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The percentage of vaccinated Los Angeles County residents who have gotten COVID-19 booster shots is significantly lower in poorer neighborhoods than other areas, a troubling trend officials say could leave already hard-hit communities exposed to a potential surge over the winter. In the county’s high-need areas, only 6.9% of fully vaccinated people eligible for additional COVID-19 shots had received a booster as of Nov. 11, health figures show. The areas were identified using, among other things, a socioeconomic measurement tool called the California Healthy Places Index, and include places such as South L.A., southeast Los Angeles County, the Eastside, the eastern San Fernando Valley and El Monte. (Money and Lin II, 11/29)

The Oregon Health Authority is offering to pay pharmacies $35 for each dose of COVID-19 vaccine they administer, with the intention to boost vaccination rates. Based on the health authority's database, 79% of people 18 years or older in Oregon have received at least their first vaccine dose. In addition, the Statesman Journal reports that the program — which launched this month — directly addresses staffing shortages at pharmacies, where growing workloads have resulted in long lines across the state. In some cases, customers have reported having to wait two or three hours to pick up their prescriptions. (11/29)

A COVID-19 vaccination passport program that would allow residents to quickly demonstrate their vaccine status could be up and running in Massachusetts and several other states soon, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday. Proof of vaccination would be available on a QR code on an individual’s cellphone. The code could be quickly scanned to show the person’s vaccination status. (11/29)

Enforcement began Monday in Los Angeles for one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the country, a sweeping measure that requires proof of shots for everyone entering a wide variety of businesses from restaurants to theaters and gyms to nail and hair salons. While the latest order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus took effect Nov. 8, city officials spent the past three weeks providing business owners the information and resources business they need to comply. (Weber, 11/30)

The region's public health officials are monitoring the emergence of the new coronavirus variant. They urged mask-wearing, booster shots, and common-sense precautions. (McDaniel and McCarthy, 11/29)

North Carolina’s senior centers have for decades offered havens of company, support and education for older people but had to adapt most of those roles during the pandemic that hit the over-65 population especially hard. As the state’s more than 160 centers reopen this year with the ongoing COVID-19 disease still a factor, the National Council on Aging is calling on them to bring their offerings and general outreach up to date for this burgeoning population. (Goldsmith, 11/30)

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) said Monday that the health insurance provisions in the social policy and climate change bill pending in Congress would be a “game changer’’ for Georgia. The $1.7 trillion legislative package, which recently passed the U.S. House, would offer coverage in the health insurance exchange for hundreds of thousands of Georgia residents caught in the “coverage gap.” These people include Cynthia English, 46, of Albany. She is uninsured and has diabetes, hypertension and sciatica. She gets care at an local charity clinic but needs a sleep study in order to keep a job as a van driver. (Miller, 11/29)

An obstetrician-gynecologist and a pharmacist have been nominated by Gov. Tate Reeves to join the Mississippi State Board of Health. Dr. James Patrick “Pat” Chaney and Dr. Lee Ann Griffin are both graduates of Mississippi public universities. Griffin, of Jackson, received both her undergraduate degree and her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi. Chaney, of Amory, is a graduate of Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. (11/29)

With the pandemic taking a massive toll on children’s mental health, Connecticut lawmakers are already beginning to plan what reforms may best target what experts have called a crisis. Over the last several weeks, legislators have hosted forums with behavioral health professionals, state agencies and child experts to discuss what is happening and where improvements need to be made in the state. Connecticut emergency departments saw an overwhelming number of children seek psychiatric care as the toll of the pandemic fell on the state’s youngest residents last year and as students headed back to in-person classes this school year. (Watson and Carlesso, 11/30)