In California: San Francisco nears herd immunity; beware vaccine lottery scams - USA TODAY

Richard Pan, left, and UC Davis Assistant Nurse Manager Claudio Alvarado, center, hold a mock check as the state drew the first 15 winners to be awarded $50,000 for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 on Friday in Sacramento. (Photo: Paul Kitagaki Jr., Sacramento Bee via AP).

Officials in the Golden State are warning people about scams related to California’s $116.5 million COVID-19 vaccine incentive lottery.

“The California Department of Public Health is asking Californians to be aware of and to quickly report any indications of possible fraudulent or other questionable activities by individuals attempting to take advantage of the state’s recently announced COVID-19 vaccination incentive programs,” the agency said via news release.

Californians who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to go without face masks in most situations starting next week, state officials confirmed Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that a “special meeting’’ of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board was hastily scheduled for Wednesday evening after State Health Officer Dr.

Aragón said the state will do away with virtually all social distancing requirements and drop the mask requirement for people who are vaccinated while “requiring face coverings for all unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses.”?

Gavin Newsom asking him to immediately issue an emergency order rescinding the board's regulations, called Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), and putting state workplaces in compliance with federal guidelines?

Without such action, the groups said the state's economy won't fully reopen next week as Newsom has said.

As of Wednesday, June 9, 2021, 69% of San Francisco residents were said be fully vaccinated. (Photo: pexels.com).

San Francisco is reportedly close to reaching a COVID-19 benchmark of 70% of eligible residents fully vaccinated?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that while the definition of herd immunity varies, most agree that in order for a virus to stop spreading, at least 70% of the population needs to be immune.

And as of Wednesday, 69% of San Francisco residents were said to be fully vaccinated with 79% of people 12 and older having received at least one dose.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Chicken John admitted to using the slur during an argument with a Black man over a parking spot, but says he merely repeated the offensive word after the man used it first. Read the full article here.

In 2000, Los Angeles County prosecutors sought to have him indefinitely committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator.

Less than six months after his release from Coalinga State Hospital, Vasquez abused another child, said Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward

Also contributing: Associated Press, KTLA 5, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle