welcome, you are watching inning answers live on abc7, who live, and wherever you stream. we are asking questions every day at 3:00. today we are focusing on california's reopening, just hours away, june 15 at midnight. at 3:10 pm the state department of public health will join us to talk about the reopening guidelines as well as vaccinations for the win. at 3:20 pm a renewed push for blood donations as blood banks and hospitals are trying to rebound from your donations.

first, we want to look ahead to tomorrow's reopening of the economy. the san francisco supervisor tweeted moments ago that we are expecting an executive order from governor newsom shortly. what it will say is that it will allow vaccinated workers to go mask free starting this thursday. that comes as abc7 has been counting down to the states reopening . most restrictions will indeed go away, including masks and social distancing just about everywhere. the california nurses association is imploring the public to keep on masking. they released a statement saying this pandemic is not over . we still have words of 10,000 new infections and hundreds of deaths per day. please keep masking to protect yourselves and your families. they are recommending what they are calling the precautionary principle. joining us to discuss this is the president of the california

nurses association. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> which hospital do you work at? are you in the bay area? >> i work at bakersfield memorial. >> i'm glad you have the bay area connection. i want to last right off the top, you heard the governor's executive order will be coming soon. it will lift work place mass requirements for vaccinated workers, regardless if they have a colleague who might still be on vaccinated, that is affected two days after the full reopening. do you agree? >> as a nurse and president of the california nurses association we have concerns about this. the vaccination is just part of a comprehensive plan to help combat this virus. given that only about 55% of

californians have been vaccinated this is a concern. masks have been shown to be effective against the spread of the virus, especially since there are variants also that are coming into play. we also need to make sure we do more research and find out how long the immunity will last for vaccinated folks. rather we will have a second vaccination required or necessary to prolong that community. really, you know, children 0-16 are not vaccinated. they are a vulnerable population. as you said, the essential workers are just disproportionately people of color. we have farmworkers, people in grocery stores, you know, the hotel industry

sure they are protected. we want to make sure our committees are protected. we are asking the public, if you are indoors or in a crowd, please, continue to wear your mask. >> let me just ask as a nurse in a hospital setting, that is one of the places where people would still have to be masked, right? we're talking jails, school settings, we are talking about congregate settings, living arrangements. you are in a place where you are still protected. as a nurse, as a profession, why send a message now? >> it is not just all about me or all about healthcare workers. it is about our communities and public health. we want to make sure people are safe and not continuing to spread. about 50% of the spread of the virus comes from asymptomatic carriers. we have vulnerable populations cannot be vaccinated. we also need to get more people vaccinated and it seems like

they are on the decline. >> those folks that are mobile -- more vulnerable with amino compromise conditions for younger kids under 12 cannot be vaccinated yet, they can continue to mask, right? if they are wearing their mass, why does the general person, the regular person who is fully vaccinated still need to wear their mask for the other population that still has the option of masking? >> well, we don't know who is vaccinated and who isn't. it is sort of the honor system. the essential workers do not want to be the vaccine police. the studies have shown that it prevents the spread of infection. if you have 50% of the spread of the infection coming from asymptomatic people. if they are wearing their mask it helps assist in public health and safety.

>> i want to ask what you think about your colleagues in certain states. i'm thinking of texas most recently in the hospital setting. they do not want the hospital to force them to get the vaccine. what is your opinion on that? >> there are various reasons for people not getting the vaccine, whether they are allergic or have conditions that prevent that. it is up to the individual and their position to determine whether or not the vaccine is okay for them to take. >> all right. do you think that for the most part do you urge your colleagues to get vaccinated? >> certainly we are urging people to be vaccinated. we know the efficacy of vaccinations against infectious disease has been proven. in about 92% of nurses, they get the flu vaccine every year. i haven't seen anything contrary to that. >> is there anything else you

would like viewers to know? >> i just would like or i am urging people to continue to wear a mask whether you are vaccinated or not, just because we want to make sure we take care of the public. i have lived through the search, a couple of surges where we had zero capacity left to admit patients. i don't want to have to go through that again. once we do that also, then also causes a problem with us feeling like we are bringing it home to our families. we don't want to go into that sort of situation again. we are hoping not to go backwards and urging people to continue with the precautionary rentable of wearing a mask. >> what is the one word that describes how you feel about tomorrow's full reopening of our economy in california? >> concerned. >> all right. thank you so much for your insight.

we are back in our countdown continues with restrictions set to ease we are approaching the last drawing for the states vaccinate for the win lottery. tomorrow 10 lucky winners become $1.5 million richer. join me to discuss the reopening guidelines is dr. erica pen on the state department of public health. so great to see you. the last time we talked you are still in alameda county. this is a delight for me.

i bet you never thought you would be talking about lotteries and handing out money . [ laughter ] >> there are a lot of things i never thought i will be doing >> i have to ask, the governor is issuing that executive order. come this thursday, two days after the reopening in the workplace even though the guidelines haven't fully changed. it's a process of a few days, but the governor said come thursday you can be a masked if you are vaccinated inside of the workplace. is that right? tell us what the thinking is. >> i think in general we wanted to make sure we are aligning with the rest of the country and with the city see. we are embracing the science around people who are fully vaccinated. as you point out, i think cal- osha has the oversight. i think in general absolutely, if you

think that we are really excited about, i think that we are really loosening up on the idea that outdoors pretty much everywhere. most people do not need to wear a mask unless there is really some unusual circumstances that the cdc mentions when people might mention or or outdoors, which is areas of substantial or high transmission. there are only a few places left with those numbers. if you are in a crowded setting or with sustained contact with people who are not vaccinated. otherwise, outdoors you don't need to wear a mask. indoors if you are fully vaccinated. >> i know that hospitals are a setting where the exception applies. i did just speak with a nurse with the california nurses association. she is super worried about this. she thinks it's premature and that we are now not protecting

the people who are most vulnerable, the people who may not be able to get a vaccine. what you say to that? >> i think that's why in the hospital setting where think continue to wear a mask. everyone indoors should be. >> i think she's worried about grocery stores, movie theaters, all of that. >> i see. i think that we are at a really good place. i think that we have done great work in california as far as early on. many people were really able to wear a mask where they were supposed to. most importantly, we've been getting people vaccinated. as we are moving forward and looking at how many people are vaccinated, we've also been calling and seeing how many people have immunity, we are in a really good place. we want to protect those who are still not vaccinated. kids under 12, persons with immune issues should be mask. that should help. the overall rates are so low that it really decreases the

risk. >> how close are we to 70% fully vaccinated? >> we have over 70% of adults who have gotten at least one dose. we are one of the states who reached that benchmark within the last week or so. i think we are creeping closer and closer number at my fingertips. i can tell you we have over 22.4 million people with at least one dose and that is two thirds of our eligible population. >> i don't know how many were motivated by that cash incentive, but let's talk about it. as part of tomorrow's big reopening day that is the last batch of prizes and those are the big east. is not too late to run out and get your vaccination today and be eligible tomorrow, is that right? >> that is right. the other thing that will continue for several more vaccinations, we have awarded or designated over 850,000

$850,050 incentive cards. that means another million +150,000 people are still going to get vaccinated can still get those. you may have heard about dream vacations. there will be these golden state getaways given away on july 1. people who get vaccinated between now and then will be eligible. >> that is the idea kill two birds with one stone. you are getting people vaccinated and restarting the economy at the same time. i don't know the data shows but can you tell who has been most drawn to the prizes? in terms of the demos, who are you getting to the vaccination sites with those new offers and incentives? >> what i can tell you is that we've seen almost a 14% increase in vaccinations between the week of june 1 compared to the prior week. also saw an

uptick in getting the second dose percentage. people know as far as those incentives you have to get the second dose for the $50 incentive. as everyone else we've been really focused on trying to close disparities and equity gaps. we've been calling the different core tells of our state, the healthy places index core tells and the least healthy committees are in in that court tell. we sent our vaccination rates increase after we started these incentives. >> it is having an impact. i want to ask you to clarify some of your questions. there was a little confusion. christie wants to know what about kids who play sports outside? will they have to >>? i think i heard that in a school setting indoors you would still have to wear a mask. what about when kids are outside playing sports? >> that is a great question.

moving forward, this is also a new update from the cdc ever since they updated their camp guidance. we also agreed that unvaccinated persons including kids do not need to wear a mask outdoors, unless the two parameters of if they are in an area, a couple counties have what cdc considers substantial or high transmission their having sustained close contact. kids exercising outdoors or at recess do not need to wear a mask. the other thing we ask is to respect wishes if kids want to wear a mask to feel protected. >> here is a question, my son is one years old and he won't keep a mask on. what do i do? i suspect if he was one you would say don't worry about it? >> that's right. kids under two we have not recommended they needed to wear

a mask. if everyone else continues to that's great. thankfully, with this particular disease the younger children have not been the ones . with some diseases including influenza and others we've seen young infants and others get the more serious infection. it's been teenagers were we've seen high-risk hospitalizations. >> teenagers, sometimes our bodies behave more like adults, yet they are not quite as cautious. i know this. i have them. i have a question from the deviant -- vivian. employees are vaccinated, our business owners allowed to last clients if they are vaccinated? can we asked for their card for proof? >> we have and we are going to be forthcoming with some other updated guidelines. businesses have a few different options to make decisions about how they are going to implement masking.

businesses can decide amongst people indoors if they are unvaccinated that they can sell the test or they can ask for proof of vaccination status or decide that everybody must wear a mask they don't want to deal with the vaccine verification. >> two quick things, one, tomorrow you are giving out one half million dollars in prizes. is that right? >> that is right. >> lastly, i asked the nurse we interview before you in one word how she's feeling about tomorrow's reopening? she said concern. what is your one word? >> i think that i am actually excited. >> excited, some people concern, a whole lot of attitudes that are probably all ballot. let's do the best we can. some of her father's moment would never come. i hear you on that.

so great to see you. i hope that you will come back on the show again soon. >> thank you very much. the urgent call for

today is world blood donor donation day. supplies the low as drives have not fully recovered from the pandemic. joining us now is a nonprofit specializing in blood donations. thank you for being with us. people know the red cross. relate to us what you do and is it very similar? >> we are the new name for blood centers of the pacific. before that we were known as

urban memorial. we are a national organization with many names across the country. we decided about two years ago to come under one name to make it consistent across the country. >> okay. >> we do the exact same thing as the red cross. we are in this together trying to collect as much blood as possible to save as many lives as possible. >> is there a shortage? if so what's causing it? >> right now there is a critical shortage. we have more donations being distributed to hospitals and donors giving. it's really two goal. right now it is summertime and typically a difficult time. people are busy and going on vacations. school is out. especially right now with all of the covid restrictions being lifted, people are doing so many other things or they want to do so many other things. unfortunately donating blood is

not a top priority for them. their spending time with family, visiting relatives. we really need them to donate blood right now. we are in a critical shortage. >> i wonder if you see a potential spike in demand coming with people getting back out there, maybe engaging in activities in which they might get hurt. we hope not, out and they have greater risk? also, if over the past year you saw suppressed demand because people were not going out and doing things and not needing blood as much? >> the need for blood is constant. there are so many medical treatments that we take for granted that rely on donated blood to get through it all. you are right. there is the opportunity to have more serious accidents of people are out doing active

things, who knows what they are doing. we did see a bit of a drop during the lockdown's. there were hospitals that were not doing what they call collective procedures, many of which would require blood. there are so many hospital procedures that are every day that require blood. anything from cancer treatment to many times complications from childbirth, individuals with blood disorders who need transfusions on a regular basis. things that we cannot delay that happen every day. >> so the vast majority of the demands are not relating to things like accidents or such. they are scheduled medical needs and that is still very much needed. are you seeing doctors and hospitals having to postpone elective surgeries again due to the shortage you are experiencing? >> not right now.

a doctor can always ask for or delay an elective surgery. we don't have reports, but we are working with our hospital partners on an hourly basis, maximizing the inventory that we do have to make sure it is utilized in the most efficient and proper fashion. a hospital or a doctor could effectively put a surgery or a procedure delay in. >> we want to prevent that. let us know how we can help? how can people donate? >> we are asking all eligible to go to our website, you can also call 877.25-vital. if you are fully vaccinated you can come in and donate. if you are not we ask that you wear a mask, but you are definitely needed right now to help many patients in need.

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>> thank you. good luck. thanks so much for joining us today answers. today we talked about the changing guidelines as california prepares to fully reopen tomorrow. you heard governor gavin newsom issuing an executive order. come this thursday, without having to wait for cal-osha to vote or peopled to have no rules kick in, people at the workplace will not have to wear a mask if they are fully vaccinated, even if they have been vaccinated coworkers. if you are vaccinated the mask can come off come this thursday

due to a new executive order. thank you for joining us. tonight, president biden making global headlines just a short time ago. what he said about his upcoming summit with russian president vladimir putin. the two leaders about to come face-to-face in geneva. the president, after once saying he stared into putin's eyes and told him, i don't think you have a soul, our cecilia vega asking the president about that today and about this high stakes meeting. will the president draw red lines with putin? and it all comes after a key summit with nato leaders on china and russia. and tonight, the fate of two americans imprisoned in russia, with putin signaling he would be willing to discuss a prisoner swap, matt gutman back here tonight with the family begging for help with their son to come home. also tonight, the new concern as the u.s. is set to hit that awful mileste.