February 4, 2022 – When L.A. County Could Drop Its Mask Mandate, How Californians Feel About The Pandemic, Vaccines For Little Kids

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg, professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.   Topics today include:  L.A. County unveils plans to drop some mask rules once COVID conditions improve.  Californians feel less optimistic about the pandemic than they did last spring.  San Francisco physicians start petition calling for state to pivot on school COVID guidelines.  Opinion: The smallest kids still lack a vaccine. The F.D.A. must leave no uncertainty.  A different COVID-19 vaccine debate: Do we need new shots? Omicron variant's "milder" severity likely due to more population immunity, according to Harvard researchers.  Johns Hopkins analysis finds lockdowns only reduced COVID-19 death rate by 0.2%.  This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.