building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. hi, there. i'm kristen sze. you're watching "getting answers." we get answers for you in real time. the big news today, these counties -- alameda, contra costa, marin, san francisco, san mateo, santa clara, sonoma, and the city of berkeley just came together to recommended masking indoors now even if you're vaccinated. now this is a recommendation, not a mandate for now. the reason for their joint statement, the continued and increased spread of the delta

variant. coider. patel. ., for you. also, we want to dispel some of the vaccine myths. >> because we still have to do that. >> so get also san mateo's dr. chan. they have come together to say we are recommending indoor masking for the vaccinated. tell us, what made you to weigh in with the other health officers in making this statement. we've seen a large increase in hospitalization in cases, particularly the delta variant. we know this is important.

that's the reason why we want to right accurate timely information to our communities as well as provide a recommendation to wear masks indoors. >> dr. chan, i have to ask. i completely understand what's happening with the delta variant. do you expect people in your community to actually follow this recommendation, both the vaccinated and pun vaccinated. >> yes. i think most of our bay area counties have been following recommendations. if we're providing accurate information in a timely way and we're saying this is going to be a recommendation for a time limited time, maybe two or four weeks when the variant is increasing, i think if we're transparent in what we're thinking and not overly mandating something, i think we

have earned the trust in our community. con trap costa county is averaging 93 cases per day. are you comparable in terms of the numbers? >> not quite as high but close. around june 15th we were seeing two to three cases a day. now it's 20, 30, up to 60 cases a day. this is concerning. there are so many people vaccinated and despite the high vaccination rates, so many people, predominantly those unvaccinated are getting infected. so two to three up to 60 per day is concerning to us. this is why we're providing the information. there's been a lot lot lot lot

wearing masks indoors. that's a good idea to do. so let's do this together. >> what do you say to those who say i've done my part. why do i have to wear a mask when the unvaccinated are at risk. why are you penalizing me? >> i think there's a scientific approach and community approach i think the scientific aprep for the delta variants the vaccine is extraordinarily effective toward preventing deaths and hospitalizations but we're seeing increasing data throughout the world that it's not there for transmissions. we're starting to see people who have been vaccinated to get

mild symptoms of covid with the delta variant. the problem is they can transmit it to other people and calls outbreaks within their on family, work place and the worst thing is to infect someone who is elderly or with medical complications. we're not mandating it. we're recommending it and providing more information to our community members so they can make the right choice. >> i know there's an angle for the community good. at what point would you say it's a mandate as opposed to a recommendation? >> we recognize that los angeles had a mandate for specific instances like indoors. we've looked at that.

we're looking at our local data we're constantly looking at the research top understand the efficacy of the vaccine and how the virus is mutating. i think right now, particularly in the bay area, a strong recommendation is sufficient and the state's orders providely it options for businesses. one, they could do self- attestation for visitors. two, they can do a vaccine verification. the third option is to do mandatory masking for everybody. so in these one or two weeks, this may be a good time for certain businesses to have a mask mandate for everybody. now i don't think -- hopefully we won't need this later on in the summer or the fall, but for right now as communities are

still getting vaccinated, we think this is the right choice to protect the public health and save lives >> dr. chan, are you saying that it is your hope that businesses in san mateo county will start mandating or put a sin on the door saying please wear your mask come indoors to shop? is that what you're saying. the big stores have said it's voluntary if you're been vaccinated. are you back steps from that? >> i don't think it's a one- size-fits-all approach. for example, if there's a particular business in which the client arrives and does business for two hours and it's in a hot area and the vaccine verification is simple and easy to do, that client may not need to wear a mask but if it's something that's convenient,

it's an air-conditioned place and it's very little inconvenience for the customers, this might be a great way to protect employers as well as customers and this is already a part of the state health department guidance for masks. it's basically option number three. we didn't specifically recommend option three six weeks ago but now because of the variant and the increase in hospitalizations, now is a better time than four weeks ago for businesses to choose option three. >> doctor, i tell patients i work with that even with the rising positivity rate, getting vaccinated is your best bet and don't worry about the variant if you're vaccinated. am i right or wrong. >> you should be a lot less worried about hospitalizations

and deaths. vaccines are incredibly effective. they're very safe and now they're accessible in pharmacies, primary care and the county clinics on the very next day without an appointment. it's going to be a life saver for your friends and family. >> all right. dr. chan, i know he took 15 but i will take another 15 seconds before you go. our viewer paul has a question. he said with upcoming flu shots is there a way to come pine the flu shot and covid shot to make both shots easier and maybe more people will accept the shot if combined. i have a feeling you're going to tell us it's too late to wait until fall but tell us what you think. >> i think vaccine manufacturers are thinking about that but right now we want to protect people.

there are some communities that are only 50% vaccinated. because there's so much misinformation about the vaccine that's perpetuated out there, we want people to read about the vaccine, go to the cdc website. go talk to your doctor. it's safe. it's very effective. it's generally very safe and, you know, we want you to protect yourself and your families >> well, dr. curtis chan, i can't tell you how much we appreciate you spending time with us. good luck. >> thank you. >> we'll take a short break on the

and we are back. we have dr. patel on this big day. there's a recommendation but we need you to mask up indoor so dr. patel has prepared another round of two truths and a lie. >> you've got to get this right. with our viewer's help you will tell me ask bans requiring. or b, all outreach has for routine vaccination, also measles, hpv and others. c, two vaccines have clear evidence of being protected dense the delta variant. >> folks, i'm checking your

facebook responses. a, b or ck one is the lie. i might need a little help. i know the as is not b i they tennessee has taken the step of stopping outreach which has led to some health officials to resign. we have a few viewers saying a and we have a few saying c. both sound plausible. so that's where you're getting tricky because i can believe that there's some states that have, you no, bans blocking schools and colleges from requiring vax proof. more people are saying a. i'm going to go with a. that is the lie because i want to believe -- i was going to go with that. self-doubt. >> i didn't even get to. >> excuse me, mr. producer, director, i was still working through my answer and i wasn't final, final yet. >> she didn't say final answer.

>> i was still going back and forth. >> this is the first time i've seen it in real time. this is actually good good good yes, pfizer, biontech and moderna have lab evidence but so are johnson & johnson. >> they probably have real life evidence. >> they actually all have lab evidence. that's good news a, that's unfortunate that eight states have passed regulations against mandating the vaccine in schools and we know children are at rest being. that's concerning. that direction is concerning. >> absolutely. all right. well, i'm flood the university of california has come out to say we need vaccinations before the start the fall.

so, yeah, all right. is covid actually rising in every state right now, all 50. >> we rises in we're paying attention to positivity rates and where they're increasing and what the cdc is reporting is these are not only communities with a lower vaccination rate and looser restrictions but states where there wasn't a big a big earlier. there's a lower rate. they're completely susceptible. >> you saw yesterday olivia rodrigo, pop stwhite house hanging with president biden and v.p harris. obviously, they want to use her

influence with young people. >> there's something phenomenal about young people. they are generally responsible. if you explain what is at stake, high school sports are at stake, being able to ago out with your friends, going to prom, they pay attention. but where are they getting their information from? they're getting their information from social media, parents and friends, so there has to be other information and reaching them where they're at. bring in all the pop stars, all the athletes, all the rappers to reach people on whatever platform they're on. >> a lot of questions. marina wants to know do if the vaccine protects against long term. >> if you catch covid, you're less likely to be a long

hauler. someone will say hey, my friend got covid and didn't have symptoms. unfortunately, there are some with long haul symptoms, tested and are asymptomatic. so you can't rule it out. >> all right. marina, your question was answered. tim has a question. had the media not talked about the variant, no one would have an eye. >> i would say the media probably didn't want to talk about it. guess what, inevitably, it's going to happen right here. the media was talking about the original sars covid 2. >> i wander in there was a degree saying it won't happen here, move the of the counties, cities are fully vaccinated, so maybe the variant wouldn't take hold. >> we have reasons because of

everything you just mentioned. here's a way to keep us safe and keep outbreaks from happening. unfortunately, we're seeing them happen. if you're in a state where vaccination rates are high and you don't see the effects of it that's privileged. think about what's happening in other places where we're seeing people get sick. >> here's one. for california, how worried should we be about the rising positivity rate. it seems to be rising quickly. what did you say? >> i say if you're vaccinated, you don't have to be nearly as worried than if you're unvaccinated. we know they pretext against the deputy variant. >> okay. what's the best data, best proof to say you're very protected against the delta variant if you're vaccinated

>> regarding hospitalizations and deaths, in vaccinated people cdc has about 6,000 cases. we have 158 million. math wins there. .0003 very low. it's extremely low. remember, 99% of recent covid deaths are in unvaccinated individuals. if that doesn't speak volumes, then i'm walking offset. >> you stay here. we'll take a short break. when we come

and we are back. dr. patel is in the house. let's do some vaccine fact from fiction. there's some real questions and statements we've seen online, so their them us with. will a covid-19 vaccine alter

my dna. >> no. but this is spreading all throughout the internet. i'm referring to pfizer, moderna work with mrna. they create a it does not alter your genome sequence. >> can receiving the covid-19 vaccine cause you to be magnetic. >> we saw that viral video of the woman placing the fork on her body and it sticking. no. there's no proof of this at all. >> does any of the covid-19 authorized for use shed or release any of their components >> this is referring shedding. this is a popular misinformation. antivaxers saying, hay, stay away from people or vaccinated.

they'll shed a live virus. they weren't afraid of it before. here's the thing. it does not contain a live virus. it doesn't infect you with covid-19. so that's totally false. >> is it safe to get a covid-19 vaccine if i want to have a baby some day. >> you are safe. there's no evidence at all, no real, real data or lab evidence that this can affect your fertility. in fact, many people in the trials went on pregnant sis. a lot of people in the world have gone on with no issue at all. there's no way this vaccine is going to cross over and alter anything. this myth came out of, i believe it was europe. >> i've already had covid-19 so i don't need vaccine. they do have some protection. they have some immunity but why

should they still get the vaccine. >> if you've had covid-19 in the past you have some level of natural immunity. that's true. we don't know how to quantify. it we don't know how long it wills will if you have asymptomatic infection or really hospitalized or really ill. it is safe. the recommendations change in the future such as if you have proof of previous infection, maybe one vaccine but i would not jump ahead of anything. >> is the immunity you get from the vaccine different from the one if you had it? >> we know how long the vaccine immunity will last but you can't deny science. you still have some some some natural immunity. >> why should we get vaccinated

against covid if it has a 99% survival rate. >> this one should not go away. just because you survive covid- 19 does not mean that you walk autism and you're dancing in the sunshine. there are people who survived covid-19 or intubated, plunge damage, need plunge transplants. long haulers. >> loss of sense or smell. >> there's a lot of things that happen. you also don't mention the burden on the healthcare system. so there's a lot of bad to happen from catching covid-19. it isn't just representative of death. >> there are breakthrough infections. that means the vaccine doesn't work. why bother? >> there are breakthrough infections. there's a small amount in comparison to actually catching it. >> give meet numbers. >> we talked about the

were hospitalized and deaths. 6,000 out of millions. every hospitalizcase is in an unvaccinated individual. i can count on of hospitalized have seen in a vaccinated person. so the evidence is clear. >> so before the commercial break, what is the takeaway. >> we have everything to stop the delta

thanks for joining us. we spent time with dr. patel

covering the mass being recommendations back in place in the bay area. tonight, sounding the alarm. the spike in new covid case ♪ concern over children 12 and under. and now news of breakthrough cases. people who are fully vaccinated getting the virus. dr. jha is here. dr. rochelle walensky today said we are witnessing a pandemic of the unvaccinated. new cases up nearly 70% from just last week. and dr. fauci is asked about these breakthrough infections. l.a. county reimposing its indoor mask mandate even for those who are vaccinated. . and just before we came on the air, ten more california counties recommending doing the same thing. we ask dr. jha tonight, are we headed in the wrong direction here? also following a worsening disaster overseas