Mayor of San Francisco London Breed said on Wednesday that she expects the city to enter the less restrictive red tier next week – meaning restaurants, movies and other businesses with limits can open – and leave purple, the most restrictive of the four tier system. California for reopening the economy.
“With the continued improvement in our COVID-19 health indicators, we could move to the state red level next Wednesday, March 3,” Breed said in a Twitter post. “This is a big step forward, but we still need to make progress.”
Only nine of California’s 58 counties are in the red layer, including Marin and San Mateo in the Bay Area. The red layer allows more people to shop indoors and allows other businesses to open with a smaller number of customers. Museums can open at 25% capacity, gyms at 10%, and cinemas and restaurants at 25% or 100 people, whichever is less. Only two provinces, Sierra and Alpine, have reached the orange layer, making even fewer restrictions.
The news came when deaths from COVID-19 in the state exceeded 50,000 Wednesday, according to county data.
However, new cases of coronavirus continue to fall in the state, and more Californians are eligible to be vaccinated.
In San Francisco, teachers, grocery workers, and counselors who live or work in the city first became eligible for vaccination on Wednesday.
But not everyone could make an appointment.
That’s because San Francisco, like many health departments and health providers in the state, prioritizes second shots for people who got their first dose a few weeks ago. According to the Department of Health, about 91,000 San Franciscans will receive their second dose in the coming weeks, and many newly eligible people will have to wait two or three weeks for more vaccines to arrive.
Craig MacLellan, an employee at a Whole Foods market in San Francisco, was one of thousands to qualify for the vaccine on Wednesday. At around 9 a.m., he looked at an online vaccine appointment system. He expected to click on his job category of ‘food and agricultural workers’ to indicate that he was eligible.
But he said the category was not listed. MacLellan checked in about an hour later, and while food and farm workers were now on the list, the appointments were booked.
MacLellan said he feels safe at work as he is young and has no underlying health problems. But he is concerned about some of his colleagues.
“While I am very excited to be part of a group that can get it, I understand that this is one of the greatest logistical challenges in American history,” MacLellan said. “I can imagine that tens of thousands of people are logging into these websites these days.”
Still, some got lucky on Wednesday.
“It’s a huge relief,” said Frank Lara, a fifth grade teacher at the Buena Vista Horace Mann School in San Francisco. Wednesday afternoon he received his first injection. “Obviously it’s stressful getting there, and hopefully everything is organized. But it is one step closer to being in the classroom. “
Educator vaccination has been a major point of contention for the city’s teachers’ union, which has said it will allow unvaccinated teachers back into the classroom until San Francisco hits the orange layer, meaning there is only a “moderate” spread of the virus is.
San Francisco delivered up to 6,000 shots a day before the winter storm that hit the Midwest triggered delays and shut down massive vaccination centers across the city and across California. So far, 80% of city health workers and people 65 and older who are in Stage 1A – health workers and people living in long-term care facilities – have been vaccinated, Mayor of London Breed said on Twitter Wednesday.
“We can now do over 10,000 doses a day as soon as we get more supply,” added Breed.
The status of the postponed vaccinations in San Francisco remained unclear on Wednesday, and city officials did not respond to questions.
But three other Bay Area counties that reported delays last week – Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa – said on Wednesday that thousands of vaccine doses have now arrived.
The Marin County health department said Wednesday that educators, food personnel and other vital workers could immediately make appointments for vaccinations. The agency said it was ready to open its stockpile after vaccinating more than 60% of all residents of the province over 65.
“We have made a lot of progress in vaccinating our health workers and older residents, and it is time to move on to protect our vital workers,” Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, said in a statement.
The Santa Clara County Health Department announced Wednesday that a major vaccination facility at Gilroy High School will open on Sunday. The site, established in partnership with the Gilroy Unified School District, will offer up to 2,000 doses of vaccine per day to county residents eligible for Phase 1B of the state’s vaccine rollout plan, which includes educators and food staff.
“I hope many of our residents and employees will sign up in the near future,” said Dr. Deborah Flores, the Chief Superintendent of Gilroy School. “Register and get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Both vaccines currently available in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, are given in two injections, 21 days or 28 days apart.
Meanwhile, some elementary schools in Sonoma County may reopen as coronavirus cases have dropped enough and other requirements have been met, Sonoma County health officer Dr. Sundari Mase said at a news conference Wednesday.
Schools wishing to reopen can submit a reopening plan, with secondary and secondary schools on hold until the county moves from the purple level to the red level.
While the number of new cases of coronavirus, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 continues to decline, medical experts are still warning of the danger of asymptomatic spread.
Dr. Bob Wachter, Chair of UCSF’s Department of Medicine, said Monday on Twitter that 1.1% of the coronavirus tests in his hospital are positive, even though the patient showed no symptoms. That means that about 1 in 100 San Franciscans is living with the virus without knowing it.
“So don’t let your guard down, especially since – if you haven’t been vaccinated yet – you’ll have a chance for the next 3 months,” said Wachter.
The White House expects to allocate 3 million to 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the end of next week if it receives emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration, President Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator said. Jeff Zients, Wednesday. The FDA is expected to make a final decision within days.
Michael Williams, Aidin Vaziri and Catherine Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]