The California State Senate and Assembly returned to the State Capitol in Sacramento on Monday to resume the second half of the 2021-22 Legislative Session. Lawmakers hit the ground running, introducing a raft of new bills and amending previously introduced, two-year measures. Notably, on Monday, Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego County announced her…
Read More »The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) over the past several weeks has taken a series of steps to mitigate the surge in COVID-19 cases, including those cased by the Omicron variant, throughout the state. Below, we highlight these changes in guidance. Booster Doses Required for Certain Occupations Just prior to the winter holidays, state…
Read More »Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday issued Executive Order N-1-22 to protect residents against increasing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations largely driven by the COVID-19 omicron variant. The order extends the sunset of AB 361 that the Governor signed in September to extend flexibilities provided in a prior executive order enabling public agencies to meet remotely during…
Read More »Early this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took steps to expand the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine among key populations throughout the country. The FDA amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the vaccine to: Expand the use of a single booster dose to include use in individuals ages 12-15 Shorten…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under the U.S. Health and Human Services Agency, recently granted approval of California’s sweeping health and human services initiatives. On December 29, CMS signed off on the state’s sweeping “California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal” (CalAIM) initiative, consisting of two federal waivers – the Section 1115 Medicaid…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy is announcing the availability of nearly $48 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for local organizations to expand public health capacity in rural and tribal communities through health care job development, training,…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week issued a warning raising awareness of risks of rabies from bats in the U.S. after three people, including one child, died from rabies between late September and early November 2021. The three cases, detailed in this week’s CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR),…
Read More »Amid record snowfall along the Sierras and significant rain events statewide, Governor Gavin Newsom last week issued a statement and emergency proclamation in support of the disaster recovery. Newsom’s statement highlighted the state government’s response activities to the storm and associated impacts. The emergency proclamation issued by the Governor expands access to state resources for…
Read More »California Health Policy Strategies (CalHPS) recently published a policy brief detailing the overdose crisis in California between 2017 and 2021. The report calls attention to the significant increase in drug overdose deaths throughout the state. The policy brief’s topline findings include: Preventable drug-related overdose deaths have doubled since 2017 – Between 2020 and 2021, nearly…
Read More »CHEAC has published the latest edition of its #WeArePublicHealth Newsletter highlighting the critical role of California’s local health departments in protecting and promoting the health of all Californians. The December edition of the newsletter showcases jurisdictions involved in planning for the COVID-19 Omicron variant, efforts to protect communities against seasonal influenza, and work to combat…
Read More »