hi there. i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called "getting experts" we ask experts every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in real time. we'll talk to a local police officer who had covid-19 and donated plasma to help others. we talked to him in april. we're going to find out how his recovery journey has been. dr. patel joins us first. dr. patel, thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> what's the snapshot in the u.s. and california? >> we are still breaking records when it comes to daily

hospitalizations across the country. we unfortunately are seeing this daily average of over a thousand deaths per day. you know what, you've heard a lot of people say this over and over again. i think the overarching theme that i want to share, we should not be normalizing with these numbers. imagine three boeing 747s crashing every single day. that's what we're looking a right now. in california, a majority of the state rolled back in those tiers. there's a lot more purple where before, there was red and yellow. >> i want to get into what that means in a home. right now, good news and bad news on the vaccines. good news, pfizer announced its vaccine is even more effective than they said earlier and it might apply for fda approval sooner rather than later. tell us more. >> pfizer and moderna have

effectivity rates above 90 pmpltz we're hitting 94, which is way better than we anticipated. health officials were saying they'd be happy with anything above 70%. the way these trials work is people are getting either placebo, no vaccine, or they're getting the vaccine but they don't know what they're getting. the researchers don't know either. that's why it's called double blind. a large percent of these people are getting the ma seeno. the vaccine is protecting them. we could see the first needles going into arms later this year. >> all right. in about six weeks, we hope. why can people begin getting the first vaccines? i'm not -- well, why doesn't make sense. it's who do we think will be in line first? >> what the early estimates and

what makes the most sense are the people at the highest risk of contracting covid. the people who we need, so that's essential workers, people not only on the health care front line but those keeping our lives running. those are the ones. there are high risk individuals of vulnerable populations and the trickle down effect. we're not necessarily going to have a widespread protective vaccine available for everyone until possibly late summer or even after that. i think there's a special worry or note about children and when they'll be able to get the vaccine. >> i know. some people say children should get them earlier so they can go back to school. moderna disclosed today that it faces huge challenges for the roll out. can you talk about some of those challenges? >> and i don't think these chejs challenges they're talking about is limited to them.

in a more broad accepts. these are can distribution and rollout challenges for any vaccine manufacturer who may be putting up a shot for emergency use authorization. not only that, they have to make sure that every state has the right sacrifice fly of vaccines. you have to have personnel who can deliver the vaccines. these are two shots, so it's double the problem with supplies. there's a lot of things we need to talk about. i'm not going to go into anymora details to two truths and a lie, which we'll play right now. >> let's not wait. let's play it right now. >> you're trying to get it before the end of the game. >> last time i didn't so well. i was trying to get hints. dr. patel is going to ask a few questions now. we're going to try to guess which someone a lie. play along on facebook live. i'm ready.

>> i'm going to tell you two truths and one of them is not real. first statement, most moderna and pfizer created mrna vaccines. that's a first. second stargets moderna has already enrolled children in their vaccine trials. statement number three, the pfizer vaccine from what we najd has to be stored at about negative 94 degrees fahrenheit. >> all right. so folks, which one do you think is the lie? a, b, and c. go ahead and answer if you want on facebook. i'm going to guess b is the lie. i don't think their trial has involved children. i do remember reading that the pfizer vaccine had to be super cold and i believe they're both mrna. i say it's b. people say b is a lie. we're all going with b here. >> we have some really well read

viewers. i know you're well read. this is awesome. b is a lie. so you know, we can quickly run through each one of these. i think people should be celebrating the science around mrna vaccines. we haven't had one come to market. what's great about them is a small piece of genetic material that will teaches the cells what your cells look like and it's prepared, totally safe, groundbreaking technology. a lot faster to roll out. pfizer has started including people in vaccine trial as young as 12. moderna says they're going to relatively soon. the american academy of pediatrics put out statement like this. children need to be included to get a vaccine ready by next school year in 2021 and there needs to be transparency for people to trust it. the pfizer vaccine does need to be cold right now, negative 94.

moderna says theirs can be stored in a refrigerator for several weeks and in the freezer for several months. >> ok. one other bit of good news now that weave all won the game, me and our facebook fans -- >> all winners. >> all winners. when you learn you're a winner. i want to talking about the test. the lieu serna one, what do you know about this test? >> the big differ remember shader, people are confused. they're saying wait a minute. i thought there was already a test you could take at home. what's different about this specific test is you not only take it at home, you get results at home as well. what boisk happens, as far as we know, this test will be described p prescribed to you by a doctor. you swab your nose and put the vial into a base and get results in about 30 seconds positive or negative.

presumably we can say it's relatively accurate. questions remain, however, who's going to be able to get one. they say it will cost $50 or less, how widely distributable they would be. people can test at home and not get in long lines to potentially expose themselves or others. >> speaking of testing, i know in some counties, in some areas people have choices like if you go to the san mateo events center there's a nasal swab and an oral swab that you do yourself. which one is more accurate? which should you go with? >> i think it really depends on which specific test you're taking. most of the tests you're going to get from public sites are going to be a pcr tests which are going to be relatively accurate. you can still have false positives or false negatives. you have to put that into context with any potential

exposures you may have. a pcr test versus anent jen test, the rapidant jen test we keep hearing about. the rapidant jen test has more. keep that in mind when you're looking at what test you're getting. read the technology. >> pcr is the gold standard. got it. we're going to take a short break on the air. we'll do two truths and a lie thanksgiving edition. mean time go to facebook live

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all right, folks. queer back with special koerpt dr. patel who's still talking, because that's what we do on

facebook live during commercial breaks. all but three counties are in the purple tear. governor newsome floated a possible curfew. the fact that he floated it, i've got to think it's under serious consideration. why would that help? assuming infections happen mor after 10:00 p.m., but do we really know? i feel like our tracing has not been pointing to that. >> that's a big hole thinking a curfew is going to help. we know people hang out at home, issues that have nothing to do with the curfew. curfews could hurt businesses. what is important, we think that unified message of things are getting serious. people hear there's a curfew, that might limit the time people are gathering in public spaces, something of that nature. it requires businesses to adhere to the measure.

at the end of the day, any type of alarm, any type of fog horn we're seeing in a bad direction, hopefully we'll get everybody paying attention to the numbers. >> new york city shutting down in-person learning adds of tomorrow. with all of us being in the purple except for three foins counties here, do you think school reopenings, if they haven't reopened yet, look kind of less likely in january? >> i think we're on the trajectory right now, they do look less likely. we can work together and change that. but i think it's important for parents to prepare for that and prepare for the possibility that their school districts may have to revert back to virtual learning, which is not ideal for a lot of people, but it's where we're at. >> yes. so not ideal. we go to our next round of two

truths and a lie. holidays are coming up and we want to know what is safe and what we should try to avoid. let's go, let's go. >> round two, holiday edition. president trump's health secretary says having a big thanksgiving is risky. statement two. governor newsome's french laundry dinner is a model of how you should behave during thanksgiving. and statement three -- i'm sorry i'm laughing. public health officials say you should not get a test just because you want to travel. >> oh, wait. ok. i feel like this is two lies and one truth here. if you're on facebook live go ahead and put a, b, or c. we'll show you the options here. which one is the lie? i'm going to have to go with b, governor newsom's french laundry dinner is an example of how you should act.

two other people say. yeah. i mean, lizzie villanueva b. you were mixing family. that's right? b is the lie? >> that's correct. you should not be having dinner at the french laundry. i'm not going to specifically criticize this one event and stret sources with bikts but it looked like it was quasi up doors. doors were shut. that's not ideal. it was a bigger table where people are all separated and if you're eating,s masks are off. when you're mixing people like that, it's a risk in exposure. please avoid that. then the first one -- >> c felt like it could be untrue as well. >> krsks is tricky. it's referring to the bay area right now in this moment. local bay area officials are urging san francisco residents

to not go out and get tested just because you want to travel. that is frustrating, and it has to do with long lines, our supply chain. results getting delayed to people who actually need them. the first priority should be to anyone with symptoms, people request exposures or essential front line workers. you want that to change, we need more tests. >> dale davis said c. a lot of people want to visit grandma. they're thinking maybe getting a test reassures me a little bit. it's not foolproof. if you want to understand the risks, use our abc 7 exclusive risk calculator. medical experts weigh in on each common scenario like you might encounter. find this tool on abc7news.com and the abc7news app. definitely check it out. i want to talk more about how we can adjust our behavior and social choices. look, some of these things i've

got to ask you about. officials seem to be behaving in ways different than what they preach. right. you talked about governor newsom's dinner. and people in hawaii for a conference. senator dianne feinstein was walking around the capital without a masks. it's september at dulles airport without a mask. as a doctor, what would you say to all these people who are leaders? >> who i would say so them is is the same thing i would say to parents, my colleagues in the hospital, or anyone that serves as a role model or someone who's supposed to be modelling new behavior. you have to actually act in a manner that you want to see your constituents, voters, the public, everyone actually doing it. i would urge leaders to recognize that not everyone has their resources. not everyone has the ability to take care of all their family members and physically distance

at all events. people don't have the luxury of flying in an environment. people are suffering. people have a job loss. people scared, people are isolated. all that should be taken into account when they're out living their normal lives. everyone's watching. >> there's some thought that if you got the seasonal flu or the common cold, somehow that could shield you against covid 19, your immune response, has that come true or have those hopes been dashed? >> they vice president been dashed, that hasn't happened. it doesn't actually happen. throu influenza is a virus, so is sars and covid, too. please do not believe that. they're two separate viruss. get your flu shot and do everything else you know to protect yourself and your family

regarding covid-19. >> you probably also heard the story that a woman has been arrested in hawaii for breaking quarantine there. with a lot of people on vacations, what do we need to keep in mind? >> people need to keep in mind that anywhere you travel could potentially have different restrictions in terms of you have to get tested within 72 hours of landing. i know that goes against what we just said about getting tested for travel but you have to read the restrictions. people have 10 to 14 day quarantine restriction as well waenld need to respect those. postpone your travel would be the best thing to do. i said this holiday season has toe suck so that future ones don't. keep that in mind. but one rule does not fit all 50 states when it comes to traveling and this woman experienced that in hawaii. >> i'm sure they didn't teach you to say the word "suck" in

medical school. >> there's no better

all right. welcome back. our next guest is connecting right now with us here on "getting answers." while we get that set i want to read a few of your comments from our earlier segment. really, really tough time for everyone. dave barn says don't travel. i assume you heard dr. patel's advice that and made that decision. edwin you say it's hard to be happy when a person has lost theirself job, struggling financially, mentally. leaders do need to be more empathetic. that's a good point. i think compassion is required of all and required by all as well. so a little background and our next guest. a burlingame police officer. we had him back on in april. he got covid 19, suffered

greatly. recovered, thankfully and donated plasma hoping his antibodies can help others. we want to bring him back today for an update. joining us now is faef steve very longa. thanks for joining us. so good to see you. >> good to see you again as well. >> is your k-9 officer partner with you? >> i'm no longer a k-9 officer. i'm a school resource officers. >> oh, i see, i see. i know that was a tight relationship for you for quite some time. but glad to hear you're with students. how are you doing now? all good? i know you recovered in april. no residual symptoms? >> up in at all and happy to be healthy as can be and glad and happy to be back at work and helping the community and doing the best i can out they're during these tough times. i'd say missing the kids at school and everything. >> hats off to you. but, yeah, this latest wave is hitting us really hard. i know --

>> yes, you have. >> you have shared your experience to help others understand the severity of code and to take it seriously. how do you think you caught it? >> the best i really -- it was early on when covid hit and it was hard to determine. it was a good possibility i caught it somewhere here during the work environment, possibly. >> how bad did it get for you? >> it got bad. >> can you describe what you went through physically? what was the worst part? >> the worst part was the -- some of the fevers, the causing, mainly the causing was very painful. that was the worst part of it. very painful causing and so i would say that was the worst part of it. >> the breathing? >> the breathing wasn't -- no discomfort with any breathing, no.

thank god. >> no indeed. how long did it take you to recover? i know you never were hospitalized. >> no, i was never hospitalized. i was able to cure basically on my own with my own antibodies and immune system. i would say a good two and a half weeks. >> two and a half weeks? >> give or take. >> someone wants to say thank you, officer vega. stay healthy. you're not suffering any long term symptoms, nothing out of the ordinary right now? >> none at all. none at all. >> all right, well that -- >> just being very safe out here, you know, during the work environment. >> yeah. speaking of safe i'd like to know what you're doing now in terms of having lived through it, what precautions are you taking to prevent catching it again? because it can happen to people who have recovered. >> correct. i mean, wearing my facemask. i'm not now but i'm in the car

alone. wearing a facemask all the time when i'm out in public, at work, at home. washing your hands and staying six feet apart and just being extra cautious in the work environment here, you just don't know who you may contact and asking the question every single time have i come in contact with anybody. >> i know when we talked in april you had just signed up to donate your antibodies as someone who has recovered to try to help others. >> i did. >> tell us about that. are you still doing it? >> yes. i actually did it two other occasions, and happy to do so. currently encouraged because i know friends out there in the world that i know that had covid, they recovered just like me and really encouraging. i encourage them to do the exact same thing i did. so they, too, can make potentially a difference for somebody in the covid world that's suffering through this awful disease.

>> wow. that's fantastic. thank you so much for dog that, really. hey, just one quick question. how are you spending your thanksgiving, officer vega? >> it's painful, but just the four of us. my wife, me, and the two boys. no family. >> well, officer vega, if that's your recommendation for others to follow, we've got to listen. because you went through it and you're putting yourself out there to help others every day, so stay healthy and have a hap

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answers regarding covid from tonight, breaking news.m that chilling new number. the u.s. has now marked 250,000 american lives lost. the emergency steps in new york city tonight because of the virus. the country's original epicenter now forced to immediately shut down public schools again for in-person learning. a sign of the worsening situation across the nation. hospitalizations in the u.s. hitting a record high. new york's governor predicting a significant spike after the holiday. tonight, the warnings now from other governors. and arkansas's governor with a prediction, how many more lives will be lost this year in his state alone if we don't act. kentucky, michigan and oregon among states imposing new restrictions tonight. the long lines for testing from connecticut to california. and the growing reports of shortages at the supermarkets. also tonight, the promising news from