【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, December 17, 2022】Per Bivalent COVID-19 vaccination boosters are now approved and available in San Diego County for children as young as six months of age. The County Health and Human Services Agency is urging parents to protect their children, and themselves, by getting vaccinated with the new booster.(Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the emergency use of the updated Pfizer and Moderna bivalent booster vaccines for children as young as six months. The FDA previously expanded availability to include 5- to 11-year-olds in October. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and California Department of Public Health quickly recommended vaccinations for young children after the FDA approval.
“We can now provide additional protection for children as young as six months of age from COVID-19,” said County Public Health Officer Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H. “This is especially important with the high incidence of COVID-19 in our community. Please take advantage and have your children vaccinated to protect them and the rest of your family.”
County residents continue to deal with a triple threat of respiratory diseases this winter season, from COVID-19 to the flu to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Public Health officials still strongly urge people to get vaccinated for both COVID-19 and the flu.
The bivalent COVID-19 booster and flu vaccinations are separate shots, but they can be given at the same visit. They effectively decrease the chances of getting infected, being hospitalized, or dying from the separate viruses that each vaccine targets. Boosters are available through healthcare providers and at participating pharmacies. Parents can visit the state’s My Turn website to schedule an appointment.
County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency began offering boosters for children as early as six months age today. Booster dose availability is listed on the County’s COVID-19 vaccinations schedule webpage.
The updated boosters were designed to protect individuals from the worst outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. Everyone six months of age and older who has had their primary vaccination series is eligible to get the updated booster two months following any COVID vaccine or booster dose.
County officials also recommend wearing a mask if you are able, particularly during indoor public gatherings, to protect yourself and those around you.
In addition to vaccination and masking, San Diegans can take a number of other precautions to protect themselves against COVID-19, as well as seasonal illnesses like the flu. These measures include:
- Cleaning hands thoroughly and often;
- Staying away from sick people;
- Staying home and avoiding contact with others when sick;
- Home testing when exposed or when ill; Regularly cleaning commonly touched surfaces.
Federal Government Makes Free At-home Tests Available Again:
The White House has moved to make free at-home COVID-19 tests available again through the winter for a limited time. Households can order one pack of four free tests through the U.S. Postal Service. For more information about testing, go to the County of San Diego COVID-19 testing webpage.
COVID-19 Vaccination Progress:
- Close to 2.69 million or 80.4% of San Diegans received the primary series of one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines.
- Bivalent boosters administered: 474,245 or 19% of 2,494,254 eligible San Diegans.
- More vaccination information can be found at coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.
COVID-19 Deaths:
- 24 additional deaths were reported since the last report on Dec. 8, 2022. The region’s total is 5,608.
- Of the 24 additional deaths, 14 were women and 10 were men. They died between Jan. 8, 2022, and Dec. 6, 2022. Nine of the newly reported deaths occurred in the past two weeks.
- 12 of the people who died were 80 years or older, four were in their 70s, two were in their 60s, five were in their 50s and one was in their 20s.
- 15 of these people had been vaccinated and nine had not received any COVID-19 vaccines.
- 21 had underlying medical conditions. Three had no underlying medical conditions.
COVID-19 Cases, Case Rates and Testing:
- 4,821 COVID-19 cases were reported to the County in the past seven days (Dec. 6, 2022, to Dec. 12, 2022). The region’s total is now 952,752.
- The 4,821 cases reported in the past week were higher compared to the 5,649 infections identified the previous week (Nov. 29, 2022, to Dec. 5, 2022).
- 6,197 tests were reported to the County on Dec. 10, and the percentage of new positive cases was 10.1% (Data through Dec. 10).
- The 14-day rolling percentage of positive cases, among tests reported through Dec. 10, is 10.1%.
Influenza Activity
The County Health and Human Services Agency now publishes the Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report weekly. The report is published each Thursday and tracks key respiratory illness indicators, including flu cases and deaths.
For the week ending Dec. 10, 2022, the report shows the following:
- Seven additional flu deaths; the season’s total is now 20.
- Four of the additional flu deaths were women and three were men. They died between Dec. 1, 2022, and Dec. 6, 2022.
- Four of them had received a flu shot this season and three had not.
- All had underlying medical conditions. One of the newly reported deaths was coinfected with COVID-19.
- Emergency department visits for influenza-like illness: 7% of all visits (compared with 10% the previous week).
- Lab-confirmed influenza cases for the week: 1,603 (compared to 2,600 the previous week).
- Total lab-confirmed cases to date: 17,182 (compared to 696 at the same time last season and an 815 prior 5-year average during the same week).
(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)
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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, December 16, 2022】Per County supervisors approved developing a program Wednesday to promote the use of native plants.(Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)
The program would aim to preserve the county’s natural environmental character and unique plant life, reduce water use, stormwater pollution and protect animals from the effects of climate change.
The multi-year program will begin with creating a website where people can learn more about native plants, developing educational materials for the public and professional landscapers, and installing demonstration gardens at County buildings. The program would ultimately create incentives to encourage people to use native plants, offer ready-made landscaping templates to incorporate their use, and create a native plant landscaping design manual.
Native plants such as the beautiful California buckwheat, lilacs, oaks and sages that grow wild around the backcountry evolved here over thousands of years. That means they naturally need less water than plants, like non-native flowers and non-indigenous plants that originated in rainier climates. Native plants also provide natural habitat for native animals and pollinating insects.
“These native plants are really what makes San Diego County our county,” said Board Chair Nathan Fletcher, who forwarded the idea of developing a native plant policy with Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer in 2021.
“They’re a real asset,” Fletcher said. “They don’t just foster biodiversity, provide habitat, facilitate our habitat corridors, (provide) drought management and stormwater reduction. There’s a lot of really important reasons why the work and action we’re taking here is important. Not to mention we have some incredibly beautiful plants that really add a feel to our environment and are a constant reminder of the incredible natural resources that are unique to us here in San Diego.”
Lawson-Remer said the native plant program could also benefit the county’s regional economy by expanding the market for landscape design and nursery production.
Staff members from County Land Use and Environment Group departments worked with a group of nearly 60 experts in native plants, landscape ecology and design and habitat conservation, including the California Native Plant Society to lay the groundwork to begin the program.
(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)
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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, December 14, 2022】As an ongoing effort to enhance our valuable service to We Chinese in America website readers, We Chinese in America website posts English and Chinese versions of “IRS News Release” ， “IRS Fact Sheets”， and “tax tips” directly received from IRS Media Relations Office in Washington, D.C.. We are pleased to take on this important role partnering with IRS to better inform the public.
IRS reminds those over age 72 to start withdrawls from IRAs and retirement plans to avoid penalties
The Internal Revenue Service today reminded those who were born in 1950 or earlier that funds in their retirement plans and individual retirement arrangements face important upcoming deadlines for required minimum distributions to avoid penalties.
Required minimum distributions, or RMDs, are minimum amounts that many retirement plan and IRA account owners must generally withdraw annually after they reach age 72. Account owners can delay taking their first RMD until April 1 following the later of the calendar year they reach age 72 or, in a workplace retirement plan, retire. RMDs are taxable income and may be subject to penalities if not timely taken.
IRAs: The RMD rules require traditional IRA, and SEP, SARSEP, and SIMPLE IRA account holders to begin taking distributions at age 72, even if they’re still working. Account holders reaching age 72 in 2022 must take their first RMD by April 1, 2023, and the second RMD by Dec. 31, 2023, and each year thereafter.
Retirement Plans: In 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans; profit-sharing and other defined contribution plans; and defined benefit plans, the first RMD is due by April 1 of the later of the year they reach age 72, or the participant is no longer employed (if allowed by the plan). A 5% owner of the employer must begin taking RMDs at age 72.
RMDs may not be rolled over to another IRA or retirement plan. See the RMD Comparison Chart that highlights some of the basic RMD rules that apply to IRAs and defined contribution plans. Roth IRAs do not require distributions while the original owner is alive.
RMD Calculations and 50% tax on missed distributions
An IRA trustee, or plan administrator, must either report the amount of the RMD to the IRA owner or offer to calculate it. An IRA owner, or trustee, must calculate the RMD separately for each IRA owned. They may be able to withdraw the total amount from one or more of the IRAs. However, RMDs from workplace retirement plans must be taken separately from each plan.
Not taking a required distribution, or not withdrawing enough, could mean a 50% excise tax on the amount not distributed. The IRS has worksheets to calculate the RMD and payout periods.
Inherited IRAs
An RMD may be required for an IRA, retirement plan account or Roth IRA inherited from the original owner. Retirement Topics - Beneficiary has information on taking RMDs from an inherited IRA or retirement account and reporting taxable distributions as part of gross income. Publication 559, Survivors, Executors and Administrators, can help those in charge of the estate complete and file federal income tax returns, and explains their responsibility to pay any taxes due on behalf of the decedent or person who has died.
2020 coronavirus-related distribution
Since 2020 RMDs were waived, an account owner or beneficiary who received an RMD in 2020 had the option of returning it to their IRA or other qualified plan to avoid paying taxes on that distribution. A 2020 RMD that qualified as a coronavirus-related distribution may be repaid over a 3-year period or have the taxes due on the distribution spread over three years.
A 2020 withdrawal from an inherited IRA could not be repaid to the inherited IRA but may be spread over three years for income inclusion. For more information see the Coronavirus Relief for Retirement Plans and IRAs page.
Taxpayers can find forms, instructions, publications, Frequently Asked Questions regarding Required Minimum Distributions and other easy-to-use tools at IRS.gov.
Internal Resource Service
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Media Contact: 202 317 4000
Public Contact: 800 829 1040
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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, December 15, 2022】Per County of San Diego Communications Office, San Diego County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to fight the illicit fentanyl crisis by increasing education, outreach and early intervention, working to detect “outbreaks” or clusters of overdoses, and expanding distribution of overdose medication. (Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)
Tuesday’s action comes after the Board of Supervisors and County District Attorney’s office declared fentanyl deaths a public health crisis in late June.
Supervisors asked County staff then to create a plan to address the rapidly increasing numbers of fentanyl overdose deaths, which spiked to 743 people in the county in 2021. That more than quadrupled the rate from 2019 and accounted for more than 70% of all overdose deaths in 2021.
Accidental fentanyl overdose deaths nationally have become the number one killer of 18-to 45-year-old people, surpassing deaths from car accidents, gun violence, heart disease and COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Board Chair Nathan Fletcher said Tuesday’s action could give the fentanyl crisis the full attention it deserves and hopefully start progress in fighting it.
“I’m completely supportive of everything in (this action),” Fletcher said, “the public health messaging, the Narcan (naloxone) distributions, the rapid response to overdose outbreaks.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was approved for treating severe pain, typically for people suffering from advanced cancer, according to the CDC.
Fentanyl overdoses and deaths have skyrocketed in recent years as illegal drug markets mix it with heroin and cocaine—without the user’s knowledge.
County Health and Human Services Agency staff told supervisors Tuesday that they will move forward with a four-part strategy to build on the actions the County has already taken to address the problem.
Conduct Overdose Prevention Education
HHSA will continue outreach that began in 2021, including a fentanyl awareness campaign viewed more than 10 million times featuring billboards, advertisements in six languages, and social media connecting people to County websites with more information. The expanded campaign will include a media campaign focusing on young people, and presentations and naloxone trainings for parents and community groups. Naloxone is an FDA approved medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
Expand Naloxone Distribution
The County launched an expanded naloxone distribution campaign in July that featured naloxone training and outreach. Starting next year, 12 naloxone vending machines will be installed around the county to help people experiencing overdoses.
New efforts will include working with local colleges and universities to expand naloxone availability and working with County Emergency Medical Services on efforts to “leave behind” naloxone kits when emergency responders answer drug-related calls.
Early Intervention
Another key early intervention effort will be working with people who are at higher risk of suffering a fentanyl overdose. That would include people who go to emergency rooms and have suffered a non-fatal overdose.
Improve Detections of Outbreaks of Overdoses
Health and Human Services will expand its surveillance and overdose data. That will allow it quickly identify clusters of outbreaks, rather than individual cases, which will allow it to respond rapidly to address outbreaks.
(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)
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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, December 13, 2022】With coronavirus cases surging and hospitalizations worsening, Los Angeles County is again facing the possibility of a renewed public indoor mask mandate. (Photo credit: New York Times)
The return of such rules, which haven’t been on the books since March, is not a given. But with the startling formation of a third straight fall-and-winter wave, officials have said a new order could be implemented shortly after the new year should hospitalizations worsen.
“We are seeing a rapid acceleration again,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “This is the time to put that mask back on.”
Any new indoor mask mandate hinges on two metrics related to the pressure COVID-19 is exerting on hospitals in the nation’s most populous county.
One of the two triggers, which are based on criteria developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has already been met. The second could be weeks away, but it remains highly uncertain whether it will be reached.
A new mandate would be on the table should 10% of all staffed inpatient hospital beds in L.A. County be filled with coronavirus-positive patients. That has happened for a sustained period of time only twice in the pandemic — both during the last two deadly winter surges.
According to the most recent data, 6.9% of hospital beds in L.A. County are being used by coronavirus-positive patients, up from 2% at the start of November. Trends from the preceding two weeks suggested the figure could hit 10% around Dec. 19, Ferrer said Tuesday.
But several days of improving data since then are pushing that estimate back, Ferrer said Thursday, and it’s still possible L.A. County won’t reach that threshold at all.
L.A. County officially reassesses its data every Thursday, the same day the CDC issues its weekly report. So, for instance, should L.A. County be above that threshold on Dec. 22 — and remain so for two weeks — a mask mandate would be announced Jan. 5 and go into effect a day later. The mandate could be canceled if cases and hospitalizations stabilize or decrease. Or it could come sooner if conditions deteriorate faster than expected.
Ferrer said she is strongly recommending people put their masks back on now in indoor public settings. But she says a two-week waiting period before any potential order is issued is important to give businesses the time to educate their workforce and post appropriate signage. “In order for this to be an effective strategy that allows there to be as high compliance as we can get, you do need to give people time,” she said.
Ferrer said the mandate generally relies on voluntary compliance. Even at schools, she said, parents are eligible to get exemptions for their children “if there’s a health or safety issue that affects that child.”
(Source: Harvard Medical School)
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