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Child-sized vaccines and a county wide data breach. Plus, Monterey mask mandates and monarchs return.

A cluster of monarch butterflies. The number of monarch’s in the Pacific Grove habitat has grown dramatically in the past year.
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
A cluster of monarch butterflies. The number of monarch’s in the Pacific Grove habitat has grown dramatically in the past year.

Welcome to KAZU's weekly news roundup for 11/5/21. Here you'll find the top local stories of the week and a few national stories from NPR.

Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital System has received 900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children age 5 to 11. That orange band indicated it is for children and contains a third-sized dose. SVMH is working toward beginning vaccinations for children as early as next week.
SVMHS Pharmacy
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital System has received 900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children age 5 to 11. That orange band indicated it is for children and contains a third-sized dose. SVMH is working toward beginning vaccinations for children as early as next week.

The CDC approved the Pfizer vaccine for use with children aged five through 11 this week. Here is how it is being rolled out in our area.

Monterey County will be vaccinating children aged 5 through 11 at one of its regular clinics tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Breadbox in Salinas. The Breadbox is located at 745 North Sanborn Road and operates from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. While the county is encouraging parents to register their children for vaccinations at My Turn, the clinic will accept walk-ins.

Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital System has received 900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children and will organize a clinic beginning vaccinations as early as next week.

SVMHS Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Radner said that while the death rate among children is lower, there have been more than 500 deaths among children from COVID-19 nationwide. He calls the Pfizer vaccine for children “very safe and effective and has been shown to have few mild side effects.”

The first of the child-sized doses were administered in Santa Cruz County on Thursday. As in Monterey County, public health leaders recommend that parents schedule an appointment with MyTurn, and also check with their primary care provider for available vaccine appointments.

A total of 5,100 of the pediatric vaccine doses are set to arrive in the county by early next week, for use by the Santa Cruz County local health jurisdiction in support of the healthcare system and upcoming pediatric clinics. The County office of Education will also start school vaccination clinics for eligible children next week.

An hour of extra sleep on Sunday
MaxPixel's contributors/https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-1274699
/
https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-1274699
An hour of extra sleep on Sunday

It’s that time of year again — don’t forget to set your clocks! Daylight saving time technically ends at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. As usual, debate rages over whether this biannual tradition does anybody any good. This week, 1A hosted a spirited debate on the subject that is worth checking out...if you have the time.

Caption: Monterey County authorities learned in October that an August data breach may have impacted over 4,000 customers in the county.
Creative Commons
Caption: Monterey County authorities learned in October that an August data breach may have impacted over 4,000 customers in the county.

Over 4,000 Monterey County residents may have been victims of a hack that potentially exposed their personal information, including medical information and social security numbers. The data breach impacted a behavioral health service contractor called Seneca Family Agencies that works with Monterey County clients. Though the attacks occurred in late Aug., Monterey County became aware of the incident on Oct. 13.

A statement from the county said that residents who were affected by the breach, would be notified individually. Questions should be referred to the county compliance department: healthcomplianceoffice@co.monterey.ca.us or 831-755-4018.

A cluster of monarch butterflies. The number of monarch’s in the Pacific Grove habitat has grown dramatically in the past year.
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
A cluster of monarch butterflies. The number of monarch’s in the Pacific Grove habitat has grown dramatically in the past year.

The monarchs are returning to Butterfly Town, USA. The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is reporting their weekly count of monarch butterflies in the PG Habitat is now just shy of 10,000. Last spring, there were 0 clusters in the habitat.

Monarch butterflies across the west now number one percent of their 1980's population. The decline has been attributed to human activity including the destruction of butterfly habitats and food supplies. It is not known if this year’s increase is a blip or the beginning of a longer term trend.

Pacific Grove bills itself as Butterfly Town, USA because it is one of several areas in the West where monarch butterflies overwinter.

Sign on the door of Fionna Flowers in Pacific Grove. Monterey County will require indoor masks under certain circumstances beginning Oct. 29.
Doug McKnight
/
KAZU News
Sign on the door of Fionna Flowers in Pacific Grove. Monterey County will require indoor masks under certain circumstances beginning Oct. 29.

Face covering is required for all indoor public spaces in Monterey County beginning Friday, Nov. 5. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors mandated the requirement when the county reaches the “substantial” or “high” categories for COVID-19 transmission according to the Centers for Disease Control. The mandate could stay in effect for up to 30 days. Violators face administrative fees of $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense and $500 for each additional offense. All cities in the county are covered by the mandate.

The mandate covers all indoor activities with some exceptions. Those exceptions include a person’s home, including members of the same household. Also exempted are individuals in an office or while driving and or where masks can’t be worn like swimming. More information about the order can be found on the Monterey County website.

The State of the Pandemic

Case rates increased slightly across the Monterey Bay region over the last two weeks, bucking a recent trend of decline. In Monterey County, a mask mandate went into effect because community transmission was considered substantial, according to the CDC. However, despite the slight uptick in cases, state and local data still placed the county in “moderate” transmission, according to the CDC’s tier system. The data between the CDC and California’s own state data tends to differ substantially.

These graphics are created with data from theCA Open Data Portal – the same database that informs theCalifornia COVID-19 Data Tracker. Though the CDCdefines community transmission tiers, multiple sources have told KAZU News that the state database is the most accurate source of information.

These graphics are created with data from theCA Open Data Portal – the same database that informs theCalifornia COVID-19 Data Tracker. Though the CDCdefines community transmission tiers, multiple sources have told KAZU News that the state database is the most accurate source of information.

That’s it for this week! You can sign-up to receive the Friday News Roundup from KAZU, right to your inbox. Just visit kazu.org/newsletter to subscribe.

Until then,
The KAZU Team