Kristen Hwang/ CalMatters

Tens of thousands of Californians with disabilities require special accommodations for dental care, but only 14 centers in the state can treat them.

A year after ramping up to vaccinate 6 million low-income residents, community clinics are in dire final straits waiting for state money. Some are cutting services.

California’s African Americans are dying from COVID at a higher rate now. And they make up a disproportionate and growing share of the death toll for middle-aged Californians.

About 11,500 long-term care center workers are now sick with COVID. “It’s been like one coworker after another, after another, everyone getting sick,” one nursing assistant said.

In 19 California counties, less than a third of vaccinated residents are boosted. In some counties, it’s less than 25%. One health official blames “pandemic fatigue.”

The Valencia lab, a public-private venture between the state and PerkinElmer, processed only 1 to 8% of all Californians’ COVID tests in the first 10 months of the contract. And the lab was riddled with dozens of problems, according to an inspection report.

Eying the offshore traffic jams at ports and supply chain problems, California hospitals report delays and shortages in medical supplies. Some patients are forced to reuse medical tubes.

Long-simmering disputes with unions over staffing are reaching crisis points. Almost a third of California hospitals report insufficient numbers of critical workers, including nurses, technicians and janitors.

As the state’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate kicks in Thursday, several large hospital systems say 90% or more of their employees are vaccinated. But they don’t have to provide data to the state unless asked.

COVID-19 burnout is driving many nurses to quit, and hospital administrators say the state’s new vaccine mandate is compounding the shortage, too.

A CalMatters analysis shows more Californians are hospitalized with COVID-19 in six rural counties than any other time since the pandemic began. The main reason? Low vaccination rates.