Picture of Health
As Vaccine Demand Slows, Political Differences Go on Display in California Counties
California officials are optimistic they can vaccinate millions more before hitting a hard wall of vaccine resistance.
California Bureau
Visit for an archive of reporting prior to October 2025.
981-1,000 of 1,984 results
-
-
Journalists Track Biden’s First 100 Days
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
-
The Vulnerable Homebound Are Left Behind on Vaccination
Even as the nation has moved on to vaccinating everyone 16 and older, the vast majority of people homebound due to frailty or age 鈥 and among the most vulnerable to covid鈥檚 devastation 鈥 have not yet been vaccinated. California offers a sharp lens on the challenges.
By Jenny Gold -
Some County Jail Inmates See Vaccination as Ticket to a Better Life 鈥 In the State Pen
In the Los Angeles County Jail system, many inmates hope being vaccinated will get them transferred more quickly to state prison. Some just want to protect themselves against covid, while others are distrustful and refuse vaccination.
-
You Don鈥檛 Have to Suffer to Benefit From Covid Vaccination 鈥 But Some Prefer It
In the times of smallpox, vaccination was accompanied by blood, sweat, fire and brimstone. Nowadays, a slight fever may make you feel as if you鈥檝e earned the reward of immunity from covid. But you鈥檙e protected even without a nasty reaction to the vaccine.
By Arthur Allen -
鈥榃e鈥檙e Coming for You鈥: For Public Health Officials, a Year of Threats and Menace
Local health officials have become the face of government authority as they work to stem the pandemic. That has made them targets for chilling threats from some of the same militia groups that stormed the U.S. Capitol. Santa Cruz leaders are among those whose daily routines now incorporate security patrols, surveillance cameras and, in some cases, firearms.
-
California and Texas Took Different Routes to Vaccination. Who鈥檚 Ahead?
California stresses equity for minority groups. Texas is all about personal choice and liberty. Both are struggling to vaccinate Latinos and contending with vaccine hesitancy among conservative communities.
By Anna Almendrala and Sandy West -
Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win for Big Soda.
A bill that would have allowed California cities and counties to once again pursue taxes on sugary drinks was just shelved in the legislature without a hearing. Public health advocates blame the political 鈥 and financial 鈥 clout of the soft drink industry.
-
After a Deadly Year on the Roads, States Push for Safety Over Speed
Lawmakers in California and other states are rethinking how they set and enforce speed limits, and they鈥檙e proposing to hand more power to local authorities to slow drivers in their communities.
By Rachel Bluth -
Pandemic Highlights Need for Urgent Care Clinics for Women
For years, women with painful gynecological issues have faced long waits in ERs or longer waits to see their doctors. During the pandemic, women have increasingly turned to women鈥檚 clinics that handle urgent issues like miscarriage or serious urinary tract infections.
-
Syphilis Cases in California Drive a Record-Setting Year for STDs Nationwide
New data released Tuesday from the CDC shows sexually transmitted infections reached an all-time high in 2019. The biggest spike was in syphilis cases, which rose 74% between 2015 and 2019. Leading the country in syphilis is California, where men who have sex with men make up half the cases.
-
Orange County Hospital Seeks Divorce From Large Catholic Health System
Frustration with the standardization of care across 51 hospitals, loss of local control and restrictions on reproductive health care have pitted Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian against the Providence chain.
-
鈥楪o Ahead and Vote Me Out鈥: What Other Places Can Learn From Santa Rosa鈥檚 Tent City
As cities across California wrestle with a crisis of homelessness that has drawn international condemnation, Santa Rosa鈥檚 bold experiment with a city-sanctioned encampment suggests a way forward.
By Angela Hart -
Doctor Survived Cambodia鈥檚 Killing Fields, but Not Covid
Dr. Linath Lim came to the U.S. as a refugee after slaving at work camps under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Even with little English or education when she arrived, Lim put herself through college and medical school. As an internal medicine doctor in California鈥檚 Central Valley, she treated farmworkers and other Cambodian refugees.
By Emily Bazar -
California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors
Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.
By Jenny Gold -
Colleges and Universities Plan for Normal-ish Campus Life in the Fall
Universities need full dorms and dining halls to make back some of the estimated $183 billion in losses they鈥檝e suffered over a year of remote education. The hope is widespread vaccination will keep covid chaos to a minimum.
-
For This Hospice Nurse, the Covid Shot Came Too Late
Antonio Espinoza, a hospice nurse in Southern California, ministered to terminally ill patients, including those with covid. He tested positive for covid five days after getting his first dose of vaccine and died a few weeks later.
-
Beating the Pavement to Vaccinate the Underrepresented 鈥 And Protect Everyone
In poor neighborhoods and desert towns, community activists 鈥 some unpaid 鈥 are signing up hard-to-reach people for vaccination appointments. Experts say these campaigns are key to building the country鈥檚 immunological armor against new outbreaks.
-
In California, Blue Shield’s Vaccination Takeover Fixes What Wasn鈥檛 Broken
Rural Mendocino County had finally figured out its vaccination program. But now the community clinics that helped make it happen are changing course as Blue Shield of California takes over the state vaccine program.
By Rachel Bluth -
It鈥檚 Not Just QAnon. Democrats and Independents Also Want to Recall California鈥檚 Governor.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is painting the effort to remove him from office as a partisan power grab. But among the tens of thousands of Californians who signed the recall petition are Democrats and independent voters frustrated by his pandemic policies, from school closures to vaccine distribution.
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young