Coronavirus

Gov. Newsom Praises Economy, Second Stimulus Payments as Rivals Step Up Attacks

Californians are scheduled to start receiving their second stimulus payment on Sept. 1, two weeks before California’s gubernatorial recall election.

Published

2 years ago

August 31, 2021

Christy Price

Gov. Newsom/Photo Courtesy CBM

Californians are scheduled to start receiving their second stimulus payment on Sept. 1, two weeks before California’s gubernatorial recall election.

All California households that receive the state’s earned income tax credit qualify for the one-time payments.

The state has provided a detailed guide, that readers can access at https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-ii-estimator.html explaining who qualifies for these payments and how much residents can expect.

Gov. Newsom praised the support being provided to Californians last week that he says is being funded from federal recovery assistance and the state’s budget surplus.

“Round 2 of Golden State Stimulus checks start to go out this week! Two out of three Californians are eligible for $600 or more — we’re putting money directly back into the pockets of those that need it most,” the governor tweeted.

But his Republican opponents running to replace him in the recall election continued to attack the governor’s leadership on issues other than the economy, including homelessness, housing affordability, taxes and what they view as his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC’s Sacramento affiliate KCRA hosted a debate featuring four of the candidates vying to replace Newsom: Republicans Kevin Falconer, former mayor of San Diego, Assemblymember Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) and businessman John Cox and Democrat and real estate investor Kevin Paffrath.

“This state is a mismanaged mess. His pandemic management was an inconsistent disaster,” Cox said, referring to Gov. Newsom during the debate.

“We don’t have water. We live in fear of fires. Crime is rising. Housing prices are out of sight,” added Cox, a businessman who supports expanding oil and gas exploration in California. “Taxes are out of sight. The homeless problem has only gotten worse. We’ve got to stop with these politicians and celebrities and get a businessman in there.”

The disbursement total for the second round of Golden State Stimulus payments (or GSS II) will be about $12 billion and is funded by California’s $100 billion California Comeback Plan budget.

California currently has the largest economy in the country and a budget surplus of $75.7 billion, according to the governor.

$276 million, or 0.4%, of the surplus is being used to fund the recall election.

Gov. Newsom boasted about the budget surplus and the upcoming stimulus checks in an announcement last week.

“I am incredibly proud of California’s economic recovery. Close to an $80 billion operating surplus and that’s afforded us an opportunity to do something no other state in U.S. history has ever done. And that’s provide over $12 billion of tax rebates.”

In this round of stimulus payments, California residents with one or more dependents could be eligible to receive $1,100.

Undocumented immigrants who pay taxes and earn below $75,000 a year will also receive the payments.

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BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

3 months ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Bay Area

COVID-19 Response Grant Program

The City of Union City will be issuing another round of its COVID-19 Response Grant Program. The program has distributed approximately $620,000 in grant funds and forgivable loans to the community to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and will distribute another $322,000 through this latest round of funding. The City will utilize federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CARES Act funds.

Published

3 months ago

March 21, 2023

Oakland Post

The City will be holding two informational/technical assistance meetings to support residents and businesses with their applications and respond to any questions. These meetings will be streamed via Zoom. See below for meeting information and Zoom meeting links.

Grants are available through the City’s Road to Recovery Small Business Assistance Program and the Residential Rental Assistance Program. The City began accepting applications on March 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. and will begin reviewing applications (up to 50 applications for each grant opportunity) submitted on or before March 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. The program information and the online application are available on the City’s website:

https://www.unioncity.org/548/COVID-19-Response-Grant-Program

Tuesday, March 14, 2023: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/89061570160

Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/81868680531

Bay Area

State to End Indoor Mask Requirement in Health Care Facilities, Vaccine Requirement for Health Care Workers

California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday. Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons

Published

3 months ago

March 14, 2023

Oakland Post

The state will also end its COVID vaccination requirement for health care workers and rescind health orders that required hospitals to accept patients from overcrowded facilities and that required the collection of an email address or phone number from a COVID vaccine recipient.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday.

Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons.

“We stand before Californians today with a humble message of thanks for taking the hard steps to help manage COVID-19, and with an ongoing commitment to be prepared for what comes next,” California Department of Public Health Director and state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon said in a statement.

In addition to the changes on April 2, the state will update its isolation guidance on March 13 for those who test positive for COVID, allowing them to leave isolation after five days if their condition is improving and if they have not had a fever in at least 24 hours.

People who isolate after testing positive will no longer have to test negative for COVID before leaving isolation, according to the CDPH. The change is consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The changes are part of the state’s drawdown of its emergency response infrastructure in recent weeks.

State-operated COVID testing and vaccination clinics have shuttered as those services shift to primary health care providers and retail pharmacies.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom also rescinded California’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which allowed local governments and the state to more efficiently coordinate public health programs and disperse emergency funding.

State public health officials continue to urge California residents to complete their initial COVID vaccination series if they have yet to do so and, if eligible, receive a booster vaccine dose to reduce the chance of becoming seriously ill or dying due to the virus.

As of March 2, 88.2 million COVID vaccine doses have been administered statewide. Roughly 73 percent of state residents have completed their initial vaccination series.

“Our communities did a lot of the hard work by getting vaccinated and boosted, staying home and testing when sick, requesting treatments when positive, and masking to slow the spread,” Aragon said. “With these critical actions, and a lot of patience and persistence, we have now reached a point where we can update some of the COVID-19 guidance to continue to balance prevention and adapting to living with COVID-19.”

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EliWalsh2132p03/03/23

CONTACT: CDPH media CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: An image related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web link: https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20221209-VACCINATION-01.JPG

Caption: The CVS Drugstore on Mountain Blvd. in Oakland, Calif on Dec 8, 2022 offers vaccination and COVID test kits to customers. (Anna Moseidjord/Bay City News)

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