>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. kristen: i kristen sze. you are watching "news getting answers." we got answers for you in real-time time, today we will dive into something fun, as we look ahead to thanksgiving. the ceo of a bear a company will be joining us to discuss an adult mac & cheese. one that wonder woman herself enjoys. before that, we will talk with a professor about president biden's plan for the country's petroleum reserves and gas prices. we want to discuss the latest covid-19 news but would a former cow star and nfl quarterback of the green bay packer's is making headlines once again as he is suffering a toe injury that at

one point he referred to as a covid injury but now insisted was not. because he is aaron rodgers, people are paying close attention and wondering what's going on. is it covid too? -- toe? what is that? what are the illnesses related to covid? joining us to talk about that it is a ucsf infectious disease specialist. thanks for your time, right before thanksgiving. >> always a pleasure, kristin. kristen: we will start with, what is covid toe? is it a real thing? >> it is definitely a real thing. it is a purple patch that develops on your toes, your fingers, your elbow, and happens once to four weeks after covid. particularly if you've had mild symptoms, like aaron rodgers, it is textbook. it kind of illustrates that the immune system is kind of on a rye, making these lesions

on your skin after the fact. kristen: what you are looking at they are, the video, is of a bear area -- there, the video, is of a bay area woman. she had to get a few things amputated. explain how a respiratory infection can lead to elements of the toes, fingers, etc. -- ailments of the toes, fingers, etc. >> there is a viral phase, you get exposed to the virus, and as the inflammatory -- there is the inflammatory phase, when your body gets angry because it sees the virus. that is about inflammation that can kill you. like in the lungs. even if it does not kill you, it can linger on for a few more weeks, causing things like long covid, covid toes. it attacks other parts of your body, including your skin. that is what covid toes and fingers are. kristen: aaron rodgers referred it -- referred to it as covid

toe. you have not treated rogers. but from what you have seen and heard, does this condition align with covid toe? >> totally pivoted aligns with the fact that -- > totally -- >> totally. it aligns with the time period. it is usually mild. even though the cases should look severe, most cases of covid toes, nothing happens. kristen: he says it can be painful, right? >> it can be painful and itchy, but it can be mild. kristen: we know rogers had covid. he was vague about his vaccination status until he caught it and it came out that he was unvaccinated. rogers explained he couldn't get the pfizer or moderna vaccines, because he is allergic to an ingredient in them. what ingredient is in those vaccines that could perhaps even

in the smallest of populations, very unlikely, but possible at all because such an allergic reaction that he feared? >> so that ingredient that people worry about is very, very rare, it is only in the mrna vaccines, pge. it is a component of some iv's. sometimes people go to the hospital and get an iv and have an anaphylactic reaction to it -- they can't brace, etc.. that's what people are talking about. that is -- they can't breathe, etc.. that is what people are talking about. if you have a history of this, you could observed for 30 minutes. it is something people pay attention to when you get the shot. kristen: roughly one in how many people? >> one in a one million, one to 12 per one million. very rare. kristen: rogers said the johnson & johnson shot was "not even an option for him" because of blood clotting concerns. to those concerns still exist?

it was talked about earlier. -- do those concerns still exist? it was talked about earlier. >> there are some acknowledgments that blood clots are so seated with j&j, but again, very rare. mainly in middle-aged women, and still, it is a rare situation. the big issue to note for the population with clots and j&j is that we've come a long way since the early days. we know how to treat it now. so if you recognize it, you treated. -- treat it. people can do quite well. i've only seen one person with its at the hospital -- it at the hospital. sort of a younger man, he did very well with it. kristen: ok. rogers said he was told by a main nfl doctor that it is impossible for a vaccinated person to get covid or spread covid. rogers decided that in defense of his choice not to vaccinate. what do you want people to know about the possibility of transmission by a vaccinated

person? >> we do know from studies from the beginning, from the delta and province, they found that people who get breakthroughs who were vaccinated have initially the same amount of virus in their noses than somebody who is unvaccinated. what we have learned is it goes on quickly in somebody who was vaccinated and stays high with somebody who is vaccinated. people who are unvaccinated can spread covid a lot more than people who are vaccinated but people who are vaccinated can definitely pass it to others, even though they would probably not get very sick themselves. kristen: got it. ok. tiffany has a question for you here. she says, my husband has this issue -- she is referring to the allergy. he's not allowed to get the vaccine. his shot happened 24 hours after the flu shot. if that really is the case with her husband, how best to protect himself. also, if there is a vaccination on the horizon that will be

administered differently. >> there are lots of vaccines on the horizon. different kinds. for example, novavax, made in maryland, people around the world have been using -- have begun to usun to us it is similar to the human papilloma vaccine. people could wait for one of those. if you have a severe allergy to peg, the j&j vaccine should be very safe. kristen: before we got onto thanksgiving stuff, i want to ask you, what are the other conditions that could be brought on by covid, either short-term or long-term that people should be aware of? >> the most important ones for post-covid situations his long covid -- is long covid. it affects up to 30% of people. many people know somebody who might have it. we think that it is much more common to get long covid after -- if you are unvaccinated, you

get covid, by more than two times compared to if you are having a breakthrough infection while vaccinated. that's an important issue. also the symptoms that people have with breakthroughs, if they do get symptoms, they are very different, no brain fog, may be some alterations of taste and smell might linger. some of these inflammatory conditions, let covid toe -- like covid toe, it could inflame your heart, etc. after covid has gone away, that is called mis-c in children and mis-a in adults. these are the symptoms post-covid that we look out for. kristen: thank you for the information you presented. we are all hoping not to catch covid over thanksgiving as we travel and gather. let's talk about safety. where the risks are and how to minimize them. let's start with the travel portion. what do you think? >> i think traveling is really

safe, for somebody who is vaccinated. particularly vaccinated and boosted. the first thing you want to do with traveling is think about where you're going. if you are going to a destination that has a huge surge, like michigan, minnesota, vermont, new hampshire, you probably want to take it easy, be more careful, see if you are going to florida, hawaii -- you can go to florida, hawaii, california, even though they are hovering at this high level. that is the first thing to think about. planes, safe, wear your mask. if you want to put ventilation on yourself. as a vaccinated person and a boosted person, i feel kind of invincible right now, the tell you the truth. although i'm still going to be -- to tell you the truth, although i'm still going to be prepared. kristen: how about the actual gathering part with family? what are some of the questions to consider? >> three questions to really think about -- number one, what is the vaccination status of the people around me?

i know a lot of people personally who have been and of limiting -- kind of limiting the endorsed vaccinated only. number two, have they been tested recently? -- limiting the endorsed vaccinated only permit number two, have they been tested recently? answer number three, do you ventilate, open the one -- open the windows or not? i think it is a very different risk situation if you are vaccinated compared to last year. kristen: for folks who are not vaccinated, upon return, would you recommend taking a test? >> yes. even for vaccinated people, say you are going back to the hospital with elderly folks or relatives, you might want to test may be three days or so -- two or three days after coming back home. i think that will give you a little bit more security.

more important for an unvaccinated person, just to make sure that the trip went ok. kristen: i mentioned wonderful idea of having a family, may be for share one -- maybe four people share one sw for a test, it is a good idea to test families before gathering. >> the last thing you want to do is spread it. i think there are many situations where everybody is vaccinated or boosted, and you are just doing that to make the host feel secure -- i think that is the situation. if you are not sure, definitely do one on one testing. kristen: thank you so much and happy thanksgiving to you and your family. >>'s mto, kristin. happy thanksgiving. -- >> thanks to you,

kristen: welcome back. we want to dig into president biden's move to lower gas prices and help relieve the pain americans are suffering at the pump. yesterday, he promised to release 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. how higher prices? -- high our prices -- are prices? take a look for yourself. here in the bay area, some drivers are paying even more -- $4.79 is the bay area average. more to talk about the impact is dr. daniel c. thanks for being with us today.

to understand the story, explain first, what is the strategic petroleum reserve? >> something that was started during the opec crisis in the 70's, it currently holds around 600 million barrels of oil. this decision by the president to release 50 million barrels of oil, to put it in context, the u.s. uses about 20 million a day. it's a significant chunk, but we can burn through it very quickly. kristen: i read that the reserve can last us one month, if other sources were cut off. we have tapped into it during emergencies, like hurricane katrina. does this amount to that level of crisis, what we have right now? >> i would say, yes, it does, because we ultimately plan to phase this out. so this oil is going to get used up in some level, because we are moving to a fossil fuels free economy. given the pain we are seeing at

the pump right now for a variety of reasons, it makes sense to use this, given that we know we will not be using it later. kristen: how long do you think it might take before people start to notice a difference, with this extra supply? it does take time for the oil to be refined into gas, for that to translate. what do you think? >> i don't think we will actually see very much affect your mood but it's really intended to do is -- effect. what it is really intended to do is lower the price is. it's designed to be a buffer to keep the prices from skyrocketing anymore. which often does happen during the thanksgiving holiday season. this is really something that will ease prices that we probably and hopefully will not see prices even higher than they are today. kristen: you mentioned they are normal cycles, there are a lot of demands on oil and gas. but shouldn't they be coming down pretty soon anyway? usually in winter, it starts to

dip, right? >> it will dip a little bit, but remember california has a particularly clean blend of oil, clean refined mix, only made by a couple of local refineries, that is why prices are higher. president biden is not doing this alone. he is doing it in conjunction with president xi in china, with prime minister johnson and the u.k., so you are seeing a global effort to ease these prices so we don't get the other companies dodging us even more at this point in time when they recognize this vulnerability in the supply chains. kristen: japan and india are all part of that, working in concert. you mention what is going on with the oil company. president bush -- sorry, president biden calling on federal investigator's to investigate whether -- federal regulars to investigate whether oil companies are engaging in illegal practices.

is there evidence they manipulated the market or done something like purposely produce less at this time to keep prices high? >> we do suspect that is going on, but it is quite hard to prove. the main reason is the number of refineries we have is actually relatively limited. in new orleans, and the -- in the so-called oil patch and the gulf, and a limited number in california -- in the gulf and a limited number in california. even something like routine needs for service are ways that companies are trying to restrict supply to have a higher price. it has proved very difficult to do anything like investigations of illegal activity, but we have seen this before. what president biden has done is really clamp down and demonstrate that the national reserve -- national petroleum reserve can be used, if we see prices inching up any higher. it is a wise move in terms of managing the market. kristen: i wonder if you also

think this is related to americans' demand right now for goods, rather than services. which contributed to the supply chain crisis. >> an interesting point. right now we've actually seen the demands for oil tick down a little bit, both due to some less driving due to covid, but also the shift towards electric vehicles. while our demands for services is up, people are buying more and more from amazon, other providers, those companies are switching more and more to electric vehicles. and so, demand is not rising. when you see the prices rising, that is what triggered the federal investigators to look at this in terms of, is there a legal gouging going on? kristen: do you think this current crisis will trigger a quicker move towards green energy? more investment? >> i certainly hope it is. we've already seen record numbers. california's number one export as of last month is now electric vehicles. which is an amazing statement.

we are seeing bmw and vw also ramping up. the third most valuable car company in the world, tesla's number one, but the third most rivion will only be selling electric trucks. the move is taking place. if president biden can get the build back better bill through, then there is significant money for electric vehicle charging stations, to invest in low income minority communities. there's a way to push this even more quickly into the market, to really make oil a thing of the past. kristen: thank you so much for your insight. always appreciate it. happy thanksgiving to you. >> thanks a lot. to you as well. kristen: we'll be right back to talk

thanksgiving, we thought we would do something food related

today, especially since wonder woman herself enjoys it. a food start up has secured over $6 million in funding to disrupt the dry noodles industry. joining us out to talk all about goodles, mac & cheese for the grown-up taste but, is -- bud, is the ceo, jen. >> happy to be talking to you today. kristen: goodles, is that like good noodles? >> we emphasized the good in goodles. kristen: tell us about the founding story. it involves wonder woman, cogito -- gal gadot. >> yes. gal is a partner of mine. this has been a long-standing vision of ours, who doesn't love noodles and mac & cheese? everybody does. when you're eating it, you feel awful because it is void of nutrition.

and there are all these healthy options out there, but they usually don't taste very good or they are green or brown or mushy or whatever it is. we are like -- we were like, why do we have to choose? so myself, another -- all of my amazing founders. gal is one of them. she is amazing. she and i met about three years ago. i knew what a foodie she was and how much she loves mac & cheese. so i reached out to her. but also, doug luster, original president and one of the founding teams of annie's is part of our founding team and a branding professor, earl. the brand is really important to us. also our head of r&d found a way to make this work and get all of the stents nutrition into a noodle -- all of this dense nutrition into a noodle that tastes like a noodle and mac & cheese that we all love. kristen: i get that you were

like, mac & cheese is not just for kids, but how do you cater to the adult taste but? what kind of flavors do you offer it at our more sophisticated -- do you offer that are more sophisticated? >> we have a couple of flavors that are the ones that you would know and expect. but then we went a little bit crazy. there's one of our flavors which is called our "mover and shaker," caccio and peppe inspired. the roman dish is made with a lot of romano and cracked pepper. you make it not with milk, you scoop off the starchy pasta water right before you strain and you use that to thicken it up, so it is really bold flavors. we made it for the adult palla te, but we have kid foodies who are like, that was my favorite. that is awesome. kristen: how did you do the taste test as you were launching this product? during the pandemic, you couldn't do with the typical wing. >> no, i know.

our headquarters is in santa cruz, california, we've got windows, you can just roll them up, we could not do sampling at the front door, everything was shut. we couldn't do all the normal things. so we formed our community, our do-gooders. there's more than 1000 do-gooders all across the country. we started shipping little tiny baggies to every single state around the country. they all have their little do-gooder pins. they helped to co-create this product with us. it wasn't until they said become a perfect score, and they couldn't taste anything nutritious -- or anything -- they didn't sense any healthiness. you are going to have to try it. [laughter] kristen: i know people that say, if it tastes too healthy, i'm not interested. it's funny that you said that. you mentioned do good.

that is part of your mission. tell us about your collaboration with world central kitchen. >> i mean, come on -- we created this company in 2020. in some of the darkest times. we just wanted a brand that stood for goodness, that was just joy and light. it is actually our motto, to the a do-gooder -- be do-gooder. that is our motto. it is part of our charter, to have a percentage of everything that we sell that goes to our charitable partner in world central kitchen. they are just such an

joining us on this interactive show, "getting answers." tonight, the verdict in the high profile ahmaud arbery case. three white defendants found guilty of felony murder. arbery, a black man shot and killed while jogging through their neighborhood in brunswick, georgia. >> guilty. >> arbery's father screaming out as the first verdict was read. the judge ordering him removed from the courtroom. the defendants each facing life in prison. arbery family supporters celebrating outside the courthouse. his mother saying she never thought this day would come. steve osunsami and dan abrams standing by. the thanksgiving get away hitting its peak. more than 50 million people traveling over the holiday. highways jammed with cars. drivers facing the highest gas prices in years. airports packed with passengers at