building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news . hi, there. getting answers, we ask experts your questions everyday 3:00. today we have a full plate. with college decisions out, we will be talking to a top counselor to help your student make that big decision and navigate financial aid and waitlists at at united airlines making headlines with its promise to ensure half the pilots it trains our women and people of color. we will talk about that. let's begin with major covid-19 headlines. there are many ranging from survivors to california fully

reopening by mid-june worries about the astrazeneca vaccine. joining us now to get some answers is the chair of department of medicine at uc fs. good to have you here. >> pleasure to be here. thank you. >> about two disorders in covid survivors, can you talk to us about that? >> we have known for a while that a number of people have long-term effects of it and the studies show a higher than expected rate of cognitive problems or depression, anxiety, a bunch of things that are one other reason that you can avoid having covid, that would be great. it is not entirely clear if the numbers are as high as they cite. i think they say one in three. i think it is certainly higher than the baseline. >> we also don't know if that

is something that may fade over time. >> we have been studying these folks and a fair number will get better over time. we don't know what the best treatment is. there is some antidotal evidence that vaccination may help. we don't know for sure yet. we certainly hope they get better over time. >> keep us posted on that. >> disturbing developments with the astrazeneca vaccine. we have millions of doses waiting. what did european regulators determine today about astrazeneca and blood clots? >> when i first heard about the association with blood clots, my feeling was blood clots a really comment. a lot of people come with blood clots in the leg. what they have seen is really a higher than expected number of pretty unusual blood clots in

the brain associated with a low platelet count. they have not fully worked out for sure if that is a side effect. my guess is that it will turn out to be a rare one in 1 million side effect of the vaccine. you are still better off getting vaccinated then and not. this is an unexpected side effect. ed has led some regulators to say, we are not going to give it in younger people at lower risk. in the u.s., it is not one of the three vaccines that is approved. i'm guessing it will not be approved. it is a big issue for the world. >> you said for the unvaccinated this may be the most dangerous time. why do you say that? >> if you are unvaccinated, first of all, congratulations. you must've been very careful to remain uninfected. i am talking about uninfected

and you haven't been vaccinated. then you have no immunity. instead of the virus that you are facing in 2020, there is a decent chance that you are now facing, if you encounter a person with covid, facing a virus that is better at its job. either the west coast or the uk virus. these viruses are more contagious. uk virus is more likely to be fatal. if you have not had prior covid and you don't -- if you haven't been vaccinated yet, you really, really want to be careful. as soon as you have an opportunity, it is another reason why you should be. >> it could take a while for people to get vaccinated. given that what you just mentioned, what you think about the state wanting to reopen everything and lose the colored tears by june 15th? >> june 15th is a long way off. by june 15th, i have no doubt

that every person in california will have the opportunity to be vaccinated. that will not happen immediately when the lists go away and everybody is eligible to sign up. i suspect within two, three, four weeks, everyone will have access to a vaccination. you are not done if you only get your first shot with pfizer or moderna. then it is two weeks after that that you are fully vaccinated. we are talking about six weeks after mid-may. by that time, everybody will have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. there is every reason to believe california will continue to do well. we are not out of the woods. in michigan, the cases are skyrocketing. we still have to be careful. i really hope everyone who has a chance to be vaccinated, grabs it at the first

opportunity. >> the cdc said most new infections are caused by -- actually, they say that the young people are driving the latest surge. why do you think that is? is it because they're mingling more? why do you think that age will get the vaccine? >> well, the reason is all of that. we started out vaccinating the people that are the highest risk of a bad outcome. and so, most older people are at least now partly protected. younger people are not and yet we are opening up. it is an odd time where things are massively safer than they were bought actually somewhat riskier if you haven't and everyone is hearing the good news, at least in california, and beginning to do the stuff. the good news is they are less likely to get super sick but if a lot of them get it, we are going to see some people die.

it is good time to be careful. the list opens up to everybody in california in a couple weeks. within a month, everybody will have the opportunity. in june, it will be because you made a choice not to be vaccinated. i think that is a really bad and dangerous choice. that may be the situation where some people may have chosen not to be vaccinated. they are at high risk of getting the virus and getting very sick. >> do you think schools and employers should be able to require vaccinations. do you have any concerns with that. >> i certainly have some concerns about it. it will be trickling to do politically. i think this issue is going to be the battle of 2021. it is already lining up as they have outlawed it. i think it is a good idea for

certain workplaces, working in a nursing home, working in a school, having the kids in school, once eligible for vaccination, it is personally reasonable to require vaccinations certainly, the entire place is safer if everybody is vaccinated. after may or june, you have made a choice but that is not just you choosing to drive fast or smoke cigarettes. i do think it is -- >> you have been hosting a podcast. next time, we will turn the tables. you will have to ask the question. thank you. stick rubber for

it was stressful. >> hold on. today 4:00, stanford will be releasing college application decisions. the last big university to do so. the last big day was ivy league day. waitlisted, rejected, you may be disappointed. what can you do? what are your options. joining us now is lauren cook, dean of college advising. and president of the western association for college admission scheduling. thanks for making the time, lauren. >> always good to be here. >> it has certainly been

getting tougher for the last few years. the numbers show that this is the toughest ever in terms of getting noticed and getting accepted? >> it may be as we look back on this process. it is clearly >> lumber admitted about 6% of the students that applied. closer to home, last year about 17.5% their applicants were admitted. feared that dropped to 13%. so, this is likely due to the holistic review process of making standardized tests optional. i will remind folks that when you look at all 3000 colleges

and universities, there is a little more nuance. it was a tough year. >> at these places, it seems like so many kids are waitlisted. do they actually have a chance? >> it really depends. waitlists vary from year to year. it is based on human behavior. the first thing to note is it is an offer. you actually have to respond and say you have to be considered. whether it is a form, an extra writing prompt. some places say they will get a letter of recommendation. definitely write up an email that talks about your continued interest and send that off to the school.

you want to remember it is a fine line between advocating for yourself and becoming irritated. you want to do what is asked of you and not much more. [ laughter ] we don't want that person on campus next year. gotcha. >> what if you got in to the green school? >> especially this year colleges are going to hear from families and receive appeals. when you fill out that financial aid information, you are looking at your prior-year taxes. none of that is to take that into consideration find that out on the website and recalling the financial aid office. if there isn't a specific process, as there if there is something specific. it is good to make an

appointment and hop on and talk about this. the worst that they can happen is they say no and what we have offered is what we are able to get. >> why not advocate and try to negotiate. what about for the kids who really want to go to an uc school. what are their options? >> admission right out of high school is one opportunity but it is not your only one. you certainly could go somewhere else and think about trying to transfer later on. here in california, we have a plan called the that is through the california community college system. you do have to go to a college to be eligible. this works at 60 the uc campuses. the most selective ones are not part of the guarantee. they still give priority to students that have done that.

you declare which institution you are interested in enrolling in and then you do have this path later on for the junior and senior year. that is a great option for some students to consider. >> you save yourself a lot of money. >> how should they approach deciding which one. visiting is still tough right now. the information and colleges are going to be comfortable doing that he will probably have to register. just like if you're going to in prison high school right now to

say that your health is good for them to current students whether that be an alarm or if someone can put you in touch. really just try to make choices that are a good fit for you. don't follow your friends. don't feel like you have to go to your boyfriend or girlfriend. this is about your path and your future. really center yourself. be a little selfish. >> they'd never believe you. you won't be with your boyfriend or girlfriend in a year anyway. finally, what if you didn't get into any school. is it too late or are they some schools that are accepting some for the fall. >> you have a couple different options. there are some still taking applications.

their college search function has a list of colleges and the deadlines in which they are accepting applications. >> there are many applications. you also have that option to think about enrolling college search again. of course, you do have to have done something a little different. either your list of colleges you're applying to needs to be different or the gap your plan that might not have worked the first time along. >> all right. lauren cook, thank you so much for helping us through this challenging process. i do hope you will join us again soon. take care. >> coming up next, the u.s. airline industry is in crisis.

now that travel is climbing back up, several issues are facing the world of air travel.

welcome back. you may be fully vaccinated and stocking travel sites, looking for deals or maybe you're not. regardless, travel is back in a big way. now, there is a looming pilot shortage. joining us now to shed light is johnny jet founder of johnnyjet.com. thanks for joining us. to what extent does air travel rebounded? look at prices, it seems like it has. >> in january, there were only three days worth 1 million people pass through tsa checkpoints. in february, there were five days. so far, we haven't had one day

under 1 million in the last 28 or 29. i think march 10th was 900,000. it has really bounced back. keep in mind, the numbers on monday were 1.5 million people. in 20 million, it was 2.3 million. last year, 108,000 so we have really rebounded. we still have a ways to go. >> given that, when should people start booking summer travel? also, where do you think the popular destinations will be? where do you think people are going to go and how should we get deals? >> well, you want to book now. a lot of the airlines have extended their policies where if you do decide to change, there is no change fee. the only one that is holding out right now is american airlines. alaska, southwest, -- southwest never changes a change fee.

this is the time to buy because there are no restrictions. you are not going to lose your money. you will just get a credit for another year. instead of flying to big cities, a lot of them are flying point-to-point like myrtle beach and they are flying all over florida, hawaii, montana is huge right now. a lot of national parks. everyone wants to get outdoors. they are still obviously worried about covid. i'm one of them. you are definitely seeing a huge uptick. my website today had a record page views already and it is not even 3:30. >> interesting. it sounds like if i want to go to new york city, i make it a great deal on that. yes? >> definitely.

if you went two years ago, a hotel would've been easily $300 a night. i'm sure you can get them for under $100. >> look -- >> people want to get out of the cities. >> now that people want to travel, studies show there is a pilot shortage by next year. if that is the case, what that will mean for travelers? >> there was a pilot shortage before this happened. then they started laying off everyone. they still haven't brought everyone back. delta just had to cancel flights on sunday because they had a shortage. now, they are bringing them back and united just came out with this thing yesterday. this great announcement where they're going to bring 5000 pilots by 2030. they will train them and half of them are going to be female. they have partnered with all kinds of organizations and thinks like chase. they are going to find them if

they pass. they will do an interview and they will get approved. >> interesting. united is getting praised by some groups for that, that pledge. it is also getting pushback as well. interesting to see what united does. look, you talk about how people are in the big cities. california is poised to reopen on june 15th. what kind of impact would that have on travel? >> i mean, that is huge. a lot of people were not going to california because of the restrictions. as long is it safe, it is great news for california. the hotels will be opening. hopefully, people start going to conferences. the big conferences will not happen until at least the fall. you'll definitely see a huge uptick in travel. i used to fly every three to four days before the pandemic.

i haven't been on an airplane for over a year now. i felt safe. i was nervous and you can do it right. the cdc just came out and said you don't have to worry about it as much as you did before. people are wiping everything down, things like that, you don't need to do that. >> not as much of an impact on covid transmission. if people want to travel, what do you think they should consider when they look safety protocol, vaccine proof, masking, what should they look at. are they doing the same thing or is a very different? >> all the airlines require you to wear a mask. through may 1st, delta airlines is the only airline that is blocking the middle seat. this last weekend, they lifted that for a day or two. if i was going to fly, delta would be my airline.

it is also nice to know that the person is not breathing on you. keep that in mind. that expires on may 1st. if you're going to fly this month, fly delta. if your flight after that for this summer, book with frequent flyer models if you're worried about getting a travel credit. there is -- i just got my second shot last week. i had to cancel a flight. >> congratulations. that's all the time we have, johnny jet. folks, if you want to learn out more, there is johnny's website, johnnyjet.com.

i'm not sure if there's anything i can say to my family members to convince them to take the covid-19 vaccine. i'm not even sure if i'm convinced. hi darius, i think that people respond more to what we do than what we say. so after looking at all the data and the science about these vaccines, i got the vaccine. and i made sure my mom and dad got the vaccine. because these vaccines are safe. ♪ ♪

>> thanks for tonight, the major headline on the coronavirus here in the u.s. the main variant now in this country and the key new study tonight on how long they're seeing antibodies after you've been vaccinated. tonight, the cdc director revealing the uk variant is now the dominant strain in the u.s. the cdc reporting younger americans, many in their 30s and 40s, helping to drive the new spikes in cases. and tonight, dr. anthony fauci on the news. how long they're seeing those antibodies after one of the key vaccines. and what this could now mean for all three of them. also tonight, news in the tiger woods crash. tonight, authorities say woods was driving up to 87 miles per hour at nearly double the speed limit, seconds before the crash. why there will be no charges. authorities saying there has been no special treatment i