Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday said teachers and other school staff would be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or get tested regularly, making California the first state in the country to enact such a mandate, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Massachusetts, and Texas.

• California: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday said teachers and other school staff would be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or get tested regularly, making California the first state in the country to enact such a mandate. The mandate went into effect Thursday, and schools have until Oct. 15 to comply. Before this, several school districts, including those in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and Long Beach, had already made vaccines mandatory for their staff. (Gonzalez, Axios, 8/11)

• Massachusetts: Boston Scientific recalled 48,000 of its Ingenio pacemakers, citing the products' risk of permanently entering "safety mode" and losing their ability to pace properly. The company first issued an advisory about the safety concern in June, the Boston Business Journal reports. According to an FDA notice published last week, the recall specifically affects pacemakers produced between Sept. 2011 and Dec. 2018, which were distributed through Aug. 1, 2020. So far, 65 instances of Ingenio pacemakers entering safety mode have been reported to Boston Scientific, with many needing to be replaced early. According to FDA and the company, there have been no deaths due to these pacemaker complications, but there have been three injuries. (Walrath, Boston Business Journal, 8/11)

• Texas: Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on Wednesday signed an emergency order requiring masks in schools, businesses, and government buildings in the county—an act that opposes a statewide ban on both mask and vaccine mandates. However, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition the same day to stop Jenkins' emergency order, stating the statewide ban "supersedes local rules and regulations." In a statement about the filing, Abbott and Paxton said "any school district, public university or local government official that decides to defy the order will be taken to court." (Saric [1], Axios, 8/11; Saric [2], Axios, 8/11)