Earlier this week, the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management, chaired by Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez, convened a hearing entitled “The Role of Cal OES and Emergency Management in Providing an Equitable Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The hearing featured two panels – one with local representatives and one with state officials. Up first, the local…
Read More »The Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom this week identified a series of actions to build upon the state’s work to vaccinate California’s hard-to-reach communities against COVID-19. As part of the effort to promote COVID-19 vaccines, California Governors Newsom, Brown, Schwarzenegger, and Wilson created and published a new PSA, available here. The Governor’s announcement includes…
Read More »This week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released results of a statewide survey that sought to gauge public sentiment toward receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, PPIC found that four in 10 Californians (39 percent) report that they have already received the COVID-19 vaccine. One in four (26 percent) say they will get the…
Read More »On Wednesday, U.S. Federal District Judge for the District of Columbia Dabney Friedrich issued a ruling vacating the U.S. government’s nationwide ban on evictions set forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recall, the CDC in September 2020 issued an order barring landlords from evicting tenants for the nonpayment of rent,…
Read More »U.S. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on Tuesday announced a new federal COVID-19 vaccination goal necessary to reaching more Americans and more fully reopening the country’s economy. The Biden-Harris Administration now aims to reach 70 percent of U.S. adults with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 160 million Americans with two doses of…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of over $1.25 billion from the recently enacted American Rescue Plan to support ongoing COVID-19 response activities nationwide. These investments include: Rural COVID-19 Support: HHS has announced the availability of nearly $1 billion to strengthen COVID-19 response efforts and increase vaccinations…
Read More »This week, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge announced a joint agency effort to increase access to COVID-19 prevention and treatment services, including testing and vaccinations, among disproportionately affected communities, including among HUD-assisted households and persons experiencing homelessness. Under the announcement, the…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), this week announced a new program to cover costs of administering COVID-19 vaccines to patients enrolled in health plans that either do not cover vaccination fees or cover them with patient cost-sharing. Since providers cannot bill patients for…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) this week included an article modeling future COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by vaccination rates and nonpharmaceutical intervention (NPI) scenarios in the U.S. from April through September 2021. The MMWR article provides background on the recent increase in COVID-19 cases…
Read More »This week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued COVID-19 guidance for waterparks and community sporting events. Below, we highlight the state’s most recent COVID-19 guidance: Waterparks Guidance – On Wednesday, CDPH released COVID-19 guidance for waterparks. The guidance aims to support a safe, clean environment for workers and customers and limits attendance at…
Read More »