California's new virus message: 'Don't share your air' | COVID-19 updates for Northern California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — VA Northern California Health Care System starts Moderna vaccine distribution

VA Northern California Health Care System began vaccinations with the vaccine doses from Moderna on Monday. 

“VA Northern California Health Care System is eager to offer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to health care personnel and community living center residents,” said David Stockwell, Medical Center Director. “Receiving the vaccine is like having hope delivered. As vaccine supplies increase, our ultimate goal is to offer COVID-19 vaccination to all veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated.”

California's new virus message: 'Don't share your air'

California's health care system is in the throes of a coronavirus crisis stemming from ill-advised Thanksgiving gatherings. 

Top executives from California's largest hospital systems put out a "clarion and desperate call" for residents to avoid a holiday repeat they said would overwhelm the most populous state's medical system. 

Increasingly exhausted staff, many pressed into service outside their normal duties, are now attending to virus patients stacked up in hallways, conference rooms, even a gift shop. 

Officials from Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health and Sutter Health offered what they called a "prescription" for Californians to slow the virus spread, a marketing effort dubbed "Don't share your air."

Moderna vaccine arrives at UC Davis

UC Davis Health's first allotment of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was received on Tuesday. 

It adds an additional 4,300 vaccines to the hospital's arsenal after they received 4,875 doses of the Pfizer vaccine last week. More than 4,000 of their employees have gotten the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and they expect to use up their first allotment soon. 

“When that happens, we expect to begin vaccinating employees with the Moderna vaccine,” said Chad Hatfield, Chief Pharmacy Officer.

Hartfield added that the hospital can store 200,000 or more Moderna doses in their existing freezers. With the Pfizer vaccine, the hospital expects to be able to store up to 400,000 doses at one time as they get more ultra-cold freezers.

California's curfew extended

California health officials announced that the state's Limited Stay-At-Home curfew will be extended.

The curfew, which places restrictions on non-essential activities between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., first went into effect on Saturday, Nov. 21. The order was originally planned to last for one month, but has now been extended and connected to the regional stay at home order. 

The limited stay at home order will now remain in effect until the regional stay at home order has ended for every region of the state. Regional stay at home orders are triggered when a region's ICU capacity falls below 15%.

Four regions of California are currently under the regional stay at home order. San Joaquin Valley, Southern California, Greater Sacramento and the Bay Area. The dates regions will be eligible to exit the regional stay at home order are:

• San Joaquin: Monday, Dec. 28, 2020
• Southern California: Monday, Dec. 28, 2020
• Greater Sacramento: Friday, Jan. 1, 2021
• Bay Area: Friday, Jan. 8, 2021

California latest COVID-19 numbers:

As of December 22, 2020, California has 1,925,007 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now at 22,923, with 247 in the last 24 hours.

The ICU capacity in each region is:

• Greater Sacramento Region: 15.7% (down from 16.2%)
• Bay Area: 13.5% (down from 13.7%)
• Northern California: 29.5% (up from 28.7%)
• San Joaquin Valley: 0% (static)
• Southern California: 0% (static)

California in need of nurses and medical staff:

California is desperately searching for nurses, doctors and other medical staff, perhaps from as far away as Australia, as the coronavirus surge pushes hospitals to the breaking point. 

With many of the state’s hospitals running out of capacity to treat the severest cases, the state has brought in and deployed more than 500 temporary medical staff members, but it needs a total of 3,000. The staffing shortage in California comes as a surge of COVID-19 cases across the U.S. has led to a nationwide demand for contracted medical workers, particularly nurses with critical care expertise.

While the state searches for more help, California has recorded a half-million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks, overwhelming hospitals in urban centers and rural areas. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom says a projection model shows California could have 100,000 hospitalizations in the next month. The governor says he’s likely to extend his stay-at-home order for much of the state.

CORONAVIRUS AND VACCINE RESOURCES AND ANSWERS:

• San Joaquin County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
• Yolo County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
• Stanislaus County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
• Sacramento County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
• Q&A: Why wear a mask after you've been vaccinated?
• Can my employer require the COVID-19 vaccine? | Q&A with workers rights attorney
• Q&A: How do the COVID-19 vaccines work? Are they like the flu vaccine, will there be side effects?

Watch more: 

So, who gets the COVID-19 vaccine and when?