Monthly Archives: November, 2021

A toddler was killed by a stray bullet on an Oakland freeway while he slept in his car seat, the latest victim of a recent spike in shootings on San Francisco Bay Area highways in the last two years, some of them attributed to gangs.

Following the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent action authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in children 5 through 11 years of age and a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is reminding eligible consumers that coverage is available without cost-sharing under Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and in the commercial market for this critical protection from the virus. As with all vaccines, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine was tested thoroughly in this age group prior to its authorization for emergency use.

A study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health examining the impact of the opioid epidemic on child maltreatment found that the implementation of state programs to monitor prescription drug prescribing are associated with reductions in child maltreatment. As a result, policies that restrict the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances, may have indirect benefits for child welfare.

Despite a vaccination rate well above the national average, the Navaho Nation and other tribes are experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 cases, report Alyssa Lukpat and Adeel Hassan at The New York Times. The Navajo Department of Health recently reported 80 new cases, but no recent deaths. The Indian Health Service has also noted more cases in the Billings and Great Plains areas.

Health Center Partners (HCP) of Southern California, the region's preeminent authority and health care policy advocate for community health and underserved patient populations, today announces that Anne Laughlin Carpita, a veteran communications and public relations specialist, has joined the organization as director of marketing and communication.