The Brief

There’s no question people in L.A. County consume a lot of pot — nearly a million pounds of cannabis each year according to official reports. While the demand is clearly there, legal cannabis businesses in the city of Los Angeles say they are struggling just to stay open.

Cannabis business owners told LAist they struggle to pay high taxes and fees while they watch illegal operations go unchecked. They say when they’ve tried to talk to city officials, they’ve been stonewalled and shut out.

Some licensed cannabis business owners have had to close. Others say they are months — if not weeks — from having to shut their doors, leading to lawsuits and a rowdy, confetti-filled confrontation at a public meeting.

Many of these business owners are part of L.A.’s Social Equity Program, which was supposed to provide a boost to Black and Brown communities disproportionately targeted by previous criminalization of pot. Instead of a leg up, the business owners told LAist the program has led to a cycle of stress, debts and broken promises.

They’re not the only ones with debts to pay.

One state audit found that grant funds meant to help cannabis businesses may not have been spent as intended. The L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) estimated the city may need to return up to $10 million they received from that grant to the state.

An audit of another grant found that $1.8 million meant to go directly to social equity businesses was also not used according to grant agreements, according to email correspondence LAist acquired through a public records request.

In emailed responses to LAist questions, Jennifer Marroquin, a spokesperson for DCR, said a resolution was made with the state on the $1.8 million figure and that the department has returned nearly $48,000 in grant money that was not spent during the grant term. Marroquin said the state recently granted another $3.5 million to support L.A.’s Social Equity Program.

Marroquin said the program provides “free and low cost legal assistance” to applicants and business owners. The department is a permitting agency, Marroquin said, and “does not get involved in private business disputes, business decisions, collect taxes or engage law enforcement for unremitted taxes.” LAist has reached out to Mayor Karen Bass, who did not respond prior to publication.

Whitney Beatty told LAist that she was promised grants, technical assistance and legal services through the Social Equity Program to help run her dispensary, Josephine & Billie’s in Exposition Park. She’s one of about 240 current cannabis business owners licensed through the program — among about 700 total legal shops in the city.

“ I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars just to stay licensed and compliant, in a system that charges my customers over 40% in taxes while they can walk across the street to an unlicensed shop and buy untaxed, untested product for half the price,” Beatty said at a Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on July 2.

“This isn't just bad policy, it's a betrayal of the equity promise.”

The high price of cannabis business

Los Angeles created the Social Equity Program in 2019 “to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry, with the purpose of decreasing disparities in life outcomes for marginalized communities directly impacted by the War on Drugs,” according to the city’s website.

Since then, the program has provided about $13 million in grants directly to business owners, according to an LAist analysis of DCR data. In all, the 271 applicants who got grant funding received an average of around $48,000.

Even some business owners who received the maximum total grant amount — about $93,000 — told LAist that the money didn’t go far to cover taxes, fees and other costs they say were imposed on them by DCR.

Business owners have to pay a variety of fees, costing tens of thousands a year.

Taxes on cannabis products in the city of L.A. are significantly higher than those on other products.

In addition to the standard 9.75% city sales tax, cannabis businesses pay another 10% in business tax, and a state cannabis excise tax of 19%. That brings the total tax rate on legal cannabis in L.A. to a staggering 39.75%, according to an L.A. City Council motion presented by Councilmember Imelda Padilla in July.

Padilla’s motion called for an analysis of the potential effects of lowering the city’s cannabis tax in an effort to make L.A.’s shops more competitive — both with unlicensed shops and with neighboring cities that have lower base tax rates like Long Beach (8%) and Pasadena (4%).

Many L.A. business owners like Brandon Brinson say they simply can’t afford to pay all of their taxes in the current market. While Padilla’s motion is still making its way through committees at the City Hall, he and others say they’re running out of time.

Brinson and his wife, Evelyn, opened their business in 2022. Just three years later, Brinson is closing up The Green Paradise shop in Mid-Wilshire. He said the high taxes, fees and rent are to blame.

Brinson spoke with LAist at his cannabis dispensary storefront on July 25, the day before he had to turn over his keys to his landlord. His shop’s shelves were bare.

Brinson said his experience with the social equity program has been frustrating from the start and has “ led to nothing but complete debt and devastation.”

He first applied for the social equity program in 2019, and it took a lawsuit for him to be able to apply for a license.

The lawsuit, filed by social equity applicants against the city in 2020, claimed that some were given an unfair advantage by being allowed to access the application portal before it officially opened. Every second was crucial, they said, in a race that only gave the first 100 applicants an opportunity to open a licensed business. As a result of the lawsuit, the city issued additional licenses to entrepreneurs including Brinson.

“ They just painted this grand opportunity to rebuild the Black community . . .  to help rebuild or restore the harm done from the War on Drugs,” he said. “ So we jumped in. It was a no-brainer at that time.”

Three years after opening, he said social equity applicants like himself received “crumbs” compared to what they were promised in support from the city.

Instead, Brinson said he found himself paying high taxes, fees and rent that pushed him out of business.

To make matters worse, he said he had to compete with an unlicensed shop right next door.

LAist has confirmed that the shop next door is not licensed with the city and sells cannabis.

LAPD Captain Ahmad Zarekani, who heads the department’s Gang and Narcotics Division, told city officials at a committee meeting in February that enforcing cannabis laws is “not the priority” for his department after legalization.

Zarekani said that proactively policing illegal cannabis businesses takes resources away from other priorities. Even when his division makes arrests and shuts down a business, Zarekani said there are rarely consequences for those cases.

“The people basically just move, move to another location, open the business, and they're back making money,” Zarekani told members of the Government Operations Committee, adding that he believes licensed businesses are “victimized” by illegal cannabis shops.

Brinson said that even though he is licensed and the shop next door is not, he is the one who has to deal with law enforcement.

“ The police have come and raided me,” Brinson recounted to LAist before sharing videos of California Highway Patrol officers pulling up to his store and moving his employees away from the cash register.

Kika Keith, owner of the dispensary Gorilla RX in South L.A., said she has had similar experiences with law enforcement.

She told LAist in May that officers had come to her store four times in eight months to collect taxes for the state.

“They come with 20 officers,” Keith said. “They disarmed the security guard.  I mean, you would think that there was an armed killer inside of my store with the level of force and presence that they show, yet they don't go right down the street and shut down those [illicit] stores.”

Kika Keith poses for a photo at her dispensary, Gorilla RX, in South L.A. on May 1, 2025.

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Brinson and Keith both emphasized that as licensed businesses, they sell tested and regulated products. They say there is no way to know what is in the products at the unlicensed shops.

Other licensed cannabis distributors have decided they will no longer pay the city’s taxes.

“Until we get services, Catalyst Cannabis Co. and a bunch of others . . . are withholding our tax money from the city of L.A.,” Elliot Lewis of Catalyst Cannabis Co. announced at a City Council meeting in April.

Councilmember Padilla, who chairs the city’s Government Operations Committee, said at a June meeting that 700 cannabis businesses had fallen behind on their taxes.

An LAist analysis found there are currently only about 700 cannabis businesses with active licenses. And business owners told LAist their mounting tax bills don’t just go away when they’re forced to close.

Cancelled committee hearings

Kika Keith told LAist that the Cannabis Regulation Commission has for months denied cannabis business owners the opportunity to discuss the effect state and local taxes have had on their businesses.

Thryeris Mason, president of the commission, set aside time ahead of their March meeting for that discussion. Then it was removed from the agenda without explanation.

“At the Feb. 6, 2025, meeting, I did request that taxation be on this agenda,” Mason said at a commission meeting on March 20. “For reasons unknown to me and other members of this commission, that did not happen, so I am going to again request that taxation be placed on a future agenda within the next 30 days.”

Mason added that, as president of the commission, she is responsible for setting the agenda, according to the commission rules and operating procedures.

A discussion of taxation was on the agenda released ahead of a May 15 commission meeting, but was placed last, after eight other items. Business owners told LAist they had been promised a special meeting on the topic, and were concerned there would be too little time to address their concerns.

Keith told LAist that she and other business owners believed control of the commission had been “subverted” by department administrators.

Business owners spoke during the public comments portion of the May meeting. Brinson called the commission a “circus” before showering the podium with confetti.

Brandon Brinson shoots confetti into the air while giving public comments at a Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on May 15, 2025.

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When it was clear to the business owners that the commission was not going to discuss tax issues, some in the crowd began yelling at the commission members who then called the meeting to a close.

The crowd was guided into an adjacent room.

Soon, more than a dozen officers began pouring out of elevator doors to see a raucous crowd.

Someone in the crowd yelled out, “Hey, bring it in!”

Another called, “Kika, we need you in the group photo!”

One of the cannabis business owners counted down and snapped pictures on a cell phone, before they turned their attention to the police officers.

“I didn’t know you all responded this fast!” A business owner yelled to the officers, “It takes an hour and a half to get to my South L.A. store!”

The next two scheduled meetings were cancelled after the disruption.

Cannabis business owners disrupt the Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on May 15, 2025, after discussions on tax rates were removed from the agenda.

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“We’re being abused”

The Social Equity Program is managed by the Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR), a full cost-recovery department that is primarily funded through fees on licensed cannabis businesses. Unlike most other departments, it does not receive money from the city’s general fund. Cannabis business owners like Madison Shockley say they believe this incentivizes the department to charge businesses more in fees, and then waive some of those fees using grant funds from the state, which the department can then keep to pay for department expenses.

“ So they say this fee would've cost $9,000,” Shockley told LAist, “but look, we waived it for you, so we saved you some money. But that was money they were supposed to give to me to spend on what I needed to spend.”

Update: Hours after dispensary owner talked to LAist, state seizes over $10,000 in back taxes from his legal cannabis business

From 2019 through last year, the Department of Cannabis Regulation has received more than $44 million from the state as part of two grants according to agreement records — about $22 million meant to help social equity program applicants and an additional $22 million for the city from transition provisional cannabis licenses to annual licenses.

Business owners aren’t the only ones with questions about where that money went. State officials also say some of those funds were not properly distributed by the city.

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz, conducted an audit of the Department of Cannabis Regulation’s grant spending and found issues with how some funds were spent.

In emails obtained by LAist through a public records request, officials for GO-Biz called for $1.8 million of the funds meant for social equity applicants to be returned to the state.

LA’s social equity program director Imani Brown told GO-Biz that, instead of going directly to equity business owners the money in question was used by the city to waive licensing fees of social equity applicants and pay contracted vendors.

The city argued that this use of the funds was approved by the state. William Koch, a deputy director at GO-Biz disagreed, replying that the city department failed to show that the funds were used in line with grant agreements.

What's next

Jason Killeen, an assistant executive director in the department who spoke at a City Council budget hearing on May 2, said the state could make L.A. return up to $10 million of the funds provided from the two grants.

Shockley told LAist that he thinks the department is charging business owners like him more than city policy requires.

He filed a lawsuit against the city last month, claiming DCR is requiring him to pay more than $15,000 in fees for an annual licensing process he says he never applied for.

Shockley said that paying the additional fees, about half of which were set to be due on July 31, would put him out of business. On the other hand, he said, not paying the fees after DCR started the process on his behalf would mean he would become ineligible for a license in 2026, also putting him out of business.

Unable to find a lawyer in time for the hearing, Shockley represented himself in a hearing before Judge Theresa M. Traber on July 25.

Shockley called the hearing a “Hail Mary effort” to keep his business alive.

When Judge Traber considered issuing a temporary restraining order on the city, deputy city attorney Patrick Hagan said the city would agree to put a hold on Shockley’s fees until further hearings could be held.

Shockley said this victory in court saved his business, but that similar situations have forced other business owners to close their doors.

While cannabis businesses struggle, the Department of Cannabis Regulation has been growing.

A report presented to the City Council in April on proposed fee increases found that the department’s staff had grown 73 percent and salary rates had increased 18 percent since fiscal year 2021, when the fees were last updated.

The report recommended that fees be increased to cover the additional costs, but Shockley says business owners haven’t received any noticeable increase in services from the larger department staff.

 ”We've been at every commission meeting, every council meeting,” Shockley told LAist, adding that he has met with the Mayor Karen Bass four times in the past month.

“At the last [Cannabis regulation] Commission meeting, I told the commissioners that we are being retaliated against,” he said, “we're being abused by the leadership of this department . . . and you guys aren't doing a thing about it.”

Caption for lead image: Brandon Brinson poses for a photo in late July next to cleared shelves at his shuttered L.A. cannabis dispensary. Brinson started the business with his wife, Evelyn, as part of the city's Social Equity Program.

Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83.

He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care.

On Aug. 8, the New York Yankees released a social media post in which John wrote that he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, including friends and fans who followed him throughout his career, saying, “I will never forget you.”

John was a four-time All-Star with a record of 288-231 and a 3.34 ERA during a career that stretched from 1963 to 1989. He pitched for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics.

The left-hander was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, a death knell for pitchers’ careers to that point.

John allowed Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, to replace the ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of being successful.

John was a great pitcher, but his elbow surgery made him a baseball legend

The procedure had been done on others before, although it was usually performed on wrists and hands. John was the first pitcher to have it done on his elbow.

More than 2,600 big leaguers and thousands more amateurs have since had UCL reconstructions, better known as Tommy John surgery. It’s been a godsend for many of baseball’s greatest stars, including two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and even Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.

“If you put it in dollars and cents, I think there’s no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is,” Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache told The Associated Press in 2024.

Born Thomas Edward John Jr. on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was a top baseball and basketball player at the city’s Gerstmeyer High. He graduated in 1961 as valedictorian but did not give the commencement speech because of a stutter. Despite being recruited by the University of Kentucky to play basketball, John chose baseball and signed with Cleveland.

“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.’ I’ve never forgotten those words,” John wrote in his Aug. 8 post.

John recorded 2,245 strikeouts but never led either league in wins or strikeouts. John had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900 not to be elected to the Hall of Fame. From 1995 through 2009, John was on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he never received more than 31.7% of the votes, falling well short of the 75% required for election.

John won more games after his eponymous surgery

Known for his longevity, John was the opening day starter for both the 1966 Chicago White Sox and the 1989 New York Yankees. He won 124 games before his UCL repair and 164 after. His final appearance came days after his 46th birthday.

He made his major league debut on Sept. 6, 1963, pitching one inning in relief for Cleveland.

He was traded to the White Sox in 1965 and worked his way into the starting rotation. The following year, he tied for the American League lead with five shutouts and in 1967, his six shutouts led the AL.

In 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers.

In 1974, John had a 13-3 record and led the National League in victories going into the All-Star break. He was pitching against the Montreal Expos when he permanently damaged the UCL in his left arm. After a month, the injury had not improved.

During the four-hour surgery on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe made holes in the humerus and ulna bones of John’s left arm and used anchors to insert the tendon in a figure-eight pattern.

At first, John’s left hand was shriveled and he lacked feeling in several of his fingers because of damage to the ulnar nerve. Jobe performed a second procedure to reroute the nerve that was necessary to John’s full recovery.

John’s arm was in a cast for four months. He had recovered the full range of motion in his left arm by spring training of 1975, and spent that season resting, healing and rebuilding strength in his arm. John worked with fellow Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, who had a doctorate in kinesiology, on learning a different grip.

That September he made five appearances during an offseason instructional league, working his way up to seven innings by his final game.

John resumed pitching for the Dodgers in 1976 as the fourth starter in their rotation. He allowed three runs in five innings and took the loss in his first start against Atlanta, the first time any pitcher had started a game following UCL reconstructive surgery.

John donated the original cast from his surgery to the Smithsonian Institution in June 2022. His teammates on the 1974 Dodgers signed it, as well as Jobe and the team’s Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully.

The procedure has become so widely known that in 2019, Merriam-Webster added the term to its dictionary.

John made 31 starts for the Dodgers in 1976, posting a 10-10 record, a 3.09 ERA, 91 strikeouts, 61 walks and 207 hits allowed in 207 innings.

In 1977, he won 20 games for the first time in his career, finishing with a 20-7 record. He finished second behind Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

John and his family had mixed feelings about the legacy of his operation

Over 50 years later, Tommy John surgery is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and hot dogs. Advanced training methods are helping pitchers of all ages throw harder than ever. They take comfort knowing a torn UCL won’t necessarily end their careers.

“I am sick my name is attached to a surgery happening in kids more than pros,” John tweeted in July 2018.

John’s oldest son, Tommy III, became a chiropractor who wrote a book suggesting ways to prevent young athletes from having to undergo major sports-related surgery similar to what his father endured.

After his pitching career ended, John worked as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins and Yankees in the 1990s. He managed the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Bluefish from 2007-09.

John was hospitalized in December 2020 due to COVID-19 and later had Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which a person’s immune system attacks their nerves. John told the New York Post in May 2022 that he was paralyzed in his lower extremities for several months.

John and his wife Sally Simmons had four children: Tamara, Tommy III, Travis and Taylor, who died of a prescription drug overdose at 28 in 2010. The couple divorced in 2013.

Besides his children, he is survived by his second wife, Cheryl, and son-in-law Patrick Mannelly, a retired NFL long snapper who played 16 years for the Chicago Bears.

School is around the corner for nearly every campus in Long Beach. That means it’s time to dust off those backpacks and take stock of what school supplies are needed. For anyone in need of a cost-free way to restock children for school, here’s a list of giveaway events coming up soon.

Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 953 North Park Circle Dr.

This Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., Willmore City Community Association will hand out 200 free backpacks, pairs of shoes, books and insulated water bottles at The Bembridge House at Drake Park.

The event will also have free children’s haircuts, ice cream from Handel’s Ice Cream and sweet treats by The Pin-Up Kitchen.

Event organizers encourage all family members to come out to get connected with resources, learn about community services and enjoy live music along with activities for all ages.

Saturday, Aug. 22 at 2217 E. Sixth St.

Free backpacks, free school supplies and free snacks will be available at Long Beach Forward’s office on Saturday, Aug. 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There will also be free children’s haircuts and hair styling available, plus gift cards given out as raffle prizes.

The backpacks are for children ages 4-13 (TK-7th grade). You can find more information about the event here.

Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1321 East Anaheim St.

Tito Rodriguez, better known as Hood Santa, will host a backpack and school-supply giveaway on Saturday, Aug. 22 at MacArthur Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There will also be free toys and Bombas socks, along with free children’s haircuts and makeup services.

Ortiz is aiming to give out 3,000 backpacks at the event. As of Thursday afternoon, he had raised $2,750 toward his $25,000 goal. You can donate to the campaign here.

He’s also accepting volunteers for the event. You can sign up to volunteer here.

Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1022 E. Market St.

The fifth annual Black Student Achievement Initiative Symposium will feature a backpack giveaway, complimentary lunch and information breakout sessions on Saturday, Aug. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lindbergh Middle School in North Long Beach.

Incoming Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent David Zaid is scheduled to attend as a guest speaker.

A shuttle service will be available from Jordan High School (6500 Atlantic Ave.) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., but anyone planning to attend is encouraged to register ahead of time here.

Lunch will only be provided for attendees who register in advance.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Life’s all about taking risks, and sometimes a single bold choice can change everything. Just ask Miriam Yoo. Eight years ago, she traded her successful career as an entertainment lawyer to pursue her entrepreneurial dream and launch Flask & Field, a wine and spirits shop.

Since then, she’s never looked back. “It’s all of the things that a job could be and so many things that I could never have expected to experience,” Yoo told The LA Local.

Nearly a decade later, Flask & Field has become a downtown L.A. go-to destination for wine hangs, the point of the day where Yoo and her staff offer complimentary pours during select hours.

The wine hangs

At Flask & Field, visitors are instantly transported into Yoo’s dreamscape of spirits, wines and nonalcoholic bottles with custom-made tags that are ever so thoughtfully detailed and creatively amusing. At every corner, you’ll find a selection of gifts like artisanal chocolates, specialty teas and mixology tools, as well as quirky finds like a pickle wine stopper or an olive hair clip.

For customers looking to shop and unwind late in the day, Yoo and her staff uncork two or three new bottles from Thursday to Friday between 4 and 6 p.m. She calls these “natural wine happy hours,” where they talk about the wines, share opinions and offer samples while chatting with customers.

Customers browse the wine and spirits selection at Flask & Field in downtown L.A.

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On Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., the tasting events are more structured. Brand representatives and winemakers are there to answer customers’ questions about their products.

“It gives our partners a chance to sort of communicate directly with our customers, introduce themselves, tell them about their brand and their business,” Yoo said.

Best of all, tastings are free and include discounts on featured wines.

Ultimately, Yoo’s goal was not just to open a wine and spirits shop but to create a space for people to hang out, chat and feel a little bit of a respite.

“It’s super rewarding,” Yoo said, “because ultimately, you’re selling things that help people enjoy their lives or gather with their friends and family.”

How the dream became real

Yoo worked as an entertainment lawyer for nine years while she fantasized about opening a place like Flask & Field.

Yoo would picture herself in an adorable, rom-com-type scenario: a solo shopkeeper in a perfectly curated wine shop, greeting regulars with a smile and savoring whimsical moments.

Japanese teas, incense and Flask & Field tote bags for sale inside the downtown L.A. shop.

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In 2018, Yoo’s dream of opening her own brick-and-mortar shop had finally become a reality, but it wasn’t a rom-com. It was actually a lot of hard work, she said. She had to struggle to stay afloat especially during the early days of the pandemic. But that rough time forced her to constantly evolve.

During the shutdown, for example, Yoo and her team pivoted to having an online storefront; sales skyrocketed. In-person foot traffic halted, but they found a way to meet new and regular customers by setting up a small, COVID-safe booth, so there was still a shopping presence for those visiting Flask & Field.

Chasing the next bottle

That spirit of constant evolution is still part of the way Yoo does business. To keep up with the latest in craft beers, mezcals, soju, whiskey, wines and more, Yoo and her team set up meetings with buyers to collaborate, organize weekly tastings and forge relationships with small businesses.

They regularly use Instagram to post about alcoholic drinks and non-spirits, as well as flyers. Currently, they are creating social media videos where they show off new bottles, give insight into where they come from and share their honest reviews.

“Knowledge is the currency. We want to just know everything that’s out there and how it’s tasting this season,” Yoo said.

Cookbooks, candy and puzzles sit alongside wine bottles at Flask & Field’s gift shop in downtown L.A.

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Part of that currency is getting to know their customers, especially their views on certain brands.

“Something that we noticed was that the younger generation, in general, cares more about farming practices, labor practices and price point. That’s also very important,” she said.

In 2021, Yoo saw growing interest in alcohol-free beers and wines, as more people traded hangovers for deliciously vibrant zero-proof crafted beverages as a healthy alternative. As demand grew, Yoo embraced innovation and expanded her selection to include botanical spirits and de-alcoholized wines.

“The brands have done such a good job being creative, and the products now are so much better than they were in 2021,” Yoo said.

Hantavirus. Ebola. West Nile. Measles. And, of course, cyclospora — that stomach parasite making people miserable across the country. Americans have plenty to worry about this summer.

But remember COVID-19? It may not be surprising that many people may have almost forgotten about COVID. Unfortunately, COVID hasn't forgotten about us.

"We're now in the midst of a growing summer surge of COVID here in the United States," says Dr. John Brooks, an infectious disease doctor at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I think most of us kind of feel like it's fading away and are certainly very grateful for that. But nationally we're seeing it ticking up pretty much everywhere."

The virus is spreading the most again in the South and West, but is also on the rise in the Northeast and Midwest. The good news is the virus is still at very low levels. And so far this summer's wave seems to be continuing the trend of getting milder each year, sending fewer people to the hospital and causing fewer deaths.

"What we're seeing is very likely evidence of growing herd immunity, if you will," Brooks says. "More and more people have had one or more infections that give them some immunity against the virus and have had more than one vaccination, or maybe both. And all of that really has begun to offer us a lot of protection."

Now, that doesn't mean people don't have to worry about COVID at all anymore. The disease still makes lots of people feel awful for a week or two, foiling their summer vacations and forcing them to miss work and school.

And COVID can still cause serious disease for some people, sending them to emergency rooms, causing hospitalizations and even sometimes still causing death.

"COVID-19 is still dangerous, particularly for older adults, infants and people who are immunocompromised," says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. And that is a lot of Americans. "In a typical office, if you have 20 colleagues, it's likely that one or two of them have some degree of immunocompromise. So it's very common that people have risk factors that make COVID-19 dangerous."

Unlike the flu, which only surges during the winter each year, COVID sees spikes twice a year — both in the summer and winter. The reason for that remains unclear.

"It's a big mystery as far as I'm concerned. It is the only seasonal respiratory virus that has a summer season," River says. "To my knowledge, we don't know what is causing this seasonality."

Rivers says she still masks up when she's in crowded places like busy airports, and recommends that people stay up to date on their vaccines. The next shots look like a good match for the dominant strain of COVID that's circulating and should start becoming available soon.

Unlike previous years, the CDC hasn't issued updated recommendations for the vaccines because of litigation over the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul immunizations in the U.S. The administration no longer recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older routinely get an annual shot.

But major medical groups still do recommend it. And insurers have indicated they will keep covering vaccines. The shots are likely to remain available for free through government programs like the Vaccines for Children program.

Public health experts worry that conflicting messages will cause confusion, discouraging people from getting another shot.

"The message is that COVID vaccine and flu vaccine will be available, they're covered by insurers, they're recommended by medical societies. People should get them and get them for their kids," says Clare Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, which advocates for immunization programs.

There's also even a new drug, called Xocova, that people can take right after they've been exposed to the virus to cut their chances of actually getting sick from COVID.

"It is something for people to just have in the back of their mind," Brooks says. It is expected to be a useful tool in hospitals and nursing homes when exposures happen to vulnerable people.
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