COVID in California: Latest news and updates on the coronavirus pandemic

BA.4, BA.5 are four times more resistant to three vaccine doses than BA.2

Newer omicron variants are more capable of eluding vaccines and existing COVID-19 therapies than their predecessors, according to research by Columbia University published Wednesday in Nature. In a laboratory study, the scientists found that the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages of the virus, which are now dominant in the U.S., were at least four times more resistant to three doses of vaccine — the original shots plus one booster — than was the earlier BA.2. (The study group didn’t include people with two booster shots.) “Our study suggests that as these highly transmissible subvariants continue to expand around the globe, they will lead to more breakthrough infections in people who are vaccinated and boosted with currently available mRNA vaccines,” said David D. Ho, who led the study, in a statement. The researchers also tested the ability of 19 monoclonal antibody treatments to neutralize the variants and found that only one of the available treatments remained highly effective against both BA.2.12.1 and BA.4 and BA.5.

What’s the risk of getting COVID outside?

Summer in the Bay Area means outdoor parties, weddings and music festivals, where people can worry a little bit less about catching COVID-19. But will fast-spreading offshoots of the omicron coronavirus variant change the equation this year? Health experts agree that outdoor activities are still much safer than indoors, since viral aerosols don’t have a chance to accumulate in the air. But with the most transmissible variants yet, chances are you have less protection in certain situations. Read more about how to protect yourself even when you’re not indoors.

Judge rules against vaccine mandate for Los Angeles schools

A judge ruled that the Los Angeles County Unified School District does not have the authority to require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend school, siding with the father of a 12-year-old who challenged the mandate. After three months of arguments, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff on Tuesday decided that the local rule contradicts state law, the Los Angeles Times reports. “While LAUSD argues the court’s ruling should apply to (the plaintiff) only, the court finds no justification for such a limitation given the board’s lack of authority to adopt the resolution,” Beckloff wrote in his decision. The district had already pushed back the requirement to July 2023, in alignment with the state guidance. The ruling does not affect the vaccine requirement for teachers and staff, which has been in place since August, 2021.

Pharmacists can now prescribe Paxlovid

Pharmacists can prescribe the leading COVID-19 pill directly to patients under a new U.S. policy announced Wednesday that’s intended to expand use of Pfizer’s drug Paxlovid, the Associated Press reports. The Food and Drug Administration said pharmacists can begin screening patients to see if they are eligible for Paxlovid and then prescribe the medication, which has been shown to curb the worst effects of COVID-19. Previously only physicians could prescribe the antiviral drug.

New BE.1 and BF.1 omicron subvariants detected in Louisiana

Scientists say they have identified two new sublineages of the omicron variant in Louisiana that has driven the state’s recent COVID-19 surge. The new subvariants were designated BE.1 and BF.1. by researchers at LSU Health New Orleans’ Precision Medicine Lab, which works in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Health, Ochsner Health and the Louisiana infectious disease bioinformatics company BIE to collect samples from COVID-19 tests and examine their genetic sequencing to determine what versions of the disease are circulating in the state. “To our knowledge, these omicron subvariants have not been reported in the United States until now,” said Dr. Lucio Miele, the lab’s co-director and Head of Genetics at LSU Health New Orleans’ School of Medicine. “Their possible clinical and public health significance is still unknown.”

Europe at the center of another global COVID surge, WHO says

COVID-19 infections are up 30% globally in the past two weeks with Europe at the epicenter of another surge in cases, according to the World Health Organization. The new wave is being driven by the highly-transmissible and immune evasive omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which this week became dominant in the U.S., the agency said. Officials also expressed concern over the BA2.75 sublineage of the omicron variant, which was recently detected in India. “We are seeing a much more intense wave of the disease passing through Europe again,” Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said at a media briefing Wednesday. “And we will see it happen elsewhere — we are already seeing it in South East Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region as well.”