Posted by Ryan Macasero

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/18/san-mateo-victor-aenlle-civil-lawsuit-against-county/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12210898

Victor Aenlle, the former chief of staff to Sheriff Christina Corpus — who faces multiple efforts to remove her from office — has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against San Mateo County, County Executive Officer Michael Callagy and other top officials. The suit alleges “retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation, and abuse of power.”

The lawsuit, announced Thursday by his attorneys at the Fellner Law Group in San Francisco, claims county officials “illegally targeted and fired Aenlle” last year for supporting Corpus, the county’s first Latina sheriff.

Aenlle has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Corpus and of usurping her authority. He is a central figure in the ongoing effort to remove her. Both deny the allegations, saying their relationship was strictly professional and that hiring civilians to executive roles is not unusual.

The 114-page complaint alleges county officials relied on “code enforcement, illegal searches, and false reports” to harass and intimidate Aenlle before wrongfully terminating him.

According to a news release from Fellner Law, the lawsuit seeks accountability for alleged violations of Aenlle’s constitutional rights. Those include the First Amendment right to free speech, the Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful searches and seizures, and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection.

“This case is about standing up for the fundamental rights of every American — free speech, due process, and equal protection under the law,” Aenlle said in a statement. “If they can do this to me, they can do it to anyone.”

The news organization reached out to San Mateo County for comment, but had not received a response as of this posting.

Corpus is meanwhile fighting two separate efforts to oust her.

One is under Measure A, a voter-approved initiative passed in March, granting the Board of Supervisors authority to remove an elected sheriff through 2028. The other stems from a civil grand jury accusation filed in June alleging misconduct and abuse of power. If removed, she would be the first elected sheriff in California ever ousted by a county board.

The Measure A removal hearing concluded in late August. Retired Judge James Emerson, who presided over the proceedings, has 45 days to submit his recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The board will then have 30 days to review and vote.

Removing Corpus would require a four-fifths vote. If supervisors oust her, they would have 30 days to appoint a replacement or call a special election. If they fail to act, the county elections office must schedule an election immediately — meaning the issue may not be resolved until late fall.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/18/san-mateo-victor-aenlle-civil-lawsuit-against-county/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12210898

Posted by Grant Stringer

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/18/major-california-health-insurers-side-with-newsom-and-medical-groups-to-cover-covid-shots/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12210532

A key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel this week is considering whether to roll back recommendations about who should get vaccinated, but California and some health insurance giants aren’t waiting to see.

On Wednesday, the West Coast Health Alliance released its recommendations for vaccinations during the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season. That alliance is a new partnership between California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii to develop parallel recommendations for patients — bucking the CDC under Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime skeptic of vaccines. Gov. Gavin Newsom, other blue state governors, medical associations and even some top Republicans nationally have expressed concern that the CDC would not root its recommendations in evidence.

In the alliance’s guidance, those older than 6 months should get vaccinated for COVID-19. That sticks closely to the recommendations of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And the Washington, D.C. health insurance trade association AHIP announced that its scores of members nationally will continue to cover COVID-19 shots through 2026. The group’s members include Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, California’s largest private health insurer.

Public health officials and doctors had expressed concern that insurers would stop covering the cost of COVID-19 shots for many patients after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration limited eligibility to seniors and younger people with certain medical conditions. The out-of-pocket cost of a shot is reportedly upwards of $200.

Insurers typically incorporate the recommendations of the CDC. In May, Kennedy announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, and the CDC panel meeting this week is expected to make formal recommendations on Friday.

But in a statement, AHIP said it would rely on the CDC’s vaccine guidance as of September 1, 2025 — effectively ignoring any new recommendations produced by the CDC panel that was hand-picked by Kennedy.

“While health plans continue to operate in an environment shaped by federal and state laws, as well as program and customer requirements, the evidence-based approach to coverage of immunizations will remain consistent,” AHIP said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Kaiser in Northern California said it “is making the new COVID-19 vaccine available to all our members 6 months and older at no cost,” starting September 15.

“Kaiser Permanente’s administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is based on the latest scientific evidence and clinical guidance from our physician experts and many other sources, including leading medical societies,” the spokesperson said. “Vaccination remains one of the safest and most effective ways to help protect against severe illness.”

Michael Zimmerman, a family physician at Temescal Creek Medicine, a small clinic in Oakland, applauded the insurers decision. He said lack of coverage would be a barrier for patients who want to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination has proven effective at preventing serious cases, hospitalizations and death.

“If somebody can theoretically get a vaccine, but it is the difference between them making a rent payment or not, that is de facto blocked access to care,” he said.

Zimmerman said he’d been concerned about the potential out-of-pocket cost of a COVID-19 booster for his patients. He and other doctors at the clinic have written prescriptions for patients who might not fall into the FDA’s new categories for those eligible to get the shot, such as healthy people younger than 65. Like many in the Bay Area, he and his patients had been confused about the shifting rules and whether they qualified.

“It shows good faith, it aligns with what we know is best practices, and the science that we know,” said Georges Benjamin, a physician and executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based American Public Health Association. He said the insurers are following what he sees as “the best science and knowledge” — while the CDC does not.

The CDC committee meeting this week is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. On Thursday, the panel voted to stop recommending a combined shot for the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine for children under 4 years old; studies have shown children who got the combo shot more often developed a rash, fever and — in rare instances — seizures after vaccination compared with children who got separate shots. Varicella is better known by the name chickenpox.

The panel’s members delayed until Friday reviewing the guidance for vaccinating newborns against hepatitis B , which can cause serious liver infections and cancer. In 1991, the advisory committee recommended a dose within 24 hours of birth for all medically stable infants who weigh at least 4.4 pounds.

The panel is also slated to turn its attention to recommendations for COVID-19 shots on Friday.

In the Bay Area, demand for COVID-19 boosters was high this month during a late-summer surge of the virus, but rates of hospitalizations and deaths are low. The virus continues to pose the most danger to seniors and younger people with other medical conditions that elevate the risk.

The CDC’s current vaccine recommendations for the flu aren’t different from the guidance of West Coast states; per both sets of guidelines, those older than six months should get an annual shot. The groups also align on RSV vaccination.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/18/major-california-health-insurers-side-with-newsom-and-medical-groups-to-cover-covid-shots/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12210532