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Children of San Francisco: Prepare to keep your vaccination cards close by.

The California city has announced that kids ages 5 to 11 will soon need to show proof they have received the coronavirus vaccine in order to gain access to indoor businesses and activities such as restaurants and gyms.

"We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated," San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Phillip said Tuesday during a virtual town hall on the city's YouTube channel. "That will happen no sooner than about eight weeks after the vaccine is available to kids. So there will be a limited time in which there will not be those requirements, but then at some point, 5- to 11-year-olds will also have to show proof of vaccination to access some of those same settings."

CDC APPROVES CORONAVIRUS VACCINE FOR CHILDREN AGES 5 TO 11
The development was revealed the same day that millions of elementary-aged children around the country became eligible to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday gave the final OK for children ages 5-11, and pediatricians' offices, pharmacies, hospitals, schools and clinics were set to begin distributing shots later that day.

On Aug. 20, San Francisco implemented a vaccine requirement for indoor settings including bars, clubs and large events.

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"In these places everyone 12 and older will need to show proof of vaccination," reads the current language on its government website. "You will still need to wear a mask in most of these places, even if you are vaccinated.

"We're requiring vaccines to protect everyone against the continued spread of COVID-19," the website added. "We want to cut down the spread of COVID-19 and keep San Francisco businesses open."

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San Francisco will require children ages 5-11 show proof of vaccine to access businesses

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Children of San Francisco: Prepare to keep your vaccination cards close by. The California city has announced that kids ages 5 to 11 will soon need to show proof they have received the coronavirus vaccine in order to gain access to indoor businesses and activities such as restaurants and gyms. "We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated," San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Phillip said Tuesday during a virtual town hall on the city's YouTube channel.

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https://apnews.com/article/covid-employer-mandates-us-29c2262c336bcfc38da2d14b251daf51

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Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday.

The new requirements are the Biden administration's boldest move yet to persuade reluctant Americans to finally get a vaccine that has been widely available for months - or face financial consequences. If successful, administration officials believe it will go a long way toward ending a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 Americans.

First previewed by President Joe Biden in September, the requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.

OSHA left open the possibility of expanding the requirement to smaller businesses. It asked for public comment on whether employers with fewer than 100 employees could handle vaccination or testing programs.

Tougher rules will apply to another 17 million people working in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid. Those workers will not have an option for testing - they will need to be vaccinated.

Workers will be able to ask for exemptions on medical or religious grounds.

The requirements will not apply to people who work at home or outdoors.

Biden framed the issue as a simple choice between getting more people vaccinated or prolonging the pandemic.

"While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good," he said Thursday in a statement.

Biden said his encouragement for businesses to impose mandates and his own previous requirements for the military and federal contractors have helped reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans over 12 from 100 million in late July to about 60 million now.

Those measures, he said, have not led to mass firings or worker shortages, adding that vaccines have been required before to fight other diseases.

OSHA said companies that fail to comply with the regulations could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

The agency will face enforcement challenges. Even counting help from states, OSHA has only 1,850 inspectors to oversee 130 million workers at 8 million workplaces. An administration official said the agency will respond to whistleblower complaints and make limited spot checks.

The release of the rules followed weeks of regulatory review and meetings with business groups, labor unions and others.

OSHA drafted the rules under emergency authority meant to protect workers from an imminent health hazard. The agency estimated that the vaccine mandate will save more than 6,500 worker lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations over the next six months.

The rules set up potential legal battles along partisan lines between states and the federal government. Several states and Republican governors threatened to sue, contending that the administration lacks the power to make such sweeping mandates under emergency authority.

OSHA's parent agency, the Labor Department, says it is on sound legal footing. The department's top legal official, Seema Nanda, said OSHA rules preempt conflicting state laws or orders, including those that bar employers from requiring vaccinations, testing or face masks.

Senate Republicans immediately launched a petition to force a vote to overturn the vaccine mandate, but with Democrats controlling the chamber, the effort is nearly certain to fail.

The will require workers to receive either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly. Employees testing positive must be removed from the workplace.

Companies won't be required to provide or pay for tests for unvaccinated workers, but they must give paid time off for employees to get the shots and sick leave to recover from side effects that prevent them from working. Requirements for masks and paid time off for shots take effect Dec. 5.

Employers covered by the requirements must verify their workers' vaccination status by checking documents such as CDC vaccination cards, records from doctors or pharmacies, or even an employee's own signed declaration.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a separate rule requiring vaccination for workers in 76,000 health facilities and home health care providers that get funding from the government health programs. A senior administration official said several large private health care organizations imposed their own mandates and achieved high vaccination rates - 96% or higher - without widespread resignations.

A previously announced requirement for federal contractors to make sure workers are vaccinated was scheduled to take effect Dec. 8, but the administration delayed that measure until Jan. 4 to match the requirements on other large employers and health care providers. Already, more than a dozen states have sued to block the mandate on contractors.

For weeks, Biden has encouraged businesses not to wait for OSHA to act. He has touted businesses that announced their own vaccine requirements and urged others to follow their lead.

Administration officials say those efforts are paying off, with about 70% of adults fully vaccinated.

Workplace vaccine mandates have become more common recently, with hospitals, state and local governments and some major corporations requiring COVID-19 shots for employees. The mandates have led to overwhelming compliance - in some cases 99% of workers - although a small but vocal number have faced dismissal, filed lawsuits or sought exemptions.

United Airlines required 67,000 U.S. employees to get vaccinated or face termination. Only a couple hundred refused to do so, although about 2,000 are seeking exemptions.

In August, Tyson Foods told its 120,000 U.S. workers that they must be vaccinated by Nov. 1. On Thursday, the company said more than 96% of its workforce was vaccinated, including 60,500 people who got their shots after the August announcement.

Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, said in late July it was requiring all workers at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and managers who travel within the United States to be vaccinated by Oct. 4. The retailer stopped short of requiring shots for front-line workers, however.

However, some companies have expressed fear that some vaccine-hesitant workers might quit, leaving their workforces even thinner in an already-tight labor market.

Several corporate groups, including the Business Roundtable, endorsed the mandate. However, retail groups worried that the requirement could disrupt their operations during the critical Christmas shopping period. Retailers and others also said it could worsen supply chain disruptions.

The National Retail Federation suggested the new rules are not needed because the rolling average number of new daily cases in the U.S. has fallen by more than half since September.

"Nevertheless, the Biden administration has chosen to declare an 'emergency' and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season," said David French, a senior vice president for the trade group.

The number of new infections in the U.S. is still falling from a summer surge caused by the highly contagious delta variant, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent weeks. The 7-day moving average is down 6% from two weeks ago, at more than 76,000 new cases and 1,200 deaths per day.

Cole Stevenson, a 34-year-old autoworker at the Ford Rouge truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, said he remains uncomfortable with a vaccine that was developed just a year ago.

He intends to get weekly COVID-19 tests and says he won't reconsider getting the vaccine even if the tests are a financial or logistical burden.

"It's getting pretty disgusting how much the government thinks they can be involved in people's lives," he said. "If the whole thing is sort of cooling down and cases are lowering, then buzz off - don't force it on people."

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Associated Press writers Paul Wiseman and Hope Yen in Washington, Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Stacey Plaisance-Jenkins in Picayune, Mississippi, and Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed.

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occupational safety and health administration

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US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4

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Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was driving at more than 150 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada's legal limit before his sports car slammed into the rear of a vehicle that burned, killing a 23-year-old woman, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The Raiders released Ruggs late Tuesday, just hours after the crash, his hospitalization and his booking into a Las Vegas jail. He had his initial court appearance Wednesday on felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death and reckless driving that could get him up to 26 years in state prison if he is convicted.

Ruggs, 22, appearing with his attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, was not asked to enter a plea to the charges, pending the formal filing of charges by Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.

The name of the Las Vegas woman who died in the wrecked and burned Toyota Rav4 with her dog was not immediately made public.

Las Vegas police have identified Ruggs' passenger as Kiara Je'nai Kilgo-Washington, 22, of Las Vegas.

Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were hospitalized with unspecified injuries that police said did not appear life-threatening after the Chevrolet Corvette he was driving slammed into the Toyota at about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday.

Ruggs owns a $1.1 million home not far from where the crash occurred, according to property records.

Prosecutor Eric Bauman said air bag computer records showed the Corvette decelerated from 156 mph (251 kph) to 127 mph (204 kph) before it struck the Toyota.

Judge Joe M. Bonaventure said moments later he could not recall a speed that high involved in a crash case since he became a judge. Nevertheless, the judge rejected Bauman's request for $1 million bail and set bail, at Chesnoff's request, at $150,000 with strict conditions, including home confinement, electronic monitoring, no alcohol, no driving and surrender of Ruggs' passport.

Bauman said Ruggs' blood-alcohol level was 0.16%. Police said previously in a statement that Ruggs "showed signs of impairment."

Bauman also said a loaded firearm was found on the floor of the car.

Wolfson said outside court he may file a weapon charge and expects to file a second DUI charge against Ruggs based on the serious arm injuries that he said Kilgo-Washington suffered.

The judge set Ruggs' next court appearance for Nov. 10.

Probation is not an option in Nevada for a conviction on a charge of DUI causing death, which carries a possible sentence of two to 20 years in state prison. The possible sentence for reckless driving is one to six years in prison, with probation available.

The Raiders didn't wait for courts to act, sending out a brief statement Tuesday night announcing Ruggs' release.

The team and the league had issued statements earlier in the day saying officials were aware of the crash, offering condolences to the family of the woman who died and promising to gather facts about what the NFL called "this devastating incident."

Ruggs was supposed to be a cornerstone for the Raiders. He was picked 12th overall in the 2020 draft after three years at Alabama, including helping the Crimson Tide win the NCAA championship as a freshman in 2017.

Ruggs was emerging as a star this season with 24 catches for a team-high 469 yards and two touchdowns. As a rookie in 2020, he had 26 catches for 452 yards and two touchdowns.

Ruggs' crash occurred three weeks after Jon Gruden abruptly resigned as Raiders coach over emails he sent before being hired by the team in 2018. Gruden stepped down after The New York Times reported that the emails had racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.

The AFC West-leading Raiders (5-2) have won two in a row under interim coach Rich Bisaccia and now return to the field this week without their leading receiver in yardage. They'll visit the New York Giants (2-6) on Sunday.

The crash also came less than a year after Raiders running back Josh Jacobs crashed a sports car into a tunnel wall on a roadway at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Jacobs received several stitches for a cut forehead and was initially charged with driving under the influence, but that charge was dropped a week later because Jacobs' blood-alcohol level did not reach the 0.08% level needed to pursue the case. Chesnoff and Schonfeld represented Jacobs in that case, which was closed in March after Jacobs mentored at a Boys & Girls Club and paid a $500 fine to resolve a failure to exercise due care traffic violation.

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Prosecutor: Ruggs driving over 150 mph before fatal crash

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was driving at more than 150 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada's legal limit before his sports car slammed into the rear of a vehicle that burned, killing a 23-year-old woman, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were weeding their garden in New Zealand when Colin's hoe struck something huge just beneath the soil's surface.

As the couple knelt down and began digging around the object, Colin wondered if it was some kind of strange fungal growth, a giant puffball. After Colin pried it out with his garden fork, he scratched away a bit of the skin and tasted it.

A potato.

"We couldn't believe it," Donna said. "It was just huge."

And not exactly pretty. Donna describes its appearance as more of an ugly, mutant look.

But it's quite possibly the largest potato on record. When the couple lugged it into their garage and put it on their old set of scales, it weighed in at a remarkable 7.9 kilograms (17.4 pounds). That's equal to a couple of sacks of regular potatoes, or one small dog.

In the weeks since their unusual find on Aug. 30, the couple's potato has become something of a celebrity around their small farm near Hamilton. They've named the potato Doug, after the way it was unearthed, and Colin even built a small cart to tow Doug around.

"We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine," Doug said. "It's all a bit of fun. It's amazing what entertains people."

A more official weigh-in at a local farming store put Doug at 7.8 kg. The current Guinness World Records entry for the heaviest potato is a 2011 monster from Britain that weighed in at just under 5 kg. The couple say they've applied to Guinness to have Doug recognized and are waiting to hear back.

Guinness didn't immediately reply to a request for an update on the application.

Colin said he doesn't have any secret gardening tips. Usually they throw a bunch of cow manure and straw onto their garden and see what happens. He said they'd been growing cucumbers in that area of their garden before the weeds took over and hadn't planted any potatoes. Doug must have been self-sown, and quite possibly growing for a couple of years or more.

"It's a mystery to me," Colin said. "It's one of nature's little pleasant surprises."

But Doug hasn't proved an easy charge to look after. As the couple showed the potato off, it began drying out and losing weight. Mold started growing from its wounds.

"He was getting a bit pongy," said Colin, referring to the potato's smell.

So Colin cleaned up Doug as best he could and put the potato in the freezer, where it remains.

But Colin may not be done with Doug yet. An amateur brewer, Colin said he's keen to turn Doug into a nice drop of potato vodka.

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Doug the ugly New Zealand potato could be world's biggest

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were weeding their garden in New Zealand when Colin's hoe struck something huge just beneath the soil's surface. As the couple knelt down and began digging around the object, Colin wondered if it was some kind of strange fungal growth, a giant puffball.