Leads:
- An assembly committee passed a proposed bill that would create a health care plan for all California residents. Assembly Bill 1400 pushed forward yesterday at the State Capitol. Assemblymember Ash Kalra of San Jose authored the bill. It would create health care plan called CalCare, replacing private health insurance. The committee said the plan is expensive, saying it can cost about 365-billion dollars a year.
- A proposed California law will let children ages 12 and older get any vaccine without their parent's permission. Senate Bill 866 was introduced last night by Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco. He argued that the state already allows children 12 and up to get other vaccines like Hepatitis B without any parent's consent. He also said it's important to give children the opportunity to choose whether or not they want to receive life-saving vaccines.
- The Department of Water Resources (DWR) says it's increasing the State Water Project allocation to 15% of requested supplies for 2022. The Department had announced last month that, because of low water levels, the initial allocation would cover only critical health and safety needs of the 29 water agencies that contract to receive State Water Project supplies.
- The Omicron surge in Sacramento County could soon be letting up. Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye says the numbers are slightly improving. Still, the county says hospitals are overwhelmed by patients with mild symptoms or people looking for a COVID test. Sacramento County's Public Health Department recommends community members looking for a COVID-19 test to contact their health care provider, get a PCR or Antigen test at one of dozens of locations in the county, or purchase at-home test kits at a local drug store or online.
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