COVID PM | BREAKING: Many Santa Cruz schools planning much wider reopening given new guidance

By Mark Conley

Source: Lookout Santa Cruz

Hello, everyone, we’re headed toward a sunny Friday with some increasingly sunny news for parents, students and teachers who have been longing for the pre-pandemic normalcy of in-person instruction. To that and more:

➤ BACK TO CLASS: News that most public elementary schools in the northern part of the county plan to return students to campus five days per week highlights some ambitious movement.
➤ THE JAB GRAB: How is it that some people not yet eligible are getting inoculated before others? It’s a game of craftiness.
➤ PANETTA PANDEMONIUM: If you’re not already signed up to watch our Wallace Baine interview the congressman, it’s time to do so!

And now to the headlines...

School looking more and more open

COVID-K-12: A number of Santa Cruz County school districts are preparing to allow elementary students back into classrooms full-time later this month — and at least two are planning to fully reopen secondary schools. The largest district in the county, Pajaro Valley Unified, remains the biggest asterisk. Nick Ibarra spells it out for you here.

They’re not cheating, they’re just crafty

VACCINE WATCH: Excess supplies and unused appointments have led officials in some parts of the state to make doses available to all adults, even those not eligible under current rules. Here’s a look at where that’s happening and why it isn’t cheating.

➤ RELATED: Alameda County opens vaccines to those 16 and over in certain ZIP codes (SF Gate)

COVID-19’s neurological, psychiatric effects

COVID TODAY: One-third of COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with a psychiatric or neurological condition within six months of being infected with the coronavirus, new research shows. The findings come from the largest effort yet to track the neuropsychiatric aftereffects of a coronavirus infection. More on that startling discovery here.

More from here & elsewhere

➤ ‘Another family losing their home’: SF transplants are displacing Tahoe locals (SF Gate)
➤ ‘Only hot people get the Pfizer’: Vaccine rivalries descend on TikTok (NBC News)
➤ Colorado vaccination site shuts down after 11 ‘adverse reactions’ to Johnson & Johnson jabs (USA Today)
➤ You’re vaccinated now, so can you go to a restaurant? What you should know (CNN)
➤ FAQ: What Is A Vaccine ‘Passport,’ And What Are These Credentials Used For? (NPR)
➤ The pandemic ruined one musical’s debut plans. Not for long (ABC News)
➤ Majority of pandemic stimulus checks went toward savings or paying off debt (ABC News)

Our next big event

COMING TOMORROW — Wallace interviews Rep. Jimmy Panetta, and you’re invited: It’s been a year of transition in Washington, D.C. So what does that mean for residents and businesses in the Monterey Bay area? Our Wallace Baine sits down with U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta tomorrow to explore that and a litany of other subjects during an hourlong virtual conversation — be there!

When: 5 p.m.
Where: Zoom
To register FREE, click here.

FINALLY, YOU TELL ME: Are you going on a road trip to get jabbed? Considering it? Hit reply and share the deets, please.

Tomorrow is Friday and the weekend weather is looking good!

Mark Conley
Deputy Managing Editor