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dailyrepublic.com | Well said. Well read.
State’s schools risk ‘colossal’ loss of dollars Joe Hong
CalMatters
Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters
Florinda Matias Pablo receives a Covid-19 vaccination at the La Clinica de la Raza community vaccination site
in Oakland, Monday. The booster vaccine rate in the state remains very low.
Covid-19 booster rate remains below 40% throughout state By Kristen Hwang and Ana B. Ibarra CalMatters
SACRAMENTO — Hospitals are at capacity. Covid-19 infections are at record highs. Testing lines stretch for hours. Yet even as the omicron variant batters the state, only 38% of vaccinated Californians have gotten a booster shot. As with initial vaccinations, acceptance of the booster shot has varied throughout California: Counties in the far north and rural areas continue to see lower numbers, with as few as 23% of vaccinated people getting a booster in Mariposa, Colusa and Merced counties, according to a CalMatters analysis ofstate data. The Bay Area boasts the highest rate, at 55%, and only three counties have more than half of their vaccinated population boosted: San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo.In 19 California counties, less than a third of eligible residents are boosted. Solano County shares geographic traits with both the Bay Area and the Central Valley. That split is reflected in the county’s booster totals even as it lags behind its neighboring counties. There were 104,639 boosted resident in Solano County as of Friday, Solano Public Health reports. A total of 37.1% of the county’s vaccine-eligible population ages 12 and older had been
Solano boasts nearly 105,000 boosted residents near statewide average but far below below Bay Area percentage boosted as of Wednesday, according to the state. Sonoma County has a boosted percentage of 46.9%, the state reports. Contra Costa County sits at 45.4% of its eligible population boosted; Napa County has 43.2%; Yolo County has 41.6%; and Sacramento County has 39.6%. In Imperial County – the border community that led the state in vaccination rates last spring after it was hit hard by the virus – only a quarter of eligible residents have gotten a booster shot. The health officer there blames “pandemic fatigue.” “I do think there’s been some fatigue after nearly two years of this pandemic, not just in Imperial County, but everywhere,” said the county health officer, Dr. Stephen Munday. “People want to get back to their normal lives. They want to go to work, they want to take care of their families. It’s kind of like, well, gosh, I got my two doses, why do I have to get another one?” It’s not just people in rural counties where a majority of people have refused so far to get the extra shot: Los Angeles, Kern and Santa Barbara and 28 other
countieshave lower booster rates than the 38% statewide average. Major population centers such as San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside are lagging behind. State and federal recommendations for booster shots have changed several times, making them difficult for the public to follow. Current guidance advises a booster for all adults, while children as young as 12 can only get an additional Pfizer-BioNTech shot. Immunocompromised children as young as 5 are also eligible for another Pfizer dose. Studies show an additional dose can double protection against infection and is highly effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization even against the omicron variant, said UC San Francisco epidemiologist George Rutherford. “Run, don’t walk, to go get your boosters,” Fresno County health officer Dr. Rais Vohra said. Most older adults throughout the state have listened to the advice: Nearly 64% have been boosted.In Marin County, as many as 80% of those 65 and older have been boosted, and only four counties have boosted fewer than half of their older population. Solano County follows a similar pattern with 59.5% of residents 65 and older having received boosters.
SACRAMENTO — As they await the release of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2022-23 state budget, school district officials across California are worried about losing millions of dollars all at once, resulting in staffing cuts in a time when students need more attention than ever. After two years of not being penalized for declining enrollment during the pandemic, school districts are bracing for a sudden drop in revenues next year as their funding gets recalibrated to match current enrollment, which plummeted since Covid-19 first closed California’s schools. “I’ve never ever seen a drop in enrollment come all at once like this,” said Andy Johnsen, superintendent at the San Marcos School District in north San Diego County. “The pandemic changed everything.” State lawmakers decided
See Booster, Page A7
in 2020 to allow districts to use their pre-pandemic, 2019-20 enrollment and attendance figures to calculate their funding for the next two school years. But starting in the fall of 2022, funding levels will be determined by this year’s enrollment and attendance. “Just to put it into perspective, we lost a few hundred students each year before the pandemic,” said Harold Sullins, an associate superintendent at San Bernardino City School District. “Last year, we declined by 2,000 students. That’s about eight years’ worth of decline.” Without assistance from the state, San Bernardino City School District could lose $27 million in funding due to the enrollment decline, a hefty chunk of the district’s $971 million budget. Districts statewide stand to take similar blows. The impact of such cuts can vary by district. It See Schools, Page A7
Governor issues price-gouging warning on kits Daily Republic Staff
drnews@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order this weekend establishing consumer protections against price gouging on at-home test kits. The move came a day after Newsom activated the California National Guard to help at Covid testing sites across the state and the same day his office announced plans to spend nearly $3 billion to support testing across the state The price-gouging order, issued Saturday, generally prohibits sellers from increasing prices on Covid-19 at-home test kits by more than 10%.
The order also gives additional tools to the California Department of Justice and Attorney General’s Office, county district attorneys and other local law enforcement to take action against suspected price gougers. Newsom on Friday announced the deployment of more than 200 Cal Guard members to expand capacity at 50 testing sites around the state. The governor’s office this weekend also unveiled a proposed $2.7 billion Covid-19 emergency response package that includes $1.2 billion to bolster testing efforts through expanded hours and capacity at testing See Governor, Page A7
Bronx apartment fire kills at least 19, 9 of them children Tribune Content Agency NEW YORK — The deadliest New York City fire in decades killed at least 19 Bronx building residents Sunday, including nine children, FDNY sources said. “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the scene. “This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed during modern times in the city of New York,” the mayor added.
The five-alarm blaze broke out about 10:54 a.m. in a duplex apartment spanning the second and third floors of the 19-story building at 333 E. 181st St. near Tiebout Avenue in Fordham Heights. Firefighters arrived within three minutes, their ranks soon swelling to 200, FDNY officials said. ”They were met in the hallway with this fire,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at the scene. “Very heavy smoke, very heavy fire.” “This smoke extended the entire height of the building — completely unusual,” Nigro added. “Members found victims
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on every floor, in stairwells, and were taking them out in cardiac and respiratory arrest. “There were certainly people trapped in their apartments all through this building, which is why our members did an unbelievable job of getting through every floor of this building and getting to these folks,” he added. “But some of them were already in arrest when we reached them.” Medics rushed 32 people with life-threatening injuries and three with serious injuries to five local hospitals, officials said. Nineteen people had minor injuries and
were treated at the scene. All of the victims suffered severe smoke inhalation, Nigro said. Nineteen victims have died, a high-raking FDNY official said. “That is unprecedented in our city,” Nigro said. “The last time we had a loss of life that may be this horrific was at Happy Land fire over 30 years ago, also here in the Bronx.” On March 25, 1990, an arsonist used a can of gasoline to set fire the Happy Land Social Club at 1959 Southern Blvd. in East Tremont. The resulting inferno killed 87 panic-stricken clubgo-
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ers, half of them under 25. It was the deadliest city blaze in 79 years. On Sunday, more than 40 people were rescued from the burning building, FDNY sources said.
“How the fire started, we don’t know yet. It will be investigated,” Nigro said. “It is not suspicious at this point. See Fire, Page A7
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