tv ABC7 News Getting Answers ABC December 11, 2020 3:00pm-3:30pm PST
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>> hi there. i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called "getting answers." we get answers for you every day at 3:00. we'll talk to a south lake tahoe official about what the stay-at-home order, what does that mean for all of us who like to go to tahoe in the winter? first, california just broke three coronavirus records in one day. 12,013 people are hospitalized. all numbers are records. the bay area's icu
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at 16.7%. >> the fda on the verge of authorizing the first vaccine. we want to get the latest. dr. patel, good to see you on this friday. >> good to digitally see you, kristen. >> wish we had better news. put this into perspective for us. is this the thanksgiving impact we were waiting for? >> it's a combination of not only cases that were trending up before the surge, this is what dr. fauci is referred to when he says a surge on top of a surge. we're worried about holiday travel as well. we're approaching 15% icu capacity here in the the bay
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area. we'll probably get there today or middle of the weekend. we max out our hospital capacity and that leads to delays in care, more sickness, more dying. we're stretching our resources, which i don't hear talked about often. >> no. but you're saying we could hit 15% stay at home figure by the weekend. when would we see the numbers start to reverse from these measures. >> that's a good question. we know there's a delay in kind of reporting. we might see numbers go up. we're all hoping and i think we are optimistic that with new messages and new behavioral changes, question could see that towards the end of december.
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i just have to heed, like he was saying, if we don't get this together we could see a major capacity of hospitalizations and deaths. >> there's a lot of hope with the vaccine. when will the full fda panel authorize it? why is it taking so long? every day means thousands of lives. >> it does. i hope there is a transparent discussion about why it's taking so lodge. i think the public should be looking at a lot of the data and making sure they're vetting everything thoroughly. that's why they had a large long meeting yesterday, to go through all that. i suspect we'll see a green light any day now. >> ok. if it does happen, tonight, if they move fast, or maybe tomorrow, when will people start getting shots?
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>> as far as the people that are in the first tier, health professionals or people living in or working in elderly long term care facilities. i heard as early as the end of next week. there's already an order set for that 2.9 to 3 million doses of the pfizer vaccine to be shipped among states. we have moderna being voted on about a week later. >> all right. so dr. patel, you always find engaging ways for us to learn. i know you've got a couple of quiz questions for us. >> we were going to plea two truths and a lie. there's a lot of things we need to debunk. you're good at this. are you ready? >> i am. by the way, if you're watching on facebook live, try to think of the answers. let's go. >> two truths and a lie.
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a, the fda voted 17-4 to recommend the pfizer advantage seep for emergency use. bnks. the white house is pressuring approval of the vaccine saying get it done. and c, the vaccine was not specifically tested in pregnant or breast-feeding women. which one is not true. >> which one is not true. i am looking at our viewers' responses because i'm trying to get a lifeline here. no one was answering yes. i think a is true and i is. one viewer are saying c. >> c is actually true. >> oh. >> it wasn't specifically tested in pregnant or breast-feeding women that's an important point.
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the important point there is when it comes time for this vaccine to be rolled out, there is a pregnant or president feeding woman, it comes down to discussion with his or her data. c is true. b is also true. a is a lieu. >> oh. >> we want to keep politics out of it. here's why a is a lie. it wasn't the fda. it was an independent review committee who put together the recommendation that the fald then approves. it's really crucial people know that this is an independent review board, no stakes in the game, and looks at the data and makes a recommendation to the fda. >> i was a little mad at you before, but now i understand why that was an important
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distinction. >> don't be mad, christen. kristen. >> a, while the vaccine did show kristen. 95% efficacy in trials, it's unclear how much it actually prevent transmission of the virus. b, in the trial -- referring to pfizer, immune responses or reacto gentleman nicety were classified as adverse events. and c, people with an egg allergy can still safely receive any vaccine. >> i will say i know a is not the lie, because i think that is true. you may not get sick but we don't know if you can still transmit it to others. it's either bsks or c, what are people saying? we get a few bs.
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bs a little confusing to me. now people are swinging to c. people are so easily swayed. i'm going to say that c is a lie. i would think that if you have an egg allergy, that doesn't necessarily mean you can safely get a vaccine with egg protein. i'll say c. >> b is the lie. >> oh. >> b is so important for people to understand. a lot of the symptoms or responses people experienced in this trial or for any vaccine are normal immune spahns, these are classified differently as adverse events or reactions to a vaccine that would not be expected. it's important to understands the difference between the two. they've put up data in early
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2021 preventing transmission but, shape, we save lives and stay out of the hospital, that's a victory. these recommendations changed about eight years ago. a lot of people asked about this. you have an egg allergy that's mild to moderate, you're still safe to get vaccines that contain egg protein. if you have a history of a severe egg allergy, you can get the vaccine as long as you do it in a medical setting. the rates of getting anaphylaxis is about 1.4 to one million doses, extremely rare. >> not too big of a worry. those were very inspirational. i'm happy i got both of them wrong because that means i learned something.
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>> you're information dense. >> have they made a list? >> it seems the list is staying where it is right now as far as health care providers and people related to long care health care facilities. we expect that states will follow the cdc guidelines -- >> but they don't have to. >> they don't have to. it's expected that they will. >> i've seen this question a lot. that is, is it safe for teens, right, because during that independent advisory committee you were talking about, i think the few who voted no had a question about its effect on 16 onld 17-year-olds. >> it's a good question to ask. yes, if it had been an emergency authorization for 18 and above, but she was wary about the data on 16 and 17-year-olds. the safety data for 16 and
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17-year-olds didn't match the other population. 16 and 17-year-olds did not show any severe adverse reactions. they showed a similar efficacy. we're going to get more data about adolescence, 16 and 17-year-olds. it's worth take the debate and waiting to see what data we get when it's time for 16-year-olds to get it. >> all right. i heard u.s. secure more doses of the moderna vaccine. >> i think we saw the graphic of the purchasing orders from the white house, the different vaccine companies. there's estimates we'll get about three million of the pfizer -- i'm sorry.
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st 12.5 million who could get a shot in the arm. they're putting out information about purchasing more vaccines. regarding the glaxo vaccine, they did make a setback. they found out that the immune response was not as strong in older people. people above the age of 50, they found that to be a high risk group and they did what they should be. that should be reassuring news to know that these processes are note checked and efficacy checks are not skimmed. >> that's right. always great chatting with you, learning from you. have a safe and quiet weekend. >> you, too. happy friday. >> happy friday. we'll take a short break.
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and we're back. the california half of lake tahoe is part of a new round of shutdowns since sacramento dropped under 15% icu availability. it's a popular travel destination this time of year. what to do? chris is joining us. thank you for yourtime. good to see you. >> it's good to be with you. thank you for having me. >> that highway is closed to tourists, but is it completely?
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what does that really mean? >> we're not completely closed? i think the argument is we've been trying to make is if you're under a stay-at-home order, we want people to stay at home so we can get tahoe looking back like it's supposed to look in the wintertime. retail establishments are open about 20%. le free-standing stored and grocery stores, about 25%. we've encouraged people to get outside and go for a socially distanced hyka or bike ride. our ski resorts are remaining open. there are things to do here that are covid safe, so to speak, but be we're asking people if you're under the stay-at-home order, you should be staying at home now. >> will they only sell passes to locals? will they check that? >> there's a reservation system as i understand it in place.
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they're only allowing so many people in. ski resorts have this down to a science as far as safety precautions they're taking to make sure people stay safe in covid-19. now that the restriction has gone into effect, all our lodging is closed. come up for the day. the bay area is not under the stay order just yet. you can come up for a day. but you have to go home after skiing because there's nowhere to stay in the city limits. >> i saw them cancel. are they closed to people traveling on essential business? are they completely closed or just not taking things from out of town. >> we're calling it leisure travel. for essential workers. the nascar has some medical
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people's in town. people who are in need of shelter. lodging is open for those folks and for regular people that are just coming up to visit. >> what about cross-country skiing or snowmobiling. >> you're the first one to ask me that. i assume so. all of that happens on the nevada side, anyways. but i mean, people are coming up to go back country ski egg. i believe the authorize did a big push on back country skiing safety. we weren't sure when we were going to open, depending on the pandemic, so people are coming up to do all kinds of activities. we get that. we want to make sure people are safe and respecting this beautiful place we call home. if we can get through three weeks of people staying inside, doing their social distancing thing, wear masks, i think we
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can start to look like tahoe again. >> yeah. that's so important, because i know you guys don't have a lot of hospital or icu capacity out there, anyway. you mentioned nevada. is the situation completely different over the state line? nevada? >> yes. and being in a state makes everything more complicated. there's a lot of entities at play here in south tahoe. there are some restrictions on the nevada side. this is a measure of personal responsibility. you cannot stay inside the city limits of the city of south lake tahoe. that's the message we've been pushing all week. we want people to be respectful of that. people will be renting out their airbnb lgs. but at the end of the day we want people to be respectful of
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south lake tahoe so we can get it back up and run. it pains us to. >> it pains me to not go there. do you think the messaging has been confusing? on the one happened they say get exercise outdoors, that's so important. and then we have a santa clara quarantine, if you travel more than 150 miles outs, you've dott to take precaution. if you drive on the freeway, it's more than that. are you supposed to go, are you not supposed to go? i'm sure all of that is very interesting. >> i'll tell you, it's been a confusing time to be in communications kboert governm s government. our bars, movie theaters, permanent care services, all that stuff is closed now.
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our restaurants are doing take-out. no dine-in. they're also doing delivery. we have some things open but it doesn't look like the same tahoe anymore. this is an exercise in public safety. >> yep. >> we're trying to keep people safe but we realize that tourism is our life blood economy. 40% of our income comes from tourism. >> wow. >> we're trying to find the balance. ice a delicate one. >> i didn't mean for any of these to be trick questions. >> oh, no. >> it's a tricky question now. we appreciate you coming in virtually. take good care. >> thank you so much. stay safe. >> all right. you too. coming up next, our week long series covering the state of the
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and we are back. abc 7 is committed to building a better bay area. that includes preserving our arts and culture. all week we're looking at the state of the arts in the bay area to see how these cherished institutions are holding up. joining us to talk about the museum in san francisco, emily jennings, the director of school and family programs. emily, great to see you. >> nice to see you, too. thank you for having us. >> the dejong is one of my favorites in the bay area. it's a great place for art and education. how are you continuing to connect through the bay area during these times? >> yeah, it's been like everyone exercising extreme bleksability. we turned all of our plans into up in the air and we were very fortunate that we were able to focus on our mission, which is about connecting bay area
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residents with both local and international efforts. that really allowed us to draw forward a project that we were able to up it was 900 pieces of art from 800 heartists in the bay area. both curators and notable artists were judges. the overall pool was about 6,000 artists. you got to see what an outpouring of creativity for the exhibiti exhibition. you can experience it on our youtube channel. our virtual programming is having discussions with participating artists. next year we'll be announcing three artists demonstration
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their own work. it's been keeping us busy and we're so greatful for all the area support for making the exhibition possible. >> i know you have a lot of cool online classes. are those things that only members can participate in? >> no. our team has been producing videos weekly and biwokely. those are all available on our youtube channel free of charge. >> as a parent i think that's really cool. one of the things that many schools have cut in the distance learning times are the art programs, the art experience. i think for children, especially for the mental health aspect, more important than ever, don't you think? >> i agree. it's something that we really
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want to provide those useful conversations between parents and children. >> yep. >> to process everything we're experiencing in these unprecedented times. >> if people want to help and become members, how can they help? >> right now we're all looking forward to our art party happening in yarn. it's the most critical thing you can do is by joining the art party. you'll be spreading arts education across the bay area, particularly through our partnership with the boys and girls club of san francisco. we'll be
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thank you for joining us on this inte tonight, as we come on the air, all eyes on the fda. a decision could come at any time. set to give emergency use authorization for pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. today, the pressure from president trump. the white house suggesting the fda chief's job is on the line if the vaccine so not authorized by the end of the day today. tonight, how will this work across the u.s.? the rollout ready to begin. who will get it first and when? the trucks and plane set to help distribute doses within hours of the final green light. it all comes as america marks its most devastating and deadliest week yet. authorities say we could hit 300,000 american lives lost within days, pointing out thanksgiving surge is here. the effects from gatherings from the holiday are now being seen in hospitals across the countr
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