shelves unused,” Rosenbaum said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"kaisernewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Why can’t I get my new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy if I have Kaiser?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Another reason you might be charged for your new COVID vaccine right now, or denied the shot if you refuse to pay out of pocket: if you get your health care through a health system like Kaiser Permanente.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually, if you have health insurance, you should be able to give your insurer’s details at a pharmacy vaccination appointment to have the cost of your shot billed to them. Health systems like Kaiser are the exception to this, and so you almost certainly won’t be able to get your new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens, the way you can’t get your flu shot covered by Kaiser at a pharmacy either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, “Kaiser Permanente recommends members receive their updated COVID-19 vaccinations at a Kaiser Permanente facility,” a Kaiser spokesperson told KQED, adding that the cost of the new COVID vaccines would be covered “according to the coverage of routine vaccinations provided by members’ plan benefits when administered at a Kaiser Permanente facility.” This has meant that those who have health insurance through Kaiser have faced a longer wait for their new COVID vaccine than folks with other types of insurance, unless they were prepared to pay these large costs up-front. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine\">CVS, for example, charges $190.99 for the new COVID vaccine\u003c/a> “if CVS is not in network with your insurance plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some good news: Kaiser now appears to be rolling out the new COVID vaccine for its members. Having initially stated that the new vaccines would be available at Kaiser facilities in “early October,” \u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/covid-19-vaccine-locations/\">Kaiser’s website now says that the updated shots are “available by walk-in” at “most flu clinics,”\u003c/a> but not by appointment yet. The website also states that Kaiser does not yet have the updated Moderna vaccine, but that the health system expects “to have supply soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll keep updating this guide with information as we get it.\u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/covid-19-vaccine-locations/\"> Find a Kaiser location near you currently offering the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is the Novavax COVID vaccine available as well as Moderna and Pfizer’s new vaccines?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes: After \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/12/1199003441/cdc-advisers-back-broad-rollout-out-of-new-covid-boosters\">a period of FDA review\u003c/a>, the\u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-updated-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-formulated-better-protect-against-currently\"> new Novavax COVID booster has now been authorized\u003c/a> for people age 12 and older who have not already been vaccinated with the new Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s new COVID shots, the Novavax vaccine is a non-mRNA, protein-based vaccine. One reason some people choose the Novavax vaccine is based on aftereffects from getting the shot — as \u003cem>Science\u003c/em> has reported,\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/should-you-pick-novavax-s-covid-19-shot-over-mrna-options\"> Novavax “appeared less likely than mRNA shots to cause side effects like headache and fatigue”\u003c/a> in clinical trials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the new Novavax COVID vaccine was authorized several weeks after Moderna and Pfizer’s, you should expect it to take a little while for Novavax supply to reach health care providers and vaccination locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How is this new COVID vaccine different from the last one I got?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last COVID booster shots were offered back in September 2022. This “bivalent vaccine” was so-called because it targeted both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants, and was also referred to as “the omicron booster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new fall COVID vaccine is an updated shot that supersedes and replaces the bivalent booster, which you should now consider outdated. The “recipe” for this new vaccine will address a single, newer target: The XBB.1.5 subvariant of omicron.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions\">XBB.1.5 is no longer the dominant strain\u003c/a> of the coronavirus in the United States — so what does that mean for how much this new COVID vaccine is going to protect you from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957790/the-new-covid-eris-variant-and-rising-cases-what-you-need-to-know\">the newer strains doing the rounds, like EG.5\u003c/a> (unofficially called “Eris” by some online)? Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, says that because EG.5 and other strains like it are all subvariants of the omicron variant, this means that you should think of these most recent COVID variants as “all kind of flavors of XBB.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“COVID hasn’t really changed too much. … since winter to now,” said Chin-Hong. And because recent strains have “just been variations on the theme,” he says, the fact that this updated vaccine is targeted towards XBB.1.5 means it “is going to be pretty decent at targeting these variants” too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about that other new variant, BA.2.86? Experts were initially worried that this new strain would be better at evading immunity from previous COVID infections and COVID vaccines, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960155/new-covid-booster-to-protect-against-worrisome-variant-lab-data-suggests\">new data suggests that BA.2.86 probably isn’t, in fact, any better than any of the other strains at evading your immune system.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"eligiblebooster\">\u003c/a>Who can get the new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of Sept. 12, anyone age 6 months and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can get an updated COVID vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna, as soon as \u003ca href=\"#where\">vaccination appointments become available. \u003c/a>It’s important to note that appointments have not become immediately widespread and may not be for a while, depending on your location. \u003ca href=\"#where\">Jump straight to where you can find a new COVID vaccine near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen when authorizing the shots on Sept. 12, after review and approval by the FDA and the CDC’s advisory panel. The agency was, she said, “now recommending updated COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months and older to better protect you and your loved ones.” Unlike with the bivalent booster, there is no specific guidance for certain age groups, but, as with other vaccines, children under 12 will be offered a pediatric (smaller) dose of this vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"shouldigetnewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>I know the new COVID vaccine is recommended for basically everyone. But do I really need it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s a fair question, and \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-faces-dilemma-over-recommending-new-covid-booster-for-all/amp/\">it’s not like there’s even consensus within the medical community\u003c/a> on the question of whether a younger person with no pre-existing health conditions or other risks for severe disease, hospitalization, or death truly needs to rush to get this new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC endorsed vaccines for everyone pointing to data showing COVID still poses risks for people at any age, and how\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-02/slides-02-24/COVID-07-Britton-508.pdf\"> vaccination against the coronavirus continues to provide greater protection against illness and hospitalization for all age groups (PDF).\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also a practical element to the CDC’s decision to broadly recommend the vaccine for everyone over 6 months of age — because their recommendation means that \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-faces-dilemma-over-recommending-new-covid-booster-for-all/amp/\">now health insurers \u003cem>have\u003c/em> \u003cem>to\u003c/em> cover your 2023 COVID vaccine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those people that health officials are urging to get the new updated COVID shot are, as with previous vaccines and boosters, those age 65 and over, folks with weakened immune systems or certain other \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html\">medical conditions that increase their risk of getting severely sick, hospitalized or dying from COVID\u003c/a>, as well as pregnant people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re not a part of these groups, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/13/1198803134/covid-boosters-updated-vaccines-fda-cdc\">there are still other reasons you might consider getting your updated shot regardless.\u003c/a> These include playing your part in reducing the community spread of COVID, protecting others most vulnerable to severe illness, and reducing the personal inconvenience to you and your family that an infection (and the isolation it requires) can bring to your household and your job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for long COVID, there’s mounting evidence that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/09/1198342040/long-covid-causes-treatment-research\">getting a vaccine reduces the risk of long COVID\u003c/a> among both adults and children, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-09-12/04-COVID-Saydah-508.pdf\">as the CDC’s Sharon Saydah noted in Sept. 12’s meeting (PDF)\u003c/a> to discuss the recommendations for the new shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If somebody’s timing their vaccine around the holidays, or a big trip? In addition to the chronic symptoms, that might be a justification for some young folks,” said UCSF’s Chin-Hong. “Risk is very personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, if you’re unsure whether you should get the updated COVID vaccine, or when you should get it, as with all matters relating to your health it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best options available to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s the cost of the vaccine, whether I have insurance or not?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is the first time during the COVID pandemic that the federal government \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> footing the bill for these vaccines. Now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948759/how-to-access-covid-care-in-california-as-u-s-public-health-emergency-ends\">the White House’s public health emergency for COVID has ended\u003c/a>, these COVID vaccines are no longer purchased or distributed by the federal government. Now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/09/fact-sheet-end-of-the-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html\">COVID shots are transitioning to the traditional health care market\u003c/a> and will be increasingly considered the way that other preventative vaccines, like flu shots, are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most people with health insurance, their insurer will cover the cost of getting the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961117\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961117 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A nurse gives a little boy a shot while his mother gives him encouragement.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">COVID shots are transitioning to the traditional health care market and will be increasingly considered the way that other preventative vaccines, like flu shots, are. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">But if you \u003cem>don’t\u003c/em> have insurance, the White House will still cover your COVID vaccines\u003c/a> through \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">a federal program called the Bridge Access Program\u003c/a>, which lasts through December 2024. This means you’ll now have a narrower choice of places to get your COVID vaccine because you’ll have to make sure the vaccination location you’ve chosen participates in the Bridge Access Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC says people without insurance will be able to \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">visit the federal government’s vaccines.gov site\u003c/a> to find a location where they can get the new COVID vaccine for free. When searching for a vaccination location near you using this site, be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uninsured children ages 18 and under can still get free COVID vaccines — and other free immunizations — as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html\">Vaccines for Children Program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"howsoonaftercovidgetvaccine\">\u003c/a>I got COVID recently. Do I have to wait before getting my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, the CDC advises that you “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/downloads/COVID-19-immunization-schedule-ages-6months-older.pdf\">may consider delaying vaccination by 3 months from symptom onset.”(PDF)\u003c/a> And if your case was asymptomatic, use the date of your positive test instead of the onset of your symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means, that if you had a COVID infection \u003cem>after\u003c/em> mid-June 2023, you may wish to delay getting your new COVID vaccine until you hit your three-month mark. But as with all matters relating to your health, it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best option for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"shouldigetfluandcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Should I get my 2023 flu shot at the same time as my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s totally fine, and safe, to get your flu shot at the same time as your new COVID vaccine, and you’ll often find that COVID vaccine appointments will prompt you to “add on” a flu shot at the same session — especially at pharmacies. Although, if you’re trying to schedule your kid’s vaccinations, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/13/1198803134/covid-boosters-updated-vaccines-fda-cdc\">the CDC advises that you first talk to your pediatrician\u003c/a> about the best schedule for the COVID and flu vaccines (and now the RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — preventive treatment too).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the recommendations medical professionals make about when to get a flu shot are based on the fact that, like with your COVID vaccine, it takes about two weeks after you get vaccinated for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This 2023–2024 season, the CDC says that “ideally” September and October are good months to get your flu shot. UCSF’s Chin-Hong says that his “optimal sweet point” for getting this shot is “sometime before Halloween” — but notes that this is based on traditional predictions of flu season starting in November and peaking around January or February. If flu cases start to rise earlier, you should seek out your flu shot sooner, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this means that if you can trust yourself to remember to seek out your flu shot by the end of October (or schedule an appointment for October in advance), you might consider getting your new COVID vaccine earlier, separately from your flu shot. And if not — or if life is getting hectic, and a two-for-one vaccination appointment ensures that you actually \u003ci>will \u003c/i>get your shots rather than forgetting — go ahead and get your COVID and flu shots at the same time, when you can.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can I ‘mix and match’ COVID vaccines for my new shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, according to the CDC, \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/\">everyone \u003cem>except\u003c/em> the under-5 age group can “mix and match” vaccine brands\u003c/a>, regardless of whether you originally got Pfizer or Moderna for your previous COVID vaccine or booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, for instance, someone 5 or older who originally got the Moderna vaccine can now get a new updated vaccine from either Moderna or Pfizer — and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11890214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting on a large porch lifts up his sleeve as he awaits his vaccine, beside a woman in an orange safety vest preparing the vaccine.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse prepares a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for Jose Luis Sánchez at a clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. The clinic was one of the first in the city to offer ‘supplemental’ third coronavirus shots to people with immunological conditions, according to organizers. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"where\">\u003c/a>Where can I find a new COVID vaccine this fall?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t assume you’ll be proactively contacted about getting the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that a certain location may only be offering a certain brand of the new vaccine, whether that’s Moderna or Pfizer (or soon, Novavax). So be sure that the location you’re walking into or making an appointment for offers the type of updated vaccine you need or want, particularly if you’re trying to find an updated COVID vaccine for a child under 5. \u003ca href=\"#mix\">Read more about “mixing and matching” COVID vaccines.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also make sure the appointment you schedule for your new vaccine is at least two months after your last COVID vaccine shot, or three months after your last COVID infection. (When you’re making an appointment for a new vaccine, you’ll likely be asked for the date of your last COVID vaccine dose or booster dose for this reason, to ensure you’re not getting your shot too soon.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"#mix\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11890217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a hand gripping a vaccination card and writing on it with a pen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse marks a coronavirus vaccination card with a third booster dose of Pfizer at a vaccine clinic in Pasadena on Aug. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Find a new COVID vaccine through a local pharmacy \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For future reference, pharmacies are usually the first place new vaccine shots become available when announced because pharmacies take their cue from the federal government, not the state. Several pharmacy chains, including CVS and Walgreens, are now offering online appointments for the new COVID vaccine, and some may also accept walk-in appointments with no prescheduling required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that pharmacies can’t vaccinate kids under 3, except for CVS MinuteClinics, who are permitted to vaccinate kids as young as 18 months old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, you should be able to give your insurer’s details at a pharmacy vaccination appointment to have the cost of your shot billed to them. One big exception to this: If you get your health care through a health system like Kaiser Permanente, you almost certainly \u003cem>won’t\u003c/em> be able to get your new COVID vaccine for free (i.e., covered by your insurance) at a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens, the way you can’t get your flu shot covered by Kaiser at a pharmacy either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, “Kaiser Permanente recommends members receive their updated COVID-19 vaccinations at a Kaiser Permanente facility,” a Kaiser spokesperson told KQED, and that the cost of the new COVID vaccines would be covered “according to the coverage of routine vaccinations provided by members’ plan benefits when administered at a Kaiser Permanente facility.” Otherwise, you’ll almost certainly be asked to pay out of pocket to get your shot at a pharmacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, \u003ca href=\"#kaisernewcovidvaccine\">if you are a member of a health system like Kaiser \u003c/a>and are unsure about what your health insurance covers, reach out to your provider to check if you will need to obtain your new COVID vaccine through them, in order to have it covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have health insurance, some pharmacies will be offering appointments that don’t require health insurance. Visit the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov\u003c/a> website to search for a location near you, and be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program,” (the name of the federal program that’s funding new COVID vaccines for uninsured people). For example, a CVS spokesperson confirmed to KQED that the pharmacy chain is participating in the CDC’s Bridge Access Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-banner-1-link2-coronavirus-vaccine\">CVS COVID vaccine appointments. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19?ban=covid_vaccine_landing_schedule\">Walgreens COVID vaccine appointments\u003c/a>, or call (800) WALGREENS/(800) 925-4733.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier?utm_source=state&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=Covid19&utm_content=Covid19scheduler_CA_2_12_21\">Rite Aid COVID vaccine appointments.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt\">Safeway (Albertsons) COVID vaccine appointments.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Find a new COVID vaccine through your health care provider, when available\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, check with your health care provider to see whether they can offer you an updated COVID vaccine. The San Francisco Department of Public Health stresses that “Health care providers are the first place to go for COVID-19 and flu health care.” That said, you could still be looking at a wait for supplies to reach your health care provider, even this long after the new shots were first authorized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have health insurance but get medical care through a city- or county-run provider, you should check with that location to see whether they can offer you the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to trying to talk with your health care provider directly, check the website of your provider to see whether it’s offering the ability to make appointments, and sign up for their vaccine notifications if that’s an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Find a new COVID vaccine through vaccines.gov \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov\u003c/a> website to see when appointments for the new updated COVID vaccine in or near your zip code become available. Right now, the majority of Bay Area appointments visible on vaccines.gov appear to be at pharmacies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov \u003c/a>is also the CDC’s recommendation for finding a vaccination site if you’re uninsured. When searching for a vaccination location near you using this site, be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program,” because that’s the name of the federal program that’ll be funding new COVID vaccines for uninsured people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Find a new Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine through My Turn\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">My Turn has been the state’s site\u003c/a> for all Californians to schedule vaccination appointments or find walk-in locations, regardless of health insurance status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the new COVID vaccines are now being distributed through the traditional health care market, My Turn’s services are now geared primarily toward uninsured people. The site’s homepage says that “if you don’t have insurance or your plan doesn’t cover routine vaccinations, My Turn will provide a list of locations that offer vaccines at no cost for the uninsured.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">If you visit the My Turn page\u003c/a>, select “Make an Appointment.” My Turn will ask for your information, and the ZIP code or location you’d like to use to search for vaccine appointments. You can give your home location, or input other locations to see which sites might be available farther away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can’t travel to a clinic for your new COVID vaccine because of health or transportation issues, you can note this when registering on My Turn, and a representative from the CDPH is supposed to call you to arrange an in-home visit or transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My Turn will ask you to provide a cellphone number and an email address. The state says this is so you can use two-factor authentication to confirm your identity and make your appointment, and to prevent bots from automatically scooping up available appointments online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have an email address or a cellphone number, or you have questions, you can call the California COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255 (Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. PT) and sign up over the phone. Both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Callers needing information in other languages will be connected to a translation service that offers assistance in over 250 languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889661\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11889661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/michigan_shot_gettyimages-1234850852-8f2a1402d5a0ab808313f55bdac52f950c8ad974-scaled-e1632414475184.jpg\" alt=\"Blue-gloved hands administer a vaccine into a shoulder.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Peoples receives his booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during an Oakland County Health Department vaccination clinic at the Southfield Pavilion on Aug. 24, 2021, in Southfield, Michigan. \u003ccite>(Emily Elconin/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Find a new COVID vaccine through your county (when available)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Visit your county’s public health website \u003c/a>to learn if your county will soon be offering the new updated COVID vaccine to its residents, particularly those who are uninsured or under-insured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Find your Bay Area county in our list.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? What questions didn’t you have answered in this guide? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The new COVID vaccine was authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday, and is now rolling out across the US. Here's how to find a free COVID vaccine near you.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:40 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Have you been wondering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960155/new-covid-booster-to-protect-against-worrisome-variant-lab-data-suggests\">“When will the new COVID vaccine be available?” \u003c/a>The short answer is: It’s here, but it’s still taking a while for these shots to become widely accessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back on September 12, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0912-COVID-19-Vaccine.html\">updated COVID vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer (also known as Comirnaty) were formally authorized\u003c/a>, and are now starting to roll out across the United States, amid \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957790/the-new-covid-eris-variant-and-rising-cases-what-you-need-to-know\">a rise in COVID cases locally and nationally. \u003c/a>This was after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on making these updated shots available to everyone age 6 months and older through health care providers and county public health departments, as well as at health centers and pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Safeway. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-updated-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-formulated-better-protect-against-currently\">new Novavax COVID booster has now also been authorized\u003c/a> for people age 12 and older, and will be available soon too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find a new COVID vaccine near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#doihavetopayfornewcovidvaccine\">Why was I asked to pay for my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#kaisernewcovidvaccine\">Why can’t I get a new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy if I have Kaiser health insurance?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Unlike previous rounds of the vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aren’t calling this latest shot a “booster” — so you won’t see that language online around appointments. Instead, they’re referring to it as a “new” or “updated” COVID vaccine for 2023 that’s been updated to better target a more recent strain of the coronavirus than previous vaccines: This time, the omicron variant known as XBB.1.5.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the new COVID booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna and how to find a free COVID vaccine near you. Or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find the new COVID vaccine near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#shouldigetnewcovidvaccine\">If I don’t have major health risks, should I still get the new COVID vaccine now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#howsoonaftercovidgetvaccine\">I’ve had COVID recently. Can I still get the new COVID vaccine?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#shouldigetfluandcovidvaccine\">Should I get my 2023 flu shot at the same time as my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"doihavetopayfornewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Why has the new COVID vaccine rollout seemed so different this time? Do I have to pay for it now?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re wondering why the new COVID vaccine seems to be taking so long to become widely available, or why \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">you’re hearing reports of people being charged over $150 to receive the new vaccine at a pharmacy\u003c/a>, it’s because of one major change for 2023: This is the first time during the COVID pandemic that the federal government \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> footing the bill for these vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/09/fact-sheet-end-of-the-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html\">The shots have now transitioned into the traditional health care market\u003c/a>. So for most people with health insurance, their insurer will now cover the cost of getting the new COVID vaccine direct, much like your plan might cover your flu shot — and this is why many county public health officials are urging people to first seek out the new vaccine via their health care provider. (It’s also why those county-run vaccination sites that were so common at the height of the pandemic will now not exist on the same scale, and will primarily be targeted toward folks without insurance.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">And if you’re one of those people who don’t have insurance, the White House will still cover the costs of your COVID vaccines\u003c/a> through a federal program until December 2024. But this means you may now have a narrower choice of places to get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bottom line is that your updated vaccine \u003cem>should\u003c/em> still be free, the way COVID vaccines have been throughout the pandemic. But because of delays in the rollout, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">some people have reported being asked to pay\u003c/a> at pharmacies for their new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This change in who pays for your COVID vaccine, and how, has already caused issues for folks seeking vaccines, as their public health officials have urged them to. As the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> reported, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/covid-vaccine-price-18375815.php\">some Medicare patients have found themselves being charged large sums to receive the vaccine at pharmacies\u003c/a>, when the costs should have been covered. Representatives from the pharmacies and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cms.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services\u003c/a> attributed this to a glitch in the system around billing codes, with a CVS spokesperson telling the \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> that some “payers are still updating their systems and may not yet be set up to cover the updated COVID-19 vaccines.” If this happens to you, CVS says that a pharmacist can help you reschedule your appointment for a later date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have also experienced making an appointment for your new COVID vaccine and having it canceled due to a lack of supply. If so, you’re not alone. As \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em> has reported, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/covid-vaccine-update-us-appointments\">CVS and Walgreens blamed canceled appointments on supply-chain issues\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/well/covid-vaccine-booster-insurance.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Moderna and Pfizer told The Associated Press\u003c/a> that they had sufficient supply and had, in fact, delivered millions of doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University, also told \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/covid-vaccine-update-us-appointments\">some pharmacies did not initially stock enough of these new vaccines\u003c/a> because they weren’t sure how large the public demand for the shots would be. Corporations “fear that vaccines will sit around on their shelves unused,” Rosenbaum said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"kaisernewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Why can’t I get my new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy if I have Kaiser?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Another reason you might be charged for your new COVID vaccine right now, or denied the shot if you refuse to pay out of pocket: if you get your health care through a health system like Kaiser Permanente.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually, if you have health insurance, you should be able to give your insurer’s details at a pharmacy vaccination appointment to have the cost of your shot billed to them. Health systems like Kaiser are the exception to this, and so you almost certainly won’t be able to get your new COVID vaccine at a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens, the way you can’t get your flu shot covered by Kaiser at a pharmacy either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, “Kaiser Permanente recommends members receive their updated COVID-19 vaccinations at a Kaiser Permanente facility,” a Kaiser spokesperson told KQED, adding that the cost of the new COVID vaccines would be covered “according to the coverage of routine vaccinations provided by members’ plan benefits when administered at a Kaiser Permanente facility.” This has meant that those who have health insurance through Kaiser have faced a longer wait for their new COVID vaccine than folks with other types of insurance, unless they were prepared to pay these large costs up-front. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine\">CVS, for example, charges $190.99 for the new COVID vaccine\u003c/a> “if CVS is not in network with your insurance plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some good news: Kaiser now appears to be rolling out the new COVID vaccine for its members. Having initially stated that the new vaccines would be available at Kaiser facilities in “early October,” \u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/covid-19-vaccine-locations/\">Kaiser’s website now says that the updated shots are “available by walk-in” at “most flu clinics,”\u003c/a> but not by appointment yet. The website also states that Kaiser does not yet have the updated Moderna vaccine, but that the health system expects “to have supply soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll keep updating this guide with information as we get it.\u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/covid-19-vaccine-locations/\"> Find a Kaiser location near you currently offering the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is the Novavax COVID vaccine available as well as Moderna and Pfizer’s new vaccines?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes: After \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/12/1199003441/cdc-advisers-back-broad-rollout-out-of-new-covid-boosters\">a period of FDA review\u003c/a>, the\u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-updated-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-formulated-better-protect-against-currently\"> new Novavax COVID booster has now been authorized\u003c/a> for people age 12 and older who have not already been vaccinated with the new Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s new COVID shots, the Novavax vaccine is a non-mRNA, protein-based vaccine. One reason some people choose the Novavax vaccine is based on aftereffects from getting the shot — as \u003cem>Science\u003c/em> has reported,\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/should-you-pick-novavax-s-covid-19-shot-over-mrna-options\"> Novavax “appeared less likely than mRNA shots to cause side effects like headache and fatigue”\u003c/a> in clinical trials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the new Novavax COVID vaccine was authorized several weeks after Moderna and Pfizer’s, you should expect it to take a little while for Novavax supply to reach health care providers and vaccination locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How is this new COVID vaccine different from the last one I got?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last COVID booster shots were offered back in September 2022. This “bivalent vaccine” was so-called because it targeted both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants, and was also referred to as “the omicron booster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new fall COVID vaccine is an updated shot that supersedes and replaces the bivalent booster, which you should now consider outdated. The “recipe” for this new vaccine will address a single, newer target: The XBB.1.5 subvariant of omicron.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions\">XBB.1.5 is no longer the dominant strain\u003c/a> of the coronavirus in the United States — so what does that mean for how much this new COVID vaccine is going to protect you from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957790/the-new-covid-eris-variant-and-rising-cases-what-you-need-to-know\">the newer strains doing the rounds, like EG.5\u003c/a> (unofficially called “Eris” by some online)? Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, says that because EG.5 and other strains like it are all subvariants of the omicron variant, this means that you should think of these most recent COVID variants as “all kind of flavors of XBB.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“COVID hasn’t really changed too much. … since winter to now,” said Chin-Hong. And because recent strains have “just been variations on the theme,” he says, the fact that this updated vaccine is targeted towards XBB.1.5 means it “is going to be pretty decent at targeting these variants” too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about that other new variant, BA.2.86? Experts were initially worried that this new strain would be better at evading immunity from previous COVID infections and COVID vaccines, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960155/new-covid-booster-to-protect-against-worrisome-variant-lab-data-suggests\">new data suggests that BA.2.86 probably isn’t, in fact, any better than any of the other strains at evading your immune system.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"eligiblebooster\">\u003c/a>Who can get the new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of Sept. 12, anyone age 6 months and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can get an updated COVID vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna, as soon as \u003ca href=\"#where\">vaccination appointments become available. \u003c/a>It’s important to note that appointments have not become immediately widespread and may not be for a while, depending on your location. \u003ca href=\"#where\">Jump straight to where you can find a new COVID vaccine near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen when authorizing the shots on Sept. 12, after review and approval by the FDA and the CDC’s advisory panel. The agency was, she said, “now recommending updated COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months and older to better protect you and your loved ones.” Unlike with the bivalent booster, there is no specific guidance for certain age groups, but, as with other vaccines, children under 12 will be offered a pediatric (smaller) dose of this vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"shouldigetnewcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>I know the new COVID vaccine is recommended for basically everyone. But do I really need it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s a fair question, and \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-faces-dilemma-over-recommending-new-covid-booster-for-all/amp/\">it’s not like there’s even consensus within the medical community\u003c/a> on the question of whether a younger person with no pre-existing health conditions or other risks for severe disease, hospitalization, or death truly needs to rush to get this new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC endorsed vaccines for everyone pointing to data showing COVID still poses risks for people at any age, and how\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-02/slides-02-24/COVID-07-Britton-508.pdf\"> vaccination against the coronavirus continues to provide greater protection against illness and hospitalization for all age groups (PDF).\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also a practical element to the CDC’s decision to broadly recommend the vaccine for everyone over 6 months of age — because their recommendation means that \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-faces-dilemma-over-recommending-new-covid-booster-for-all/amp/\">now health insurers \u003cem>have\u003c/em> \u003cem>to\u003c/em> cover your 2023 COVID vaccine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those people that health officials are urging to get the new updated COVID shot are, as with previous vaccines and boosters, those age 65 and over, folks with weakened immune systems or certain other \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html\">medical conditions that increase their risk of getting severely sick, hospitalized or dying from COVID\u003c/a>, as well as pregnant people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re not a part of these groups, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/13/1198803134/covid-boosters-updated-vaccines-fda-cdc\">there are still other reasons you might consider getting your updated shot regardless.\u003c/a> These include playing your part in reducing the community spread of COVID, protecting others most vulnerable to severe illness, and reducing the personal inconvenience to you and your family that an infection (and the isolation it requires) can bring to your household and your job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for long COVID, there’s mounting evidence that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/09/1198342040/long-covid-causes-treatment-research\">getting a vaccine reduces the risk of long COVID\u003c/a> among both adults and children, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-09-12/04-COVID-Saydah-508.pdf\">as the CDC’s Sharon Saydah noted in Sept. 12’s meeting (PDF)\u003c/a> to discuss the recommendations for the new shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If somebody’s timing their vaccine around the holidays, or a big trip? In addition to the chronic symptoms, that might be a justification for some young folks,” said UCSF’s Chin-Hong. “Risk is very personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, if you’re unsure whether you should get the updated COVID vaccine, or when you should get it, as with all matters relating to your health it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best options available to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s the cost of the vaccine, whether I have insurance or not?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is the first time during the COVID pandemic that the federal government \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> footing the bill for these vaccines. Now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948759/how-to-access-covid-care-in-california-as-u-s-public-health-emergency-ends\">the White House’s public health emergency for COVID has ended\u003c/a>, these COVID vaccines are no longer purchased or distributed by the federal government. Now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/09/fact-sheet-end-of-the-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html\">COVID shots are transitioning to the traditional health care market\u003c/a> and will be increasingly considered the way that other preventative vaccines, like flu shots, are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most people with health insurance, their insurer will cover the cost of getting the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961117\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961117 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A nurse gives a little boy a shot while his mother gives him encouragement.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/013_SanFrancisco_UnitedinHealthKidsCOVIDVaccination_11092021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">COVID shots are transitioning to the traditional health care market and will be increasingly considered the way that other preventative vaccines, like flu shots, are. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">But if you \u003cem>don’t\u003c/em> have insurance, the White House will still cover your COVID vaccines\u003c/a> through \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html\">a federal program called the Bridge Access Program\u003c/a>, which lasts through December 2024. This means you’ll now have a narrower choice of places to get your COVID vaccine because you’ll have to make sure the vaccination location you’ve chosen participates in the Bridge Access Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC says people without insurance will be able to \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">visit the federal government’s vaccines.gov site\u003c/a> to find a location where they can get the new COVID vaccine for free. When searching for a vaccination location near you using this site, be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uninsured children ages 18 and under can still get free COVID vaccines — and other free immunizations — as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html\">Vaccines for Children Program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"howsoonaftercovidgetvaccine\">\u003c/a>I got COVID recently. Do I have to wait before getting my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, the CDC advises that you “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/downloads/COVID-19-immunization-schedule-ages-6months-older.pdf\">may consider delaying vaccination by 3 months from symptom onset.”(PDF)\u003c/a> And if your case was asymptomatic, use the date of your positive test instead of the onset of your symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means, that if you had a COVID infection \u003cem>after\u003c/em> mid-June 2023, you may wish to delay getting your new COVID vaccine until you hit your three-month mark. But as with all matters relating to your health, it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best option for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"shouldigetfluandcovidvaccine\">\u003c/a>Should I get my 2023 flu shot at the same time as my new COVID vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s totally fine, and safe, to get your flu shot at the same time as your new COVID vaccine, and you’ll often find that COVID vaccine appointments will prompt you to “add on” a flu shot at the same session — especially at pharmacies. Although, if you’re trying to schedule your kid’s vaccinations, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/13/1198803134/covid-boosters-updated-vaccines-fda-cdc\">the CDC advises that you first talk to your pediatrician\u003c/a> about the best schedule for the COVID and flu vaccines (and now the RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — preventive treatment too).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the recommendations medical professionals make about when to get a flu shot are based on the fact that, like with your COVID vaccine, it takes about two weeks after you get vaccinated for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This 2023–2024 season, the CDC says that “ideally” September and October are good months to get your flu shot. UCSF’s Chin-Hong says that his “optimal sweet point” for getting this shot is “sometime before Halloween” — but notes that this is based on traditional predictions of flu season starting in November and peaking around January or February. If flu cases start to rise earlier, you should seek out your flu shot sooner, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this means that if you can trust yourself to remember to seek out your flu shot by the end of October (or schedule an appointment for October in advance), you might consider getting your new COVID vaccine earlier, separately from your flu shot. And if not — or if life is getting hectic, and a two-for-one vaccination appointment ensures that you actually \u003ci>will \u003c/i>get your shots rather than forgetting — go ahead and get your COVID and flu shots at the same time, when you can.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can I ‘mix and match’ COVID vaccines for my new shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, according to the CDC, \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/\">everyone \u003cem>except\u003c/em> the under-5 age group can “mix and match” vaccine brands\u003c/a>, regardless of whether you originally got Pfizer or Moderna for your previous COVID vaccine or booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, for instance, someone 5 or older who originally got the Moderna vaccine can now get a new updated vaccine from either Moderna or Pfizer — and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11890214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting on a large porch lifts up his sleeve as he awaits his vaccine, beside a woman in an orange safety vest preparing the vaccine.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse prepares a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for Jose Luis Sánchez at a clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. The clinic was one of the first in the city to offer ‘supplemental’ third coronavirus shots to people with immunological conditions, according to organizers. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"where\">\u003c/a>Where can I find a new COVID vaccine this fall?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t assume you’ll be proactively contacted about getting the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that a certain location may only be offering a certain brand of the new vaccine, whether that’s Moderna or Pfizer (or soon, Novavax). So be sure that the location you’re walking into or making an appointment for offers the type of updated vaccine you need or want, particularly if you’re trying to find an updated COVID vaccine for a child under 5. \u003ca href=\"#mix\">Read more about “mixing and matching” COVID vaccines.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also make sure the appointment you schedule for your new vaccine is at least two months after your last COVID vaccine shot, or three months after your last COVID infection. (When you’re making an appointment for a new vaccine, you’ll likely be asked for the date of your last COVID vaccine dose or booster dose for this reason, to ensure you’re not getting your shot too soon.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"#mix\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11890217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a hand gripping a vaccination card and writing on it with a pen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse marks a coronavirus vaccination card with a third booster dose of Pfizer at a vaccine clinic in Pasadena on Aug. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Find a new COVID vaccine through a local pharmacy \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For future reference, pharmacies are usually the first place new vaccine shots become available when announced because pharmacies take their cue from the federal government, not the state. Several pharmacy chains, including CVS and Walgreens, are now offering online appointments for the new COVID vaccine, and some may also accept walk-in appointments with no prescheduling required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that pharmacies can’t vaccinate kids under 3, except for CVS MinuteClinics, who are permitted to vaccinate kids as young as 18 months old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, you should be able to give your insurer’s details at a pharmacy vaccination appointment to have the cost of your shot billed to them. One big exception to this: If you get your health care through a health system like Kaiser Permanente, you almost certainly \u003cem>won’t\u003c/em> be able to get your new COVID vaccine for free (i.e., covered by your insurance) at a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens, the way you can’t get your flu shot covered by Kaiser at a pharmacy either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, “Kaiser Permanente recommends members receive their updated COVID-19 vaccinations at a Kaiser Permanente facility,” a Kaiser spokesperson told KQED, and that the cost of the new COVID vaccines would be covered “according to the coverage of routine vaccinations provided by members’ plan benefits when administered at a Kaiser Permanente facility.” Otherwise, you’ll almost certainly be asked to pay out of pocket to get your shot at a pharmacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, \u003ca href=\"#kaisernewcovidvaccine\">if you are a member of a health system like Kaiser \u003c/a>and are unsure about what your health insurance covers, reach out to your provider to check if you will need to obtain your new COVID vaccine through them, in order to have it covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have health insurance, some pharmacies will be offering appointments that don’t require health insurance. Visit the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov\u003c/a> website to search for a location near you, and be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program,” (the name of the federal program that’s funding new COVID vaccines for uninsured people). For example, a CVS spokesperson confirmed to KQED that the pharmacy chain is participating in the CDC’s Bridge Access Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-banner-1-link2-coronavirus-vaccine\">CVS COVID vaccine appointments. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19?ban=covid_vaccine_landing_schedule\">Walgreens COVID vaccine appointments\u003c/a>, or call (800) WALGREENS/(800) 925-4733.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier?utm_source=state&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=Covid19&utm_content=Covid19scheduler_CA_2_12_21\">Rite Aid COVID vaccine appointments.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt\">Safeway (Albertsons) COVID vaccine appointments.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Find a new COVID vaccine through your health care provider, when available\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, check with your health care provider to see whether they can offer you an updated COVID vaccine. The San Francisco Department of Public Health stresses that “Health care providers are the first place to go for COVID-19 and flu health care.” That said, you could still be looking at a wait for supplies to reach your health care provider, even this long after the new shots were first authorized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have health insurance but get medical care through a city- or county-run provider, you should check with that location to see whether they can offer you the new COVID vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to trying to talk with your health care provider directly, check the website of your provider to see whether it’s offering the ability to make appointments, and sign up for their vaccine notifications if that’s an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Find a new COVID vaccine through vaccines.gov \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov\u003c/a> website to see when appointments for the new updated COVID vaccine in or near your zip code become available. Right now, the majority of Bay Area appointments visible on vaccines.gov appear to be at pharmacies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using \u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/\">vaccines.gov \u003c/a>is also the CDC’s recommendation for finding a vaccination site if you’re uninsured. When searching for a vaccination location near you using this site, be sure to check the box marked “Participating in Bridge Access Program,” because that’s the name of the federal program that’ll be funding new COVID vaccines for uninsured people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Find a new Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine through My Turn\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">My Turn has been the state’s site\u003c/a> for all Californians to schedule vaccination appointments or find walk-in locations, regardless of health insurance status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the new COVID vaccines are now being distributed through the traditional health care market, My Turn’s services are now geared primarily toward uninsured people. The site’s homepage says that “if you don’t have insurance or your plan doesn’t cover routine vaccinations, My Turn will provide a list of locations that offer vaccines at no cost for the uninsured.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">If you visit the My Turn page\u003c/a>, select “Make an Appointment.” My Turn will ask for your information, and the ZIP code or location you’d like to use to search for vaccine appointments. You can give your home location, or input other locations to see which sites might be available farther away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can’t travel to a clinic for your new COVID vaccine because of health or transportation issues, you can note this when registering on My Turn, and a representative from the CDPH is supposed to call you to arrange an in-home visit or transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My Turn will ask you to provide a cellphone number and an email address. The state says this is so you can use two-factor authentication to confirm your identity and make your appointment, and to prevent bots from automatically scooping up available appointments online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have an email address or a cellphone number, or you have questions, you can call the California COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255 (Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. PT) and sign up over the phone. Both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Callers needing information in other languages will be connected to a translation service that offers assistance in over 250 languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889661\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11889661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/michigan_shot_gettyimages-1234850852-8f2a1402d5a0ab808313f55bdac52f950c8ad974-scaled-e1632414475184.jpg\" alt=\"Blue-gloved hands administer a vaccine into a shoulder.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Peoples receives his booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during an Oakland County Health Department vaccination clinic at the Southfield Pavilion on Aug. 24, 2021, in Southfield, Michigan. \u003ccite>(Emily Elconin/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Find a new COVID vaccine through your county (when available)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Visit your county’s public health website \u003c/a>to learn if your county will soon be offering the new updated COVID vaccine to its residents, particularly those who are uninsured or under-insured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Find your Bay Area county in our list.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? What questions didn’t you have answered in this guide? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "californias-covid-emergency-ends-feb-28-what-does-that-actually-mean-for-you",
"title": "California's COVID State of Emergency Ends Today. What Does That Actually Mean for You?",
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"headTitle": "California’s COVID State of Emergency Ends Today. What Does That Actually Mean for You? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Today, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11929285/newsom-to-end-californias-covid-state-of-emergency-in-february\">California’s COVID-19 state of emergency officially comes to an end\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since March 2020, this statewide emergency declaration has given Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to suspend or change laws in California to fight the spread of COVID. Now, after almost three years, the state is winding down its state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003ca href=\"#calfreshmedical\">What you need to know if use CalFresh or Medi-Cal\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The move has been characterized as \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/health-california-covid-gavin-newsom-government-and-politics-0a013cc71e580d33fe59f93bc6c2b16e\">“a symbolic end” to the pandemic in California\u003c/a>, and a “decision [that] will have little practical impact on most people’s lives.” And it’s certainly true that most of the pandemic-related orders Newsom has issued since March 2020 — almost 600 of them — have been lifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/TeacupInTheBay/status/1623832514744942592\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not entirely accurate to say that this move will have \u003ci>zero \u003c/i>implications for California and the way COVID is handled — and perceived. Added to the mix is the fact that even if people are aware that the state of emergency is ending, they might not really know exactly what that entails — or how it could affect them personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what \u003ci>does\u003c/i> California ending its state of emergency mean for you?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The federal state of emergency is ending, too — which also affects Californians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In January, the White House announced that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1152702709/covid-emergency-declarations-end-white-house\">the federal state of emergency for COVID will end on May 11\u003c/a> — over two months after California ends its own. And to complicate matters a little more, there are actually \u003ci>two \u003c/i>federal emergencies ending May 11: the national emergency, and the public health emergency.[aside postID=news_11940562 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62644_GettyImages-1237599780-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end of these national emergencies will have big effects upon nationwide funding for COVID vaccines and testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to laws that have been passed in California in the last few years (more on this below), Californians will at least be able to keep a lot \u003ci>more \u003c/i>COVID coverage than folks living in other states. But May 11 is a date people in California still need to know, because some of those laws are tied to the end of the national-level declarations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking beyond the end of both the statewide emergency and the nationwide public health declaration, Gov. Newsom’s office says his administration intends to seek lawmakers’ approval to actually preserve two of the emergency provisions enabled by the 2020 state of emergency in California. These specifically deal with allowing different health care workers to perform certain COVID-related functions (for nurses, it’s dispensing COVID medications like Paxlovid; for lab workers, it’s processing COVID tests on their own).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For insured people in California, most COVID coverage won’t change — yet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has recently enacted several laws that force insurers to keep covering COVID care even after the state and federal states of emergency wind down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Senate Bill 510 requires insurers in California to keep covering COVID costs like testing and vaccination after the national emergency ends. On the national level, the White House’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish K. Jha has promised that COVID vaccines will remain free in the U.S. for insured people as a preventive service covered under the Affordable Care Act of 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, another California law — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1473\">State Bill 1473\u003c/a> — requires insurers to not only keep covering the costs of COVID therapeutic treatments like Paxlovid, but also to keep reimbursing their members for the costs of up to eight over-the-counter COVID tests a month. But this law only keeps the current situation in place until six months after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-07/with-covid-emergency-ending-will-i-have-to-pay-for-tests\">end of the federal emergency on Nov. 11\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_11902122 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53229_GettyImages-1237664205-qut-1536x1065.jpg']After that date, if you want Paxlovid or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902122/at-home-covid-test-reimbursement-from-blue-shield-to-kaiser-how-to-get-your-health-insurance-to-pay-you-back\">get reimbursed for COVID tests by an insurer\u003c/a>, you’ll have to make sure you are obtaining these services “in-network.” And at this stage of the year, specific details about what that’ll look like in practice come November are lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For uninsured people, COVID care will probably get (even) more confusing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As with so many aspects of the pandemic, it looks like things will become less clear — and often plain harder — for uninsured folks. Jha has given assurances that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AshishKJha46/status/1620836123630239750\">[o]n May 12, you can still walk into a pharmacy and get your bivalent vaccine. For free\u003c/a>,” and that the same will hold for obtaining Paxlovid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also wrote that, longer term, “likely over the summer or early fall,” the country would “transition from US government distributed vaccines and treatments to those purchased through the regular healthcare system,” and that the White House was “committed to ensuring that vaccines and treatments are accessible and not prohibitively expensive for uninsured Americans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which does not necessarily mean they will be free.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some California cities also have their own public health emergencies — with their own effects\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California ending its state of emergency may well spur the remaining cities that have kept their own states of emergencies to end theirs, too — which may have effects of their own upon residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, San Francisco also still has its own \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/resource/2022/public-health-emergency-declarations\">Public Health Emergency Declaration for COVID\u003c/a> in effect, and several programs for San Francisco residents (and people who work in the city) are dependent on that declaration being in effect. But on Thursday, San Francisco officials announced that the city’s public health emergency would be coming to an end at the same time as the state’s, on Feb. 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the impacts of this decision: As of Oct. 1, 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.org/olse/public-health-emergency-leave-ordinance\">San Francisco’s Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL)\u003c/a> offers employees who work for certain San Francisco employers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID-related reasons\u003c/a>. Now that San Francisco’s public health emergency is ending at the end of February, city residents and workers will no longer be able to claim this paid sick leave for COVID starting March 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11938425\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11938425\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person in an orange shirt and black mask and black-rimmed glasses operates a tablet-style cash register.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An employee at La Copa Loca Gelato rings up a customer at the shop in San Francisco on July 30, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Not everyone thinks this is a good idea\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the announcement about California ending its state of emergency on Feb. 28, administration officials acknowledged the crucial role played by these emergency powers in fighting the pandemic — but framed the expiration as a logical step that was coming at the right time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Newsom called the state of emergency “an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state,” saying that now, “with the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this tool.” Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, spoke of California moving “into this next phase” with the winding down of the state of emergency, and how “the infrastructure and processes we’ve invested in and built up will provide us the tools to manage any ups and downs in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some disagree it’s the right time to end the state’s emergency powers. Carmela Coyle, head of the California Hospital Association, told \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> earlier this month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/us/california-covid-state-of-emergency-ending.html\">February was “a terrible time to end the public health emergency,”\u003c/a> because of ongoing strain on California’s hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coyle said that Newsom’s emergency declaration had helped state hospitals better cope with high numbers of patients — by permitting facilities to temporarily expand treatment spaces to deal with larger numbers of patients — and also staffing shortages, by allowing hospitals to hire workers from out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The discontinuation of those declarations of emergency has to be thoughtfully planned and transitioned,” Coyle told \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em>. “Otherwise, it leaves hospitals caught in the middle in this debate of whether the pandemic is over or not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking to KQED Forum this month, UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong struck a cautious note, saying that while he believed it is essentially “the right time” for California and the White House to end these emergency declarations, there were still “repercussions that we have to be prepared for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a fractured medical health care system, I’m worried that people are going to fall between the cracks,” said Chin-Hong, noting that Californians would still be “generally, decently protected as a people, compared to other areas” in the U.S. “The biggest worry that I have is that it will be confusing,” he said, pointing to the potential for contradictory signals around COVID testing, vaccination and treatment among people who don’t know whether they’ll face steep out-of-pocket costs for this care and might just give up trying to access it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong also acknowledged the risks of how the states of emergency ending could falsely signal to the general public that COVID no longer posed them — or others — any threat. “The worst thing,” he said, would be “that people think that it means that it’s all over until next winter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And finally, just to make everything even \u003ci>more \u003c/i>complex …\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11940585\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11940585\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A sign taped to a brick wall saying COVID 19\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-1020x685.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-1536x1032.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lines for COVID testing and vaccinations are now nonexistent at Jessie Turner Health and Fitness in Fontana on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Federal funding is running out for COVID relief measures, calling into question what will happen to clinics, testing and other COVID-related funding measures. \u003ccite>(Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"calfreshmedical\">\u003c/a>Several other COVID programs are ending in California — but that’s not (entirely) due to the state of emergency\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a number of pandemic-related programs and support schemes that are winding down alongside the ending of California’s (and the nation’s) states of emergency, but they are not 100% related to those expirations — at least, not directly. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>COVID testing sites are shutting down\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Large-scale testing sites have been a crucial part of counties’ ability to slow the spread of COVID over the last few years — and these states of emergency have played a key role in funding these facilities. Now, a large portion of funding for free COVID testing (and vaccination) clinics will come to an end, meaning not only that costs for individuals for these services could rise, but also the sites themselves are starting to shutter. And the sites that remain open will have to look to the future of county-level funding after the state and federal supplies are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But officials say the end of California’s state of emergency is not the sole reason many of these facilities are closing. San Francisco’s free drive-up testing site on Alemany Blvd., for example, is being closed due to a combination of reduced funding and “low demand,” according to San Francisco health officials. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940562/how-to-find-a-free-covid-test-near-you-in-2023-because-its-getting-harder\">Find a COVID testing site near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Public Health’s post-state of emergency “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SMARTER-Plan-Progress-Update-FINAL-10.12.2022_jb.pdf?emrc=eed198\">SMARTER Plan (PDF)\u003c/a>” says that as far as schools are concerned, the agency has “completed the distribution of 8.4 million over-the-counter antigen tests for end of school year and summer testing, and an additional 10.6 million for the return from summer break testing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California is ending its vaccine mandate for schoolchildren\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Gov. Newsom announced the policy mandating COVID vaccination for schoolchildren — adding it as one of the (multiple) vaccinations families would need to prove for a child to attend school. There was uncertainty over whether this policy would be extended, and on Feb. 3 the California Department of Health finally announced that the state’s schoolkids would not now have to get a COVID vaccine, and that the department was “not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccinations,” adding, “but we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization for students and staff to keep everyone safer in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the policy itself originated from the state Department of Public Health, it wasn’t itself affected directly by California’s emergency declaration being lifted. But early this month, just before the change was announced, state public health officials told EdSource in an email that the end of California’s state of emergency \u003ci>was\u003c/i> \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-ends-plans-for-kids-covid-vaccine-mandate/685077?campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20230203&instance_id=84396&nl=california-today®i_id=79933371&segment_id=124294&te=1&user_id=730d7bc2f6e57d075af70f58c76999e6\">effectively going to end any plan to add COVID vaccinations to the required-vaccines list for schoolchildren\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>CalFresh is ending extra payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11940602 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-1219595595.jpg']During the pandemic, folks using CalFresh — California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits program for lower-income families — have been receiving extra funds, called “emergency allotments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This increase was at least $95 in CalFresh benefits per month. But \u003ca href=\"https://cdss.ca.gov/calfreshcovid19\">these extra CalFresh funds will now cease on Feb. 28\u003c/a> — not because they’re tied to California’s state of emergency, but because of the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which ends the pandemic-era release of these extra funds to households across the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Medi-Cal will no longer automatically renew enrollment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When COVID hit, Congress signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201/text\">a bill that required Medicaid programs around the U.S. — known as Medi-Cal in California — to keep their members continuously enrolled\u003c/a>, in exchange for higher federal funding. This has meant that during the pandemic, Medi-Cal has not been permitted to drop people who would otherwise not qualify for the program if they tried to sign up fresh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, the same act that means the end of CalFresh’s extra payments (see above) is bringing an end to the Medi-Cal requirement to automatically renew its members. This means that starting in April, \u003ca href=\"https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/medicaid-unwinding-coverage-loss-california-post-pandemic/\">the state will begin to remove folks who no longer qualify\u003c/a> — and require Medi-Cal members to manually renew their coverage, which they haven’t had to do for the last few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 15 million Californians are enrolled in Medi-Cal, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/PHE-UOP/Medi-Cal-COVID-19-PHE-Unwinding-Plan.pdf\">the state forecasts that up to 3 million people could lose their coverage (PDF)\u003c/a> if they fail to reenroll or no longer qualify. If you’re on Medi-Cal, the state recommends that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Pages/Keep-Your-Medi-Cal.aspx\">make sure Medi-Cal has your up-to-date contact details\u003c/a>, sign up for email and text alerts and watch for the renewal form hitting your mailbox in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated. An earlier version of this story was published on Feb. 15.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "On Feb. 28, California’s COVID-19 state of emergency officially comes to an end. Since March 2020, this statewide emergency declaration has given Gov. Newsom the power to suspend or change laws in California to fight the spread of COVID.",
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"title": "California's COVID State of Emergency Ends Today. What Does That Actually Mean for You? | KQED",
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"headline": "California's COVID State of Emergency Ends Today. What Does That Actually Mean for You?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Today, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11929285/newsom-to-end-californias-covid-state-of-emergency-in-february\">California’s COVID-19 state of emergency officially comes to an end\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since March 2020, this statewide emergency declaration has given Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to suspend or change laws in California to fight the spread of COVID. Now, after almost three years, the state is winding down its state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003ca href=\"#calfreshmedical\">What you need to know if use CalFresh or Medi-Cal\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The move has been characterized as \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/health-california-covid-gavin-newsom-government-and-politics-0a013cc71e580d33fe59f93bc6c2b16e\">“a symbolic end” to the pandemic in California\u003c/a>, and a “decision [that] will have little practical impact on most people’s lives.” And it’s certainly true that most of the pandemic-related orders Newsom has issued since March 2020 — almost 600 of them — have been lifted.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>But it’s not entirely accurate to say that this move will have \u003ci>zero \u003c/i>implications for California and the way COVID is handled — and perceived. Added to the mix is the fact that even if people are aware that the state of emergency is ending, they might not really know exactly what that entails — or how it could affect them personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what \u003ci>does\u003c/i> California ending its state of emergency mean for you?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The federal state of emergency is ending, too — which also affects Californians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In January, the White House announced that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1152702709/covid-emergency-declarations-end-white-house\">the federal state of emergency for COVID will end on May 11\u003c/a> — over two months after California ends its own. And to complicate matters a little more, there are actually \u003ci>two \u003c/i>federal emergencies ending May 11: the national emergency, and the public health emergency.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end of these national emergencies will have big effects upon nationwide funding for COVID vaccines and testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to laws that have been passed in California in the last few years (more on this below), Californians will at least be able to keep a lot \u003ci>more \u003c/i>COVID coverage than folks living in other states. But May 11 is a date people in California still need to know, because some of those laws are tied to the end of the national-level declarations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking beyond the end of both the statewide emergency and the nationwide public health declaration, Gov. Newsom’s office says his administration intends to seek lawmakers’ approval to actually preserve two of the emergency provisions enabled by the 2020 state of emergency in California. These specifically deal with allowing different health care workers to perform certain COVID-related functions (for nurses, it’s dispensing COVID medications like Paxlovid; for lab workers, it’s processing COVID tests on their own).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For insured people in California, most COVID coverage won’t change — yet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has recently enacted several laws that force insurers to keep covering COVID care even after the state and federal states of emergency wind down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Senate Bill 510 requires insurers in California to keep covering COVID costs like testing and vaccination after the national emergency ends. On the national level, the White House’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish K. Jha has promised that COVID vaccines will remain free in the U.S. for insured people as a preventive service covered under the Affordable Care Act of 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, another California law — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1473\">State Bill 1473\u003c/a> — requires insurers to not only keep covering the costs of COVID therapeutic treatments like Paxlovid, but also to keep reimbursing their members for the costs of up to eight over-the-counter COVID tests a month. But this law only keeps the current situation in place until six months after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-07/with-covid-emergency-ending-will-i-have-to-pay-for-tests\">end of the federal emergency on Nov. 11\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After that date, if you want Paxlovid or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902122/at-home-covid-test-reimbursement-from-blue-shield-to-kaiser-how-to-get-your-health-insurance-to-pay-you-back\">get reimbursed for COVID tests by an insurer\u003c/a>, you’ll have to make sure you are obtaining these services “in-network.” And at this stage of the year, specific details about what that’ll look like in practice come November are lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For uninsured people, COVID care will probably get (even) more confusing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As with so many aspects of the pandemic, it looks like things will become less clear — and often plain harder — for uninsured folks. Jha has given assurances that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AshishKJha46/status/1620836123630239750\">[o]n May 12, you can still walk into a pharmacy and get your bivalent vaccine. For free\u003c/a>,” and that the same will hold for obtaining Paxlovid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also wrote that, longer term, “likely over the summer or early fall,” the country would “transition from US government distributed vaccines and treatments to those purchased through the regular healthcare system,” and that the White House was “committed to ensuring that vaccines and treatments are accessible and not prohibitively expensive for uninsured Americans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which does not necessarily mean they will be free.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some California cities also have their own public health emergencies — with their own effects\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California ending its state of emergency may well spur the remaining cities that have kept their own states of emergencies to end theirs, too — which may have effects of their own upon residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, San Francisco also still has its own \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/resource/2022/public-health-emergency-declarations\">Public Health Emergency Declaration for COVID\u003c/a> in effect, and several programs for San Francisco residents (and people who work in the city) are dependent on that declaration being in effect. But on Thursday, San Francisco officials announced that the city’s public health emergency would be coming to an end at the same time as the state’s, on Feb. 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the impacts of this decision: As of Oct. 1, 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.org/olse/public-health-emergency-leave-ordinance\">San Francisco’s Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL)\u003c/a> offers employees who work for certain San Francisco employers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID-related reasons\u003c/a>. Now that San Francisco’s public health emergency is ending at the end of February, city residents and workers will no longer be able to claim this paid sick leave for COVID starting March 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11938425\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11938425\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person in an orange shirt and black mask and black-rimmed glasses operates a tablet-style cash register.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS50546_014_SanFrancisco_IndoorMasks_07302021-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An employee at La Copa Loca Gelato rings up a customer at the shop in San Francisco on July 30, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Not everyone thinks this is a good idea\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the announcement about California ending its state of emergency on Feb. 28, administration officials acknowledged the crucial role played by these emergency powers in fighting the pandemic — but framed the expiration as a logical step that was coming at the right time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Newsom called the state of emergency “an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state,” saying that now, “with the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this tool.” Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, spoke of California moving “into this next phase” with the winding down of the state of emergency, and how “the infrastructure and processes we’ve invested in and built up will provide us the tools to manage any ups and downs in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some disagree it’s the right time to end the state’s emergency powers. Carmela Coyle, head of the California Hospital Association, told \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> earlier this month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/us/california-covid-state-of-emergency-ending.html\">February was “a terrible time to end the public health emergency,”\u003c/a> because of ongoing strain on California’s hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coyle said that Newsom’s emergency declaration had helped state hospitals better cope with high numbers of patients — by permitting facilities to temporarily expand treatment spaces to deal with larger numbers of patients — and also staffing shortages, by allowing hospitals to hire workers from out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The discontinuation of those declarations of emergency has to be thoughtfully planned and transitioned,” Coyle told \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em>. “Otherwise, it leaves hospitals caught in the middle in this debate of whether the pandemic is over or not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking to KQED Forum this month, UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong struck a cautious note, saying that while he believed it is essentially “the right time” for California and the White House to end these emergency declarations, there were still “repercussions that we have to be prepared for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a fractured medical health care system, I’m worried that people are going to fall between the cracks,” said Chin-Hong, noting that Californians would still be “generally, decently protected as a people, compared to other areas” in the U.S. “The biggest worry that I have is that it will be confusing,” he said, pointing to the potential for contradictory signals around COVID testing, vaccination and treatment among people who don’t know whether they’ll face steep out-of-pocket costs for this care and might just give up trying to access it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong also acknowledged the risks of how the states of emergency ending could falsely signal to the general public that COVID no longer posed them — or others — any threat. “The worst thing,” he said, would be “that people think that it means that it’s all over until next winter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And finally, just to make everything even \u003ci>more \u003c/i>complex …\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11940585\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11940585\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A sign taped to a brick wall saying COVID 19\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-1020x685.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS62643_GettyImages-1239425766-qut-1536x1032.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lines for COVID testing and vaccinations are now nonexistent at Jessie Turner Health and Fitness in Fontana on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Federal funding is running out for COVID relief measures, calling into question what will happen to clinics, testing and other COVID-related funding measures. \u003ccite>(Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"calfreshmedical\">\u003c/a>Several other COVID programs are ending in California — but that’s not (entirely) due to the state of emergency\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a number of pandemic-related programs and support schemes that are winding down alongside the ending of California’s (and the nation’s) states of emergency, but they are not 100% related to those expirations — at least, not directly. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>COVID testing sites are shutting down\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Large-scale testing sites have been a crucial part of counties’ ability to slow the spread of COVID over the last few years — and these states of emergency have played a key role in funding these facilities. Now, a large portion of funding for free COVID testing (and vaccination) clinics will come to an end, meaning not only that costs for individuals for these services could rise, but also the sites themselves are starting to shutter. And the sites that remain open will have to look to the future of county-level funding after the state and federal supplies are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But officials say the end of California’s state of emergency is not the sole reason many of these facilities are closing. San Francisco’s free drive-up testing site on Alemany Blvd., for example, is being closed due to a combination of reduced funding and “low demand,” according to San Francisco health officials. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940562/how-to-find-a-free-covid-test-near-you-in-2023-because-its-getting-harder\">Find a COVID testing site near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Public Health’s post-state of emergency “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SMARTER-Plan-Progress-Update-FINAL-10.12.2022_jb.pdf?emrc=eed198\">SMARTER Plan (PDF)\u003c/a>” says that as far as schools are concerned, the agency has “completed the distribution of 8.4 million over-the-counter antigen tests for end of school year and summer testing, and an additional 10.6 million for the return from summer break testing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California is ending its vaccine mandate for schoolchildren\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Gov. Newsom announced the policy mandating COVID vaccination for schoolchildren — adding it as one of the (multiple) vaccinations families would need to prove for a child to attend school. There was uncertainty over whether this policy would be extended, and on Feb. 3 the California Department of Health finally announced that the state’s schoolkids would not now have to get a COVID vaccine, and that the department was “not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccinations,” adding, “but we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization for students and staff to keep everyone safer in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the policy itself originated from the state Department of Public Health, it wasn’t itself affected directly by California’s emergency declaration being lifted. But early this month, just before the change was announced, state public health officials told EdSource in an email that the end of California’s state of emergency \u003ci>was\u003c/i> \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-ends-plans-for-kids-covid-vaccine-mandate/685077?campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20230203&instance_id=84396&nl=california-today®i_id=79933371&segment_id=124294&te=1&user_id=730d7bc2f6e57d075af70f58c76999e6\">effectively going to end any plan to add COVID vaccinations to the required-vaccines list for schoolchildren\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>CalFresh is ending extra payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During the pandemic, folks using CalFresh — California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits program for lower-income families — have been receiving extra funds, called “emergency allotments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This increase was at least $95 in CalFresh benefits per month. But \u003ca href=\"https://cdss.ca.gov/calfreshcovid19\">these extra CalFresh funds will now cease on Feb. 28\u003c/a> — not because they’re tied to California’s state of emergency, but because of the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which ends the pandemic-era release of these extra funds to households across the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Medi-Cal will no longer automatically renew enrollment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When COVID hit, Congress signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201/text\">a bill that required Medicaid programs around the U.S. — known as Medi-Cal in California — to keep their members continuously enrolled\u003c/a>, in exchange for higher federal funding. This has meant that during the pandemic, Medi-Cal has not been permitted to drop people who would otherwise not qualify for the program if they tried to sign up fresh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, the same act that means the end of CalFresh’s extra payments (see above) is bringing an end to the Medi-Cal requirement to automatically renew its members. This means that starting in April, \u003ca href=\"https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/medicaid-unwinding-coverage-loss-california-post-pandemic/\">the state will begin to remove folks who no longer qualify\u003c/a> — and require Medi-Cal members to manually renew their coverage, which they haven’t had to do for the last few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 15 million Californians are enrolled in Medi-Cal, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/PHE-UOP/Medi-Cal-COVID-19-PHE-Unwinding-Plan.pdf\">the state forecasts that up to 3 million people could lose their coverage (PDF)\u003c/a> if they fail to reenroll or no longer qualify. If you’re on Medi-Cal, the state recommends that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Pages/Keep-Your-Medi-Cal.aspx\">make sure Medi-Cal has your up-to-date contact details\u003c/a>, sign up for email and text alerts and watch for the renewal form hitting your mailbox in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated. An earlier version of this story was published on Feb. 15.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "When Mpox Hit, Community Clinics Stepped In. Why Hasn't the Government Paid Them Back Yet?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Seven months ago, California battled its second widespread infectious disease outbreak in as many years — \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2022-who-recommends-new-name-for-monkeypox-disease#:~:text=Following%20a%20series%20of%20consultations,%E2%80%9Cmonkeypox%E2%80%9D%20is%20phased%20out.\">mpox, formerly referred to as monkeypox\u003c/a>. Cases spread exponentially, primarily among the state’s male LGBTQ population, and officials \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/08/california-monkeypox-2/\">struggled to roll out limited vaccine supplies\u003c/a> from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community clinics and LGBTQ health centers opened mass mpox vaccination sites as quickly as possible and clamored for assistance from local and legislative leaders, but oftentimes \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/08/california-monkeypox/\">red tape at both the federal and state levels\u003c/a> hampered a speedy response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11920455,news_11926465,news_11921709\"]Today, as the federal government ends its mpox state of emergency, those clinics say bureaucracy is once again standing in the way. State and federal reimbursement for services — potentially in the millions of dollars — has not been approved and likely won’t be for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not clear what the holdup is,” said Craig Pulsipher, former associate director of government affairs at APLA Health, a clinic in Los Angeles specializing in LGBTQ populations. APLA Health administered more than 4,000 vaccines and was one of the largest vaccinators in the city. It received an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DOA/CDPH%20Document%20Library/MPX-CBO-Grant-RFA-Awardees_ADA.pdf\">$83,000 grant for mpox work (PDF)\u003c/a> from the state Office of AIDS, but dedicated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to vaccination and shifted funding from other programs to the response effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature released \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-will-pour-money-into-fight-against-17405442.php\">$41 million in emergency funding\u003c/a> for mpox response efforts last year, half of which has stayed with the state Department of Public Health. Approximately $1.4 million went to community organizations helping directly with vaccine efforts, but organizations say it’s not nearly enough to cover their costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the vaccine itself was given to states free-of-charge from the federal stockpile, community organizations dispensing the shots still had to invest staff time, equipment and other resources to respond. Typically, shots and other minor procedures are billed as part of a “provider visit,” but that requires being seen by a doctor, which doesn’t happen during the kind of mass vaccine drives that became commonplace for COVID-19 and mpox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the state must \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/Documents/SPA-22-0062-Pending.pdf\">petition the federal government (PDF)\u003c/a> to use Medi-Cal dollars for standalone vaccine reimbursement to try to recoup some of the labor expenses. Medi-Cal is the state’s insurance program for patients with lower incomes, and it’s funded through state and federal dollars.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Dr. Ward Carpenter, chief health officer, Los Angeles LGBT Center\"]'The virus isn't gone. It's not surging right now, but it's not gone, so we're at risk of a resurgence.'[/pullquote]“This was everything we did for probably three months,” said Dr. Ward Carpenter, chief health officer with the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “We were barely able to keep our urgent care visits open for non-mpox related things. ... It was at least as busy as the early days of COVID if not more so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The LGBT Center doled out more than 6,500 vaccines, Carpenter said, and has more than $500,000 in outstanding expenses. It received an $116,000 mpox grant from the AIDS office in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, California’s Department of Health Care Services submitted a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/Documents/SPA-22-0062-Pending.pdf\">request for reimbursement (PDF)\u003c/a>. Shortly after, members of California’s Congressional delegation, led by Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://gomez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2698\">sent a letter\u003c/a> to the U.S. Health and Human Services branch urging timely approval of the request. Community clinics, which often serve as safety nets for underrepresented patients and those with lower incomes, have little financial wiggle room and already had to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2022/03/california-covid-vaccines-community-clinics-payment/\">wait two years for COVID-19 payment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your rapid and urgent attention to these requests will help to ensure that critical providers and community clinics in our districts are able to continue their vital work,” the letter read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulsipher said in November that Gomez’s office asked APLA Health if additional pressure on federal partners would be helpful, but the organization turned him down at the time because state officials were confident the approval was coming soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we heard from [the state Department of Health Care Services] was they were moving forward and that pressure wouldn’t be needed,” Pulsipher said. “It has yet to be approved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921529\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"People lined up to get the monkeypox vaccine.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of people wait in a walk-in line for an mpox vaccine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The department told CalMatters in a statement that the federal government must approve California’s plan to use Medi-Cal dollars for mpox reimbursement. The federal government sent the state comments and revisions to the plan in December with a 90-day review window, which potentially pushes the timeline for clinics to receive checks past March. Although clinics will eventually be able to ask for payment for services they provided as far back as August, when mpox was at its height, the more time that goes by, the less likely overburdened staff will be able to bill retroactively, Pulsipher said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is extremely time-intensive to go back and submit those claims,” he said. “Some clinics will do that and some probably won’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mpox outbreak today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California reported its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/05/monkeypox-california/\">first mpox case in Sacramento last May\u003c/a>. What began as an isolated travel-related infection quickly ballooned into a statewide outbreak, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">peaked in August at 145 cases in one day\u003c/a>, according to state data. More than 5,700 cases have been reported in California, the most of any state, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=california+monkeypox+deaths&ei=SUTUY5rpG7OfkPIPnZuy4Ao&ved=0ahUKEwjasef32uj8AhWzD0QIHZ2NDKwQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=california+monkeypox+deaths&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBQgAEIYDMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgM6CggAEEcQ1gQQsAM6DQgAEEcQ1gQQyQMQsANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQpAFYpAFg2ANoAXABeACAAWeIAWeSAQMwLjGYAQCgAQHIAQjAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp\">country’s first death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be hard to kind of overstate how frantic and frenetic and all-consuming it was at that point versus now,” Carpenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In stark contrast, there were two cases reported on Jan. 10, the most recent date data was available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although state officials have not set an end date for California’s state of emergency, the Department of Public Health plans to roll routine surveillance and response duties into its Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch and Office of AIDS, according to an unsigned email from its media department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As cases decline, the outbreak comes under control, and the public health components for a robust response are fully operational, there should be no impact to providers, [local health jurisdictions], or patients of ending the state of emergency,” the email said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the end of the emergency does not mean “the end of disease,” Carpenter said. Plenty of LA's LGBT Center patients are vaccinated during routine doctor’s visits, often having been unaware of the outbreak and the need for protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The virus isn’t gone. It’s not surging right now, but it’s not gone, so we’re at risk of a resurgence,” Carpenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulsipher, with APLA Health, said his organization is still working hard to educate and vaccinate Black and Latino patients, who often face the greatest health care barriers — even though the expense for that work will likely never be reimbursed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to remain vigilant,” he said, “to continue outreach and education, continue to reach folks that aren’t vaccinated and to recognize the inequities around vaccine uptake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black and Latino Californians account for \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">58% of all mpox cases but only 33% of all vaccinations\u003c/a>, according to state data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What has become so clear between COVID and mpox is that one person’s poor access to health care affects all of us,” Carpenter said. “That’s, again, why we are not putting these vaccines down and going back to business as usual. Even within our own community we know that we still have a lot more work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Cash-strapped LGBTQ health centers provided thousands of mpox vaccines under a state of emergency, but as cases wane, the promised reimbursements have been mired in red tape.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Seven months ago, California battled its second widespread infectious disease outbreak in as many years — \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2022-who-recommends-new-name-for-monkeypox-disease#:~:text=Following%20a%20series%20of%20consultations,%E2%80%9Cmonkeypox%E2%80%9D%20is%20phased%20out.\">mpox, formerly referred to as monkeypox\u003c/a>. Cases spread exponentially, primarily among the state’s male LGBTQ population, and officials \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/08/california-monkeypox-2/\">struggled to roll out limited vaccine supplies\u003c/a> from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community clinics and LGBTQ health centers opened mass mpox vaccination sites as quickly as possible and clamored for assistance from local and legislative leaders, but oftentimes \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/08/california-monkeypox/\">red tape at both the federal and state levels\u003c/a> hampered a speedy response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Today, as the federal government ends its mpox state of emergency, those clinics say bureaucracy is once again standing in the way. State and federal reimbursement for services — potentially in the millions of dollars — has not been approved and likely won’t be for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not clear what the holdup is,” said Craig Pulsipher, former associate director of government affairs at APLA Health, a clinic in Los Angeles specializing in LGBTQ populations. APLA Health administered more than 4,000 vaccines and was one of the largest vaccinators in the city. It received an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DOA/CDPH%20Document%20Library/MPX-CBO-Grant-RFA-Awardees_ADA.pdf\">$83,000 grant for mpox work (PDF)\u003c/a> from the state Office of AIDS, but dedicated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to vaccination and shifted funding from other programs to the response effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature released \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-will-pour-money-into-fight-against-17405442.php\">$41 million in emergency funding\u003c/a> for mpox response efforts last year, half of which has stayed with the state Department of Public Health. Approximately $1.4 million went to community organizations helping directly with vaccine efforts, but organizations say it’s not nearly enough to cover their costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the vaccine itself was given to states free-of-charge from the federal stockpile, community organizations dispensing the shots still had to invest staff time, equipment and other resources to respond. Typically, shots and other minor procedures are billed as part of a “provider visit,” but that requires being seen by a doctor, which doesn’t happen during the kind of mass vaccine drives that became commonplace for COVID-19 and mpox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the state must \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/Documents/SPA-22-0062-Pending.pdf\">petition the federal government (PDF)\u003c/a> to use Medi-Cal dollars for standalone vaccine reimbursement to try to recoup some of the labor expenses. Medi-Cal is the state’s insurance program for patients with lower incomes, and it’s funded through state and federal dollars.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This was everything we did for probably three months,” said Dr. Ward Carpenter, chief health officer with the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “We were barely able to keep our urgent care visits open for non-mpox related things. ... It was at least as busy as the early days of COVID if not more so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The LGBT Center doled out more than 6,500 vaccines, Carpenter said, and has more than $500,000 in outstanding expenses. It received an $116,000 mpox grant from the AIDS office in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, California’s Department of Health Care Services submitted a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/Documents/SPA-22-0062-Pending.pdf\">request for reimbursement (PDF)\u003c/a>. Shortly after, members of California’s Congressional delegation, led by Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://gomez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2698\">sent a letter\u003c/a> to the U.S. Health and Human Services branch urging timely approval of the request. Community clinics, which often serve as safety nets for underrepresented patients and those with lower incomes, have little financial wiggle room and already had to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2022/03/california-covid-vaccines-community-clinics-payment/\">wait two years for COVID-19 payment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your rapid and urgent attention to these requests will help to ensure that critical providers and community clinics in our districts are able to continue their vital work,” the letter read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulsipher said in November that Gomez’s office asked APLA Health if additional pressure on federal partners would be helpful, but the organization turned him down at the time because state officials were confident the approval was coming soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we heard from [the state Department of Health Care Services] was they were moving forward and that pressure wouldn’t be needed,” Pulsipher said. “It has yet to be approved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11921529\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"People lined up to get the monkeypox vaccine.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/RS57502_007_KQED_MonkeypoxVaccineLineSFGen_08012022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of people wait in a walk-in line for an mpox vaccine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The department told CalMatters in a statement that the federal government must approve California’s plan to use Medi-Cal dollars for mpox reimbursement. The federal government sent the state comments and revisions to the plan in December with a 90-day review window, which potentially pushes the timeline for clinics to receive checks past March. Although clinics will eventually be able to ask for payment for services they provided as far back as August, when mpox was at its height, the more time that goes by, the less likely overburdened staff will be able to bill retroactively, Pulsipher said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is extremely time-intensive to go back and submit those claims,” he said. “Some clinics will do that and some probably won’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mpox outbreak today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California reported its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/05/monkeypox-california/\">first mpox case in Sacramento last May\u003c/a>. What began as an isolated travel-related infection quickly ballooned into a statewide outbreak, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">peaked in August at 145 cases in one day\u003c/a>, according to state data. More than 5,700 cases have been reported in California, the most of any state, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=california+monkeypox+deaths&ei=SUTUY5rpG7OfkPIPnZuy4Ao&ved=0ahUKEwjasef32uj8AhWzD0QIHZ2NDKwQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=california+monkeypox+deaths&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBQgAEIYDMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgM6CggAEEcQ1gQQsAM6DQgAEEcQ1gQQyQMQsANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQpAFYpAFg2ANoAXABeACAAWeIAWeSAQMwLjGYAQCgAQHIAQjAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp\">country’s first death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be hard to kind of overstate how frantic and frenetic and all-consuming it was at that point versus now,” Carpenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In stark contrast, there were two cases reported on Jan. 10, the most recent date data was available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although state officials have not set an end date for California’s state of emergency, the Department of Public Health plans to roll routine surveillance and response duties into its Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch and Office of AIDS, according to an unsigned email from its media department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As cases decline, the outbreak comes under control, and the public health components for a robust response are fully operational, there should be no impact to providers, [local health jurisdictions], or patients of ending the state of emergency,” the email said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the end of the emergency does not mean “the end of disease,” Carpenter said. Plenty of LA's LGBT Center patients are vaccinated during routine doctor’s visits, often having been unaware of the outbreak and the need for protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The virus isn’t gone. It’s not surging right now, but it’s not gone, so we’re at risk of a resurgence,” Carpenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulsipher, with APLA Health, said his organization is still working hard to educate and vaccinate Black and Latino patients, who often face the greatest health care barriers — even though the expense for that work will likely never be reimbursed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to remain vigilant,” he said, “to continue outreach and education, continue to reach folks that aren’t vaccinated and to recognize the inequities around vaccine uptake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black and Latino Californians account for \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">58% of all mpox cases but only 33% of all vaccinations\u003c/a>, according to state data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What has become so clear between COVID and mpox is that one person’s poor access to health care affects all of us,” Carpenter said. “That’s, again, why we are not putting these vaccines down and going back to business as usual. Even within our own community we know that we still have a lot more work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>As unbelievable as it might seem, we're now approaching a fourth year of the COVID pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the coronavirus is still very much with us, navigating life with COVID might feel quite different for you in 2023 than it did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps you're facing new, confusing challenges without clear answers. We'd like to assist with that. So:\u003cstrong> What do you need to know?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might be wondering:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>What's the latest on COVID variants, and how worried should I be?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When might the next round of COVID boosters be here?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>What do we know about long COVID and how it's affecting the Bay Area?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How can people — especially workers — navigate returning to shared indoor spaces, and what kinds of protections still exist?\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>No matter the topic, share your question with us in the Google Form below. You may see your question featured — and answered — on KQED.org, KQED Public Radio or our social media. We've also left space for you to tell us anything you want to share about how COVID has affected your life. You can stay anonymous if you want to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNhCXWDUmb3AeOpu6259r2ivjMlQi8FhfR9Cu_w4pzDAuqaw/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We won't be able to respond to every question personally, but what you share with us will help us make our coverage more useful and relevant to you and the people you know. We always appreciate your time and energy in helping us serve our communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As unbelievable as it might seem, we're now approaching a fourth year of the COVID pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the coronavirus is still very much with us, navigating life with COVID might feel quite different for you in 2023 than it did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps you're facing new, confusing challenges without clear answers. We'd like to assist with that. So:\u003cstrong> What do you need to know?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might be wondering:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>What's the latest on COVID variants, and how worried should I be?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When might the next round of COVID boosters be here?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>What do we know about long COVID and how it's affecting the Bay Area?\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How can people — especially workers — navigate returning to shared indoor spaces, and what kinds of protections still exist?\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>No matter the topic, share your question with us in the Google Form below. You may see your question featured — and answered — on KQED.org, KQED Public Radio or our social media. We've also left space for you to tell us anything you want to share about how COVID has affected your life. You can stay anonymous if you want to.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNhCXWDUmb3AeOpu6259r2ivjMlQi8FhfR9Cu_w4pzDAuqaw/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNhCXWDUmb3AeOpu6259r2ivjMlQi8FhfR9Cu_w4pzDAuqaw/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>We won't be able to respond to every question personally, but what you share with us will help us make our coverage more useful and relevant to you and the people you know. We always appreciate your time and energy in helping us serve our communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Where Can I Find a Bivalent COVID Booster Shot Near Me (Now for Kids Under 5, Too)?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">New Moderna and Pfizer booster shots of the reformulated COVID-19 vaccine are available \u003c/a>— and Bay Area residents are being urged to get boosted ahead of the holidays amid a sharp rise in infection rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The updated booster shots, called bivalent vaccines and sometimes referred to as “the omicron booster,” target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants that have largely evaded previous boosters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">These new booster shots “can help restore protection\u003c/a> that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky when initially authorizing the shots in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"boosterskids\">\u003c/a>Bivalent boosters now authorized for kids under 5\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The latest update: As of Dec. 9, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s1209-covid-vaccine.html\">these boosters are also available for children age 6 months up to 5 years old\u003c/a>. (Bivalent boosters were made available for people age 12 and up in September, and to children age 5 and older in October.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What should you know about finding a bivalent booster for kids under 5?\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find a bivalent COVID booster shot near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A child under 5 who has had three doses of the Pfizer vaccine can’t get a bivalent booster (yet).\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your child is under age 5 and has completed their three-dose primary series with the original (monovalent) Pfizer COVID vaccine, they’re \u003cem>not\u003c/em> eligible for a bivalent booster dose at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Food and Drug Administration’s statement says that’s because “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-updated-bivalent-covid-19-vaccines-children-down-6-months\">children in this age group who already completed their [Pfizer] primary series would still be expected to have protection\u003c/a> against the most serious outcomes from the currently circulating omicron variant.” The agency says it expects “data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose for these children” to arrive in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if a child under 5 has started their Pfizer primary series but hasn’t had all three doses? In that case, the FDA says that child will get the bivalent booster \u003cem>as\u003c/em> their third dose, to replace the previously planned third dose of monovalent vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You won’t find a bivalent booster for kids under 3 at a pharmacy.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state says that pharmacies aren’t authorized to vaccinate children age 2 and under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that unless your child is age 3 or older, you won’t be able to get their updated booster (or any COVID shot) at a pharmacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exception to this is CVS’s MinuteClinics, which are staffed by providers who \u003cem>can\u003c/em> administer a COVID booster or primary series vaccine to kids age 18 months and older. But CVS’s regular pharmacies will only offer a bivalent booster to kids age 5 and older (not 3, like other pharmacies).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that if your child is between 6 months and 18 months, you’ll need to find a bivalent booster appointment for them through My Turn, through your county or through your pediatrician instead of at a pharmacy. \u003ca href=\"#where\">Jump to how you can make an appointment for a bivalent COVID booster shot.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kids under 5 should stay with the vaccine brand they initially received (for now).\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, \u003ca href=\"#mix\">“mixing and match” the new COVID boosters \u003c/a>(that is, receiving a different vaccine brand for your bivalent booster from the one you got for your primary vaccine series) has been deemed fine for other age groups. But the CDC’s statement authorizing these boosters recommends that children under 5 get the \u003cem>same\u003c/em> brand for their booster:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Children ages 6 months through 5 years who previously completed a Moderna primary series are eligible to receive a Moderna bivalent booster 2 months after their final primary series dose. Children ages 6 months through 4 years who are currently completing a Pfizer primary series will receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>This means that in \u003ca href=\"#where\">making an appointment for the bivalent COVID booster shot for a child under age 5\u003c/a>, you’ll need to be extra-certain that the pharmacy or clinic is offering the vaccine brand you need. You may find that certain locations are low on supply of a particular brand, or are awaiting shipments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Booster appointments for kids under 5 may take a while to become available.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the most recently approved age group authorized to receive these updated omicron boosters, you may find that not all pharmacies are offering appointments yet for this age group. \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">The state’s My Turn website\u003c/a> can also be slow to provide scheduling options for a newly approved age group. If one pharmacy chain or clinic or website isn’t offering the appointments you’re seeking, you may have to look at other locations if you’re looking for a shot ASAP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read more about\u003ca href=\"#where\"> where you can find a bivalent COVID booster shot \u003c/a>for a child age 6 months to 5 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Officials: Get your booster now\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Uptake on the bivalent booster has been relatively low, despite the shots being available for over three months. According to the state’s data, \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">only 18% of eligible Californians have received their updated omicron booster\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11935447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1633px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11935447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1633\" height=\"830\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates.png 1633w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-800x407.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-1020x518.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-160x81.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-1536x781.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1633px) 100vw, 1633px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: California Department of Public Health (data as of Dec. 13, 2022) \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The calls for increased awareness around bivalent booster shots comes as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/22/1137649962/experts-are-concerned-thanksgiving-gatherings-could-accelerate-a-tripledemic\">the United States experiences a so-called “tripledemic” of respiratory viruses\u003c/a>: COVID, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11925585/when-should-you-get-your-2022-flu-shot#flushotnearme\">Find out where to get a flu shot near you\u003c/a>, with our without insurance. There is currently no vaccine for RSV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 6, public health officials in Santa Clara County urged residents to seek out not just the updated bivalent booster but also their flu shot. In a statement, county officials noted a “sharp increase” in COVID levels detected in wastewater by the county’s monitoring program, calling the numbers “a stark reminder for everyone eligible to get vaccinated against both flu and COVID as soon as possible, especially in advance of the holidays.” For context, county officials noted that COVID levels in the particular Palo Alto sewer shed were “higher than they were in January 2022, at the height of the Omicron surge last winter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara officials also noted the “steady rise” of hospitalized patients who were COVID-positive, rising from 98 cases on Nov. 1 to 218 cases by Dec. 2 in Santa Clara County alone. Dr. Sara Cody, health officer and director of public health for the county of Santa Clara, called the most recent COVID surge “not unexpected,” in the context of previous surges over the winter holidays in 2020 and 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to encouraging residents to seek out their bivalent COVID booster and their flu shot, Cody also noted that Santa Clara public health officials “continue to strongly recommend testing before gathering and wearing a mask indoors in public settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin has the highest bivalent booster uptake in the Bay Area so far, while Solano has the lowest rates locally. Check \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">what percentage of people in your county have got their bivalent booster\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#eligiblebooster\">Who is eligible for new COVID boosters?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mix\">Can I “mix and match” the new COVID boosters?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find the new COVID booster shot near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the new COVID booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna. And remember, whichever shot you get, all COVID vaccinations are free, with or without health insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You also will not be asked about your immigration status or be required to show any proof of citizenship. \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge/public-charge-resources\">Getting a COVID vaccine does not make you a public charge\u003c/a> and won’t affect any current or future green card applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember, too: If you work in California for an employer with 26 or more employees, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">you are eligible for up to 80 hours of COVID-related paid sick leave\u003c/a> until Dec. 31. This includes time off to get your updated COVID booster or to recover from any side effects — or to take a family member to get their new COVID booster, or care for them while they recover. The law expires at the end of the month, but if you’re eligible and have begun to claim COVID sick pay on or before the deadline, you can continue claiming this paid leave into January. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">Read more about California’s paid COVID-related leave.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"eligiblebooster\">\u003c/a>Who can get a new omicron COVID booster?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of Dec. 9, anyone age 6 months and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can get an updated COVID booster. But there’s specific guidance for different age groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Children age 6 months to 5 years:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ages 5 and up:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Pfizer booster is available to those age 5 and older who have had their primary vaccination series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Moderna booster is available to people age 6 and older who have had their primary series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People age 12 and older will get a full-sized, adult dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna booster. Kids age 5–11 will get a third of an adult dose for their Pfizer bivalent booster, and a half-sized dose of Moderna’s bivalent booster is on offer for kids age 6–11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/09/01/1120560488/cdc-advisers-back-new-booster-shots-to-fight-omicron\">NPR reports that many vaccine experts are advising that people wait at least four months\u003c/a> since either their last shot or their last COVID infection for the boosters to be most effective. And, of course, with all matters relating to your health, it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best options available to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mix\">\u003c/a>Can I ‘mix and match’ COVID vaccines for my booster shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, everyone except the under-5 age group \u003cem>can\u003c/em> “mix and match” brands, regardless of whether you originally got Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson and Johnson shots for your primary vaccine series or your booster(s) after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, for instance, someone 5 or older who originally got the Moderna vaccine can now get a new booster from either Moderna or Pfizer — and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11890214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting on a large porch lifts up his sleeve as he awaits his vaccine, beside a woman in an orange safety vest preparing the vaccine.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse prepares a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for Jose Luis Sánchez at a clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. The clinic was one of the first in the city to offer ‘supplemental’ third coronavirus shots to people with immunological conditions, according to organizers. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"where\">\u003c/a>Where can I find a new Pfizer or Moderna booster shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t assume you’ll be proactively contacted about getting the new COVID-19 booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that a certain location may only be offering a certain type of new booster, whether that’s Moderna or Pfizer. So be sure that the location you’re walking into or making an appointment for offers the type of vaccine you need or want, particularly if you’re trying to find a bivalent booster for a child. \u003ca href=\"#mix\">Read more about “mixing and matching” COVID vaccine boosters.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also make sure the appointment you schedule for your new booster is at least two months after your last COVID vaccine shot, or your last COVID infection. When you’re making an appointment for a booster shot, you’ll likely be asked for the date of your last COVID vaccine dose or booster dose to ensure you’re not getting your shot too soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"#mix\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11890217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a hand gripping a vaccination card and writing on it with a pen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse marks a coronavirus vaccination card with a third, booster dose of Pfizer, at a vaccine clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through a local pharmacy.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmacies are usually the first place that new booster shots become available. Several pharmacy chains are offering online appointments for them, and some also offer walk-in appointments with no prescheduling required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that pharmacies can’t vaccinate kids under 3, with the exception of CVS MinuteClinics, who are permitted to vaccinate kids as young as 18 months old. \u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-banner-1-link2-coronavirus-vaccine\">CVS COVID-19 vaccine appointments \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier?utm_source=state&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=Covid19&utm_content=Covid19scheduler_CA_2_12_21\">Rite Aid COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt\">Safeway (Albertsons) COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19?ban=covid_vaccine_landing_schedule\">Walgreens COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>, or call (800) WALGREENS/(800) 925-4733\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.costco.com/covid-vaccine.html\">Costco’s COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through My Turn.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">My Turn is the state’s site\u003c/a> for Californians to schedule vaccination appointments, as supplies allow. You can also try to \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/clinic.html\">find walk-in appointments through My Turn\u003c/a>. Bivalent booster appointments for children under 5 are not yet available on My Turn, as of Dec. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">If you visit the My Turn page\u003c/a>, select “Make an Appointment.” My Turn will ask for your information, and the ZIP code or location you’d like to use to search for vaccine appointments. You can give your home location, or input other locations to see which sites might be available farther away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t need to be a resident or a worker in the particular county where your preferred vaccination site is located, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which manages My Turn. So don’t worry if the site suggests appointments in a different county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can’t travel to a clinic for your booster shot because of health or transportation issues, you can note this when registering on My Turn, and a representative from the CDPH is supposed to call you to arrange an in-home visit or transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to find an appointment at a certain location and can’t see it in the search results, try searching on My Turn for that site’s \u003cem>exact\u003c/em> ZIP code, rather than your own. Remember that if you’re not seeing a specific site in the search results, it might just be because of low supply or lack of available appointments. Most of the results may also likely be pharmacy locations, with a handful of public health clinics mixed in, so make sure to look through the list carefully to find your preferred provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My Turn will ask you to provide a cellphone number and an email address. The state says this is so you can use two-factor authentication to confirm your identity and make your appointment, and to prevent bots from automatically scooping up available appointments online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have an email address or a cellphone number, or you have questions, you can call the California COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.-5 p.m PT) and sign up over the phone. Both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Callers needing information in other languages will be connected to a translation service that offers assistance in over 250 languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889661\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11889661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/michigan_shot_gettyimages-1234850852-8f2a1402d5a0ab808313f55bdac52f950c8ad974-scaled-e1632414475184.jpg\" alt=\"Blue-gloved hands administer a vaccine into a shoulder.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Peoples receives his booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during an Oakland County Health Department vaccination clinic at the Southfield Pavilion on Aug. 24, 2021, in Southfield, Michigan. \u003ccite>(Emily Elconin/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through your county.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Visit your county’s public health website \u003c/a>to learn how your county is vaccinating its residents. If the county you work in is different from your county of residence, it’s likely you can get vaccinated in either county. The availability of vaccination appointments in your county will be based on the number of doses it has received from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also sign up to receive notifications via email from your county to be alerted when appointments become available. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Find your Bay Area county in our list.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through your health care provider.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, check with your provider to see whether they can offer you a booster shot. If you don’t have health insurance but get medical care through a city- or county-run provider, you should check with that location to see whether they can offer you the booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to trying to talk with your health care provider directly, check the website of your provider to see whether it’s offering the ability to make appointments, and sign up for their vaccine notifications if that’s an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was originally published on December 6.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "New omicron bivalent booster shots for kids under 5 are now available. Here's where to find an updated COVID booster near you.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">New Moderna and Pfizer booster shots of the reformulated COVID-19 vaccine are available \u003c/a>— and Bay Area residents are being urged to get boosted ahead of the holidays amid a sharp rise in infection rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The updated booster shots, called bivalent vaccines and sometimes referred to as “the omicron booster,” target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants that have largely evaded previous boosters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">These new booster shots “can help restore protection\u003c/a> that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky when initially authorizing the shots in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"boosterskids\">\u003c/a>Bivalent boosters now authorized for kids under 5\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The latest update: As of Dec. 9, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s1209-covid-vaccine.html\">these boosters are also available for children age 6 months up to 5 years old\u003c/a>. (Bivalent boosters were made available for people age 12 and up in September, and to children age 5 and older in October.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What should you know about finding a bivalent booster for kids under 5?\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find a bivalent COVID booster shot near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A child under 5 who has had three doses of the Pfizer vaccine can’t get a bivalent booster (yet).\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your child is under age 5 and has completed their three-dose primary series with the original (monovalent) Pfizer COVID vaccine, they’re \u003cem>not\u003c/em> eligible for a bivalent booster dose at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Food and Drug Administration’s statement says that’s because “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-updated-bivalent-covid-19-vaccines-children-down-6-months\">children in this age group who already completed their [Pfizer] primary series would still be expected to have protection\u003c/a> against the most serious outcomes from the currently circulating omicron variant.” The agency says it expects “data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose for these children” to arrive in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if a child under 5 has started their Pfizer primary series but hasn’t had all three doses? In that case, the FDA says that child will get the bivalent booster \u003cem>as\u003c/em> their third dose, to replace the previously planned third dose of monovalent vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You won’t find a bivalent booster for kids under 3 at a pharmacy.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state says that pharmacies aren’t authorized to vaccinate children age 2 and under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that unless your child is age 3 or older, you won’t be able to get their updated booster (or any COVID shot) at a pharmacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exception to this is CVS’s MinuteClinics, which are staffed by providers who \u003cem>can\u003c/em> administer a COVID booster or primary series vaccine to kids age 18 months and older. But CVS’s regular pharmacies will only offer a bivalent booster to kids age 5 and older (not 3, like other pharmacies).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that if your child is between 6 months and 18 months, you’ll need to find a bivalent booster appointment for them through My Turn, through your county or through your pediatrician instead of at a pharmacy. \u003ca href=\"#where\">Jump to how you can make an appointment for a bivalent COVID booster shot.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kids under 5 should stay with the vaccine brand they initially received (for now).\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, \u003ca href=\"#mix\">“mixing and match” the new COVID boosters \u003c/a>(that is, receiving a different vaccine brand for your bivalent booster from the one you got for your primary vaccine series) has been deemed fine for other age groups. But the CDC’s statement authorizing these boosters recommends that children under 5 get the \u003cem>same\u003c/em> brand for their booster:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Children ages 6 months through 5 years who previously completed a Moderna primary series are eligible to receive a Moderna bivalent booster 2 months after their final primary series dose. Children ages 6 months through 4 years who are currently completing a Pfizer primary series will receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>This means that in \u003ca href=\"#where\">making an appointment for the bivalent COVID booster shot for a child under age 5\u003c/a>, you’ll need to be extra-certain that the pharmacy or clinic is offering the vaccine brand you need. You may find that certain locations are low on supply of a particular brand, or are awaiting shipments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Booster appointments for kids under 5 may take a while to become available.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the most recently approved age group authorized to receive these updated omicron boosters, you may find that not all pharmacies are offering appointments yet for this age group. \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">The state’s My Turn website\u003c/a> can also be slow to provide scheduling options for a newly approved age group. If one pharmacy chain or clinic or website isn’t offering the appointments you’re seeking, you may have to look at other locations if you’re looking for a shot ASAP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read more about\u003ca href=\"#where\"> where you can find a bivalent COVID booster shot \u003c/a>for a child age 6 months to 5 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Officials: Get your booster now\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Uptake on the bivalent booster has been relatively low, despite the shots being available for over three months. According to the state’s data, \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">only 18% of eligible Californians have received their updated omicron booster\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11935447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1633px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11935447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1633\" height=\"830\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates.png 1633w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-800x407.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-1020x518.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-160x81.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/Bivalent-Booster-Rates-1536x781.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1633px) 100vw, 1633px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: California Department of Public Health (data as of Dec. 13, 2022) \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The calls for increased awareness around bivalent booster shots comes as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/22/1137649962/experts-are-concerned-thanksgiving-gatherings-could-accelerate-a-tripledemic\">the United States experiences a so-called “tripledemic” of respiratory viruses\u003c/a>: COVID, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11925585/when-should-you-get-your-2022-flu-shot#flushotnearme\">Find out where to get a flu shot near you\u003c/a>, with our without insurance. There is currently no vaccine for RSV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 6, public health officials in Santa Clara County urged residents to seek out not just the updated bivalent booster but also their flu shot. In a statement, county officials noted a “sharp increase” in COVID levels detected in wastewater by the county’s monitoring program, calling the numbers “a stark reminder for everyone eligible to get vaccinated against both flu and COVID as soon as possible, especially in advance of the holidays.” For context, county officials noted that COVID levels in the particular Palo Alto sewer shed were “higher than they were in January 2022, at the height of the Omicron surge last winter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara officials also noted the “steady rise” of hospitalized patients who were COVID-positive, rising from 98 cases on Nov. 1 to 218 cases by Dec. 2 in Santa Clara County alone. Dr. Sara Cody, health officer and director of public health for the county of Santa Clara, called the most recent COVID surge “not unexpected,” in the context of previous surges over the winter holidays in 2020 and 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to encouraging residents to seek out their bivalent COVID booster and their flu shot, Cody also noted that Santa Clara public health officials “continue to strongly recommend testing before gathering and wearing a mask indoors in public settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin has the highest bivalent booster uptake in the Bay Area so far, while Solano has the lowest rates locally. Check \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">what percentage of people in your county have got their bivalent booster\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#eligiblebooster\">Who is eligible for new COVID boosters?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mix\">Can I “mix and match” the new COVID boosters?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#where\">Where can I find the new COVID booster shot near me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the new COVID booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna. And remember, whichever shot you get, all COVID vaccinations are free, with or without health insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You also will not be asked about your immigration status or be required to show any proof of citizenship. \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge/public-charge-resources\">Getting a COVID vaccine does not make you a public charge\u003c/a> and won’t affect any current or future green card applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember, too: If you work in California for an employer with 26 or more employees, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">you are eligible for up to 80 hours of COVID-related paid sick leave\u003c/a> until Dec. 31. This includes time off to get your updated COVID booster or to recover from any side effects — or to take a family member to get their new COVID booster, or care for them while they recover. The law expires at the end of the month, but if you’re eligible and have begun to claim COVID sick pay on or before the deadline, you can continue claiming this paid leave into January. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11904834/covid-sick-pay-in-california-how-to-claim-this-new-paid-leave\">Read more about California’s paid COVID-related leave.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"eligiblebooster\">\u003c/a>Who can get a new omicron COVID booster?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of Dec. 9, anyone age 6 months and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can get an updated COVID booster. But there’s specific guidance for different age groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Children age 6 months to 5 years:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ages 5 and up:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Pfizer booster is available to those age 5 and older who have had their primary vaccination series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Moderna booster is available to people age 6 and older who have had their primary series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People age 12 and older will get a full-sized, adult dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna booster. Kids age 5–11 will get a third of an adult dose for their Pfizer bivalent booster, and a half-sized dose of Moderna’s bivalent booster is on offer for kids age 6–11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/09/01/1120560488/cdc-advisers-back-new-booster-shots-to-fight-omicron\">NPR reports that many vaccine experts are advising that people wait at least four months\u003c/a> since either their last shot or their last COVID infection for the boosters to be most effective. And, of course, with all matters relating to your health, it’s best to speak directly to your health care provider about the best options available to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mix\">\u003c/a>Can I ‘mix and match’ COVID vaccines for my booster shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, everyone except the under-5 age group \u003cem>can\u003c/em> “mix and match” brands, regardless of whether you originally got Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson and Johnson shots for your primary vaccine series or your booster(s) after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, for instance, someone 5 or older who originally got the Moderna vaccine can now get a new booster from either Moderna or Pfizer — and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11890214\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting on a large porch lifts up his sleeve as he awaits his vaccine, beside a woman in an orange safety vest preparing the vaccine.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768670-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse prepares a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for Jose Luis Sánchez at a clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. The clinic was one of the first in the city to offer ‘supplemental’ third coronavirus shots to people with immunological conditions, according to organizers. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"where\">\u003c/a>Where can I find a new Pfizer or Moderna booster shot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t assume you’ll be proactively contacted about getting the new COVID-19 booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that a certain location may only be offering a certain type of new booster, whether that’s Moderna or Pfizer. So be sure that the location you’re walking into or making an appointment for offers the type of vaccine you need or want, particularly if you’re trying to find a bivalent booster for a child. \u003ca href=\"#mix\">Read more about “mixing and matching” COVID vaccine boosters.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also make sure the appointment you schedule for your new booster is at least two months after your last COVID vaccine shot, or your last COVID infection. When you’re making an appointment for a booster shot, you’ll likely be asked for the date of your last COVID vaccine dose or booster dose to ensure you’re not getting your shot too soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11890217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"#mix\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11890217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a hand gripping a vaccination card and writing on it with a pen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1234768450-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nurse marks a coronavirus vaccination card with a third, booster dose of Pfizer, at a vaccine clinic in Pasadena, on Aug. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through a local pharmacy.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmacies are usually the first place that new booster shots become available. Several pharmacy chains are offering online appointments for them, and some also offer walk-in appointments with no prescheduling required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember that pharmacies can’t vaccinate kids under 3, with the exception of CVS MinuteClinics, who are permitted to vaccinate kids as young as 18 months old. \u003ca href=\"#boosterskids\">Jump to more information about bivalent boosters for children under 5.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-banner-1-link2-coronavirus-vaccine\">CVS COVID-19 vaccine appointments \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier?utm_source=state&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=Covid19&utm_content=Covid19scheduler_CA_2_12_21\">Rite Aid COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt\">Safeway (Albertsons) COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19?ban=covid_vaccine_landing_schedule\">Walgreens COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>, or call (800) WALGREENS/(800) 925-4733\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.costco.com/covid-vaccine.html\">Costco’s COVID-19 vaccine appointments\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through My Turn.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">My Turn is the state’s site\u003c/a> for Californians to schedule vaccination appointments, as supplies allow. You can also try to \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/clinic.html\">find walk-in appointments through My Turn\u003c/a>. Bivalent booster appointments for children under 5 are not yet available on My Turn, as of Dec. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">If you visit the My Turn page\u003c/a>, select “Make an Appointment.” My Turn will ask for your information, and the ZIP code or location you’d like to use to search for vaccine appointments. You can give your home location, or input other locations to see which sites might be available farther away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t need to be a resident or a worker in the particular county where your preferred vaccination site is located, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which manages My Turn. So don’t worry if the site suggests appointments in a different county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can’t travel to a clinic for your booster shot because of health or transportation issues, you can note this when registering on My Turn, and a representative from the CDPH is supposed to call you to arrange an in-home visit or transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to find an appointment at a certain location and can’t see it in the search results, try searching on My Turn for that site’s \u003cem>exact\u003c/em> ZIP code, rather than your own. Remember that if you’re not seeing a specific site in the search results, it might just be because of low supply or lack of available appointments. Most of the results may also likely be pharmacy locations, with a handful of public health clinics mixed in, so make sure to look through the list carefully to find your preferred provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My Turn will ask you to provide a cellphone number and an email address. The state says this is so you can use two-factor authentication to confirm your identity and make your appointment, and to prevent bots from automatically scooping up available appointments online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have an email address or a cellphone number, or you have questions, you can call the California COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.-5 p.m PT) and sign up over the phone. Both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Callers needing information in other languages will be connected to a translation service that offers assistance in over 250 languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889661\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11889661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/michigan_shot_gettyimages-1234850852-8f2a1402d5a0ab808313f55bdac52f950c8ad974-scaled-e1632414475184.jpg\" alt=\"Blue-gloved hands administer a vaccine into a shoulder.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Peoples receives his booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during an Oakland County Health Department vaccination clinic at the Southfield Pavilion on Aug. 24, 2021, in Southfield, Michigan. \u003ccite>(Emily Elconin/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through your county.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Visit your county’s public health website \u003c/a>to learn how your county is vaccinating its residents. If the county you work in is different from your county of residence, it’s likely you can get vaccinated in either county. The availability of vaccination appointments in your county will be based on the number of doses it has received from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also sign up to receive notifications via email from your county to be alerted when appointments become available. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered#county\">Find your Bay Area county in our list.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Find a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot through your health care provider.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, check with your provider to see whether they can offer you a booster shot. If you don’t have health insurance but get medical care through a city- or county-run provider, you should check with that location to see whether they can offer you the booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to trying to talk with your health care provider directly, check the website of your provider to see whether it’s offering the ability to make appointments, and sign up for their vaccine notifications if that’s an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was originally published on December 6.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "covid-19-flu-and-rsv-why-families-need-a-plan-for-thanksgiving-and-beyond",
"title": "COVID-19, Flu and RSV: Why Families Need a Plan for Thanksgiving and Beyond",
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"headTitle": "COVID-19, Flu and RSV: Why Families Need a Plan for Thanksgiving and Beyond | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As Thanksgiving fast approaches and the holiday season gets underway, California public health leaders are urging folks to bolster protections against a triple threat of respiratory viruses: RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), flu and COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In every category that we track — whether it’s test positivity, case rate numbers, wastewater surveillance, hospitalizations — we’re seeing increases for RSV, flu and COVID,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services, during a news conference last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Ghaly, COVID transmission — both in test positivity and case rates — was up by 25% over the past one to two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is further compounded by an alarming uptick in cases of flu and RSV, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980524/bay-area-childrens-hospitals-strained-as-rsv-surge-arrives\">a respiratory virus that primarily affects infants and has been straining hospitals across the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another concerning statewide trend? The vaccine uptake for the bivalent booster is low. \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">Only around 16% of eligible Californians have gotten a second booster.\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[aside postID='news_11924327,news_11914514' label='Resources for staying safe this holiday season']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are kind of tired of talking about getting boosted, and this is another reason why we need to talk about this,” said Dr. Kavita Trivedi, communicable disease controller for Alameda County’s public health department. “We know that these boosters are still really good at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with rapid testing and the expansion of treatment options like Paxlovid, boosters can help lower the risk of gathering together, said Dr. Mychi Nguyen, chief medical officer at Asian Health Services, a community health provider with sites across Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would tell folks, ‘Have a plan,'” for gathering over the holidays, she said. “It’s very important to make one before, during and after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen talked with KQED’s Brian Watt about how to reduce the health risks of gathering this Thanksgiving — for yourself and your loved ones. Keep reading for the highlights of their conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BRIAN WATT: Are you concerned hospitals and clinics will be overwhelmed in the coming weeks?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DR. MYCHI NGUYEN:\u003c/strong> As we’re approaching the holiday season, we do expect respiratory viruses to increase as people gather with their loved ones and celebrate more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that both flu and RSV are circulating earlier this year, with right now not a lot of folks getting boosters or their flu shots. And with the workforce shortage, we’re seeing that hospitals are getting overwhelmed with the number of cases.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Dr. Mychi Nguyen, chief medical officer, Asian Health Services\"]‘I would say ‘yes’ to celebrating — with some precautions.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003cstrong>Given all this, is it a good idea for folks to be getting together for Thanksgiving — in the way we’re used to doing that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would say “yes” to celebrating — with some precautions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would recommend that folks get tested the morning of, if you’re going to have a holiday dinner. And limit your interactions with folks the weeks and days coming up for the holidays. Something that you may consider is limiting your interactions in crowds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that in California — in the Bay Area in particular — if you can have good weather, dine outdoors if possible. Or if it is indoors, have really good ventilation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even despite your best efforts, if someone does get ill or if you have symptoms, then make sure that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11914514/if-you-get-covid-should-you-try-to-get-paxlovid-heres-how-with-or-without-health-insurance\">get tested right away and seek treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is COVID testing something you should factor into a plan?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, you don’t want to be the dreaded spreader, especially to a vulnerable loved one. So I would recommend testing the day of or the morning of, if you’re going to gather later that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will allow for folks who do test positive to know right away — even if you don’t have symptoms — to know to stay home, and probably join in via Zoom, or other ways. And if you’re \u003cem>having\u003c/em> symptoms, if you’re feeling ill, definitely stay home and don’t gather and find other ways to celebrate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you do get infected with COVID, tell us more about the treatment options.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As soon as you have symptoms, it is important to test right away, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11914514/if-you-get-covid-should-you-try-to-get-paxlovid-heres-how-with-or-without-health-insurance\">if you are positive, it’s important to seek treatment\u003c/a>. Most adults and some children 12 years and above are eligible. And a lot of folks do not know that they’re eligible for treatment.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Dr. Mychi Nguyen, chief medical officer, Asian Health Services\"]‘You don’t want to be the dreaded spreader, especially to a vulnerable loved one. So I would recommend testing the day of or the morning of, if you’re going to gather later that day.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>Treatment and the medications can prevent risk of hospitalizations and death up to 88%. You must act quickly for the effectiveness to take. It’s usually within the first five to seven days of symptom onset. Treatment is free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How useful is it to get boosted right before the holidays? Are we talking about some immediate protection if someone goes and gets boosted right away?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Full immunity will occur in about two weeks. So really, as we’re approaching the holidays, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924327/where-can-i-find-a-new-omicron-covid-booster-shot-near-me\">getting vaccinated as soon as possible is very important\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You mentioned not a lot of folks have gotten their booster. Do you get this sense as well that there is vaccine fatigue?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a sense of vaccine fatigue that I’m seeing in the clinic. One of the things that I do [with patients] is exploring \u003cem>why\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the concerns are perhaps side effects. And so I would ask them what happened at their previous vaccination, and we would talk about making a plan if there’s some pain or a fever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually those symptoms last for a couple days. We tell folks that getting COVID creates potentially more illness and [they] also [could] develop long COVID. And so the short-term benefits outweigh a lot of getting sick from COVID long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is it concerning that you’re still hearing some of this hesitation as we enter the third year of this pandemic?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is concerning. One thing that we know is that COVID is still with us. It is something that we are learning to live with, and it is very different from before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are in a much better place with vaccines, with testing, with treatment and really getting that information out there. Those strategies should continue to be strategies that help to fight against COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you get the word out at this moment about the importance of getting the bivalent booster? What is this outreach looking like on the ground?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Asian Health Services, we serve patients in English and 14 Asian languages. And we know that if folks do not have access in language, it is very, very difficult to even get testing, or vaccinations, or treatment or to learn how to prevent or take care of themselves if they do get sick. So we really provide that cultural competency, that language outreach in different ethnic media. We send patient newsletters. We go and do outreach into the community, and make sure that websites are translated into the different languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing we also know is that in addition to the language barrier, there is a digital divide. Anyone who has helped a family member navigate online accounts or get to a website knows that if you are not tech-savvy, you can get left behind in terms of accessing a lot of these resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As Thanksgiving fast approaches and the holiday season gets underway, California public health leaders are urging folks to bolster protections against a triple threat of respiratory viruses: RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), flu and COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In every category that we track — whether it’s test positivity, case rate numbers, wastewater surveillance, hospitalizations — we’re seeing increases for RSV, flu and COVID,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services, during a news conference last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Ghaly, COVID transmission — both in test positivity and case rates — was up by 25% over the past one to two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is further compounded by an alarming uptick in cases of flu and RSV, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980524/bay-area-childrens-hospitals-strained-as-rsv-surge-arrives\">a respiratory virus that primarily affects infants and has been straining hospitals across the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another concerning statewide trend? The vaccine uptake for the bivalent booster is low. \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/#overview\">Only around 16% of eligible Californians have gotten a second booster.\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are kind of tired of talking about getting boosted, and this is another reason why we need to talk about this,” said Dr. Kavita Trivedi, communicable disease controller for Alameda County’s public health department. “We know that these boosters are still really good at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with rapid testing and the expansion of treatment options like Paxlovid, boosters can help lower the risk of gathering together, said Dr. Mychi Nguyen, chief medical officer at Asian Health Services, a community health provider with sites across Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would tell folks, ‘Have a plan,'” for gathering over the holidays, she said. “It’s very important to make one before, during and after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen talked with KQED’s Brian Watt about how to reduce the health risks of gathering this Thanksgiving — for yourself and your loved ones. Keep reading for the highlights of their conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BRIAN WATT: Are you concerned hospitals and clinics will be overwhelmed in the coming weeks?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DR. MYCHI NGUYEN:\u003c/strong> As we’re approaching the holiday season, we do expect respiratory viruses to increase as people gather with their loved ones and celebrate more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that both flu and RSV are circulating earlier this year, with right now not a lot of folks getting boosters or their flu shots. And with the workforce shortage, we’re seeing that hospitals are getting overwhelmed with the number of cases.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003cstrong>Given all this, is it a good idea for folks to be getting together for Thanksgiving — in the way we’re used to doing that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would say “yes” to celebrating — with some precautions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would recommend that folks get tested the morning of, if you’re going to have a holiday dinner. And limit your interactions with folks the weeks and days coming up for the holidays. Something that you may consider is limiting your interactions in crowds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that in California — in the Bay Area in particular — if you can have good weather, dine outdoors if possible. Or if it is indoors, have really good ventilation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even despite your best efforts, if someone does get ill or if you have symptoms, then make sure that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11914514/if-you-get-covid-should-you-try-to-get-paxlovid-heres-how-with-or-without-health-insurance\">get tested right away and seek treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is COVID testing something you should factor into a plan?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, you don’t want to be the dreaded spreader, especially to a vulnerable loved one. So I would recommend testing the day of or the morning of, if you’re going to gather later that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will allow for folks who do test positive to know right away — even if you don’t have symptoms — to know to stay home, and probably join in via Zoom, or other ways. And if you’re \u003cem>having\u003c/em> symptoms, if you’re feeling ill, definitely stay home and don’t gather and find other ways to celebrate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you do get infected with COVID, tell us more about the treatment options.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As soon as you have symptoms, it is important to test right away, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11914514/if-you-get-covid-should-you-try-to-get-paxlovid-heres-how-with-or-without-health-insurance\">if you are positive, it’s important to seek treatment\u003c/a>. Most adults and some children 12 years and above are eligible. And a lot of folks do not know that they’re eligible for treatment.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Treatment and the medications can prevent risk of hospitalizations and death up to 88%. You must act quickly for the effectiveness to take. It’s usually within the first five to seven days of symptom onset. Treatment is free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How useful is it to get boosted right before the holidays? Are we talking about some immediate protection if someone goes and gets boosted right away?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Full immunity will occur in about two weeks. So really, as we’re approaching the holidays, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924327/where-can-i-find-a-new-omicron-covid-booster-shot-near-me\">getting vaccinated as soon as possible is very important\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You mentioned not a lot of folks have gotten their booster. Do you get this sense as well that there is vaccine fatigue?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a sense of vaccine fatigue that I’m seeing in the clinic. One of the things that I do [with patients] is exploring \u003cem>why\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the concerns are perhaps side effects. And so I would ask them what happened at their previous vaccination, and we would talk about making a plan if there’s some pain or a fever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually those symptoms last for a couple days. We tell folks that getting COVID creates potentially more illness and [they] also [could] develop long COVID. And so the short-term benefits outweigh a lot of getting sick from COVID long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is it concerning that you’re still hearing some of this hesitation as we enter the third year of this pandemic?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is concerning. One thing that we know is that COVID is still with us. It is something that we are learning to live with, and it is very different from before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are in a much better place with vaccines, with testing, with treatment and really getting that information out there. Those strategies should continue to be strategies that help to fight against COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you get the word out at this moment about the importance of getting the bivalent booster? What is this outreach looking like on the ground?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Asian Health Services, we serve patients in English and 14 Asian languages. And we know that if folks do not have access in language, it is very, very difficult to even get testing, or vaccinations, or treatment or to learn how to prevent or take care of themselves if they do get sick. So we really provide that cultural competency, that language outreach in different ethnic media. We send patient newsletters. We go and do outreach into the community, and make sure that websites are translated into the different languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing we also know is that in addition to the language barrier, there is a digital divide. Anyone who has helped a family member navigate online accounts or get to a website knows that if you are not tech-savvy, you can get left behind in terms of accessing a lot of these resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Teachers and other school staff who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer have to be tested weekly to remain on campuses after this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón rescinded a public health order requiring that all school employees show proof of vaccination or be tested at least weekly. The new policy is effective September 17.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision was made to align state and federal health guidance and because most Californians have been vaccinated against the virus, he said.[aside label='related articles' tag='vaccine']“We’ve entered a phase of the pandemic where the majority of people in these workplace settings are vaccinated, and our youngest Californians are now eligible for vaccination, too, which protects all of our communities against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” Aragón said. “While unvaccinated individuals remain at greatest risk of serious health consequences from COVID-19 infection, weekly testing of unvaccinated groups is no longer slowing the spread as it did earlier in the pandemic due to the more infectious omicron variants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, 80% of California residents 12 years of age and older have had the first two vaccinations that make up the primary series of vaccines, according to a press release from the health department. Just under half have received their first booster. The department did not say how many California residents have had the second booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those high vaccination numbers, omicron subvariants have infected vaccinated as well as unvaccinated people, although vaccinated people are less likely to be infected or to become seriously ill.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Tomás Aragón, California public health officer\"]‘Weekly testing of unvaccinated groups is no longer slowing the spread as it did earlier in the pandemic due to the more infectious omicron variants.’[/pullquote]“Consequently, mandated testing of the small number of unvaccinated workers is not effectively preventing disease transmission as with the original COVID-19 virus and prior variants earlier in the pandemic,” Aragón said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccinations targeting the omicron variant are currently available, and department officials urge California residents to stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and slow the spread of the disease in their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last August, California became \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Order-of-the-State-Public-Health-Officer-Vaccine-Verification-for-Workers-in-Schools.aspx\">the first state in the nation to require all school staff to be fully vaccinated\u003c/a> for COVID-19 or to be tested weekly, although several individual school districts in the state had already instituted that requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision to mandate vaccines for school staff was made after conversations with school districts, labor unions and public health officers, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since the beginning of this pandemic, we’ve relied on science and public health guidance to keep our students and school communities safe,” said Lisa Gardiner, spokesperson for the California Teachers Association, in a statement today. “This moment is no different, as COVID-19 continues to evolve and more students and Californians are now vaccinated. We continue to support local decisions that include the voice and expertise of local educators and families in determining best practices for the safety of school communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/state-lifts-vaccine-mandate-for-school-staff/678020\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"description": "Teachers and other school staff who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer have to be tested weekly to remain on campuses after this week. On Tuesday, State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón rescinded a public health order requiring that all school employees show proof of vaccination or be tested at least weekly. The new policy is effective September 17. The decision was made to align state and federal health guidance and because most Californians have been vaccinated against the virus, he said.“We’ve entered a phase of the pandemic where the majority of people in these workplace",
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"headline": "California Lifts Vaccine Mandate for School Staff",
"datePublished": "2022-09-16T12:30:25-07:00",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/author/dlambert\">Diana Lambert\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Teachers and other school staff who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer have to be tested weekly to remain on campuses after this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón rescinded a public health order requiring that all school employees show proof of vaccination or be tested at least weekly. The new policy is effective September 17.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision was made to align state and federal health guidance and because most Californians have been vaccinated against the virus, he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’ve entered a phase of the pandemic where the majority of people in these workplace settings are vaccinated, and our youngest Californians are now eligible for vaccination, too, which protects all of our communities against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” Aragón said. “While unvaccinated individuals remain at greatest risk of serious health consequences from COVID-19 infection, weekly testing of unvaccinated groups is no longer slowing the spread as it did earlier in the pandemic due to the more infectious omicron variants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, 80% of California residents 12 years of age and older have had the first two vaccinations that make up the primary series of vaccines, according to a press release from the health department. Just under half have received their first booster. The department did not say how many California residents have had the second booster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those high vaccination numbers, omicron subvariants have infected vaccinated as well as unvaccinated people, although vaccinated people are less likely to be infected or to become seriously ill.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Weekly testing of unvaccinated groups is no longer slowing the spread as it did earlier in the pandemic due to the more infectious omicron variants.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Consequently, mandated testing of the small number of unvaccinated workers is not effectively preventing disease transmission as with the original COVID-19 virus and prior variants earlier in the pandemic,” Aragón said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccinations targeting the omicron variant are currently available, and department officials urge California residents to stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and slow the spread of the disease in their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last August, California became \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Order-of-the-State-Public-Health-Officer-Vaccine-Verification-for-Workers-in-Schools.aspx\">the first state in the nation to require all school staff to be fully vaccinated\u003c/a> for COVID-19 or to be tested weekly, although several individual school districts in the state had already instituted that requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision to mandate vaccines for school staff was made after conversations with school districts, labor unions and public health officers, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since the beginning of this pandemic, we’ve relied on science and public health guidance to keep our students and school communities safe,” said Lisa Gardiner, spokesperson for the California Teachers Association, in a statement today. “This moment is no different, as COVID-19 continues to evolve and more students and Californians are now vaccinated. We continue to support local decisions that include the voice and expertise of local educators and families in determining best practices for the safety of school communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/state-lifts-vaccine-mandate-for-school-staff/678020\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "when-should-you-get-your-2022-flu-shot",
"title": "When Should You Get Your 2022 Flu Shot?",
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"headTitle": "When Should You Get Your 2022 Flu Shot? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 21\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim lives across the country, the flu remains a potentially serious threat to your health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#whenflushot\">When should I get my flu shot?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#boosterflushot\">Can I get a COVID booster and my flu shot at the same time?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#highrisk\">Which flu shot should I get if I’m 65 and older, I’m pregnant, or I need a shot for my kids?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#flushotnearme\">Where can I get a flu shot, with or without insurance?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, annually, the flu caused 140,000-710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000-52,000 deaths between 2010 and 2020. But the organization says that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-2021estimates.htm\">in the 2020-2021 flu season, only around half of adults got a flu shot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting a flu vaccine can prevent you from getting sick with the flu, which is a draining, unpleasant experience even if your symptoms are not severe. And if you \u003cem>do\u003c/em> get the flu, having a flu shot can also stop you from getting sick enough to have to go to the hospital (and be exposed to all the COVID risks hospital settings can bring).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC says the flu vaccine also offers other potential health impacts, such as being associated with \u003ca class=\"tp-link-policy\" href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24150467/\" data-domain-ext=\"gov\">lower rates of certain cardiac events\u003c/a> for people who have heart disease. It’s also the best, safest way not only to protect \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> against the influenza virus, but also to minimize the chance you will spread it to others — folks who could be at far higher risk for serious complications or even death if they were to become infected. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm\">Read more from the CDC about what the flu shot can do for you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And read on to find out whether you should be getting your flu shot right now, and where to find free or low-cost flu shot options near you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will this flu season be bad?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s true that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2020-2021.htm\">2020 saw a record-low number of flu cases\u003c/a> — most likely due to widespread mask-wearing, increased hygiene, social distancing and remote work and school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s flu season also “didn’t surge in the numbers that people expected,” said UCSF professor of medicine Dr. Peter Chin-Hong — but “it did drag on for much longer.” Whereas a typical flu season peaks in February, Chin-Hong said that last year’s “went from October of 2021 to June of 2022 — so, a much longer tail than usually we would expect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what about this winter’s flu risks? Chin-Hong said he and other medical professionals are “worried for several reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the lifting of COVID restrictions, there’s the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/australia-flu-season-warning-sign-us-this-year-rcna40123\">Australia has just had its worst flu season in five years\u003c/a>. Because the continent’s winter happens during the United States’ summer, Australia’s flu season is traditionally an indicator of how bad ours might be — and, of concern, it was as “robust as any of the pre-pandemic flu seasons,” said Chin-Hong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Michael Kim, vice president of medical affairs for MarinHealth, echoes these particular worries in the context of the lifting of COVID safety measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we’re all concerned that flu season this year might be particularly severe, especially since people are not masking as much, as well as people haven’t been exposed to flu as much in the last couple of years,” said Kim.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"whenflushot\">\u003c/a>Should I get a flu shot now, or wait?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The recommendations medical professionals make about when to get a flu shot are based on the fact that it takes about two weeks after you get vaccinated for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the flu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This flu season, the CDC says that September and October are “generally good times to be vaccinated against flu,” and that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2022-2023.htm\">ideally, everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11838737\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11838737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2.png 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It takes two weeks after your flu shot for your body to develop the antibodies it needs to protect you from the flu virus. \u003ccite>(Queen's University/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, there’s evidence, says Chin-Hong, that \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28039340/\">your risk of getting the flu increases every month after your flu shot, due to the antibodies waning over time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when medical professionals talk about strategically “waiting” to get a flu shot, they’re aiming that advice at those who are at particularly high risk for more serious complications related to the flu. That includes people over 65, those with chronic medical conditions, people who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, and kids under 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaying inoculations for these populations is based on the idea of getting the shot at a time Chin-Hong calls “the sweet spot,” around mid-to-late October. Two weeks later, right around early November, the antibodies should have developed, just as flu season is getting serious. Think of it as getting the “biggest bang for your buck,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you’re in one of those vulnerable categories? Yes, you can think about waiting, says Chin-Hong. People over 65 might also consider requesting the special flu vaccines for this age group — read more about this below. As with all health matters, if you’re looking for advice, it’s best to consult your health care provider or someone you see regularly for your medical needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what if you’re under 65, not pregnant and don’t have other risk factors for severe flu? If you can truly trust yourself to plan ahead and not forget to make the appointment, “getting it before the end of October is probably the best,” said Chin-Hong. But remember: Not only are you human and it might slip your mind, but predictions about how the flu season might behave are just that — predictions. The timing of this year’s flu season might surprise us, and throw previous notions of a “best time” to get the vaccine into disarray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just like we can’t predict the next COVID surge, we don’t know if influenza will have a different pattern this year,” said Chin-Hong, noting how Australia’s particularly bad flu season started earlier than expected. So take that “October rule” with “a grain of salt,” he advised, and “get it [your flu shot] when you get it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if you plan to get your flu shot in October with the best of intentions, but you still forget? If November 1 comes and goes and you realize you haven’t been vaccinated, all is not lost — since the CDC says that “vaccination after October can still provide protection during the peak of flu season,” which is usually February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, just go get the shot already — whenever that may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11838740\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3.png 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-1020x680.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"boosterflushot\">\u003c/a>Can I get my COVID booster and my flu shot at the same time?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, you can. Ashish Jha, White House COVID response coordinator, went so far in a September 6 briefing as to tell the audience “\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/09/06/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-88/\">I really believe this is why God gave us two arms\u003c/a> — one for the flu shot and the other one for the COVID shot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That “COVID shot” is the newly available COVID booster — that is, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">new Moderna and Pfizer booster shots of the reformulated COVID-19 vaccine\u003c/a>. The updated shots, called bivalent vaccines, target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants that have largely evaded previous boosters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone age 12 and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can now get an updated COVID booster. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924327/where-can-i-find-a-new-omicron-covid-booster-shot-near-me\">Read more about how to find an updated COVID booster near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2022-2023.htm#Flu-Vaccine-and-COVID-19-Vaccine-Coadministration\">The CDC confirms that it’s safe to get both the flu shot and the bivalent COVID booster at the same time\u003c/a> “if you are eligible and the timing coincides.” Several pharmacy chains are prompting those making an online appointment for a bivalent COVID booster to also “add on” a flu shot at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting both shots simultaneously certainly offers you convenience, said Chin-Hong: “It’s one-stop shopping and again: out of sight, out of mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only thing that might give you pause about getting your COVID bivalent booster and your flu shot: If you want to get your booster ASAP, some experts believe that \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/09/doubling-up-on-covid-booster-flu-shot-may-have-downside/\">it might be slightly too early right now to get your flu shot\u003c/a>, considering how immunity from the vaccine wanes. That said, other medical professionals say that \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/09/doubling-up-on-covid-booster-flu-shot-may-have-downside/\">the benefits of folks remembering to actually \u003cem>get\u003c/em> both their booster and their flu shot probably outweigh the downsides\u003c/a>, even if it means the timing of their flu vaccine is a little early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong reiterated that “if you really wanted to optimize” the timing of your flu shot, yes, “sometime in October \u003cem>is\u003c/em> probably the best.” But ultimately, he says that just \u003cem>getting\u003c/em> the shots is better than not getting them at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"highrisk\">\u003c/a>If I have risk factors for severe flu, what kind of flu shot should I get?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re age 65 or older, there’s something new for you to know this flu season: There are now three types of flu vaccines it’s recommended you get, because they’ll be even more effective for you than a regular flu shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong said folks in this age group should seek out these three types of vaccines because you’ll be getting “essentially a high-dose shot” or a vaccine that contains an “adjuvant” — which, in simple terms, “makes the flu shot more powerful in terms of waking up the immune system,” he said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm\">Read more about the three kinds of flu shots available to people age 65 and older.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pregnant people can get a regular flu shot, although there are some types of flu vaccine that are off-limits to pregnant people. The CDC says that getting vaccinated when you’re pregnant will not only help protect you from the flu, but also — if your baby is born during the immunity period — protect your infant in the first few months of their life, when they’re too young to get vaccinated themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This benefit to the baby is also the reason that pregnant people are one of the few groups who might want to consider getting a flu shot \u003cem>early\u003c/em>, instead of waiting — to ensure their baby isn’t left completely unprotected for those first six months after birth, when they can’t get a vaccine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm\">Read more about the benefits of getting a flu shot if you’re pregnant.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children age 6 months and older can get a regular dose of the flu shot. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/children-high-risk.htm\">Flu can be particularly dangerous for kids\u003c/a>, and the CDC says that a 2022 study showed that flu vaccination reduced children’s risk of severe, life-threatening influenza by 75%.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"flushotnearme\">\u003c/a>Where can I get a flu shot if I have insurance?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, a flu shot is available without extra cost as a preventive service from your usual health care provider, or at most pharmacies (see below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a good idea to wear a mask, maintain social distancing wherever possible while waiting for your shot, and dress in a top with sleeves you can easily pull up to your shoulder, to make receiving the injection even easier (and quicker).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Common places to find a flu shot appointment, walk-in site or drive-thru flu shot:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/find-vaccines/\">CDC’s Find Flu Vaccines tool\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/cold-and-flu/prevention#/prevention\">Kaiser Permanente flu shots (Northern California) \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/flu\">CVS flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/topic/pharmacy/seasonal-flu.jsp?ban=flu_fy21_influenzapage\">Walgreens flu shots \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/scheduler\">Rite Aid flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.costco.com/Pharmacy/adult-immunization-program.html\">Costco Pharmacy flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albertsons.com/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/immunizations.html\">Albertsons (Safeway) flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Where can I get a flu shot if I \u003cem>don’t\u003c/em> have health insurance?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you want a flu shot but don’t have health insurance, you can get the vaccine free of charge from several providers and community clinics around the Bay Area. (You can also technically use these free services even if you do have insurance, but you may consider choosing to free up these particular resources for those who are not covered.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your county’s own public health department may also be offering flu shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Places to get a free or low-cost flu shot in the Bay Area include:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcdcp.org/aitc/aitc-regular-prices-low-cost-or-free-vaccines/\">San Francisco Department of Public Health’s AITC clinic\u003c/a> (offers a pay-what-you-can option, and says nobody will be refused for inability to pay)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://cchealth.org/immunization/clinics.php#Uninsured\">Contra Costa Public Health Immunization Clinic\u003c/a> (flu shots are $15 for adults over 19, but fees may be waived if you’re unable to pay)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://acphd.org/clinics/\">Alameda County Immunization Clinics\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>And a reminder … the flu vaccine can’t give you the flu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The virus that the flu shot contains has been inactivated or severely weakened, so \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/misconceptions.htm#:~:text=Can%20a%20flu%20vaccine%20give,protein%20from%20the%20flu%20virus.\">you just aren’t physically able to get the flu from your flu shot\u003c/a>, confirms the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/general.htm#side-effects\">The flu vaccine can cause side effects\u003c/a> like any medical product, but they’re “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/general.htm\">generally mild and go away on their own within a few days\u003c/a>,” the agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Common flu shot side effects can include soreness or swelling at the injection site, headache, fever, nausea and muscle aches. (But not the flu.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting by KQED’s Alexander Gonzalez.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "When Should You Get Your 2022 Flu Shot? | KQED",
"description": "Should you be getting your flu shot right now? Plus: where to find free and low-cost flu shots near you in the Bay Area, without an apppointment.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 21\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim lives across the country, the flu remains a potentially serious threat to your health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#whenflushot\">When should I get my flu shot?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#boosterflushot\">Can I get a COVID booster and my flu shot at the same time?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#highrisk\">Which flu shot should I get if I’m 65 and older, I’m pregnant, or I need a shot for my kids?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#flushotnearme\">Where can I get a flu shot, with or without insurance?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, annually, the flu caused 140,000-710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000-52,000 deaths between 2010 and 2020. But the organization says that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-2021estimates.htm\">in the 2020-2021 flu season, only around half of adults got a flu shot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting a flu vaccine can prevent you from getting sick with the flu, which is a draining, unpleasant experience even if your symptoms are not severe. And if you \u003cem>do\u003c/em> get the flu, having a flu shot can also stop you from getting sick enough to have to go to the hospital (and be exposed to all the COVID risks hospital settings can bring).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC says the flu vaccine also offers other potential health impacts, such as being associated with \u003ca class=\"tp-link-policy\" href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24150467/\" data-domain-ext=\"gov\">lower rates of certain cardiac events\u003c/a> for people who have heart disease. It’s also the best, safest way not only to protect \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> against the influenza virus, but also to minimize the chance you will spread it to others — folks who could be at far higher risk for serious complications or even death if they were to become infected. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm\">Read more from the CDC about what the flu shot can do for you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And read on to find out whether you should be getting your flu shot right now, and where to find free or low-cost flu shot options near you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will this flu season be bad?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s true that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2020-2021.htm\">2020 saw a record-low number of flu cases\u003c/a> — most likely due to widespread mask-wearing, increased hygiene, social distancing and remote work and school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s flu season also “didn’t surge in the numbers that people expected,” said UCSF professor of medicine Dr. Peter Chin-Hong — but “it did drag on for much longer.” Whereas a typical flu season peaks in February, Chin-Hong said that last year’s “went from October of 2021 to June of 2022 — so, a much longer tail than usually we would expect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what about this winter’s flu risks? Chin-Hong said he and other medical professionals are “worried for several reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the lifting of COVID restrictions, there’s the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/australia-flu-season-warning-sign-us-this-year-rcna40123\">Australia has just had its worst flu season in five years\u003c/a>. Because the continent’s winter happens during the United States’ summer, Australia’s flu season is traditionally an indicator of how bad ours might be — and, of concern, it was as “robust as any of the pre-pandemic flu seasons,” said Chin-Hong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Michael Kim, vice president of medical affairs for MarinHealth, echoes these particular worries in the context of the lifting of COVID safety measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we’re all concerned that flu season this year might be particularly severe, especially since people are not masking as much, as well as people haven’t been exposed to flu as much in the last couple of years,” said Kim.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"whenflushot\">\u003c/a>Should I get a flu shot now, or wait?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The recommendations medical professionals make about when to get a flu shot are based on the fact that it takes about two weeks after you get vaccinated for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the flu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This flu season, the CDC says that September and October are “generally good times to be vaccinated against flu,” and that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2022-2023.htm\">ideally, everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11838737\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11838737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2.png 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots2-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It takes two weeks after your flu shot for your body to develop the antibodies it needs to protect you from the flu virus. \u003ccite>(Queen's University/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, there’s evidence, says Chin-Hong, that \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28039340/\">your risk of getting the flu increases every month after your flu shot, due to the antibodies waning over time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when medical professionals talk about strategically “waiting” to get a flu shot, they’re aiming that advice at those who are at particularly high risk for more serious complications related to the flu. That includes people over 65, those with chronic medical conditions, people who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, and kids under 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaying inoculations for these populations is based on the idea of getting the shot at a time Chin-Hong calls “the sweet spot,” around mid-to-late October. Two weeks later, right around early November, the antibodies should have developed, just as flu season is getting serious. Think of it as getting the “biggest bang for your buck,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you’re in one of those vulnerable categories? Yes, you can think about waiting, says Chin-Hong. People over 65 might also consider requesting the special flu vaccines for this age group — read more about this below. As with all health matters, if you’re looking for advice, it’s best to consult your health care provider or someone you see regularly for your medical needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what if you’re under 65, not pregnant and don’t have other risk factors for severe flu? If you can truly trust yourself to plan ahead and not forget to make the appointment, “getting it before the end of October is probably the best,” said Chin-Hong. But remember: Not only are you human and it might slip your mind, but predictions about how the flu season might behave are just that — predictions. The timing of this year’s flu season might surprise us, and throw previous notions of a “best time” to get the vaccine into disarray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just like we can’t predict the next COVID surge, we don’t know if influenza will have a different pattern this year,” said Chin-Hong, noting how Australia’s particularly bad flu season started earlier than expected. So take that “October rule” with “a grain of salt,” he advised, and “get it [your flu shot] when you get it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if you plan to get your flu shot in October with the best of intentions, but you still forget? If November 1 comes and goes and you realize you haven’t been vaccinated, all is not lost — since the CDC says that “vaccination after October can still provide protection during the peak of flu season,” which is usually February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, just go get the shot already — whenever that may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11838740\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3.png 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-1020x680.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/shots3-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"boosterflushot\">\u003c/a>Can I get my COVID booster and my flu shot at the same time?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, you can. Ashish Jha, White House COVID response coordinator, went so far in a September 6 briefing as to tell the audience “\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/09/06/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-88/\">I really believe this is why God gave us two arms\u003c/a> — one for the flu shot and the other one for the COVID shot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That “COVID shot” is the newly available COVID booster — that is, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html\">new Moderna and Pfizer booster shots of the reformulated COVID-19 vaccine\u003c/a>. The updated shots, called bivalent vaccines, target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the widespread BA.4/BA.5 omicron subvariants that have largely evaded previous boosters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone age 12 and up who got their last COVID vaccine shot at least two months ago — whether that was their primary vaccination series or their last booster shot — can now get an updated COVID booster. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924327/where-can-i-find-a-new-omicron-covid-booster-shot-near-me\">Read more about how to find an updated COVID booster near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2022-2023.htm#Flu-Vaccine-and-COVID-19-Vaccine-Coadministration\">The CDC confirms that it’s safe to get both the flu shot and the bivalent COVID booster at the same time\u003c/a> “if you are eligible and the timing coincides.” Several pharmacy chains are prompting those making an online appointment for a bivalent COVID booster to also “add on” a flu shot at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting both shots simultaneously certainly offers you convenience, said Chin-Hong: “It’s one-stop shopping and again: out of sight, out of mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only thing that might give you pause about getting your COVID bivalent booster and your flu shot: If you want to get your booster ASAP, some experts believe that \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/09/doubling-up-on-covid-booster-flu-shot-may-have-downside/\">it might be slightly too early right now to get your flu shot\u003c/a>, considering how immunity from the vaccine wanes. That said, other medical professionals say that \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/09/doubling-up-on-covid-booster-flu-shot-may-have-downside/\">the benefits of folks remembering to actually \u003cem>get\u003c/em> both their booster and their flu shot probably outweigh the downsides\u003c/a>, even if it means the timing of their flu vaccine is a little early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong reiterated that “if you really wanted to optimize” the timing of your flu shot, yes, “sometime in October \u003cem>is\u003c/em> probably the best.” But ultimately, he says that just \u003cem>getting\u003c/em> the shots is better than not getting them at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"highrisk\">\u003c/a>If I have risk factors for severe flu, what kind of flu shot should I get?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re age 65 or older, there’s something new for you to know this flu season: There are now three types of flu vaccines it’s recommended you get, because they’ll be even more effective for you than a regular flu shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin-Hong said folks in this age group should seek out these three types of vaccines because you’ll be getting “essentially a high-dose shot” or a vaccine that contains an “adjuvant” — which, in simple terms, “makes the flu shot more powerful in terms of waking up the immune system,” he said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm\">Read more about the three kinds of flu shots available to people age 65 and older.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pregnant people can get a regular flu shot, although there are some types of flu vaccine that are off-limits to pregnant people. The CDC says that getting vaccinated when you’re pregnant will not only help protect you from the flu, but also — if your baby is born during the immunity period — protect your infant in the first few months of their life, when they’re too young to get vaccinated themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This benefit to the baby is also the reason that pregnant people are one of the few groups who might want to consider getting a flu shot \u003cem>early\u003c/em>, instead of waiting — to ensure their baby isn’t left completely unprotected for those first six months after birth, when they can’t get a vaccine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm\">Read more about the benefits of getting a flu shot if you’re pregnant.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children age 6 months and older can get a regular dose of the flu shot. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/children-high-risk.htm\">Flu can be particularly dangerous for kids\u003c/a>, and the CDC says that a 2022 study showed that flu vaccination reduced children’s risk of severe, life-threatening influenza by 75%.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"flushotnearme\">\u003c/a>Where can I get a flu shot if I have insurance?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you have health insurance, a flu shot is available without extra cost as a preventive service from your usual health care provider, or at most pharmacies (see below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a good idea to wear a mask, maintain social distancing wherever possible while waiting for your shot, and dress in a top with sleeves you can easily pull up to your shoulder, to make receiving the injection even easier (and quicker).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Common places to find a flu shot appointment, walk-in site or drive-thru flu shot:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vaccines.gov/find-vaccines/\">CDC’s Find Flu Vaccines tool\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/cold-and-flu/prevention#/prevention\">Kaiser Permanente flu shots (Northern California) \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/flu\">CVS flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.walgreens.com/topic/pharmacy/seasonal-flu.jsp?ban=flu_fy21_influenzapage\">Walgreens flu shots \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/scheduler\">Rite Aid flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.costco.com/Pharmacy/adult-immunization-program.html\">Costco Pharmacy flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albertsons.com/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/immunizations.html\">Albertsons (Safeway) flu shots\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Where can I get a flu shot if I \u003cem>don’t\u003c/em> have health insurance?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you want a flu shot but don’t have health insurance, you can get the vaccine free of charge from several providers and community clinics around the Bay Area. (You can also technically use these free services even if you do have insurance, but you may consider choosing to free up these particular resources for those who are not covered.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your county’s own public health department may also be offering flu shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Places to get a free or low-cost flu shot in the Bay Area include:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcdcp.org/aitc/aitc-regular-prices-low-cost-or-free-vaccines/\">San Francisco Department of Public Health’s AITC clinic\u003c/a> (offers a pay-what-you-can option, and says nobody will be refused for inability to pay)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://cchealth.org/immunization/clinics.php#Uninsured\">Contra Costa Public Health Immunization Clinic\u003c/a> (flu shots are $15 for adults over 19, but fees may be waived if you’re unable to pay)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://acphd.org/clinics/\">Alameda County Immunization Clinics\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>And a reminder … the flu vaccine can’t give you the flu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The virus that the flu shot contains has been inactivated or severely weakened, so \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/misconceptions.htm#:~:text=Can%20a%20flu%20vaccine%20give,protein%20from%20the%20flu%20virus.\">you just aren’t physically able to get the flu from your flu shot\u003c/a>, confirms the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/general.htm#side-effects\">The flu vaccine can cause side effects\u003c/a> like any medical product, but they’re “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/general.htm\">generally mild and go away on their own within a few days\u003c/a>,” the agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Common flu shot side effects can include soreness or swelling at the injection site, headache, fever, nausea and muscle aches. (But not the flu.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting by KQED’s Alexander Gonzalez.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Thousands of California Children Are Missing Vaccinations Required for School",
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"content": "\u003cp>Falling childhood vaccination rates during the pandemic meant that thousands of students were unable to start the school year on a campus because they did not have the immunizations required by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-118.aspx\">1 in 8 California students age 4 to 6 did not have their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination\u003c/a> — one of \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2019/what-schools-and-parents-need-to-know-about-the-new-vaccination-law/82242\">10 vaccinations California requires\u003c/a> — before school started this year, according to the California Department of Public Health. That means that there could potentially be many more students who haven’t had other required vaccinations that could put them at risk of being sent home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts attribute the decrease in the number of vaccinated children to families falling behind on wellness checkups during the pandemic, vaccine fatigue and increased vaccine hesitancy. In at least one community, vaccine supply has become an issue. [aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=news_11924322,news_11899840,news_11911266]Childhood vaccination rates plummeted after school campuses closed in March 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns. In the more than two years since, the number of children who have all the required vaccinations to attend school has increased, but not to pre-pandemic levels. In the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, 94.3% of prospective kindergartners had all the vaccines required to begin school. In April 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2020/california-immunization-rates-drop-40-percent-during-pandemic/633594\">childhood immunizations fell 40% over the same month the previous year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next two years, some parents, fearful of exposing their children to COVID, skipped child wellness appointments where vaccinations are often given, said Catherine Flores Martin, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition. Some children received COVID vaccinations at pharmacies or clinics where technicians did not check to see whether they needed other vaccinations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are still playing catchup on vaccinations, and some are so overwhelmed with the number of vaccinations since the COVID-19 pandemic began that they have vaccination fatigue, said Richard Dang, president of the California Pharmacists Association and an assistant professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing vaccine hesitancy since the COVID-19 pandemic began may be another reason for the decline in the state’s vaccination rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking at the nationwide sentiment when it comes to vaccinations, there appears to be a slight uptick in vaccine hesitancy,” Dang said. “Some of the hesitancy from the COVID vaccine is bleeding over to the other vaccinations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martin agreed, saying, “I think there are some parents who may have given it a second thought, when they had not in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Placerville, a limited supply of vaccines at doctors’ offices and pharmacies is keeping students from getting needed vaccinations, said Eric Bonniksen, superintendent of the Placerville Union School District. There are other districts in the state that are also having supply problems, Bonniksen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had families having to make appointments three to six weeks out because none of our providers have any on hand and the deliveries are coming in very slow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Orange County, some parents are submitting homeopathic vaccine records to school clerks as proof of vaccination, said Pamela Kahn, coordinator for health and wellness for the Orange County Department of Education. These do not meet the state requirement, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although some school front office staff, unsure whether to accept the records, have asked for guidance, others did not and accepted the records, Kahn said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School leaders can allay parents’ fears over vaccines by hosting informational sessions on vaccinations, sending vaccine information home or giving parents access to trusted professionals, like nurses and doctors, who can speak to them about their concerns, Dang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most school districts hold vaccination clinics to help families get children up to date on their immunizations. Some have even offered prizes or other incentives to get it done, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Families who don’t want to vaccinate have a few options\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parents who do not want to vaccinate their children can obtain a medical exemption or have their children evaluated and enrolled in special education services if they want them to stay on campus. They can also homeschool them or enroll them in an independent study program without classroom instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with some required vaccinations can be admitted to school conditionally until they get caught up on all their vaccinations, but students without at least one dose of polio; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; measles; hepatitis B; and varicella (chicken pox) vaccinations are not permitted to attend school on campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students enrolled conditionally must adhere to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/catchup.html\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention catchup schedules\u003c/a>, while unhoused students must receive all required immunizations as soon as possible after beginning school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year San Juan Unified, which serves 39,442 students in Sacramento County, excluded 55 students from classroom instruction at the beginning of the school year because they lacked the required vaccinations. The students and their families had been contacted regularly by school officials and the district’s health service office and offered immunization resources, according to Raj Rai, director of communications for the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health and attendance clerks at each school in the district track students who are enrolled conditionally to ensure they are getting immunizations in accordance with state catchup schedules, Rai said. Currently, the district has 411 students enrolled conditionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Unified officials weren’t sure last week how many of their students would have to be excluded from school when classes began this week. But Susan Barndollar, executive director of nursing and wellness for the district, thinks a year is enough time for families to have caught up on required immunizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are notifying people as we speak,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To ensure all students can enroll in school, the district held vaccination clinics themselves and with community partners. District staff members are also helping families to connect with medical providers. San Diego Unified has held parent meetings on Zoom featuring medical professionals who answered questions about many health issues, including vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barndollar doesn’t think there has been a lot of vaccine hesitancy among district families. The district lost only 20 students after the 2015 law passed making it more difficult to get a medical waiver to avoid vaccinations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We encourage everyone to go to the California Department of Public Health website, go to your family doctor or your school health clinic to get information,” she said. “We encourage people to talk. They can tell us where they are getting their information, and then we can help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decline in California’s vaccination rate follows years of improved vaccination rates for children after state laws were passed that require students to be vaccinated against certain diseases to attend schools and child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools and licensed child care centers are required to enforce immunization requirements, maintain the immunization records of all children enrolled and report students’ immunization status to the California Department of Public Health. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/School/reporting-audit.aspx\">Schools are audited by the state\u003c/a> regularly. Those who don’t comply with state law are required to pay back the average daily attendance funding they received for children who were not vaccinated or enrolled conditionally, Barndollar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some students missed vaccine checkpoints during distance learning\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some districts didn’t enforce vaccination requirements when schools were shut down during the pandemic, meaning some students may have missed a vaccination checkpoint. This could potentially allow some students to avoid vaccinations for as long as six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That has been a huge concern for advocates and school nurses,” Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Unified did track vaccinations when their schools closed in 2020. School nurses sent out reminders about vaccination mandates and deadlines. When schools reopened, San Diego Unified didn’t just check the vaccination records at the usual checkpoints; they also checked the records of any student who had not attended school on a campus, even if they had attended virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, had 91.9% of its students fully vaccinated as of August 24. In a district with 430,000 students, that means that more than 30,000 students may not have all their vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our nursing department continues to diligently track and monitor immunization rates and encourages compliance,” said a district spokesperson. “Per California law, students cannot enroll if they are not compliant. If they are noncompliant, they are given a notification of what immunizations are due, with a 10-day grace period to get the missing vaccines. We continue to closely monitor this issue and work with families to get to a 100% compliance rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Vaccine rates aren’t falling in all districts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite the overall bad news about declining vaccinations, some districts have managed to keep vaccination rates high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the tiny Konocti Unified School District in Lake County, where 99% of the 3,600 students in the district are fully vaccinated this school year, Chris Schoeneman, assistant superintendent, hasn’t seen much resistance from parents to vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not allow students to start unless they have been immunized,” he said. “That line in the sand is important. Most of the time the main issue is parents making it a priority and then, when we make it a priority for them, they get on board quickly and easily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s nursing staff and a local hospital also host a Saturday immunization clinic to help catch students up on their vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is important to protect children from diseases like measles and polio, traces of which have shown up in wastewater in New York and Great Britain, Martin said. California’s last large measles outbreak in 2015 was largely among unvaccinated individuals, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These diseases are still with us,” she said. “We haven’t eradicated these diseases. We were close, but we did not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best way parents can keep their children safe from diseases is to make sure they are current on their immunizations and have their regular wellness checkups, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety-five percent of children at a school must be immunized to prevent transmission of disease in a community, according to the state Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it is important that we get our parents on board for these childhood vaccines,” Dang said. “We have been using them for many, many years, and they have been working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/thousands-without-childhood-vaccinations-unable-to-return-to-school/677507\">This story was first published by EdSource.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Experts attribute the decrease in the number of vaccinated children to families falling behind on wellness checks during the pandemic, vaccine fatigue and increased vaccine hesitancy.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Falling childhood vaccination rates during the pandemic meant that thousands of students were unable to start the school year on a campus because they did not have the immunizations required by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-118.aspx\">1 in 8 California students age 4 to 6 did not have their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination\u003c/a> — one of \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2019/what-schools-and-parents-need-to-know-about-the-new-vaccination-law/82242\">10 vaccinations California requires\u003c/a> — before school started this year, according to the California Department of Public Health. That means that there could potentially be many more students who haven’t had other required vaccinations that could put them at risk of being sent home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts attribute the decrease in the number of vaccinated children to families falling behind on wellness checkups during the pandemic, vaccine fatigue and increased vaccine hesitancy. In at least one community, vaccine supply has become an issue. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Childhood vaccination rates plummeted after school campuses closed in March 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns. In the more than two years since, the number of children who have all the required vaccinations to attend school has increased, but not to pre-pandemic levels. In the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, 94.3% of prospective kindergartners had all the vaccines required to begin school. In April 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2020/california-immunization-rates-drop-40-percent-during-pandemic/633594\">childhood immunizations fell 40% over the same month the previous year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next two years, some parents, fearful of exposing their children to COVID, skipped child wellness appointments where vaccinations are often given, said Catherine Flores Martin, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition. Some children received COVID vaccinations at pharmacies or clinics where technicians did not check to see whether they needed other vaccinations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are still playing catchup on vaccinations, and some are so overwhelmed with the number of vaccinations since the COVID-19 pandemic began that they have vaccination fatigue, said Richard Dang, president of the California Pharmacists Association and an assistant professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing vaccine hesitancy since the COVID-19 pandemic began may be another reason for the decline in the state’s vaccination rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking at the nationwide sentiment when it comes to vaccinations, there appears to be a slight uptick in vaccine hesitancy,” Dang said. “Some of the hesitancy from the COVID vaccine is bleeding over to the other vaccinations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martin agreed, saying, “I think there are some parents who may have given it a second thought, when they had not in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Placerville, a limited supply of vaccines at doctors’ offices and pharmacies is keeping students from getting needed vaccinations, said Eric Bonniksen, superintendent of the Placerville Union School District. There are other districts in the state that are also having supply problems, Bonniksen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had families having to make appointments three to six weeks out because none of our providers have any on hand and the deliveries are coming in very slow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Orange County, some parents are submitting homeopathic vaccine records to school clerks as proof of vaccination, said Pamela Kahn, coordinator for health and wellness for the Orange County Department of Education. These do not meet the state requirement, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although some school front office staff, unsure whether to accept the records, have asked for guidance, others did not and accepted the records, Kahn said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School leaders can allay parents’ fears over vaccines by hosting informational sessions on vaccinations, sending vaccine information home or giving parents access to trusted professionals, like nurses and doctors, who can speak to them about their concerns, Dang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most school districts hold vaccination clinics to help families get children up to date on their immunizations. Some have even offered prizes or other incentives to get it done, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Families who don’t want to vaccinate have a few options\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parents who do not want to vaccinate their children can obtain a medical exemption or have their children evaluated and enrolled in special education services if they want them to stay on campus. They can also homeschool them or enroll them in an independent study program without classroom instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with some required vaccinations can be admitted to school conditionally until they get caught up on all their vaccinations, but students without at least one dose of polio; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; measles; hepatitis B; and varicella (chicken pox) vaccinations are not permitted to attend school on campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students enrolled conditionally must adhere to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/catchup.html\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention catchup schedules\u003c/a>, while unhoused students must receive all required immunizations as soon as possible after beginning school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year San Juan Unified, which serves 39,442 students in Sacramento County, excluded 55 students from classroom instruction at the beginning of the school year because they lacked the required vaccinations. The students and their families had been contacted regularly by school officials and the district’s health service office and offered immunization resources, according to Raj Rai, director of communications for the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health and attendance clerks at each school in the district track students who are enrolled conditionally to ensure they are getting immunizations in accordance with state catchup schedules, Rai said. Currently, the district has 411 students enrolled conditionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Unified officials weren’t sure last week how many of their students would have to be excluded from school when classes began this week. But Susan Barndollar, executive director of nursing and wellness for the district, thinks a year is enough time for families to have caught up on required immunizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are notifying people as we speak,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To ensure all students can enroll in school, the district held vaccination clinics themselves and with community partners. District staff members are also helping families to connect with medical providers. San Diego Unified has held parent meetings on Zoom featuring medical professionals who answered questions about many health issues, including vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barndollar doesn’t think there has been a lot of vaccine hesitancy among district families. The district lost only 20 students after the 2015 law passed making it more difficult to get a medical waiver to avoid vaccinations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We encourage everyone to go to the California Department of Public Health website, go to your family doctor or your school health clinic to get information,” she said. “We encourage people to talk. They can tell us where they are getting their information, and then we can help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decline in California’s vaccination rate follows years of improved vaccination rates for children after state laws were passed that require students to be vaccinated against certain diseases to attend schools and child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools and licensed child care centers are required to enforce immunization requirements, maintain the immunization records of all children enrolled and report students’ immunization status to the California Department of Public Health. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/School/reporting-audit.aspx\">Schools are audited by the state\u003c/a> regularly. Those who don’t comply with state law are required to pay back the average daily attendance funding they received for children who were not vaccinated or enrolled conditionally, Barndollar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some students missed vaccine checkpoints during distance learning\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some districts didn’t enforce vaccination requirements when schools were shut down during the pandemic, meaning some students may have missed a vaccination checkpoint. This could potentially allow some students to avoid vaccinations for as long as six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That has been a huge concern for advocates and school nurses,” Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Unified did track vaccinations when their schools closed in 2020. School nurses sent out reminders about vaccination mandates and deadlines. When schools reopened, San Diego Unified didn’t just check the vaccination records at the usual checkpoints; they also checked the records of any student who had not attended school on a campus, even if they had attended virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, had 91.9% of its students fully vaccinated as of August 24. In a district with 430,000 students, that means that more than 30,000 students may not have all their vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our nursing department continues to diligently track and monitor immunization rates and encourages compliance,” said a district spokesperson. “Per California law, students cannot enroll if they are not compliant. If they are noncompliant, they are given a notification of what immunizations are due, with a 10-day grace period to get the missing vaccines. We continue to closely monitor this issue and work with families to get to a 100% compliance rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Vaccine rates aren’t falling in all districts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite the overall bad news about declining vaccinations, some districts have managed to keep vaccination rates high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the tiny Konocti Unified School District in Lake County, where 99% of the 3,600 students in the district are fully vaccinated this school year, Chris Schoeneman, assistant superintendent, hasn’t seen much resistance from parents to vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not allow students to start unless they have been immunized,” he said. “That line in the sand is important. Most of the time the main issue is parents making it a priority and then, when we make it a priority for them, they get on board quickly and easily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s nursing staff and a local hospital also host a Saturday immunization clinic to help catch students up on their vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is important to protect children from diseases like measles and polio, traces of which have shown up in wastewater in New York and Great Britain, Martin said. California’s last large measles outbreak in 2015 was largely among unvaccinated individuals, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These diseases are still with us,” she said. “We haven’t eradicated these diseases. We were close, but we did not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best way parents can keep their children safe from diseases is to make sure they are current on their immunizations and have their regular wellness checkups, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety-five percent of children at a school must be immunized to prevent transmission of disease in a community, according to the state Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it is important that we get our parents on board for these childhood vaccines,” Dang said. “We have been using them for many, many years, and they have been working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California won’t allow teens age 15 and up to be vaccinated against the coronavirus without their parents’ consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Scott Wiener, the bill’s author, announced Wednesday \u003ca href=\"https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20220831-senator-wiener%E2%80%99s-statement-decision-pull-sb-866-teens-choose-vaccines-act\">he won’t put the measure up for a vote\u003c/a> in the state Assembly because it doesn’t have enough support to pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minors age 12 to 17 in California already can receive vaccinations for hepatitis B and HPV, which prevent sexually transmitted diseases, without permission from their parents or guardians. The bill would have allowed teens 15 and older to receive any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even if their parents objected.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"education_534972,news_11911266,news_11918778\"]Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, blamed the lack of support on “months of harassment and misinformation” by “a small but highly vocal and organized minority of anti-vaxxers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The anti-vaxxers may have prevailed in this particular fight, but the broader fight for science and health continues,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A coalition of groups opposed to vaccine mandates called it a “blatant, dangerous trampling of California parents’ and guardians’ ability to protect and care for their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Voice for Choice Advocacy said minors may not know their full medical history and the potential risks. And if they don’t tell their parents that they obtained the vaccine on their own, the group said parents may not know what’s wrong if their child has an adverse reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccine consent ages vary across the country. Alabama allows children to consent to vaccines starting at age 14, Oregon at 15 and Rhode Island and South Carolina at 16. Cities including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., allow children age 11 and up to consent to COVID-19 vaccines, and in San Francisco the age is 12 and older.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teen consent bill was one of several coronavirus-related bills that faced heavy opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic Sen. Richard Pan both delayed until next year measures relating to school vaccinations, while Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks withdrew her bill that would have forced all California businesses to require coronavirus vaccines for their employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill from Pan still moving forward \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1479\">would require that schools create COVID-19 testing plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also still under consideration are a bill by Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098\">would make doctors spreading coronavirus misinformation or disinformation subject to discipline\u003c/a> for professional misconduct, and one by Democratic Assemblymember Akilah Weber that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1797\">would require health care providers, schools, child care facilities and others to disclose certain patient information\u003c/a> to the California Department of Public Health and local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California won’t allow teens age 15 and up to be vaccinated against the coronavirus without their parents’ consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Scott Wiener, the bill’s author, announced Wednesday \u003ca href=\"https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20220831-senator-wiener%E2%80%99s-statement-decision-pull-sb-866-teens-choose-vaccines-act\">he won’t put the measure up for a vote\u003c/a> in the state Assembly because it doesn’t have enough support to pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minors age 12 to 17 in California already can receive vaccinations for hepatitis B and HPV, which prevent sexually transmitted diseases, without permission from their parents or guardians. The bill would have allowed teens 15 and older to receive any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even if their parents objected.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, blamed the lack of support on “months of harassment and misinformation” by “a small but highly vocal and organized minority of anti-vaxxers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The anti-vaxxers may have prevailed in this particular fight, but the broader fight for science and health continues,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A coalition of groups opposed to vaccine mandates called it a “blatant, dangerous trampling of California parents’ and guardians’ ability to protect and care for their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Voice for Choice Advocacy said minors may not know their full medical history and the potential risks. And if they don’t tell their parents that they obtained the vaccine on their own, the group said parents may not know what’s wrong if their child has an adverse reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccine consent ages vary across the country. Alabama allows children to consent to vaccines starting at age 14, Oregon at 15 and Rhode Island and South Carolina at 16. Cities including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., allow children age 11 and up to consent to COVID-19 vaccines, and in San Francisco the age is 12 and older.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teen consent bill was one of several coronavirus-related bills that faced heavy opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic Sen. Richard Pan both delayed until next year measures relating to school vaccinations, while Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks withdrew her bill that would have forced all California businesses to require coronavirus vaccines for their employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill from Pan still moving forward \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1479\">would require that schools create COVID-19 testing plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also still under consideration are a bill by Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098\">would make doctors spreading coronavirus misinformation or disinformation subject to discipline\u003c/a> for professional misconduct, and one by Democratic Assemblymember Akilah Weber that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1797\">would require health care providers, schools, child care facilities and others to disclose certain patient information\u003c/a> to the California Department of Public Health and local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Colleges Kick Off New School Year With Few, if Any, COVID Restrictions",
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"content": "\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions have been significantly eased across the University of California, California State University and the state’s system of 116 community colleges, which together enroll some 2.5 million students. That’s the case even as the colleges prepare to deal with another virus — monkeypox — potentially spreading on their campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11911266,news_11900125\"]It’s a stark contrast to last fall when indoor mask mandates were the norm at colleges across the state and many campuses also routinely tested all students for the virus. Amid the threat of the delta variant at that time, campuses were also preparing to move classes online if necessary. At least one CSU campus, Stanislaus State, delayed in-person classes for about five weeks at the start of the fall 2021 term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The specific protocols in place this year vary across the campuses, especially at the 72 brick-and-mortar community college districts governed by locally elected boards. Some of those districts never had vaccine mandates, and some have rescinded vaccine mandates ahead of the fall term, which is underway at some colleges and begins later this month at others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Systemwide vaccine mandates are still in effect at UC and CSU, but many campuses in those systems no longer require students and staff to mask indoors and have stopped requiring students to be regularly tested for the virus. Fall classes have started at most CSU campuses and begin this week at two UC campuses, Merced and Berkeley. UC’s other seven undergraduate campuses are on the quarter calendar and resume classes in mid-September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"students walk through a plaza at UC Berkeley\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1761\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-2048x1409.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1920x1321.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. More than two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions have been significantly eased across the University of California system. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gone also are the days of online classes aimed at preventing the spread of the virus. UC and CSU are at full capacity in their dorms, are holding almost all classes face-to-face and have no plans to shift to online classes. A bigger share of community college courses are being offered remotely, but that’s largely due to student demand for online instruction and not due to COVID. Many community college students, who are typically older and often work or have family obligations, have told the colleges they prefer remote learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even campuses that want strict COVID restrictions are finding it difficult to keep them in place because, in many cases, it would run counter to public health guidance to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Contra Costa Community College District, home to three colleges, had an indoor mask mandate as recently as this summer but decided to lift that requirement ahead of the fall term to align with Contra Costa County’s public health department. Tim Leong, a spokesperson for the district, said district officials were torn over that decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are students and employees that still feel very concerned about their health, but we also are realistic to know that it’s hard to have an answer that’s going to win with every person,” Leong said. “I think to be the only entity that’s requiring masks — that’s difficult when everybody is running to places like the grocery store or the mall and there’s no mask mandate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fewer masks, less testing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many of the state’s other large community college districts also have done away with requiring masks, including the Los Angeles Community College District, the Sacramento-based Los Rios Community College District and the Fresno-based State Center Community College District.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Tim Leong, spokesperson, Contra Costa Community College District\"]‘It’s hard to have an answer that’s going to win with every person … [T]o be the only entity that’s requiring masks — that’s difficult when everybody is running to places like the grocery store or the mall and there’s no mask mandate.’[/pullquote]The same is true at many CSU campuses, including Maritime, Chico State and San Luis Obispo, as well as at UC campuses such as Davis and UCLA, which lifted its mandate on August 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just because masks aren’t required doesn’t mean they won’t be worn. Most campuses that aren’t mandating masks are still strongly recommending them. At UC Riverside, students living on campus are required to wear masks while moving into campus housing, but not after that. Riverside also didn’t have a mask mandate in the spring, but most students still have chosen to wear masks around the campus, said Sheila Hedayati, executive director of the Environmental Health and Safety department at the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students are fantastic and very conscientious. I see more masks than I see full faces,” Hedayati said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few colleges do still require indoor masking, including UC Irvine, which last month reinstated that requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the CSU system, Long Beach is among the campuses that will require masks indoors to start the new academic year because of an “ongoing wave of Covid-19 infections from the current dominant variant,” President Jane Close Conoley said in a message to the campus community earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether students need to be tested for the virus also depends on where they attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some campuses, like College of the Canyons in northern Los Angeles County and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, testing isn’t required. Other campuses, including those in the Los Rios and State Center community college districts, require routine testing only for students who aren’t vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few campuses, including UC Davis and UC Irvine, require students living in campus housing to be tested upon moving in, but routine testing isn’t mandated after that, except for unvaccinated students at Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Riverside has one of the stricter testing policies in the state. In addition to requiring weekly testing of unvaccinated students, the campus also will mandate testing every two weeks for students living on campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923283\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg\" alt='students walk in front of large letters that read \"UCR\" on the UC Riverside campus' width=\"2560\" height=\"1751\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1536x1051.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-2048x1401.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1920x1313.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Riverside students walk past the UCR letters in the quad in 2021. The school is heading into the 2022-2023 academic year with one of the stricter testing policies in the state. \u003ccite>(Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The easing of COVID-19 restrictions at some colleges also applies to vaccine rules. The state’s largest community college district, the Los Angeles district that’s home to nine colleges, rescinded its vaccine mandate over the summer, said William Boyer, a spokesperson for the district. The Coast Community College District, based in Orange County, also rescinded its vaccine mandate this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some community colleges, though, continue to require vaccines for students taking classes in person, including the Contra Costa, Los Rios and State Center districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systemwide vaccine mandates at CSU and UC also remain in effect and soon may require an additional shot for students. Currently, both systems require students to have their booster shots, and a second booster could soon be available to college-age students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Davis officials are anticipating that a second booster will be available to students as soon as next month, said Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services. If that happens, students across UC would need to get the booster. Schorzman added that there likely will be a grace period for students, but it probably won’t be a long one.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Back to in-person classes, more online at community colleges\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Across UC and CSU, face-to-face instruction is the norm entering the new academic year. At Chico State, 80% of classes will be in person. At San Luis Obispo, about 98% of courses will be in-person, a 13% increase from last year. UC Irvine is holding all classes in person except for a few that are being held online for academic purposes and not for reasons related to the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Classes were also mostly held in person last fall, but with the delta variant spreading rapidly at that time, campus officials across UC and CSU were preparing to quickly pivot to online classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, moving courses online across the systems is highly unlikely, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think any of us really want to see a point where we go back to a stay-at-home situation, with online classes,” said David Souleles, director of UC Irvine’s COVID-19 response team. “Across the country, if you look at state and local governments, that’s not on the table for the most part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean Murphy, a spokesperson for Chico State, said the campus successfully held classes last year during the delta and omicron surges. Officials there are confident they can do the same this fall, though he added that “we have the mechanisms in place to change the mode of instruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923284\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young woman with dark hair in a green jacket sits with a black mask at a laptop\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1578\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1536x947.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-2048x1263.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1920x1184.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First-year student Karla Pulgarin was among the students who attended in-person instruction at Los Angeles City College beginning in 2021. The Los Angeles Community College District, which includes nine schools, rescinded its vaccine mandate over the summer. \u003ccite>(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The situation is much different at most community colleges, which are still offering more courses online than before the pandemic. In the Los Rios district, 50% of classes are still being offered online, compared with 15% pre-pandemic. About half of courses are also online at College of the Canyons and the Los Angeles district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the most part, those colleges are offering many online courses not for public health reasons, but because students have indicated they prefer remote classes. Community colleges across the state have suffered dramatic enrollment declines since the onset of the pandemic, with the system as a whole losing hundreds of thousands of students. Colleges are doing what they can to bring students back, and that often means offering online classes, which often receive more enrollments than in-person classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At College of the Canyons, about three-quarters of students attend part-time and are often “doing other things, like working or caring for family or both,” said Eric Harnish, a spokesperson for the college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, having the flexibility to attend online is something they really appreciate,” he added. “And by having significant numbers of classes online, we’re giving them the opportunity to actually attend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monitoring monkeypox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To varying degrees, many California colleges are ready to confront positive cases of the monkeypox virus on their campuses, which has already happened at a few universities across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with campuses across the three systems said they are consulting with their local health officials on plans and possible responses. Supply of the monkeypox vaccine is low across the country, but officials said they have requested vaccines as soon as they’re available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At UC Davis, if a student believes they have monkeypox symptoms, that student will get a telehealth appointment and, if needed, will be tested for the virus. If that student needs treatment, the campus plans to work with Yolo County’s public health department to secure that treatment, or the student can get treated through UC Davis Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the experience of dealing with COVID-19 could help colleges respond to monkeypox, the virus also will present new challenges, said Souleles, the UC Irvine official. One of the main differences is that if a student contracts monkeypox, the isolation period could be much longer than is required for COVID. Instead of the five or seven days of isolation that COVID requires, a positive case of monkeypox could necessitate that a student isolates four to six weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to think through what that means and how that might be managed, like where that isolation takes place, whether it’s on campus or at home or case-by-case-dependent. So we’re making sure we have a plan and that we’re communicating that in advance of our return to fall, so that families and students know what to expect,” Souleles said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/california-colleges-open-for-fall-term-with-relaxed-covid-rules/677040\">\u003cem>This story was originally reported by EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions have been significantly eased across the University of California, California State University and the state’s system of 116 community colleges, which together enroll some 2.5 million students. That’s the case even as the colleges prepare to deal with another virus — monkeypox — potentially spreading on their campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s a stark contrast to last fall when indoor mask mandates were the norm at colleges across the state and many campuses also routinely tested all students for the virus. Amid the threat of the delta variant at that time, campuses were also preparing to move classes online if necessary. At least one CSU campus, Stanislaus State, delayed in-person classes for about five weeks at the start of the fall 2021 term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The specific protocols in place this year vary across the campuses, especially at the 72 brick-and-mortar community college districts governed by locally elected boards. Some of those districts never had vaccine mandates, and some have rescinded vaccine mandates ahead of the fall term, which is underway at some colleges and begins later this month at others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Systemwide vaccine mandates are still in effect at UC and CSU, but many campuses in those systems no longer require students and staff to mask indoors and have stopped requiring students to be regularly tested for the virus. Fall classes have started at most CSU campuses and begin this week at two UC campuses, Merced and Berkeley. UC’s other seven undergraduate campuses are on the quarter calendar and resume classes in mid-September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"students walk through a plaza at UC Berkeley\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1761\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-2048x1409.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1385201995-1920x1321.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. More than two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions have been significantly eased across the University of California system. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gone also are the days of online classes aimed at preventing the spread of the virus. UC and CSU are at full capacity in their dorms, are holding almost all classes face-to-face and have no plans to shift to online classes. A bigger share of community college courses are being offered remotely, but that’s largely due to student demand for online instruction and not due to COVID. Many community college students, who are typically older and often work or have family obligations, have told the colleges they prefer remote learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even campuses that want strict COVID restrictions are finding it difficult to keep them in place because, in many cases, it would run counter to public health guidance to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Contra Costa Community College District, home to three colleges, had an indoor mask mandate as recently as this summer but decided to lift that requirement ahead of the fall term to align with Contra Costa County’s public health department. Tim Leong, a spokesperson for the district, said district officials were torn over that decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are students and employees that still feel very concerned about their health, but we also are realistic to know that it’s hard to have an answer that’s going to win with every person,” Leong said. “I think to be the only entity that’s requiring masks — that’s difficult when everybody is running to places like the grocery store or the mall and there’s no mask mandate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fewer masks, less testing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many of the state’s other large community college districts also have done away with requiring masks, including the Los Angeles Community College District, the Sacramento-based Los Rios Community College District and the Fresno-based State Center Community College District.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s hard to have an answer that’s going to win with every person … [T]o be the only entity that’s requiring masks — that’s difficult when everybody is running to places like the grocery store or the mall and there’s no mask mandate.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The same is true at many CSU campuses, including Maritime, Chico State and San Luis Obispo, as well as at UC campuses such as Davis and UCLA, which lifted its mandate on August 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just because masks aren’t required doesn’t mean they won’t be worn. Most campuses that aren’t mandating masks are still strongly recommending them. At UC Riverside, students living on campus are required to wear masks while moving into campus housing, but not after that. Riverside also didn’t have a mask mandate in the spring, but most students still have chosen to wear masks around the campus, said Sheila Hedayati, executive director of the Environmental Health and Safety department at the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students are fantastic and very conscientious. I see more masks than I see full faces,” Hedayati said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few colleges do still require indoor masking, including UC Irvine, which last month reinstated that requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the CSU system, Long Beach is among the campuses that will require masks indoors to start the new academic year because of an “ongoing wave of Covid-19 infections from the current dominant variant,” President Jane Close Conoley said in a message to the campus community earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether students need to be tested for the virus also depends on where they attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some campuses, like College of the Canyons in northern Los Angeles County and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, testing isn’t required. Other campuses, including those in the Los Rios and State Center community college districts, require routine testing only for students who aren’t vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few campuses, including UC Davis and UC Irvine, require students living in campus housing to be tested upon moving in, but routine testing isn’t mandated after that, except for unvaccinated students at Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Riverside has one of the stricter testing policies in the state. In addition to requiring weekly testing of unvaccinated students, the campus also will mandate testing every two weeks for students living on campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923283\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg\" alt='students walk in front of large letters that read \"UCR\" on the UC Riverside campus' width=\"2560\" height=\"1751\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1536x1051.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-2048x1401.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1235588015-1920x1313.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Riverside students walk past the UCR letters in the quad in 2021. The school is heading into the 2022-2023 academic year with one of the stricter testing policies in the state. \u003ccite>(Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The easing of COVID-19 restrictions at some colleges also applies to vaccine rules. The state’s largest community college district, the Los Angeles district that’s home to nine colleges, rescinded its vaccine mandate over the summer, said William Boyer, a spokesperson for the district. The Coast Community College District, based in Orange County, also rescinded its vaccine mandate this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some community colleges, though, continue to require vaccines for students taking classes in person, including the Contra Costa, Los Rios and State Center districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systemwide vaccine mandates at CSU and UC also remain in effect and soon may require an additional shot for students. Currently, both systems require students to have their booster shots, and a second booster could soon be available to college-age students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Davis officials are anticipating that a second booster will be available to students as soon as next month, said Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services. If that happens, students across UC would need to get the booster. Schorzman added that there likely will be a grace period for students, but it probably won’t be a long one.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Back to in-person classes, more online at community colleges\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Across UC and CSU, face-to-face instruction is the norm entering the new academic year. At Chico State, 80% of classes will be in person. At San Luis Obispo, about 98% of courses will be in-person, a 13% increase from last year. UC Irvine is holding all classes in person except for a few that are being held online for academic purposes and not for reasons related to the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Classes were also mostly held in person last fall, but with the delta variant spreading rapidly at that time, campus officials across UC and CSU were preparing to quickly pivot to online classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, moving courses online across the systems is highly unlikely, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think any of us really want to see a point where we go back to a stay-at-home situation, with online classes,” said David Souleles, director of UC Irvine’s COVID-19 response team. “Across the country, if you look at state and local governments, that’s not on the table for the most part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean Murphy, a spokesperson for Chico State, said the campus successfully held classes last year during the delta and omicron surges. Officials there are confident they can do the same this fall, though he added that “we have the mechanisms in place to change the mode of instruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11923284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11923284\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young woman with dark hair in a green jacket sits with a black mask at a laptop\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1578\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1536x947.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-2048x1263.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/GettyImages-1234977936-1920x1184.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First-year student Karla Pulgarin was among the students who attended in-person instruction at Los Angeles City College beginning in 2021. The Los Angeles Community College District, which includes nine schools, rescinded its vaccine mandate over the summer. \u003ccite>(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The situation is much different at most community colleges, which are still offering more courses online than before the pandemic. In the Los Rios district, 50% of classes are still being offered online, compared with 15% pre-pandemic. About half of courses are also online at College of the Canyons and the Los Angeles district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the most part, those colleges are offering many online courses not for public health reasons, but because students have indicated they prefer remote classes. Community colleges across the state have suffered dramatic enrollment declines since the onset of the pandemic, with the system as a whole losing hundreds of thousands of students. Colleges are doing what they can to bring students back, and that often means offering online classes, which often receive more enrollments than in-person classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At College of the Canyons, about three-quarters of students attend part-time and are often “doing other things, like working or caring for family or both,” said Eric Harnish, a spokesperson for the college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, having the flexibility to attend online is something they really appreciate,” he added. “And by having significant numbers of classes online, we’re giving them the opportunity to actually attend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monitoring monkeypox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To varying degrees, many California colleges are ready to confront positive cases of the monkeypox virus on their campuses, which has already happened at a few universities across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with campuses across the three systems said they are consulting with their local health officials on plans and possible responses. Supply of the monkeypox vaccine is low across the country, but officials said they have requested vaccines as soon as they’re available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At UC Davis, if a student believes they have monkeypox symptoms, that student will get a telehealth appointment and, if needed, will be tested for the virus. If that student needs treatment, the campus plans to work with Yolo County’s public health department to secure that treatment, or the student can get treated through UC Davis Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the experience of dealing with COVID-19 could help colleges respond to monkeypox, the virus also will present new challenges, said Souleles, the UC Irvine official. One of the main differences is that if a student contracts monkeypox, the isolation period could be much longer than is required for COVID. Instead of the five or seven days of isolation that COVID requires, a positive case of monkeypox could necessitate that a student isolates four to six weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to think through what that means and how that might be managed, like where that isolation takes place, whether it’s on campus or at home or case-by-case-dependent. So we’re making sure we have a plan and that we’re communicating that in advance of our return to fall, so that families and students know what to expect,” Souleles said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/california-colleges-open-for-fall-term-with-relaxed-covid-rules/677040\">\u003cem>This story was originally reported by EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Monkeypox Spreads on Surfaces Only in Certain Cases — Here's What to Know",
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"headTitle": "Monkeypox Spreads on Surfaces Only in Certain Cases — Here’s What to Know | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>We’ve been asking KQED readers and listeners \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11921709/tell-us-what-do-you-need-to-know-about-monkeypox\">“what do you need to know about monkeypox?”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although monkeypox has existed among humans for over 50 years, this most recent outbreak in the United States has seen a significant amount of misinformation online about the disease and how it spreads. And one of the biggest questions we’ve gotten from our audience: Do I need to worry about the risks of monkeypox and surfaces?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or preference, can get monkeypox. Right now, the monkeypox outbreak in the United States \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/monkeypox-public-health-advice-for-men-who-have-sex-with-men\">is particularly affecting communities of gay and bisexual men\u003c/a>, and men who have sex with men, and the World Health Organization notes that \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/25-05-2022-monkeypox--public-health-advice-for-gay--bisexual-and-other-men-who-have-sex-with-men\">trans people and gender-diverse people “may also be more vulnerable in the context of the current outbreak.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main way that the virus spreads is via close, skin-to-skin contact with a person who’s infected with monkeypox — which includes sexual contact but is not limited to it. Monkeypox can also spread via respiratory droplets through very close, sustained face-to-face contact. Another way monkeypox can be transmitted that’s far less common than skin-to-skin contact is on shared surfaces and items.[aside postID='news_11920455,news_11919070,news_11920913' label='More monkeypox resources']So \u003cem>how\u003c/em> worried should you be about the risk of monkeypox spreading through surfaces or through the air?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The short answer: your risk of catching monkeypox from surfaces is highest if you’re sharing a home with a person who has monkeypox. Keep reading for what you need to know about the risks of monkeypox and surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, please remember that the advice that follows is based on what information we currently know and the data experts have right now about monkeypox. As with COVID, you may find that advice and best practices around monkeypox evolve and shift as more scientific information becomes available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t see your question answered below, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/monkeypox\">our other guides covering monkeypox\u003c/a>? Send us your \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#monkeypoxquestions\">question and tell us what to cover.\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox can live on surfaces — but your risk of being infected this way is low\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one scientific study found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/specific-settings/home-disinfection.html\">the monkeypox virus can live on surfaces for up to 15 days\u003c/a>. Yes, that may sound pretty alarming, but the most recent data actually shows that monkeypox doesn’t do so well spreading through routes that don’t involve close physical or intimate contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the World Health Organization reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/05/1115859376/clearing-up-some-of-the-myths-that-have-popped-up-about-monkeypox\">only around 0.2% of people infected are thought to have caught the virus from a contaminated surface\u003c/a> in this current outbreak.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right']A note: You might hear people also referring to surface transmission as “fomites.” A fomite is an object that could be contaminated with an infectious virus or bacteria, and that helps spread it.[/pullquote]\u003c/span>Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard’s Belfer Center, recently told Slate that\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/monkeypox-spread-misconceptions-surfaces-sex.html\"> “just because you have viral particles on a surface doesn’t mean (they’re) going to cause infection in another person.”\u003c/a> That is, it’s not enough for that virus to be present — there also needs to be enough of that virus getting transferred first onto the surface by an infected person, and then onto the skin of someone who isn’t infected. “It’s not as easy as ‘I’m going to touch this doorknob and somebody with monkeypox just touched it so I’m going to get infected,’ ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, says that clothing, materials and surfaces are most likely to be a method of virus transmission within the home of someone \u003cem>with\u003c/em> monkeypox, specifically when someone else is having sustained contact with those items, rather than brief contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But going to the thrift store or purchasing bedding at Bed Bath & Beyond? “That’s very, very low risk,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about being in shared, high-touch public spaces like a gym or a pool? “It’s very, very low risk to get monkeypox in a swimming pool,” says Dr. Chin-Hong. “The risk of just touching objects in the gym or in the yoga studio is very, very small. It’s really in the context of a household where you’re touching the same things multiple times over and over again for multiple hours.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist at UCSF\"]‘It’s very, very low risk to get monkeypox in a swimming pool.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>Even when you’re armed with the facts, the thought of monkeypox virus being on shared spaces in the outside world — on door handles, public transit or clothing in a store — still feels unsettling, especially if you’re being bombarded with headlines and TikToks on the subject. But remember: what gains traction online isn’t always reliable or fact-checked — and rare instances don’t equal a widespread risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infectious disease doctor Susan McLellan at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, offered this perspective to NPR: \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/05/1115859376/clearing-up-some-of-the-myths-that-have-popped-up-about-monkeypox\">“During this outbreak, there will probably be at least one random case where somebody gets it on a bus,”\u003c/a> she said. “But, you know, that’s going to be profoundly rare, probably less likely than being hit by that bus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If monkeypox were easily transmitted on the subway, on buses, we would be seeing it among a very different population than almost purely among the population where transmission is occurring mostly during close, intimate contact,” she noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox can live in the air — but only briefly\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The monkeypox virus can also spread through respiratory droplets that a person infected with monkeypox breathes out onto another person. This contact would have to be very close and sustained — a lengthy face-to-face conversation or kissing are some examples — for the virus to spread this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means yes, monkeypox can live in the air — but not in the way you might be imagining. The idea of whether you can catch monkeypox from the air is “probably one of the most controversial areas right now,” says Dr. Chin-Hong — and he stresses that it’s important to understand what we mean by “airborne.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike COVID, monkeypox virus is not thought to linger in the air for a sustained period of time. That is, if someone with COVID breathes out respiratory droplets, those droplets can hang in the air for some time, and could expose the next person who steps into that space to the coronavirus. The monkeypox virus doesn’t operate the same way, says Dr. Chin-Hong. “COVID is a respiratory virus by its definition,” he notes. “Monkeypox is not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, it’s not going to be the same way we think about ‘droplets’ or ‘airborne’ and COVID,” he says. You can’t get monkeypox from casual conversations, or by passing someone with monkeypox — say, in a store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how else could you theoretically catch monkeypox “in the air,” if not through very close conversations or kissing? This is where sharing a home with someone who has monkeypox definitely presents the virus with more opportunities for transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Chin-Hong points to the example of a person with monkeypox sleeping in a bed, and their monkeypox rash shedding scabs onto the bedsheets. If another person comes in the next morning and changes those sheets, waving them around into the air, “these little scabs are filled with a virus which can survive for some time, but then go in the air, and if you inhale it, you can be afflicted with monkeypox.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some individuals have absolutely gotten monkeypox that way within households, says Dr. Chin-Hong — but “only because these small scabs are floating in the air temporarily.” For this reason, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-faq\">the San Francisco Department of Public Health explicitly warns against shaking out bedding and towels\u003c/a> that have been used by someone with monkeypox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11919128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11919128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-800x490.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-1020x625.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-1536x942.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digitally colorized electron microscopic (EM) image depicting a monkeypox virion (virus particle). \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you’re sharing a home with someone who has monkeypox, worrying about virus on shared surfaces is justified — but there are steps you can take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re sharing a home with someone with an active monkeypox infection — or if you yourself have monkeypox and want to keep those you live with safe — being aware of how monkeypox can spread within a home and taking the appropriate measures is the best way to stop the virus spreading.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If someone in your home has monkeypox …\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You should not be sharing materials like bedding, clothing and towels. You should also not be sharing cooking or eating utensils.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As with COVID, it’s ideal that someone isolating with monkeypox uses their own bathroom exclusively, away from the rest of the household. But depending on your home setup, this may not be possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Be particularly careful around laundry, especially bedding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Dr. Chin-Hong says above, bedding and laundry can pose a particular risk because of how a person’s lesions with active monkeypox virus can rub onto those materials. Ideally, a person with monkeypox should do their own laundry and change their own bedding. Sheets and laundry should not be shaken out, in case scabs are thrown into the air and inhaled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have to do laundry or change the bedding of someone with monkeypox, consider wearing a mask and eye protection to avoid this kind of contamination, and wash your hands very thoroughly after.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have monkeypox and can’t avoid being in the same room as other people, the WHO advises you to keep any rashes or lesions covered with clothing or a bandage. This way, there’s far less chance of the virus shedding onto shared materials or surfaces within a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922424\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing personal protective equipment wipes down a table in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Health experts say that bedding and laundry can pose a particular risk for monkeypox transmission in situations involving someone with an active monkeypox infection. If you have to do laundry or change the bedding of someone with monkeypox, consider wearing a mask and eye protection to avoid this kind of contamination, and wash your hands very thoroughly after. \u003ccite>(Matilda Wormwood/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anyone who thinks they’ve been exposed to monkeypox in the home, or through their networks, should seek a vaccine.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/considerations-for-monkeypox-vaccination.html\">The CDC recommends that the monkeypox vaccine be given to a person within four days\u003c/a> of the date they were exposed to monkeypox, for the best chance of preventing onset of the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a person gets the vaccine between 4 and 14 days of being exposed, the vaccine may reduce the symptoms of monkeypox, but may not prevent the disease altogether.\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me\"> Read more on how to find a monkeypox vaccine near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Follow cleaning protocols to reduce the risk of spread\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, monkeypox can live on shared surfaces, and potentially spread through them as a result of repeated contact. But as Harvard’s Syra Madad told Slate, \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/monkeypox-spread-misconceptions-surfaces-sex.html\">“the monkeypox virus is a DNA-based virus and is a bit of a wimpy virus\u003c/a> in that you can actually kill it with household disinfectants and UV light and the like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">The CDC recommends regularly cleaning and disinfecting your household spaces\u003c/a> to prevent the spread of monkeypox. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/disinfectants-emerging-viral-pathogens-evps-list-q\">approved cleaning products and disinfectants for monkeypox\u003c/a>, which includes common items you might already own like Lysol and Clorox. If you don’t have those products already in your home and you’re isolating with monkeypox, consider exploring home delivery options or asking friends or family to deliver cleaning products to your home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">Even if you’re isolating with monkeypox alone in your home\u003c/a>, the CDC still recommends regularly cleaning and disinfecting your spaces if you’re able to, to limit household contamination for anyone that does enter your home later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read the CDC’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">full guide to cleaning and disinfecting your home during a monkeypox infection.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11921619\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1762\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-800x551.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-2048x1409.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1920x1321.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Health workers sit at a check-in table at a pop-up monkeypox vaccination clinic which opened today by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health at the West Hollywood Library on August 3, 2022 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency on August 1st over the monkeypox outbreak which continues to grow globally. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox sounds scary — but don’t let fear of transmission distract you from COVID\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monkeypox can seem frightening. Especially if you’re part of a community that’s been particularly impacted by the spread of the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite these natural fears, Dr. Chin-Hong wants to remind you that “at this point, you’re much more likely to get something like COVID than monkeypox. Although I know it’s really scary to people.” Monkeypox is not nearly as contagious as COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You shouldn’t feel ashamed for worrying about how the monkeypox virus spreads. It’s an understandable fear — not least because we’ve been here before, with COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, the idea of surface transmission for the coronavirus was very much in the popular consciousness, as early public health messaging around COVID-19 laid heavy emphasis on strong hand-washing and sanitation practices, and videos like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKx-F4AKteE\">“How to Safely Grocery Shop During Coronavirus”\u003c/a> racked up huge views. And while good hygiene practices remain important around the coronavirus, more recent and complete data has taught us that respiratory transmission between people poses a far greater risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, it’s hard not to hear fears about monkeypox and fomites without being transported back to those first unsettling months of the COVID pandemic — a pandemic we’re still very much in, even as we work to keep our communities safe from the new public health threat in monkeypox.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"monkeypoxquestions\">\u003c/a>What other questions do you have about monkeypox?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you have more questions about monkeypox, we want to hear them. If you can’t find an answer in this post, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11919070/monkeypox-in-the-bay-area-from-symptoms-to-how-to-find-a-vaccine-heres-what-we-know\">our guide on what monkeypox symptoms are\u003c/a> or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me\">our guide on how to find a monkeypox vaccine near you\u003c/a>, you can use the box below to submit your question. What you send us will make our reporting on monkeypox stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site and on KQED Public Radio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Please know that we can’t reach back out directly to everyone who asks a question, and we can’t give out individual medical advice. If you’re concerned about monkeypox or another health matter, we urge you to reach out to your health care provider, or a local community clinic if you don’t have insurance. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me#wheremonkeypoxvaccinenearme\">See our list of community clinics in your county.\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"9840\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/9840.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Can monkeypox spread on surfaces? Does monkeypox spread through the air? KQED spoke to the experts to learn how monkeypox transmits and what you can do to protect yourself and your family.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We’ve been asking KQED readers and listeners \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11921709/tell-us-what-do-you-need-to-know-about-monkeypox\">“what do you need to know about monkeypox?”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although monkeypox has existed among humans for over 50 years, this most recent outbreak in the United States has seen a significant amount of misinformation online about the disease and how it spreads. And one of the biggest questions we’ve gotten from our audience: Do I need to worry about the risks of monkeypox and surfaces?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or preference, can get monkeypox. Right now, the monkeypox outbreak in the United States \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/monkeypox-public-health-advice-for-men-who-have-sex-with-men\">is particularly affecting communities of gay and bisexual men\u003c/a>, and men who have sex with men, and the World Health Organization notes that \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/25-05-2022-monkeypox--public-health-advice-for-gay--bisexual-and-other-men-who-have-sex-with-men\">trans people and gender-diverse people “may also be more vulnerable in the context of the current outbreak.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main way that the virus spreads is via close, skin-to-skin contact with a person who’s infected with monkeypox — which includes sexual contact but is not limited to it. Monkeypox can also spread via respiratory droplets through very close, sustained face-to-face contact. Another way monkeypox can be transmitted that’s far less common than skin-to-skin contact is on shared surfaces and items.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So \u003cem>how\u003c/em> worried should you be about the risk of monkeypox spreading through surfaces or through the air?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The short answer: your risk of catching monkeypox from surfaces is highest if you’re sharing a home with a person who has monkeypox. Keep reading for what you need to know about the risks of monkeypox and surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, please remember that the advice that follows is based on what information we currently know and the data experts have right now about monkeypox. As with COVID, you may find that advice and best practices around monkeypox evolve and shift as more scientific information becomes available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t see your question answered below, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/monkeypox\">our other guides covering monkeypox\u003c/a>? Send us your \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#monkeypoxquestions\">question and tell us what to cover.\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox can live on surfaces — but your risk of being infected this way is low\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one scientific study found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/specific-settings/home-disinfection.html\">the monkeypox virus can live on surfaces for up to 15 days\u003c/a>. Yes, that may sound pretty alarming, but the most recent data actually shows that monkeypox doesn’t do so well spreading through routes that don’t involve close physical or intimate contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the World Health Organization reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/05/1115859376/clearing-up-some-of-the-myths-that-have-popped-up-about-monkeypox\">only around 0.2% of people infected are thought to have caught the virus from a contaminated surface\u003c/a> in this current outbreak.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "A note: You might hear people also referring to surface transmission as “fomites.” A fomite is an object that could be contaminated with an infectious virus or bacteria, and that helps spread it.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard’s Belfer Center, recently told Slate that\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/monkeypox-spread-misconceptions-surfaces-sex.html\"> “just because you have viral particles on a surface doesn’t mean (they’re) going to cause infection in another person.”\u003c/a> That is, it’s not enough for that virus to be present — there also needs to be enough of that virus getting transferred first onto the surface by an infected person, and then onto the skin of someone who isn’t infected. “It’s not as easy as ‘I’m going to touch this doorknob and somebody with monkeypox just touched it so I’m going to get infected,’ ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, says that clothing, materials and surfaces are most likely to be a method of virus transmission within the home of someone \u003cem>with\u003c/em> monkeypox, specifically when someone else is having sustained contact with those items, rather than brief contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But going to the thrift store or purchasing bedding at Bed Bath & Beyond? “That’s very, very low risk,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about being in shared, high-touch public spaces like a gym or a pool? “It’s very, very low risk to get monkeypox in a swimming pool,” says Dr. Chin-Hong. “The risk of just touching objects in the gym or in the yoga studio is very, very small. It’s really in the context of a household where you’re touching the same things multiple times over and over again for multiple hours.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s very, very low risk to get monkeypox in a swimming pool.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Even when you’re armed with the facts, the thought of monkeypox virus being on shared spaces in the outside world — on door handles, public transit or clothing in a store — still feels unsettling, especially if you’re being bombarded with headlines and TikToks on the subject. But remember: what gains traction online isn’t always reliable or fact-checked — and rare instances don’t equal a widespread risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infectious disease doctor Susan McLellan at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, offered this perspective to NPR: \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/05/1115859376/clearing-up-some-of-the-myths-that-have-popped-up-about-monkeypox\">“During this outbreak, there will probably be at least one random case where somebody gets it on a bus,”\u003c/a> she said. “But, you know, that’s going to be profoundly rare, probably less likely than being hit by that bus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If monkeypox were easily transmitted on the subway, on buses, we would be seeing it among a very different population than almost purely among the population where transmission is occurring mostly during close, intimate contact,” she noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox can live in the air — but only briefly\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The monkeypox virus can also spread through respiratory droplets that a person infected with monkeypox breathes out onto another person. This contact would have to be very close and sustained — a lengthy face-to-face conversation or kissing are some examples — for the virus to spread this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means yes, monkeypox can live in the air — but not in the way you might be imagining. The idea of whether you can catch monkeypox from the air is “probably one of the most controversial areas right now,” says Dr. Chin-Hong — and he stresses that it’s important to understand what we mean by “airborne.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike COVID, monkeypox virus is not thought to linger in the air for a sustained period of time. That is, if someone with COVID breathes out respiratory droplets, those droplets can hang in the air for some time, and could expose the next person who steps into that space to the coronavirus. The monkeypox virus doesn’t operate the same way, says Dr. Chin-Hong. “COVID is a respiratory virus by its definition,” he notes. “Monkeypox is not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, it’s not going to be the same way we think about ‘droplets’ or ‘airborne’ and COVID,” he says. You can’t get monkeypox from casual conversations, or by passing someone with monkeypox — say, in a store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how else could you theoretically catch monkeypox “in the air,” if not through very close conversations or kissing? This is where sharing a home with someone who has monkeypox definitely presents the virus with more opportunities for transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Chin-Hong points to the example of a person with monkeypox sleeping in a bed, and their monkeypox rash shedding scabs onto the bedsheets. If another person comes in the next morning and changes those sheets, waving them around into the air, “these little scabs are filled with a virus which can survive for some time, but then go in the air, and if you inhale it, you can be afflicted with monkeypox.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some individuals have absolutely gotten monkeypox that way within households, says Dr. Chin-Hong — but “only because these small scabs are floating in the air temporarily.” For this reason, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-faq\">the San Francisco Department of Public Health explicitly warns against shaking out bedding and towels\u003c/a> that have been used by someone with monkeypox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11919128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11919128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-800x490.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-1020x625.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS57170_GettyImages-1401390462-qut-1536x942.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digitally colorized electron microscopic (EM) image depicting a monkeypox virion (virus particle). \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you’re sharing a home with someone who has monkeypox, worrying about virus on shared surfaces is justified — but there are steps you can take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re sharing a home with someone with an active monkeypox infection — or if you yourself have monkeypox and want to keep those you live with safe — being aware of how monkeypox can spread within a home and taking the appropriate measures is the best way to stop the virus spreading.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If someone in your home has monkeypox …\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You should not be sharing materials like bedding, clothing and towels. You should also not be sharing cooking or eating utensils.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As with COVID, it’s ideal that someone isolating with monkeypox uses their own bathroom exclusively, away from the rest of the household. But depending on your home setup, this may not be possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Be particularly careful around laundry, especially bedding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Dr. Chin-Hong says above, bedding and laundry can pose a particular risk because of how a person’s lesions with active monkeypox virus can rub onto those materials. Ideally, a person with monkeypox should do their own laundry and change their own bedding. Sheets and laundry should not be shaken out, in case scabs are thrown into the air and inhaled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have to do laundry or change the bedding of someone with monkeypox, consider wearing a mask and eye protection to avoid this kind of contamination, and wash your hands very thoroughly after.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have monkeypox and can’t avoid being in the same room as other people, the WHO advises you to keep any rashes or lesions covered with clothing or a bandage. This way, there’s far less chance of the virus shedding onto shared materials or surfaces within a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11922424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11922424\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing personal protective equipment wipes down a table in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/pexels-matilda-wormwood-4099467-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Health experts say that bedding and laundry can pose a particular risk for monkeypox transmission in situations involving someone with an active monkeypox infection. If you have to do laundry or change the bedding of someone with monkeypox, consider wearing a mask and eye protection to avoid this kind of contamination, and wash your hands very thoroughly after. \u003ccite>(Matilda Wormwood/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anyone who thinks they’ve been exposed to monkeypox in the home, or through their networks, should seek a vaccine.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/considerations-for-monkeypox-vaccination.html\">The CDC recommends that the monkeypox vaccine be given to a person within four days\u003c/a> of the date they were exposed to monkeypox, for the best chance of preventing onset of the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a person gets the vaccine between 4 and 14 days of being exposed, the vaccine may reduce the symptoms of monkeypox, but may not prevent the disease altogether.\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me\"> Read more on how to find a monkeypox vaccine near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Follow cleaning protocols to reduce the risk of spread\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, monkeypox can live on shared surfaces, and potentially spread through them as a result of repeated contact. But as Harvard’s Syra Madad told Slate, \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/monkeypox-spread-misconceptions-surfaces-sex.html\">“the monkeypox virus is a DNA-based virus and is a bit of a wimpy virus\u003c/a> in that you can actually kill it with household disinfectants and UV light and the like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">The CDC recommends regularly cleaning and disinfecting your household spaces\u003c/a> to prevent the spread of monkeypox. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/disinfectants-emerging-viral-pathogens-evps-list-q\">approved cleaning products and disinfectants for monkeypox\u003c/a>, which includes common items you might already own like Lysol and Clorox. If you don’t have those products already in your home and you’re isolating with monkeypox, consider exploring home delivery options or asking friends or family to deliver cleaning products to your home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">Even if you’re isolating with monkeypox alone in your home\u003c/a>, the CDC still recommends regularly cleaning and disinfecting your spaces if you’re able to, to limit household contamination for anyone that does enter your home later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read the CDC’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/pdf/Monkeypox-Interim-Guidance-for-Household-Disinfection-508.pdf\">full guide to cleaning and disinfecting your home during a monkeypox infection.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11921619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11921619\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1762\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-800x551.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-2048x1409.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/08/gettyimages-14127573261_custom-08d5a5ff4a4cb124ab63f489d9c13ae55d9fce02-1920x1321.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Health workers sit at a check-in table at a pop-up monkeypox vaccination clinic which opened today by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health at the West Hollywood Library on August 3, 2022 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency on August 1st over the monkeypox outbreak which continues to grow globally. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Monkeypox sounds scary — but don’t let fear of transmission distract you from COVID\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monkeypox can seem frightening. Especially if you’re part of a community that’s been particularly impacted by the spread of the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite these natural fears, Dr. Chin-Hong wants to remind you that “at this point, you’re much more likely to get something like COVID than monkeypox. Although I know it’s really scary to people.” Monkeypox is not nearly as contagious as COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You shouldn’t feel ashamed for worrying about how the monkeypox virus spreads. It’s an understandable fear — not least because we’ve been here before, with COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, the idea of surface transmission for the coronavirus was very much in the popular consciousness, as early public health messaging around COVID-19 laid heavy emphasis on strong hand-washing and sanitation practices, and videos like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKx-F4AKteE\">“How to Safely Grocery Shop During Coronavirus”\u003c/a> racked up huge views. And while good hygiene practices remain important around the coronavirus, more recent and complete data has taught us that respiratory transmission between people poses a far greater risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, it’s hard not to hear fears about monkeypox and fomites without being transported back to those first unsettling months of the COVID pandemic — a pandemic we’re still very much in, even as we work to keep our communities safe from the new public health threat in monkeypox.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"monkeypoxquestions\">\u003c/a>What other questions do you have about monkeypox?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you have more questions about monkeypox, we want to hear them. If you can’t find an answer in this post, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11919070/monkeypox-in-the-bay-area-from-symptoms-to-how-to-find-a-vaccine-heres-what-we-know\">our guide on what monkeypox symptoms are\u003c/a> or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me\">our guide on how to find a monkeypox vaccine near you\u003c/a>, you can use the box below to submit your question. What you send us will make our reporting on monkeypox stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site and on KQED Public Radio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Please know that we can’t reach back out directly to everyone who asks a question, and we can’t give out individual medical advice. If you’re concerned about monkeypox or another health matter, we urge you to reach out to your health care provider, or a local community clinic if you don’t have insurance. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11920455/where-can-i-find-a-monkeypox-vaccine-near-me#wheremonkeypoxvaccinenearme\">See our list of community clinics in your county.\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"meta": {
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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