san diego: dialed in: CoViD-19: ACIP Recommends Use of J&J Vaccine | Deb Haaland Brings Hope To Indigenous Peoples as Secretary of the Interior | SDHC Wants To Pay Your Rent

Malayan Tapir Baby at San Diego Zoo (Taken 4.23.21)

We can walk and chew gum at the same time, so the expression goes. That's how I was feeling this morning. I'm angry about the shooting in the Gaslamp last night and I don't understand why or how FLUXX is opening tonight and I'm worried about my God- sister going to Alabama in these COVID times but also crazy racially tense times and I'm so horrified by the images of India and cardboard hospital beds in Thailand and I'm mad that Reality Winner is still locked up and I'm hopeful that things are getting so close to being good here in San Diego with our accelerated vaccination rollout and free testing widely available. Happy, hopeful, sad, angry. Feeling it all at once, ya know?

But today was a good day. We all tested negative, which wasn't a surprise, but it's just going to be our protocol while Nova is in school and still can't get vaccinated. Darren and I went to the San Diego Zoo for a couple hours this afternoon and I finally got to see the baby Malayan Tapir. I was also surprised to see a baby Golden Takin. So it was a day of my heart pretty much exploding. After that, I had some of our BBQ leftovers from last night's Bowlegged BBQ, then did a Costco run. I watched all the briefings today but haven't read any email, so I will have more posts to come, but for now, here's what I've got. Stay safe out there.

COVID-19:

ACIP Green-Lights J&J Vax for All Adults — Recommends warning label, but says benefits outweigh the risks in pandemic setting - MedPage Today (4.23.21)

Johnson & Johnson vaccine is recommended under FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for all adults.
The committee chose not to vote on would have added language that women under age 50 should be aware of the increased risks of rare clotting events, and may opt for a different authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19: The therapeutic landscape - Med (4.20.21)

Valuable lessons have been learned through this initial research response including the concepts that: (1) it is critical to base treatment approaches on safety and efficacy from randomized controlled clinical trials, (2) data cannot be extrapolated from one stage of COVID-19 disease to another, and (3) trials must be designed to provide the most robust and clinically relevant data possible.

Politics:

Bonta vows as California’s top cop he’d be tougher on policing - CalMatters (4.21.22)

White House:

Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials

>65% of pop 65+ are fully vaccinated
Cases are down 10% from last week
Over 200M vaccines administered before first 100 days of this administration
Dr. Murthy: I mean, ultimately, I believe that this is one of those moments where we have to decide who we are as a country: Are we 300 million people who happen to live in the same place? Or are we fellow Americans who recognize we’re stronger when we care for and protect one another?

And my family and countless other immigrants came to this country, whether it was a few years ago or a few generations ago, because many of us believe that America at its best was a community where people looked out for one another, where they were tied together by common values and common concerns.

And I still believe that that’s who we are at our best. And that’s why I’m urging every person in our country not only to get vaccinated, but to go one step further and help the people you love get vaccinated.

Make sure they have an appointment, help them get answers to their questions, and lead by example and show them that you are getting vaccinated too.

If we do this together, we will turn this pandemic around. And I believe, in the process, we will protect our families, our communities, and our country.

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, April 23, 2021:

Announced 16 new listings to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program
Taken steps in just the past few weeks to advance offshore wind proposals, restore balance to management of our public lands and waters, and create jobs, and revitalize land in coal communities.
Putting the full weight of our federal government behind a cross-departmental Missing and Murdered Unit
Interior is moving forward to implement the Not Invisible Act, establishing a joint commission led by Interior and the Department of Justice on reducing violent crime against Indigenous Peoples
Existing leases (on Federal Lands) are still in effect. We are still issuing permits on those lands.
Psaki Bombs of the Day (1) Travel Restrictions Abroad (2) On Unaccompanied Children: "So, we are well aware, and there was some reporting this morning, that this was an issue that some supporters of the former President and some Republicans in Congress, apparently, are licking their chops about how to make children a political issue. We don’t see it that way, and we felt this was the moral, right step to take. And we’re going to keep working with immigration advocates, with groups out there to get this bill passed; to get DREAMers — the DREAMers legislation passed. That continues to be a big objective for the President."

Readout of the Biden-Harris Administration’s First Meeting of the White House Council on Native American Affairs
Bills Signed: S. 164, S. 415, S. 422, S. 578

164: Advancing Education on Biosimilars Act of 2021,
415: clarifies the definition of a new chemical entity for the purposes of an application for approval by the Food and Drug Administration
422: Senate Shared Employee Act
578: Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act of 2021 or the FASTER Act of 2021, which adds sesame to the list of major allergens for purposes of food labeling

Other Reading:

Fearing Money Left on the Table, Officials Push Rental Assistance Program. Community groups and politicians say people are struggling to apply for rental assistance online and face other barriers to applying. Since the start of the program, the Housing Commission has grappled with the possibility that some of the funding could be left unspent. - Voice of San Diego (4.21.21)
My Take: This article misses a huge fundamental problem of the San Diego Housing Commission's assistance is that the landlords have to agree to only get 80% of the rent. Many are flat out refusing this option. This program puts a weird wedge between tenants and landlords, often slumlords, whose relationships are almost always already contentious.
Information for Rental Assistance
The program can pay 80 percent of a tenant’s past-due, unpaid rent for the period of April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021, but only if the landlord agrees to waive the remaining 20 percent. If a landlord does not agree to these terms, the program can pay 25 percent of the tenant’s past-due, unpaid rent to the tenant.

Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 4.23.21 9:20pm):

145,293,628 Known Cases
3,083,527 Known Deaths

US COVID-19 Stats

CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
JHU

31,991,750 Cases
571,197 Deaths

CDC Data Tracker:

+64,053 New Cases/31,730,950 Known Cases
+775 New Deaths/567,352 Known Deaths
286,095,185 Doses Delivered/222,322,230 Doses Administered

Moderna 121,897,300 delivered/97,353,734 administered/37,888,629 Fully Vaccinated
Pfizer 146,556,735 delivered/116,754,631 administered/45,268,315 Fully Vaccinated
Janssen 17,641,150 delivered/8,040,727 administered/7,976,866 Fully Vaccinated

California COVID-19 Stats:

State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
Vaccination progress dashboard
Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 32.8%
R-effective: 0.95
34,470,600 Doses Delivered/27,389,602 Doses Administered
1,818 New Cases/3,626,656 Total Cases (4.9 new cases/100k)
94 New Deaths/60,086 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
1.5% 7-day test positivity rate
2,095 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-3 patients, -0.1% from prior day)
446 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-33 patients, -7.4% from prior day)
2,246 ICU beds available (-53 from prior day)

San Diego County

Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
VaccinationSuperstationSD
Vaccination Dashboard
San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
State Data:

Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 35.5%
R-effective: 0.91
281 New Cases/275,913 Total Cases
3,684 Deaths/3 Total Deaths
6.4 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/20. Unadjusted Case Rate)
2.4% Test Positivity (Assessed on 4/20)
3.0% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 4/20)
192 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+2 patients, +1.1% from prior day)
52 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-6 patients, -10.3% from prior day)
268 ICU beds available (-3 from prior day)

County Data:

San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 4-23-2021 - County News Center
329 New Cases/275,096* Total Cases (*There were 1,145 duplicate cases identified through quality assurance processes. These cases were removed from the case count on 4/23/21)
0 New Daily Deaths/3,684 Total Deaths
2,652,855 Doses Received/2,447,313 Doses Administered
880,433 Fully Vaccinated (43.7% of Goal)
2% Daily Test Positivity/2.4% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/1.8% Test Positivity (14-day average)
6.1 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/20. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.)
99% Case Investigation
+3.4% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (174 patients. -9% over 30 days, +19% over 14-days)
35% ICU Capacity (52 patients. -28% over 30 days, 0% change over 14 days)
54 Staffed ICU Beds Available
1 New/21 Community Outbreaks (7-day)