While vaccine stocks are inconsistent and inadequate, San Francisco officially moved on to Phase 1B of vaccine eligibility on Wednesday, allowing supermarket and food supply workers to be next in line alongside educators, daycare workers, emergency services, and farm workers.
Mayor London Breed previously announced February 24 as the day this next phase of admission would begin, but that was before the city had to pause two massive vaccination centers at City College and the Moscone Center due to a lack of vaccine supplies. As Breed said on Twitter on Wednesday, “The offer and deals remain very limited, but if you qualify now, visit http://sf.gov/getvaccinated!”
How supermarket and restaurant workers will prove their jobs is not entirely clear, and as Eater reported last week, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association is calling for an honor system. Otherwise, because some workers are currently being fired or on leave or otherwise lack sufficient documentation, they say it will “only create more barriers to getting the vaccines” and “slow down the process.” Currently, sites like the City College site, which is operated by UCSF, require an online signature confirming someone’s eligibility, and then documentation submitted in person, such as a pay slip, employee badge, or some unspecified other way to prove employment.
Food workers have been given priority in other cities, such as New York, but according to CDC guidelines, they would actually fall into Stage 1C. Here in San Francisco, this will hopefully help restaurants keep reopening safely – and as indoor dining resumes, possibly starting next week, vaccinations will help protect servers more at risk from the coronavirus than customers due to their volume of exposure to strangers. (We know of at least one story from a server at International Smoke who believes she contracted the virus during the short period that indoor eating was allowed last fall.)
The city of Berkeley opened vaccinations to supermarket workers last week, but restaurant workers in Alameda County have to go to the Oakland Coliseum for their injections.
“By vaccinating people who live and work in San Francisco as soon as possible, we can keep our entire community safe and save lives,” Breed said in a statement. “We have been dealing with this pandemic for a year now, and all this time our staff have kept the city going.”
“From the grocery store clerks, daycare and teachers to counselors and restaurant chefs and waiters, these frontline workers have turned up for all of us and I am glad we can continue to expand the vaccines they include.”
San Francisco has three massive vaccination sites ready to roll, including the newest to open in the Bayview wholesale market for products, and the city is ready to vaccinate 10,000 people a day once vaccine stocks catch up. The city’s vaccination list also includes the FEMA-operated Oakland Coliseum site, so eligible employees may also want to check that out through the MyTurn.ca.gov site.
Breed said the city has vaccinated 80% of all seniors and health workers who are part of Phase 1A as of Wednesday, and now 18% of all San Franciscans over the age of 16 have received their first doses. Phase 1A is estimated to have represented approximately 210,000 people and includes health professionals who work in San Francisco but live elsewhere in the Bay Area.
This last group in Phase 1B is estimated to have an additional 168,000 people living or working in San Francisco.
As of March 15, the state of California has said that people of any age with disabilities or people with disabilities are eligible for a list of ten chronic underlying conditions, including pregnancy, type 2 diabetes, cancer, severe obesity, and kidney disease. , and chronic lung disease.
The Moscone Center vaccination site is scheduled to reopen for appointments Thursday, and the Department of Health has also opened two senior walk-in vaccination sites where no appointments are required – one at SF General and one at Southeast Health.
As of Tuesday, San Francisco remained in the ‘purple’ tier for reopening according to state statistics, but this has been cause for confusion for many as the city’s COVID numbers are steadily declining – and are no worse than those in San counties. Mateo or Marin, who moved to the “Red” layer yesterday. But out of an abundance of caution or an oddity of the state’s algorithm, the city will likely wait until next Tuesday to reopen restaurants and museums at 25% capacity and indoor gyms at 10% capacity. The other six Bay Area counties may also move to the less restrictive “Red” tier next week or soon after.
Earlier: San Francisco Plans To Give Restaurant Staff Vaccine Priority; The grocers in East Bay are being vaccinated
Photo: Michael Browning