fading. also tonight, police arrest a man in a high profile assault in china town, the city's new chief promising to make the city safer. that proms comes the same day he is sworn in a ceremony that saw him get emotional about his mother. >> and good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> thank you for joining us. we begin this week with several developments on the fight against covid-19. the state may be turning the corner. the number of cases is now at a level we have not seen in months. two more counties are ramping up mass vaccinations. san mateo andal meeta county. the approach differ it's sonoma county. they're trying to decentralize the vaccination centers in an effort to get more people inoculated. that includes new sites with cvs pharmacies and safeway. we start off tonight from the north bay.

>> out in the great wide open of western sonoma county under cries of gray, where living and commerce are a little more personal, there is a gym at this high school where they're running up an important different kind of score. >> we have 270 planned for today. >> as in covid-19 vaccinations. key word, local. >> what is heepg here is unique. the theory that sonoma county is very large and western sonoma county is isolated. and so the question with the vaccine already difficult to get, why make people jump through more hoops? >> let's bring it to people. we're taking vaccines to people's houses if they're -- if they cannot leave the home. i'm doing vaccines in people's cars. >> this doctor was not looking for credit whether we visited to day. but she deserves it after weeks of work. today she vaccinated people with appointments age 70 and up. even persuaded the federal government to ship in nurses from other states to speed up the process. zblefr single shot that we put

in someone's arm helps the entire community. >> nor does the localizing begin or end here. a few blocks away this safeway store began vaccinating today. but as sowa county supervisor laments, even with the speeding up it remains slow going here and elimination where. >> the state made promise to everyone over the age of 65 the same week sthent us about 3,000 doses. and so we have really struggled with the state essentially setting expectations that we have no way of fulfilling. >> and in a county 100,000 people, one fourth population over age 65. 7,000 doses a week, the math remains depressing. >> there has been a lot over this last year that has been incredibly frustrating. >> leaving action as the second best medicine. >> thank you so much, folks. >> in western sonoma county, wayne friedman, abc 7 news. the arrow points the way at the fair grounds in pleasantton. signs, tents and cones are in place for what county officials are calling a covid-19 mega

vaccine distribution site. they hope it will become operational in the next couple weeks. the goal is so vaccinate some 5,000 people a day here with help from kaiser and sutter an stanford valley care health plans. cars streamed into the san mateo event center for day one of a drive through mass vaccination effort put on by the county and sutter health. officials hope to inoculate more than 10,000 people a day. 65 years of age and up. at this appointment only event. drop ins are not welcome. you cannot just show up. for more information on making an appointment for this site go, to sutterhealth.org. meanwhile, san mateo county officials are fighting an onslaught of foreign misinformation that is creating vaccine hesitancy in communities of color. health care leaders spoke about this problem today. they also raised concerns about the inequity of vaccine distribution and the lack of access in those communities. more than 73,000 people in san

mateo county received their first doses. but officials fear the distribution has not been equitable. >> we're combatting misinformation from media from china, philippines, focusing on the death related to the vaccines. we need to find as policymakers localized solutions so that we can narrow the equity gap. >> of those who have been vaccinated in san mateo county, 44% are white and 28% are asian. only 9% of those who have received shots are latino and just over 1% of those who have been vaccinated so far in san mateo county are african-american. california is showing significant progress in the effort to slow the spread f coronavirus. the state reported new cases are down 29% over the last seven days. the average test positivity rate is down to 5%. it hasn't been that low since thanksgiving and hospitalizations are down 34% in the last two weeks.

governor newsom toured the site at petco park this morning. during the visit, he announced that last week california vaccinated more than a million people in seven days. just yesterday about 200,000 people received a vaccine. he says that is double where we were just a few weeks ago and we can expect another million doses to arrive this week. >> we need to see that ramped up. we're going to need to see more doses coming in to the state of california in order to keep these mass sites operational and to keep things moving. >> the mass vaccination side at levi stadium opens tomorrow. in the south bay right now, investigation into the vandalism of a historic monument in japan town. someone spraypainted red graffiti overnight on the pioneer stone. it's a 11,000 pound granite stone from japan. the japan town community

congress tells our media partner the mercury news they do not believe the vandalism was racially motivated. a man has been charged in a string of assaults against seniors in oakland's china town. the police chief made a promise to the community today. here is leslie brinkly. >> after three brutal attacks on seniors in oakland's china town last week, including the horrifying video of a 91-year-old man being pushed to the pavement, there was a dramatic announcement as the newly sworn in oakland chief of police stood alongsidal meeta county's district attorney. >> i now am announcing that we have filed charges against an individual identified as yaya muslim. we have charged him with three counts of assault. >> muslim is also facing charges of inflicting great bodily injury and committing a crime against an elderly person. the da says he has two prior felony assault convictions. the police officers who tracked

down the suspect were applauded. >> some come to china town to target people. we know that. we know they target our elderly. we also know that they come because they believe that our community won't report it to police. we're excited to say that we already began to transition into new strategies to help make china town a safer community. >> two asian-american actors that put up reward money described their alarm. >> racist rhetoric from, you know, the pandemic has targeted us as being, you know, the reason for coronavirus. and so asian as cross the board have been targeted by racial slurs being tacked, being pushed around and spat on. outside of san francisco and l.a., new york, the incidents are happening all over the country. >> tomorrow i'll sit down for a one-on-one interview with oakland's new police chief to ask the questions about his plans to make china town safer and how he's going to address what appears to be an overall

crime surge in oakland going into 2021. i'm leslie brufrinkly. >> and oakland's new police chief is going to create a cultural change in the police department. a new police chief was announced. 292-year veteran thanked his mother for always believing in him. >> she was a single mother with three children. at the age of 18. and she had two jobs and walked us to school with no car. she told me when i was young, boy, there is something special about you. you. she's been amazing to me. she told me three things -- maintain your faith in god. always be respectful.

and always believe that you can be anything you want to be. [ applause ] >> chief armstrong says one of his top priorities is to build trust between police officers and the community. >> still ahead, new developments to find a universal vaccine that works against many types of coronaviruses. how two different bay area groups are hoping to create just that. >> plus, trying to stay one step ahead of cancer. the bay area company helping to lead a revolution diagnosing cancer ahead of traditional tests. you're going to hear from someone alive today because of the early detection.

by harnessing california's abundant wind and solar energy, we have the power to take on climate change. use less from 4 to 9 pm to keep california golden.

. a fire killed one person and sent another to the hospital. the victim is as 64-year-old terry botini from novado. the fire at the rv park heavily

damaged two homes. the people who live there were asleep at the time. they tried to escape after fire woke them up. firefighters are investigating a boat fire at the bethel island marina. a man that lives aboard the boat is missing. his vehicle is in the parking lot. crews say the living quarters collapsed in on themselves not allowing them to search until hot spots can be put out. the cdc director says tonight the covid-19 strain that's remerging are a threat and could reverse the positive trends that we're seeing. dr. anthony fauci believes there is a solution. >> the two things that we can do is make sure we adhere to the public health measures. b, get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can. that's the best defense against the evolution of the strains. >> dr. fauci says the current vaccines appear to be effective against the uk strain which is very good news.

this are two bay area research groups with a similar goal to produce something like a universal vaccine for coronaviruses. so that not just for covid-19 but potentially dangerous variation that's may be coming in the future. while covid-19 is by far the most widespread threat, it is also just the latest in a progression of dangerous coronaviruses including the deadly outbreak of sars in the early 2000s and another known as mrs. now stanford searcher peter kim and his team are on the trail of a vaccine that is cheap and easily trance portable. >> that would be a single shot vaccine and that would be room temperature stable and our hope is that such a vaccine could also be used in low and middle income countries. >> b >> before the outbreak, they had a delivery system coupled with proteins. it is considered easier to produce than sophisticated virus based vaccines or the ultra advanced mrna formulas used by

pfizer and moderna. and perhaps just as importantly, it's versatile. >> we can adjust to mutations or new strains of coronavirus that come up in the future. by just piggybacking into the technology that we already developed. >> the goal of a vaccine is also driving research at the lawrence livermore lab. researchers nick fisher and amy are working with a nano delivery system of their own. and along with partners in england, they believe it could help make a sophisticated vaccine similar to pfizer and moderna more stable and easier to transport. we modified the particles. they are tunable. >> potentially turning them into a platform that is versatile enough to deliver vaccines aimed at a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. >> the type of vaccines are going to be just absolutely critical going forward and providing us that kind of broad protection that we really need. >> protection not just for the immediate threat but perhaps far

into the future. that's clearly the hope. there is obviously a lot of interest in this. the kim lab at stanford is receiving support from the chan zuckerberg biohub as well. abc 7 news is monitoring the rollout in california with our vaccine tracker. our vaccine tracker also shows you when you might be able to get the vaccine where you live. you can find this on our home page at abc7 news.com. well there is no minimizing the covid-19 death toll. more people have died of cancer in the past year. health is a critical part of building a better bay area. abc 7 news reporter david louie takes us inside a silicon valley lab that is trying to remove a barrier to cancer screening that the pandemic erected. >> this silicon valley lab is fighting the battle against a disease that last year took more american lives than covid-19. cancer. they developed a way to identify fragments of cancer cells to wharn a patient may be having a relapse. >> we studied over 2,000

patients. what we have shown consistently is that we can detect cancer recurrence 92% of the time. and up to two years earlier than imaging alone. >> covid-19 caused some cancer patients avoid seeing the doctor in person due to the compromised immune systems. natera's technology requires a blood test in which cancer markers can be identified at the molecular level. a blood draw can be done by sending out a mobile fleb ott mist, minimizing exposure to others. >> it's safer that they come out, i would imagine. one person come in versus maybe 20 people in a doctor's office. >> david friday is a colon cancer patient. every six months he screened with natera's dna based diagnosic test. >> if we can catch the cancer early before it had the chance to ma tast size around your body and before it had the chance to become strong, we can potentially do surgery and take out that recurrent cancer or in the future we can give you a drug therapy that is based on

molecular occurrence. >> they remove a barrier to testing among cancer survivors during the pandemic. the procedure is covered by medicare. >> it gives me peace of mind that i know that i will spot it earlier and maybe not have to have as much chemotherapy if ittive environment ever came back. >> it doesn't address a growing concern that pashltients are no getting screened and diagnosed. cancer like covid-19 is not taking a hol day. david louie, abc 7 news. still ahead, birds taking flight and watery mess. plus, the chance we could see

san francisco firefighters had work cut out for them in the marina today. trying to cap a broken hydrant always takes a few minutes. one co-worker couldn't help but joke about his buddy getting soaked while on the job. he is soaked. not clear what caused this mess. and take a look at what a sonom

up. these are starlings flying in what is called murmiration. the idea is that a group of birds will fly together for protection from predators and to keep them warm during winter. i like to fly with a few other birds to try to keep warm right now. we have definitely cooled off. >> yeah. we have indeed. and it's one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed under the blankets. or maybe you find this energizing. i don't know. let me show you a live picture right now from our san jose camera. you'll see a tin kbrit of the setting sun. the clouds are stacked up. and you will notice right there, okay, if you're lucky, you see a little bit of it. 55 right now in santa rosa. 57 in nap yacha, low 60s in con. a gray sky. 52 in san francisco right now. mid up toer 50s in oakland and

san jose and half moon bay is at 48 degrees. you need a sweater or jacket if you're stepping out. live doppler 7 showing you clouds really stacked up. there is moisture. most of it is he vab rati he it hits the ground. tomorrow may be a little drizzle. temperatures are down. it is nine degrees cooler in san carlos. down seven in san jose and santa rosa right now. behave a gentle breeze along the golden gate bridge there. and here's a look at the forecast. dlou dlo cloudy overnight. brighter and milder weather on wednesday. and rain returns on thursday. i would hang on to the umbrellas even beyond that. we have more opportunities for the wet weather which we definitely need. tomorrow morning as i mentioned, a little drizzle. not out of the question. the clouds will insulate us. it's not terribly cold. upper 30s to the upper 40s for the afternoon. mostly cloudy still. just like today. temperatures will be in the upper 50s to the low 60s. 57 in san francisco. 60 oakland.

59 pal dwroe alto. 62 in san jose. concord, santa rosa. and vallejo. as we take a look at what's ahead, beginning on thursday, by noon time, we'll see some wet weather moving across the bay area. it spreads for the evening commute. and this does turn to mix of rain and snow over the sierra initially. you will notice some lingering showers friday early and then we go into the weekend and we have more wet weather on the way. so let's check out how much rainfall we're talking about. this computer model wants to bring in anywhere from a quarter to a half inch for most areas by friday. really not looking at a big rain event. but at least it's beneficial for our region. in the sierra, the snow pack will continue to build. as a matter of fact, we've seen this snow pack building over the last few weeks. statewide, 66% of average. still a far cry from where we need to be for this time of year. we'll certainly see some more much needed snow in the mountains. here's a look at the accuweather seven day forecast. a mostly cloudy tuesday.

sunnier and milder for your wednesday for those of who you don't like the cloudy skies as we head into thursday. rain returns with a level one system. a little breezy out there friday. morning showers. and then another system comes in saturday by evening. we're looking at wet weather. early sunday morning, there will be some showers. but if you do have outdoor valentines plans for the afternoon and evening, i think you'll be just fine. >> all right. looks nice. i like the little heart graphic on there. thank you. >> well, if you are wondering where your co-worker was today, consider this, the day after the super bowl is widely known as super bowl monday or super sick monday because all of the sick calls into work, all of us were accounted to here. >> most of us. ? most of us. >> where is larry? >> that's true. he's off. he has a reason. that's a goint. in fact, an estimated 17 million people called out sick today, not larry. he has the day off. costing companies nearly $4

billion in lost productivity. so there are two plans to fix this. according to change.org, one, an online petition to make the day after the super bowl a national holiday or schedule the super bowl on president's weekend when monday is already a national holiday. i suppose they could plan c, super bowl saturday. >> there you go. that is my thought. >> yeah, i know. i don't think that will fly. 100 square foot room may not sound like much. but for some, it is a chance for a new beginning to be sure. that story is next.

where can a healthier heart lead you? for people with heart failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. entresto is a heart failure medicine prescribed by most cardiologists. it was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability

to pump blood to the body. and with a healthier heart, there's no telling where life may take you. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. entrust your heart to entresto. finally, a new emergency shelter opening up in the south bay will lead to new lives for families facing homelessness.

>> yeah. 25 tiny homes have been set up on vacant county owned land next to the old san jose city hall along north first street. they're called casitas which is small homes of hope. they provide temporary shelter to santa clara county residents that find theramselves being homeless with young children. >> we're not going to let them get back on the street. the jd we want to have permanent housing so that they can actually rotate through this area to finally get to the fully supported housing which takes longer to build. >> there are four bufrbufrpg beh cabin. heating, air conditioning and electrical outlets. there are on site showers, bathrooms and laundry facilities, too. one of the best features, the homes were build by workers who were once unhoused themselves. so kind of comes full circle. >> yeah. nice. >> all right. "world news tonight" is next. we appreciate your time.ll of u

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tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. authorities warning americans to keep their guard up amid concern over a surge of potential infections after super bowl parties and get-togethers, and tonight also, the concern over the variants of the virus here in the u.s. one study now suggesting cases of the uk variant could be doubling every ten days here in the u.s. possibly becoming the dominant strain here by march. and what dr. fauci is saying tonight about that second dose of the vaccine. and news tonight on the newest potential weapon, that single shot from johnson & johnson. we have it all tonight. meantime, the hunt for mutations in the uk, after they were hit with the uk variant and others. what they're seeing there with the u.s. bracing for that uk variant to become the dominant strain here. our team inside the lab where they're hunting down the variants tonight.