With New COVID Vaccine Rolling Out, Some Doctors Take Cautious Approach To Buying Shots

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, September 3, 2024…

• A new round of COVID shots is shipping to doctor’s offices across California. And for the second year in a row, the federal government is not picking up the tab. Physicians have to order the vaccine weeks in advance and pay up front for the shots they’ll have this fall. Sometimes they over-order and end up with extra doses sitting in the fridge, unused. 
• Thousands of migratory birds have died so far in an avian botulism outbreak in the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge. 
• Five years after the deadly Conception boat fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island in Southern California, a top safety official is calling out the Coast Guard for failing to put safety reforms in place.

Uncertain Demand For COVID Shots Imposes Risk-Benefit Calculations On Doctors

Pediatricians across the country are pre-ordering the updated and reformulated COVID-19 vaccine for the fall and winter respiratory virus season, but some doctors said they’re struggling to predict whether parents will be interested. Many providers don’t want to waste money ordering doses that won’t be used, but they need enough on hand to vaccinate vulnerable children.

For the second year in a row, the federal government is not picking up the tab. Physicians have to order the vaccine weeks in advance and pay up front for the shots. Eric Ball has a practice in Orange County. He ended up throwing out dozens of expired shots, costing $150 each, last year. “Last year we bought too many COVID vaccines,” he said. “We thought the demand would be way higher than it was.” But just 6% of eligible California kids got last season’s shot, even though the government recommends it for every child over six months. 

So this year, Ball has slashed his fall vaccine order to the bare minimum. “We took the number of flu vaccines that we order and then we ordered 5% of that in COVID vaccines,” Ball said. Some pediatricians say they would order more COVID shots if pharmaceutical companies had a more forgiving return policy. Pfizer, for example, will take back just 30% of unused doses for kids 12 and up.

Thousands Of Migratory Birds Have Died So Far In Klamath Basin Botulism Outbreak

On August 17, the Bureau of Reclamation started flowing water to the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge to help mitigate an outbreak of avian botulism. Thousands of ducks, waterfowl, and shorebirds at the Tule Lake Refuge have died from the disease this month. Both refuges are part of the Klamath Basin Refuge Complex straddling the Oregon-California border near Klamath Falls.

Since the outbreak began in mid-August, refuge staff have been finding up to 500 dead birds per day in Sump 1A, the largest water body in the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. John Vradenburg, supervisory biologist for the Klamath Basin Refuge Complex, estimates that about 20,000 birds have died so far, many of them ducks like pintails and green-winged teals.

The circulating water and increased volumes are helping prevent an even greater disaster, says Vradenburg, as sick and dead birds are concentrated in fewer areas. “We are still seeing sick birds where the water is not moving, but some improvements where there is good flow and places where the water is getting deeper,” he said.

Top Safety Official Calls For Reforms Five Years After Deadly Boat Fire 

Family members of victims of the Conception dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island gathered in Santa Barbara on Monday, on the fifth anniversary of the deadly incident.

During a news conference, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said her agency has made recommendations going back decades, for the Coast Guard to require safety management systems for small vessels. “How many times does the NTSB have to issue this recommendation again before the Coast Guard will take action. How many deaths have to occur. How many injuries have to occur,” she said. “How many families have to stand up here at a press conference grieving for their loved ones before action is taken.”

33 passengers and one crew member died in the 2019 dive boat fire. Last year, the captain of the Conception was convicted of gross negligence and sentenced to four years in prison. He’s appealing that conviction.