building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. hello, they are, i am kristen sze. we are watching getting answers. we ask spritz your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in real time. as another heat wave hits the bay area and elsa betters thethe east coast, we will see how climate change is impacting. but but but and vaccines of the new stories. there were so we could go back to masking indoors in the fall. joining me to talk about this is

our guest. >> thank you for having me on. >> it is great because there is a lot of news to talk about. pfizer is saying that there is decreasing immunity from its vaccine and it's time for a covid booster. i got the pfizer so i am paying close attention to this. what is happening? >> i do not think that there will be a need for the booster at this point. just because you see a decline in detectable antibodies in the blood does not mean anything by any other immune cells that are protecting, and the most important group of people, which is the group of folks in the original trials, tetrials, thousands, they continue to be followed. they have a lead start of us up about 12 months. so far so good. also, we know that despite declining antibodies, we should actually win over time.

hospitalizations and deaths in vaccinated folks has remained very flat. >> so why are they urging the booster then? and why is the fda and the cdc saying not so fast? for the reasons you just mentioned? >> yes, because finding antibodies that decline over time is what we what we surrogate marker. it is not really the real deal. the real deal is how it impacts disease and people getting sick, because again, what we know from the laboratory science actually is that just because you do not find immune cells in your blood could that it is not there. in fact, we have seen in the recent weeks that people can have immune cells or memory cells in the bone marrow and in there lymph nodes which can last very long, as well as 12 months. many people believe that most people may not need a booster for regular covid for years,

actually. >> then i'm going to stop worrying, thank you for putting that the bed for me for the moment, anyway. the other big nose news today is of the updated the diamonds for school saying that fully vaccinated teachers and students do not need masks by california's health and human services director says they will need to wear them. who is making the right call? >> i think the truth is probably between the two extremes. i think that what the cdc has done is used the science and because there is so many different communities with different vaccination rates and different case rates, they could not really make a one- size-fits-all, so they left it up to the jurisdiction of the local authorities. i think the masking for people who are vaccinated in a school setting,, i'm sorry, for people who are not vaccinated, versus masking for people who are

vaccinated, will set up a divide in the school environment that might be uncomfortable for teachers to navigate. so i think were california's coming down is one-size-fits- all. you cannot really look at a kid and tell if they are vaccinated or not based on whether not they are wearing a mask. >> i see what you are saying. is like they're creating two classes of kids visually and that could create self- consciousness and discomfort for the kids. so california eliminates that by requiring masks. what about for kids under 12 who cannot get the vaccine right now? that could change, of course, before school starts, but for now. i get a that they say if everyone should wear masks in schools, should apply there, but what about elsewhere? >> for kids under 12, we know that they are less likely to get covid as well as transmit

covid, but delta is making things dynamic, but the main risk is really in the teachers, so as long as, i think what the cdc is also promoting is a swiss cheese approach, which is, you don't really hold all your eggs in one basket, you can wear a mask or you can open the window or you can maintain distance if you can, but do not use one reason or not having one thing as an excuse not to have schools open. >> in fact, schools will be open for parents worried about sitting the kids back in person, and yes, that will happen, because the state legislature basically, they're not giving any exceptions with the schools anymore. if they're not full-time in person. what are the studies telling us now about transmission in school settings? even where the kids are not vaccinated. >> for we know from the school studies is pretty consistent. first of all, we talked about the age aspect. he younger than 12, less

likely. and if you look at the school studies, most of the transmissions in schools happen from the adults to the kids, not from kids to kids. and most of the transmissions occurred from the community, not within the schools. so those are some of those principles in the school studies in general and what it showed is that people were surprised, but there is remarkably very low transmissions in schools, even though the rest of the communities are on fire, potentially, in those surge situations. >> that is really interesting. i hope it reassures parents so much. i want to talk indoor masking. the cdc and caliper to public health officials are not ready, they're not suggesting this at all, but as you w.o. counc heal officials l.a., th all recently said you have to put your mask back on indoors again. even if you are vaccinated. do you think we might see a widespread return to indoor masking this fall? >> kristen, i'm already seeing

it in the bay area and california. san francisco, anyway. if you go into a crowded trader joe's or cosco, most people are still wearing a mask it. and if you go into something that is less crowded, i would see potentially fewer people wearing masks. so what it means is that people are sort of making that risk assessment on their own, even if vaccinated. the reason why is there two reasons, one is that you want to protect potentially the unvaccinated from transmitting to them. even if the virus lends a new, you don't get sick, but the second reason is to have been more reports of people with vaccinations getting mild disease, of course they're not going to the hospital or dying, but it is a bummer even to get somebody who

seems like a cold, that i could be covid, because there's so much meaning and you have to take time off work and to people around you that you have covid. i think it is probably better not to get anything at all. if in doubt, my personal philosophy, is not that it is a rule or anything, but if it is crowded indoors, i will be a good idea to put on the mask. >> and of course, some of the institutions requiring indoor masking again, citing the more transmissible delta environment. how worried are you about these really causing another surge and any additional variants based on the vaccination rate and transmission rate. >> in the big picture, things are ticking up. i was surprised to see the cases in the united states in general, to such a large extent after declining every week, which is 25% to 30%. but hospitalizations and deaths are remaining relatively flat, if not declining. although i would say right now in san francisco, there are probably i think something like 7 patients at the general

after having zero for several days. so i'm hoping those numbers will not increase, of course, they are mainly in unvaccinated individuals but it shows us that we still have a large number of unvaccinated individuals that may require hospitalization. >> getting vaccination rates up remains the key. we have about 20 seconds here, how safe is to care for babies? >> take care is pretty safe for babies provided that the teachers are vaccinated. >> all right. dr. peter chin-hong, always great hearing from you and learning from you. i really appreciate your time. coming up next, we will take a look at climate change. take a look at climate change. we have heat after my car accident, take a i wondered what myange. we have case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, so iitashe best call i could've made.

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mask. and that is a choice that some people are making. respect choices. welcome back. i am a client scientist and i am not living trickle-down ignorance when. that is the headlight of an article written four years ago. here we are still talked about the impact of climate change, perhaps with more urgency. joining us now is dr. santer at lawrence livermore national lab. thank you for joining us. >> you are very welcome. i know that you mentioned trickle-down ignorance, there was a political ignorance inference with it. some of it is just that we do not really learn about it. we do not know where the trusted sources are, which is why you are here. tell us, what are we seeing this summer that is absolutely related to the change?

>> we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that by burning fossil fuels, we increased levels of heat trapping greenhouse gases and the planet has warmed. what we are seeing this summer is not a scientific surprise. this was expected behavior. and we have been studying this and warning about this for well over 40 or 50 years. >> all right, so this is not anything new, actually. let's talk about that. i was reading something very fascinating about lake mead and the colorado river and there were choices that were made hundred years ago by political leaders to say we do not need to do that action, that course of action, because we will have enough water. we still seem to be on that track of saying we will have enough water to sustain growth coming to sustain this industry . why is that? why do we seem to have a

problem confronting that? maybe we don't. >> well, i think we proceeded in this country as of the climb of the we have had over the first half of the 20th century is the climate that we are always going to have and science tells us otherwise. again, science tells us that when we burn fossil fuels and increase heat trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as we have done, the planet will warm and rainfall will change, snow and ice will change. ocean temperatures will change. every aspect of the climate system is going to change. what was normal 50, 60, 70 years ago, is not going to be normal in the second half of the 20th century and is certainly not going to be normal as we go into the 21st century. that has significant implications for infrastructure, for dams, for water, for agriculture, for

virtually every aspect of our society. we cannot imagine that the past is prelude to the future in terms of climate change. what we do. every time we have a drought period, we get out of it and it is pretty much back to normal. but things are kind of cyclical like that and we should not let up, if you will, when we are getting rain or snow. wouldn't you say even now, if we get rain or snow, we do not retain as much of it so we do not have as much usable water? >> you are absolutely right, kristen. there are things that we know in california, like el niño and la niña that have profound impacts on rainfall and amateur on a year-to-year basis. but, against that background noise of natural variability is this inexorable warming that we

are causing. so yes, you are absolutely right. next year, it could be that we get a decent amount of rainfall and for one or two years, maybe there is a big bump in the snowpack. but ultimately, the forecast is poor for snowpack in much of the western united states and that will have significant implications for water resources for the timing of streamflow, from major snow fed river basins, so the world around us is changing and again, this is not a big scientific surprise. we understood the shape of things to come, the climax take shape of things to come for decades and portends very badly for many aspects of agriculture , human health, wildfires in the western u.s. >> and we are seeing all of that. more and more wildfires and stronger storms that last with

more intensity. and he waves. if we see all of that, you say it is not a surprise and it has been going on for decades, but we keep not making the choices that it takes to reverse that. does this suggest that it is never going to change? is it the will that is not there or the collective mentality of doing something now to ensure a safe world for our grandchildren because were only looking at the present for ourselves? >> i think that is right. i think in the united states, there has not been the bipartisan bill to actually address the problem, we still have a significant number of lawmakers in the united states who argue that the planet is not warming or that it is, and it is all natural. that is dangerous. that is ignorant. and ignorance kills, as we have seen very clearly in the last few years and here in the northwest, particularly in the last few weeks, ultimately,

policymakers have a responsibility to protect the citizens who elected them from harm. that is their prime directive. if they are asleep at the wheel, if they're not treating the problem of human caused climate change seriously, then they are failing and that most basic responsibility. >> it is interesting. the fact that the planet is getting warmer. we see some of that in the bay area. i want to ask what you think about this. on the one hand, we have a push to create more housing here, probably where you are, too, if you are in seattle or portland, and make housing more affordable. but from a climate perspective, good our region sustain more people? do we want more people? this is not a jet value judgment, just wing the different layers. can we sustain more people? >> i think one of the

interesting developments this year and last year is that we are beginning to have these discussions and not only in the bay area and california, about where people want to live. where do they perceive the climate risk is leased? where can they thrive? where can they work? where can they raise families, and it is clear from lester that wildfires scare people in california. extreme heat is scaring people now in california. again, the prognosis is a poor over the coming decades and the rest of this century and beyond. so ultimately, folks are going to have to decide, where is it safe for me and my family and the answer may be that it is not safe in parts of the world that we have a lot of folks living in at the moment. so, that has been a fascinating thing to observe this beginning

discussion, where do i want to live? where do science tell me that, in the absence of the problem, it is safest to live? >> will have about 30 seconds, but i want to get to angelica's question which is philosophical and she says are we close to unrecoverable point, to save mankind from global warming, and if so, how much time do we have before global doom? >> i don't think we are facing doom, i think it is a serious problem and it is frustrating to me that we cannot get the will, the political will, to actually do something about it in a bipartisan way. i am going to continue using my voice as best as i can to ensure that i speak science to power and to ensure that decisions on how to keep citizens safe from climate harm are taken and are taken soon. >> all right.

we have so many questions, but the technology aspect, desalination. it looks like we will have to invite you back to talk about more potential solutions. thank you so much, dr. ben santer, we appreciate your insight. >> thank you very much for inviting me. coming up next, we will talk about lightning things up because a lot of people are looking for vacation

this conversation. welcome back. vacationing in hawaii might seem like a dream to you, but over tourism is taking a toll on the environment and the residence. that is why the hawaii tourism authority has launched a program to encourage the kind of tourism that gives back. joining us out to talk with the program is the officer for the hawaii tourism department.

aloha, i'm glad to have you. what does this mean? >> it means to care for. or to tend to. >> so what does that mean when you embark on a malamalamalamala program. >> the destination, our home, the hawaiian islands, have been a challenge for us to manage tourism. robust recovery is already happening so there is a lot of interest in hawaii. we are trying to make sure that we can present visitors with the best opportunity to connect more deeply with our destination, to connect more deeply with our culture and simply, to leave hawaii better than you found it. we are inviting people who are coming to hawaii to give back and enrich the trip by doing so. >> so i noticed that there were many hotel partners. what kind of experience is are

offered? i see the video that there seems to be a variety of options. there is beach cleanup. what else is there? >> we have over 100 partners including the community organizations and the hotel and activities partners. you would volunteer at one of the community-based nonprofits. anything from treeplanting, self-directed beach cleanups. you can help preserve the uss missouri. there's something for everyone and in exchange our hotel partners are adding a value at or even a free nights, depending on the partner. >> that is fantastic. you can get in your beach time, but at the same time, you need to -- you get to participate in the restoration of the land and culture. i want to know how to be a good torus because i saw certain things that did not look like good tourist behavior, for example, some people pulling over and parking everywhere and

when residents need to rely on the road, the lots of things like that. what can we do to be good to it? >> first and foremost, come with good intentions, we have a value where you never show up to someone's home empty-handed, so being a good guest is about coming with good intentions to remind yourself that this is a home for 1.4 million residents in the state and be aware of your impact as you travel. everything from obeying current laws and also being mindful of where you sit down at the beach. are you setting up two feet in front of the family that was there already? also, the road is really rough for us right now and it actually impedes emergency vehicles from getting there to families who need it. >> and hawaii still has stricter covid protocol that tourists should follow even if you come from a state that doesn't have

masking rules, i believe that in all of your indoor spaces, that is still required. >> correct. you can find the latest information online. masks are required indoors. >> a talk about capacity, because i know some people reported lines and could not get restaurant reservations. tourism is that 100% but you are not quite

>> can you go snorkeling? yes, you can. thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show, getting answers. >> we talked about getting boosters. dr. peter chin-hong says he believes most people will not need them at this point. we talked about variants and

masking. and we went to hawaii which is launching a new program for vacationers to get back. tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the cdc on children and school this fall. the cdc now says it is time to go back to school, that school should return to in-person learning in this country. health officials saying fully vaccinated students, teachers and staff, do not need to wear masks. that children 12 and under who have not been able to get vaccinated should wear them. and tonight, the cdc and fda both responding to pfizer that have company said million of americans might soon need a third shot, a booster. what federal authorities are saying about that tonight. dr. jha standing by to help clear up some of the confusion. also tonight, the tropical storm slamming the northeast. torrential rain in new