>> building a better it bay area. moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 kristen: hi there. we asked experts your questions everyday at 3:00 to get answers for you real-time, even on labor day. today we have a one-on-one interview with actor simu liu who stars in the latest marvel movie that is breaking records and shuttering stereotypes. you will get to know him better. but first, lots of developments with covid-19. let's start with ucsf infectious disease expert dr. gandhi. happy labor day, thank you for joining us. dr. fauci says the pfizer booster will be ready to go in

arms in two weeks, the 20th. give us the specifics? >> this part of what is going on right now is a little controversial because the fda wasn't as happy about the booster and some cdc higher ups or not happy. but when we think about anyone to boost, it is probably people who have had the pfizer vaccine because they put a low duration between doses, which is three weeks, and that helps the antibodies come down faster. so countries that only do pfizer, israel, they are seeing reinfection's. so if anyone is going to get a booster, it will be people who have had the pfizer shot as their original shot. but we're not there yet, everyone needs to come together to make this happen. kristen: he did say that the madrona booster may come a little later. is that just accounting for the difference of pfizer and for

madonna it is four weeks, or are they just waiting for more >>? >> the complication is, if you look at what happened on friday, the fda is not into the idea of boosting it. the problem is we don't actually have anything. the fda is only allowed, we are only allowed to do what is on the e.u. way. we cannot prescribed moderna unless it is approved. it would be illegal to write a prescription for moderna boosters right now. everything is very confused with their messaging. everyone has to get all aligned. i think we'll have a clear message from the biden administration. kristen: usually doesn't the administration take what the cdc and fda says and go, we will go

with that? >> the problem is that that -- that dissent is being played out on the newspaper stage and the media and in the fda sees in a different way than the cdc. it is very confusing, and the white house task force is going to come out and be more clear and put us together. kristen: i hope so. let's assume what dr. fauci indicated today goes. is he suggesting no mixing, that whatever you got for your first two shots will be the vaccine you get for your third? >> well, at this moment, because the johnson & johnson and moderna executive use authorizations don't allow for a third dose, there are legal implications for giving those, so only the pfizer will be available for a third dose and

that is why it is only third dose being given out for immunocompromised patients. the pharmacies are giving it out. but it is actually only going to be pfizer that is given out right now as a third dose. right now there is not going to be mixing. that is why the fda saying, give us more time to approve moderna and we can say, get moderna. kristen: in terms of being on board, you got moderna and maybe you are more vulnerable in two, "i want my booster," so -- >> you get the pfizer. it is ok, because this kind of mixing, in the future, we will never remember the brand. we know the brands right now. whenever we give a vaccine, it is whatever the hospital bought. mixing mrna and dna is fine.

kristen: with this mixed messaging, i've heard people say that i don't know if i should do it. let's talk about how people think about whether it is right for them. say the white house says two weeks from now, if you want it, you can get the booster, how should i approach in my situation, whether i should? is it like bank it will not help me much but there's no harm, what do you think? i don't think there will be much harm. these are safe and effective vaccines. on the other hand, they are urging people who are at risk for severe breakthroughs. like older people. people over 70, in long-term care facilities, possibly health-care workers since it has been a while since they have gotten a shot, people with obesity because they are at more risk for severe breakthroughs, people with multiple conditions. so if you feel like you are vulnerable and it is left up to

the public, that i don't think it is help harmful. i would rather have the government be clear. but right now infighting between the fda and cdc in the administration, it will probably be whatever you want. kristen: you brought up how moderna, the three-week period between one shot in the second shot, for moderna, it is four weeks. if we had gone say, eight weeks, would that have helped our humility? dr. gandhi: yes, it would have helped our immunity. some physiologists think more time between doses is better. those with moderna, four weeks apart, i'd like likely to get reinfection than pfizer. israel is having more problems than a lot of people in the used pfizer. they kind of fell down. so all of that together, yes,

longer between doses -- the u.k. is doing better, that is what we should have done. kristen: i feel better, because i missed my second pfizer shot so had to wait an additional two weeks. dr. gandhi: that is fine. i put six weeks between my son'' doses and are very happy about that. kristen: one question, if you are says, "i had my booster shot wednesday. have final payment for a cruise." she has a cruise in december. she wants to know if you think it is safe? dr. gandhi: i think she should go. i think it is safe. they always test people. . they are very careful. it becomes this insular environment where they are always tested on cruises. you will see that our delta wave is looking like it is starting to come down in this country. hopefully it will happen anywhere. a lot of countries have already gone down. we do need to have some pleasure in life. kristen: now that the booster

appears to be closer to reality, sergio wants to know if there are side effects seen with the pfizer booster shot. dr. gandhi: not more than what we saw with the first. two doses. arm pain. sometimes fibromyalgia or muscle aches. sometimes aches joints. what we saw in israel wasn't in different than we saw with the first two doses. you may be uncomfortable, though. kristen: ok. i want to talk about the variants. daniel has a question about your take on the new possible vaccine-resistant variant. he did not specify whether that is that mu. let's see if it is proving to be more menacing perhaps than the delta? dr. gandhi: i don't think anything is much more transmissible than the delta. c2 in vitro has not managed to knock delta out.

delta has been out since march and it is still the dominant variant. what about mu and antibodies question mark in a lab or test tube, some of the antibodies don't work with it as well if it is mu. so we are calling it not even a variant of concern, just watching it. it is called a variant of interest. life is hard enough with delta. i don't think we need to elevate our concern about mu. if it ends up not working well with the vaccine, i think they will have a vaccine directed against it. kristen: i am seeing that delta may be subsiding. certainly here. they're also seeing oregon and idaho running out of icu beds today. what is really going on? dr. gandhi: what is going on is we essentially needed higher rates of immunity with delta than we need with alpha. when we opened and everyone

opened, not just california, the cdc and/or state and everyone was doing better than we were in may and june. and then delta came along and you need higher levels of humidity. so what you see happening in the south and southeast of this country is that with low rates of vaccination, they got to immunity but in a terrible way, with higher rates of cases and vaccinations. as a result, it is going down. but in places like california, we did two things, increased vaccination rates and we already had high vaccination rates so it didn't help as much with max -- but we didn't have as much hospitalizations in other places. now we are seeing with is their turn for this wave. it is like where 50 different countries. for example, india, which had 4% immunity and what delta did

there in march, april and may, it was terrible compared to denmark and ireland which had high rates of immunity and opening up in two weeks. the higher rate of vaccination you had when delta hit you, the better off you were. now it will keep on hitting places until it gets us all to these higher rates of humanity. and what do we need? maybe 80% vaccination rate on top of natural immunity because when i look at delta in ireland, that is what made it. they said we are at 80%, we will hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. -what, you mean-- -mhm. -just like that. -wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we?

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monica gandhi of ucsf, talking about many covid developments. i want to ask you if there any studies that show whether vaccines, even in individuals it were a breakthrough happens, makes the case is more minor. dr. gandhi: there are many studies that show that, that what vaccines do is strip the virus of its ability in most cases, not all, to cause severe di so if there is a breakthrough infection, it is either asymptomatic if you're vaccinated, or bad if you're vaccinated. it strips the ability of the virus to cause serious disease and it is very convincing. that is the reason to get vaccinated, that and so many. kristen: even with delta, that holds true with delta? dr. gandhi: even with delta. for example, shasta county and washington county yesterday and

in washington state, they put out in the seattle, kings county, the put out how much higher likelihood you are to be hospitalized between vaccinated and unvaccinated. it is 46 times more likely to be vaccinated if you are unvaccinated. shasta county, it was something like 80 times more likely. so definitely more likely to be hospitalized if you are unvaccinated. kristen:. kristen: a viewer is asking where his daughter is demanding this. he has a niece is sick but the doctor refuses to see her unless he took her for a covid test first. . he had a hard time with that and had to pay a lot for same-day results. . he asks why doctors are requesting that. dr. gandhi: it should not be the industry norm. the purpose of health care is to see people who are ill. so, of course,, but that would be the dr.'s responsibility --

that would be the doctor's responsibility. this failure to deliver health care sometimes without a negative test i think is a healt failure of our health care system. kristen: brenda wants to know if a person has the virus, when can they be vaccinated? how long after they get over it? dr. gandhi: i would get in 90 days like the cdc recommends, because you can have quite a lot of side effects if you give it too soon. kristen: more and more companies seem to be postponing bringing employees back into the office, certainly a lot of big san francisco tech companies are pushing it to january. . do you think that is a good idea? dr. gandhi: yes. i think delta changed our rosy predictions. on the other hand, it is not completelyunrosy. in early august we had much higher cases. we had gone to the peak and come

down in san francisco. it will keep coming down with more immunity from vaccination, but, from people who have chosen to not get vaccinated, getting immune. that will bring cases down. kristen: we are about to have the double whammy possibly, because flu season is here. last year because people were not going out, not a lot of flu cases. this year is expected to be different. what should people due to protect themselves? dr. gandhi: it will be different because now we are not closed. that was the balance the society took. but it means that getting the flu vaccine is paramount. if you're going to delay any vaccine, not the flu. the flu vaccine and the covid vaccine can probably be given tomorrow. if you are vulnerable, i would not go to any big, massive indoor gatherings. if you are not vulnerable, you are protected by the two shots.

everyone has been tired of lockdown, it has been really hard, a complicated time. and we have a lot of immunity in our bodies. the vulnerable will be less likely to be in gatherings until we can get the cases down more. kristen: dr. monica gandhi, thank you so much. please don't go away, if you have a couple of minutes, let's wrap this up over on faceb

kristen: so this weekend, i saw "shang-chi" again and i got to talk to the actor. we talked everything from his significance to his role as an asian american superhero, to his parents' reaction to him becoming a superstar. congratulations on an amazing weekend. >> i was reading some really low estimates for a long time. it has been a crazy weekend

because i am just seeing the number go up and up. kristen: the box office records, river views. was this part of the simu liu life man? you knew this was coming? simu: i went to school for accounting, so that goes to show you how confident i was in where everything was going to turn out. this is incredible. it is such a dream come true for so many reasons. i have wanted to play superhero pretty much my whole life, before i knew they were in movies. i just wanted to be a superhero. i literally, to see so many people from our community, and support this movie as well, seeing all the theater buyout and the grassroots campaigns, that is really the engine of what is propelling this movie forward. it is all over my social media so i cannot imagine what it must be like for a lot of people.

kristen: i know asian americans leaving the theater had this emotional experience. feeling, i feel seen. to see myself in a strong, cool light. how does it feel to have an effect like that as an actor? simu: it is all i have ever wanted. every artist want to be a part of something that is zeitgeistym cultural, i feel like we have done that in such an amazing way, not just with my character, but there are so many asian characters in this movie, each with their own back story, dimensionality, slice of asian american experience. and the richness of the story and the fact that we do have so many characters to root for, i think it is such a wonderful moment for our community. kristen: how important was it to you to get the cultural details right especially given this time?

simu: critically important, but it wasn't something we ever thought we were going to get wrong either. dustin is asian american. dave callahan is asian american. our entire cast is asian. there was never going to be an experience on the page they didn't feel completely authentic and that is kind of one of the big reasons why representation goes beyond just what you see, what is cast, it goes all the way down to where up to, you know, who is making decisions at the studio level, who is being hired as a director or screenwriter, who is telling the stories. through which lens are we experiencing this? we are experiencing the story through an asian lens and that is what makes it so authentic and that is what makes it so ready to share with the whole world as well. kristen: since you are a relatively new superstar, i think that is fair to say, right?

simu: absolutely. kristen: you spend a lot of time in san francisco, what is your favorite thing to do here? >> the restaurant. kristen: they are not open right. ok, click favorites. favorite videogame? simu: halo. kristen: favorite karaoke song. simu: a whole new world. kristen: can you do one bar for us? simu: [singing] >> ♪ i can show you the world tell me princess now when did you last let your heart decide?" ♪ kristen: oh my gosh. amazing. [laughter] csimu kristen: this acting thing does not work out. i want to give your parents a chance to be proud of you. so i will give you a test.

simu: my nightmare. kristen: what do the flags on the covered driver at the fairmont represent? simu: what? [laughter] powers in world war ii. next, how many cable cars are in the meeting fleet? simu: what? [laughter] 20? kristen: 43. and one with rubberized tires. you missed two out of two. that is not an ace. simu that is an 4 minos. fi will say this, we had planned to shoot one week in san francisco and then the pandemic hit and then we weren't able to come here. we in the main not able to come here and i feel like had we actually been able to --

kristen: you would have known. simu: i would have just. kristen: are your parents still proud of you, about your career choice? simu: immensely proud of me. i throw them under the bus a lot on twitter, i realized. i am sure they hate me for it. but, no, they are absolutely over the you should have seen the look on their faces as we pulled up on hollywood boulevard and walked down the red carpet. they were completely flabbergasted. and so happy. kristen: to still send you notes on acting? simu: 100%. that will never on acting, on social media on every decision i make. kristen: congratulations, so happy for you and for the movie. simu: thank you. kristen: just got to say, not only are his parents proud of him, i think the entire asian american community is. thank you for playing along with my ridiculous test. i didn't know those answers and

i have lived here most my life. he was super gracious about it. you know he was so smart. i don't know the last time i heard a celebrity say the word zeitgeist, so there you go. congratulations, the movie is fantastic shang-chi is in theaters now. it is owned by marvel studios an boost and cricket charge you more for unlimited 5g. metro doesn't. introducing the big 5g upgrade. just twenty-five bucks a month gets you unlimited 5g and a free 5g smartphone. that's half the price... ...for one line of unlimited 5g smartphone data ...plus a free samsung galaxy 5g when you switch and trade-in. all with the power of the t-mobile 5g network. rule your day with 5g. only at metro by t-mobile.

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joining us on this interactive show, getting answers on labor day. happy to be part of your long weekend. we are here every weekday at 3:00 on air and on stream, answering your questions. coming up is world news tonight. i will see you back here at 4:00. ♪

tonight, new fears of another holiday covid surge, with the labor day travel rush nears pre-pandemic levels. nearly 40 million people hitting the roads and skies. traffic jams and packed airports as people head home. this, as covid infections skyrocket nationwide. more than 1,100 deaths reported each day. the highest in six months. hospitals from idaho to maine scrambling to treat 100,000 patients. the dire situation for health care workers. the growing risks for millions of children, just as more schools prepare to reopen. and what the white house is now saying about booster shots for americans. also tonight, the desperate need for help. more than one week after hurricane ida. louisiana still reeling. the national guard using flo floating bridges.