>> good afternoon and thank so much for joining us. wewewewewewe questions every day right here at 3:00 p.m. and getting answers in real-time. today, we will be talking about the impact of wild irish smoke in kids as we continue to see poor air quality summer after summer here. also, a bay area grammy award-winning artist is addressing wildfires in his new single. hear how he is giving back in his new song, but first, the latest on covid-19 and the news that just broke this afternoon -- cal osha recommending all workers wear masks indoors, even

if you are vaccinated. joining us to talk about this is you cfs -- disease specialist. let's start with the new guidance o at the the t masks are still being recommended to workers in public or pretty much to be worn in public regardless of vaccination status any time you are going indoors. this is a reversal from the rules that were lifted in june vaccinated people. what do you make of this new guidance coming down? >> i think it is a good idea. we have done it in health care for many occupations, it is a risk to be indoors in the middle of a huge surge right now. myself personally, i have taken care of a few service workers who probably acquired it while being in people's homes, utility

workers. it is not a permanent move. i think a temporary move is not a bad idea. >> we do want to stress that this is guidance from cal osha, not a mandate. do you think it should have a mandate? >> i think there is an of heterogeneity in the workplace that having a mandate does not necessarily speak to the think there is enough heterogeneity in the workplace that having a mandate does not necessarily speak to what workplaces are, but for right now, i think we are holding steady. >> i wanted to get your take on how much you think the rise of the delta variant and hospitals again reaching capacity when it comes to those icu beds -- how much do you think that played into that decision by cal osha,

recommending masks indoors? >> it was probably the primary motivation factor. even if there was a potential transmission from a vaccinated person, the fact there is just so much virus around, that increases the possibility that event will occur. switches from no recommendation into recommendation, but i don't think numbers will continue to increase too much. it may just keep on sitting at a recommendation. >> many people watching right now may be wondering how long this new guidance might be in effect. i know you suggested that it should not be permanent, only while we see this delta variant spike. how much longer do you think we have to wait out until we begin to bend the curve again, to borrow an old fit -- borrow an old phrase, with this delta variant, and he able to forgo wearing a mask indoors again?

>> we are about picking right now from the models, so that means september, that might the a good time to think about following the peak, going all the way much lower. hospitalizations are still holding out. my guess is that the end of september, you may start to see some movement, but again, we don't really know what is going to happen with this virus. it has surprised us over and over again. we just have to be flexible. >> can you talk on that for a second, you know, being flexible? so many people are weary of the back-and-forth and the changes. it was just june 15 that the state was reopened. can you speak to people who just might be weary of the back-and-forth we have been dealing with here? >> i totally empathize with everyone.

i am in one of those camps. i wanted to travel. i aspired to pre-pandemic life, party like it's 1999, but i think what is happening is that we look at the evidence. evidence is changing all the time and that is why public health guidance changes. not because people are whimsical or changing their mind. they are reacting to the science as it comes in. one can see that in 2021, we have the luxury of being so responsive. maybe if this was 1918 and the spanish flu epidemic or pandemic, things would have been much more austere, meaning that we would have just lived on for an indefinite up and down. i think with different times comes different movement of sorts. >> i want to talk about booster shots now. about a month after the country launching this booster campaign,

findings out about the one and done j&j vaccine, might not be so wanted done. new findings suggesting getting a second shot of j&j as a booster may boost protection. can you explain the findings of this new study? >> yes, definitely. it is no surprise to listeners that if you give an extra dose of a vaccine, it will boost your antibody response, and that is what j&j booster study showed. it was not a large study. it was a pretty modestly sized study in two countries, and i think it was reassuring in the fact that it was levels increased by seven to nine times, but there was also another study in about 17, very small again, individuals, and they followed then for six

months. i think it is and interesting situation we will be in. there is data showing that booster of one-shot j&j is safe and effective. >> that's a great point. so many people who got that one-shot j&j were wondering as news about pfizer boosters came online, were wondering, well, what about me? i want to talk about madonna for a second here, also announcing they filed paperwork with the fda for full approval for covert vaccines for people 18 and up. what do you make about this news, and how soon do you think it could gain full approval? will it be a similar timeline to what we saw with the pfizer vaccine? >> it is interesting return are only completed its data right now because they started the process about a month after pfizer did, which was in june, i think. the fact that they submitted it now means review probably will not happen maybe for two or

three months, and that is an accelerated review from the fda. that is kind of the timeline of what we are seeing. maybe like -- maybe by halloween time, maybe sooner if the fda diverts resources to look at this trove of data, which they had done with pfizer. >> and want to bring in a viewer question. a reminder to folks watching, you can log on to facebook and drop us a question in the comments. we will ask them live to the doctor here. someone asking how great is the risk of eating indoors at restaurants in san francisco again on that we are getting this new guidance about wearing masks indoors? obviously, you cannot wear masks and eat at the same time. >> yes, exactly. i think that indoor dining is safer if you can -- i think with the vaccine mandates in some areas like san francisco, it

makes it a safer environment, but not all indoor dining is the same. if everyone is carted together, it is going to be a little bit more risky than if people are feet apart. certainly take your mask off and you eat, but when you're are congregating at check-in, going to the restroom, etc., make sure you wear that mask on. personally speaking, i'm ok with that risk as a vaccinated person. as an unvaccinated person, if you are allowed to dine indoors, i would be the very nervous about it just because of the amount of circulating virus. >> very good. one more quick question, if we can. where are you on all americans getting a booster shot eight months after the second dose? there's also word that pfizer plans to civic paperwork by the end of the week to get approval for a third dose? >> i'm definitely up for giving third shots to immuno compromise folks. it is clear where the evidence

is. i'm definitely clear and giving elderly because they are the risk of doing the worst if their immunity drops. we have not really seen a signal yet. i think the cdc might be sitting on some data showing a decline in efficacy against hospitalizations and serious disease, but so far from the u.k., even israel, and the u.s., we have not seen that decline in efficacy, so for right now, the rest of the population, i don't think it is urgent yet, and i think it is up to the rest of the world when we are talking about three, sometimes four shots, and many countries don't have one shot yet, so that is kind of where i'm sitting, a little bit of discomfort. >> i see. certainly a lot to take into account. not only what is happening in the bay area in the u.s. but also across the u.s. thank you so much for being here this afternoon. next up, we will be talking

about wildfire smoke, the short-term and long-term impact on kids and what we can do about it. we are

>> welcome back. it seems smoke in the area is just a new summer thing. to this dangerous for adults but also especially for kids. the fire continues to burn in el dorado county. the edge of the fire less than teen miles southwest of lake tahoe. the fire has already burned 126 thousand acres, destroyed 637 structures, and it is only 11% contained. that smoke along with the smoke from other fires had a big impact on us this summer. joining us to talk about that is the pediatrician and codirector of the western states pediatric

environmental health specialty unit at ucsf. thanks so much for being here. >> absolutely. thanks for having me. >> why are children more vulnerable to the smoke than adults when we talk about the toxic conditions, in some cases, that we are breathing in with the air outside? >> absolutely. kids are more vulnerable to all kinds of environmental exposures, but including wildfire smoke, for three main reasons. the first is that they actually breathe more air and therefore more pollution than average relative to their body size. the second is that they spend more time outside and more time exercising -- that's a good thing, but it means in the case of wildfire smoke that they will get more exposure. the third is because children are still growing and developing, toxic exposures that happen during period of growth can have lifelong effects disrupting that and changing that trajectory. >> we have heard of so many school systems bringing lunch outside because they wanted to

be able to spread the kids out a little bit more, have the fresh air, but now we are dealing with this hayes -- this haze can parents be paired to protect their kids from this smoke -- prepared to protect their kids? >> the first is to look good quality information. the best places to look are airnow.com or if you like a full map, fire.air those are both run by the government. any time the air quality gets into the orange range or higher, that's unhealthy for sensitive groups, and those are times you should be taking steps to protect your children because children do counts as deaths children to count as a sensitive group. cleaner indoor air spaces for children to be in is a second. you can do that by improving the filtration on your hvac system if you have central air, to

using a merv 13-rated filte 13-f higher, or using a portable air cleaner, a hepa kind, not the electronic kind. that can also provide good, cleaner air. if children have to be outside, the kind of masks that can help protect are 9 -- -- niosh certified n95 masks. >> really good advice. i know so many folks might be wondering, like you just mentioned, we have cloth masks that we are wearing to protect us from covid, but you are recommending to double down and get those n95 masks to protect us from that wildfire smoke. i know we spoke a lot about this last year around this time, but it is good for a reminder now of why it is that typical cloth

mass like i have right here just is not going to cut it for the wildfire smoke. >> absolutely. cloth masks, absolutely super important for covid, but they cannot be relied upon to protect from wildfire smoke. that is partially because we do not have any sort of regulatory body or structure that is certifying cloth masks for smoke. that is true for commercial cloth masks and for once you make yourself. i like to joke that if i go to the fabric store, is its -- it is not as if i can ask the person to recommend to the high filtration fabric isle. that does not exist. there is a huge variety in those tasks, and unfortunately in some studies, some masks have been shown to concentrate particles, to make matters worse inside the mask. you don't really want to rely on those. the disposable pleated kind may be able to provide some protection from wildfire smoke, but it will be very small. you will get much more reduction using a niosh-certcert

mask, particularly if it is well fitting. >> we know parents will do everything they can to keep their kids safe, but what symptoms should we be on the lookout for if your kid was exposed to too much of that toxic, hazy air outside? >> the most common symptoms are what i would call respiratory symptoms including upper respiratory symptoms like runny nose, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, the kind of things that probably most of your viewers already know happen with wildfire smoke, and also lower respiratory symptoms, so things like increasing asthma symptoms for a kid who has asthma, cough, wheezing, also an increase in respiratory infections. influenza and also covid. >> such great advice for everyone at home. got to go out and try to find the -- try to find those n95 masks, hopefully before the air quality worsens in the area. thank you for joining us this

afternoon. >> absolutely. my pleasure. >> next up, we will be addressing wildfire and climate change in a way you probably have not heard before.

>> welcome back. three-time grammy winner fantastic negrit awareness to climate change in his latest single. here's a preview. ♪ i got so much on my mind that i

twi got so much on my mind negrito. thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you for having me. it's a great pleasure to be here. >> absolutely. it is a catchy song. i've been singing it in my head the last two days since i first saw the video. very catchy, but also very

serious topic as well. tell us about that blood red sun and orange sky we saw on september the ninth. >> it was 100% the inspiration for the song. it was terrifying. i have been in the bay area since i was a kid, 1980 -- i'm very old now. i tell you, i've never seen anything like it. it i look at things like that, it is like it is an opportunity to do something, contribute something, say something. that is the great thing about being an artist. i remember sitting in that parking lot thinking about when i enter the west coast again, especially flying back in, the past five years, i will always see smoke and fire's, and it is just extremely alarming. terrifying. your heart goes out to people who lose their homes.

wildlife, oh, my gosh, air quality. people with children because children want to go out and play, and it becomes a massive challenge. it is so bad, and i got inspired. that's the best thing, when artists get inspired. >> we need you artists out there to keep us conscious and to check us from time to time and rattle us back to reality. when you hear, as we talked about with our last guest, the health impacts of these massive fires, what do you want people in your hometown of oakland and, really, all of us, to be thinking about? what action do want your listeners to take? >> i love that, what action, because activating people, activating communities, that's how we get things done. we can have the bumper stickers and we can have the -- you know, talk about it, but doing something about it is very important. one of the things i do, which i

can help encourage others to do is repurpose, up there's an event i throw the last saturday of every month, and this one in particular is encouraging people to support up cycling. masks overconsumption. you travel to oakland and you just see junk on the streets. it is a hazard. i think all this ties back into climate change, environment, everything. it all ties together. we are all connected. what we do, our handprint. that's one of the things that i suggest because it is easy. >> it is, but i want to talk about one of the things you are challenging folks to do here. you are helping raise money for

an organization called defined disaster. tell us about that organization and how folks can help out. quickset is an organization that connects with artists that want to contribute something pretty easy, money to help people in need, help people that have been impacted by the fire, so that is another very easy thing to do, just reach into your pocket and help our neighbors. >> every little bit counts. we only have a few seconds left, so we will squeeze this in quickly. tell us about your first show since covid happening october 16 at uc theater in berkeley. >> i'm really looking forward to doing that show, and i'm hoping that, you know, things are going to get a lot better for people, you know, with covid. i just recently lost somebody very close to me, and this thing is just hitting home. like, seven people i know have got covid just recently.

i'm really looking forward to doing that, and i'm hoping that it will be safe and that we can all get out there and do what it is that we do as artists, bring people together in the name of unity and love. >> should be such a fantastic time. thank you for joining us this afternoon. "rolling

us for this interactive show, getting answers. we want to leave you with fantastic negrito's new "rolling through california." part of the proceeds help california and firefighters. ♪

tonight, the major news coming in on afghanistan. how many americans remain? how many have been reached? and when will us. troops be out? tonight, the secretary of state before the cameras with new numbers, acknowledging up to 1,50 americans may still be in the country, saying they've been in contact with about a third of them. tonight, the race to get them out and the timeline for u.s. troops. the growing concern over isis, the terror threat on the ground there. and what happens after president biden's august 31st deadline? tonight, what the secretary of state said to americans and afghans who are still in that country after that date. that the effort will continue every day. but what will that effort look like? martha raddatz with late reporting tonight and ian pannell's interview on this emergency effort in