>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7news. >> you are watching getting answers live on abc seven. we always ask questions to experts for you every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in real time. the future of jfk drive in golden gate park. will cars be allowed at all? that is being the stud. immediate -- that is being decided. it is estimated it will take over 135 years to close the gender gap globally. a summit in san francisco tomorrow and thursday seeks to accelerate progress and we will talk with the ceo of the institute for women's policy

research. covid cases are on the rise and one demographic group where numbers are up sharply as children. there were 37,000 new pediatric infections reported last week in the u.s., up over 40% from two weeks ago. joining us to talk about what is happening with kids and covid is dr. mauldin otto. thanks for your time today. >> good to see you. >> i know those are the reported numbers but do you think those are the -- those numbers are higher? >> the report comes from the american academy of pediatrics and what they do is they pull together the data from all of the state websites and some of the city websites. they really compile whatever the cities have put together. it may be a little different from what the cdc numbers look like because her wedding is different from state to state. >> is that 40% rise over the

past week accurate and is that the first uptick in quite a while? >> i think the big picture here, it is the first time we have had consistent data about children. when the american academy of pediatrics put out this report last year, it was the first time we had any data on cases in kids. even if it is not perfectly accurate, it does reflect the trends we are seeing across the country and we are seeing an increase. we are seeing small upticks everywhere. the main issue is what does this mean for children in terms of overall health? that is what we are watching for. >> can you give us the main bullet points you want our viewers to take away from this data? >> what we are seeing in children is that it reflects what we are seeing in adults.

children are going back to school or have been back to school now. they are traveling with their families. we are not seeing a lot of kids being vaccinated. children are more likely to be getting infected over the last several months especially after omicron. we are not seeing the omicron surge at this point. that was the highest point for all infections in adults and children. we are starting to head up a little bit. we went parents to know we don't want to prevent every sniffle or every cold but we do want to make sure all children are protected so they don't get sick enough to go to the hospital and have long covid. >> what percentage of 12 to 17-year-olds have been vaccinated? >> the numbers are not really exciting for kids. as we know, the older you are the more likely you are to be vaccinated. look at the numbers for people

65 and older and they are over 80 sent. as you get younger, the numbers drop. for children 12 to 17, the numbers are about 68%. two thirds of our children who are 12 to 17 years of age are no vaccinated in children -- are now vaccinated and children in five to 11, 20% or vaccinated. one in three children eligible for vaccinated -- for vaccination. we need to do a better job and my sense is this is because of risk perception. i think there is a lot of concern that the message is not getting out that children can be hospitalized and can get very sick. most children are not going to get very sick but we don't have a way of predicting who those children are going to be. if you think about the meningitis vaccines where we

have very few cases in this country of meningitis in children but yet the vaccines, the uptick for those vaccines is pretty robust. i think people see that when you have meningitis it is obviously so dramatic and horrible to see. i don't think people are recognizing there is a subset of children who have had covid and require being on a ventilator. it is a matter of perception about the level of severity. >> it is also the anecdotal experiences you hear from friends and friends kids and it seems like everyone says it was like a cold. are they underestimating the risk for long covid? i feel like so little is known about that and as a parent, i'm not that worried about my kid having a fever but i'm really worried if you tell me they may

lose their sense of smell or taste may be forever. >> that is a really good point and there have been millions of dollars invested in looking at long covid in children and adults. but it does take a long time to track and register those cases. recruiting people into these studies and following them over time does take a long time. to understand why they have covid is going to be more difficult because it requires laboratory analysis. what we do know is about 10 to 30% of children and even adults may have long covid. that is defined as symptoms that last more than 30 days. >> the other thing i am wondering about is is there robust data to show of the small percentage of kids who do have bad outcomes that require hospitalization, is there a percentage on what percentage of

those kids are vaccinated versus unvaccinated? >> it turns out the vast majority, over 90% of those children who are in the hospital or unvaccinated. and that is very close to what we are seeing in adults. while we do want boosters and other masks, we want to make sure people are protected, clearly the best protection of being hospitalized is being vaccinated. >> there is still no approved vaccination in this country for kids under five. the latest i am hearing as we are looking at maybe june and maybe they were waiting to have modernity and pfizer come out at the same time to avoid confusion. can you explain what that was about? >> we are doing some of the pediatric pfizer trials here at stanford. having said that, i don't know what the company's decisions are

or how they make them. we are just doing the study blinded we don't know who is getting the vaccine and who is getting the placebo so we can maintain the objective analysis. having said that, as you probably remember, the five to 11-year-olds vaccine was approved in november under emergency use. that vaccine in two doses at a 10 microgram dose worked very well. that does is about a third of the adult dose. the children under five did not tolerate even the 10 micrograms dose. it was a little too strong for them in terms of having fever reactions. the younger children under five are getting the three microgram dose. it is about a third of the five to 11-year-old nose and a 10th of the adult dose. they tolerate that very well. the two dose regimen did not work. so now we are giving another dose, we are giving a third goes

to those children six-month after they got the second dose and we are finishing those trials up. we just heard today from a report that the company released publicly that they are planning on submitting the data for the three dose study for children under five sometime this quarter. moderna is already submitting their data. it is being reviewed should the question as you brought up, should they be reviewed at the same time or not? there are a lot of opinions on what we should be doing. we generally don't wait for one product to be ready to review another product. generally they are reviewed independently. > with kids under five who have been waiting for this forever, they want something. we will see if that happens by june. do you think mandates where the vaccine mandate is still necessary for school entry? california pushed that back.

do you think it will still happen and you think it is necessary? >> i would like to say it is not necessary but we see what our vaccination rates look like. it is a third real topic. you and i know that. how difficult it is during this election year to try to do anything that is going to roil people up and nothing has gotten people more agitated and emotional for obvious reasons than vaccines in kids on all sides. i think it is going to be hard to know whether we will have a mandate at this point. it would be great if people could get your children vaccinated. some data i have reviewed suggest that if you provide people a strong recommendation or a mandate but you give them some ways to doubt, that works the best -- to opt out, that

works the best. it would be great to treat this as we treat all other diseases in kids. >> of like to ask you quickly about the new cdc data saying three in four people may have survived a case of covid. is that right? that number sounds really high. does that bode well for herd immunity? >> it turns out the federal government tracks antibody data across the country in a representative sample. they track antibody data to the virus, not just to the spike protein. so they track antibodies to the whole virus. they have seen about half of the u.s. pop elation has been infected. the infection rate is highest in the youngest individuals. the younger you are, the more likely you are to be infected and that number is around 70%

for children under 17. i don't think it is a mistake the higher percentage you are vaccinated the less likely you are to be infected. we know that while the vaccine does not prevent all infections, it certainly does reflect a reduced risk of infection. >> that is still the main message. thank you so very much for joining us today. appreciate it. >> good to see you. >> coming up, it is a topic that has sparked fierce debate. the future of golden gate part jfk drive. will it stay car free? will it stay car free? we are talking t i was injured in a car crash. i called the barnes firm. when a truck hit my son, i had so many questions about his case. i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. your case is often worth more than insurance offers. call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible.

♪ the barnes firm, injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

>> welcome back to competing

proposals for the future of jfk drive in golden gate park. one of them would keep the drive totally free of cars indefinitely. the other would allow cars on only part of the drive. the san francisco standard is following this closely. joining us live to talk about how this about can go, the standard senior reporter, josh king. >> thank you for having me. >> i understand that meeting is going on now. i think people are having a fierce debate in public comments. where are we at? >> we are still in the public comments section. it is a pretty lively discussion. you have some people playing guitar as they give their pitch for keeping jfk drive car free. another gave a rhyming couplet i believe. you had children on bikes deployed in a rally this morning to make sure the point has been

proven that parents want to have k drive car fee -- car free for the indefinite future. we are hoping a vote will be coming sometime in the next hour. >> that is a totally san francisco type of public comment. i hope to see that i the next episode of your comedy news. break down the issue for us whether cars could be on jfk drive idle to their pastor -- jfk drive at all. your passionate people on both sides. explain with a contention with this is. >> the closure of cars to jfk drive goes back to six weeks into the pandemic in late april of 2020. the idea was we got to get ourselves a little bit more space. be as health-conscious as possible. they closed the road and people loved it. had cyclists, pedestrians, parents with their children playing in the road.

it is something obviously can't do when you have cars driving by. it was really a hit. since the spring of last year as we started to come out of the pandemic, there was a push by certain groups to get cars back on the road. most of this has been fueled by the fine arts museum agency in san francisco which has a couple nonprofits one of which oversees the young museum and legion of honor. they have seen a lot of attendance dropped during the pandemic because people didn't come to now it has reopened, they have been making a huge push to get the road open to get more access particularly they argue for seniors and the disabled. >> and the california academy of sciences is there as well. i can see how for them feeling like having the roads open and visitors being able to come would help them. tell us about the two options on the table. there is mayor breed and

supervisor chance. break down what the difference is between those. >> mayor breed's plan is to keep jfk drive car free for the foreseeable future. she has heard all the benefits people say particularly parents that live in the neighborhood. there has been the sf like coalition and others. a group called kids safe sf that has lobbied pretty hard to keep it closed to cars. mayor breed seems open to the and so do a few supervisors. on the others, you have supervisor connie chan who represents the sunset district area which is part of golden gate park. she has said she is concerned about seniors, communities of color that may not have the same equitable access to the park by living further out in not being able to drive and park. the closure of the road got rid of 300 parking spaces. those are the competing agendas.

>> i understand there was an equity study done as well. did the findings align with supervisor chan or not? >> the equity study liens a little more toward breed side. there were findings that certain neighborhoods that traditionally don't use golden gate park as much had seen lower attendance. by and large the equity study found the closure of a of k drive has not been as detrimental as some people have made it out to be to what about -- out to be. >> what about the traffic issue? has it become a problem traffic wise to have jfk closed and people having to take a different route? >> it really depends on who you speak to. i did a story a few weeks ago about the museum's contention and they would say it is screwing up deliveries to the museum. it is making it harder for people to get access to the

facilities. there is a massive parking garage underneath the museum that sits pretty much empty at all times. people would argue the prices of parking in that garage are exorbitant and so it is not the same as being able to park a short distance away. the safe streets advocates would tell you this is really working. we are seeing accidents and traffic fatalities are not occurring so it has been this great thing. i had one person tell me it is the best thing that has ever happened to their children which is a little bit suspect. i think it does speak to how passionate people are to have this open space. >> i understand it is very close. each plan has a few supervisors seemingly behind it so we will see how this all shakes out. ask for keeping us posted. -- thanks for keeping us posted should we do have the links to the san francisco standards

other original reporting. to watch more segments featuring the san francisco standard's city focused journalism, check out our abc 7 bay area streaming tv up. coming up, a two day event. we will

>> welcome back. advancing equality for women around the world is the goal of the summit happening this week. it is called the power plus summit and it is kicking off tomorrow in san francisco in person and virtually. the institute for women's policy research is hosting the event and it features dozens of speakers who aim to inspire and empower women and girls. driving us to talk about it is the president and ceo of the institute for women's policy research. dr. mason, thanks for joining us. >> i'm so excited to be here. >> so excited to hear more about the summit. let's talk about why it is even necessary.

what are the many inequities women face today that demand progress and change? >> it has been a rough two years for women shared the pandemic dealt a devastating blow. before the pandemic, women made up 50% of the workforce and by march of 2020, all those gains had been wiped out. the pay gap is still wide for women. women earn $.84 on the dollar for every dollar a man earns. it has only closed about $.20 in the last five decades so we have a lot of work to do. women are represented across sectors in the c suite and we are coming out of the pandemic. . women are still struggling with childcare and other demands. this summit comes at a perfect time when we are thinking about how we might create society that works for everyone.

>> this summit is reflective of the work you are always doing at the institute for women's policy research, right? >> absolutely. the institute for women's policy research is about 30 years old. we are the only think tank organization focused on building women's long-term economic security and power and influence in society. in this moment, our work is more critical than ever and so the summit is an opportunity to bring women across sectors together to talk about how we might accelerate women's power and avoidance. >> i think it is unique this event is a hybrid. the in-person part is in san francisco but everyone is invited to the virtual event to do people need to register on the website? >> so to attend the virtual event, you have to go to power plus 2022.com and sign up. everyone is welcome. it is going to be a really great

time should we have a phenomenal list of inspiring women and speakers all thing about this one question about how we might accelerate women's power and influence in society. we want to make sure it is accessible to everyone. i think this conversation needs to go beyond power players in washington and reach everyday women. >> i am looking at the list of your speakers and their photos. i see first partner jennifer siebel newsom will be receiving an award and congresswoman pramila jayapal. talk about the fact that i think philanthropist melinda gates is one of your partners. how did she get involved? >> pivotal has been a partner of ours for a few years now. the power plus summit is another opportunity for us to deepen our partnership and collaboration. they have been on board from the beginning of the summit. so has foundation chanel. we are thinking about how we

might crack of in this conversation about the progress we have not made and the progress we need to make towards women's equality and equal rights. >> if you want to be a part of this conversation, check out power plus 2022.com. daca nicole mason, thank you so -- dr. nicole mason, thank you so much. congratulations in (music throughout)

when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair.

i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is worth. let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ >> thank you for joining us for this addition of getting answers. we will be here every weekday at 3:00 on air and on their answering your questions. world news tonight with david

mir is coming up next and i will see you back here at 4:00. tonight, vice president kamala harris testing positive for covid. and what the white house said today about president biden. vice president harris now in isolation at home, testing positive after being vaccinated and double boosted. and when was the last time she was in close contact with president biden? cecilia vega standing by live at the white house. the u.s. responding tonight russia'sewest warning of the daer nuclear w sy. and tonight, germany, for the first time, sending ukraine heavy weapons. marcus moore in kyiv tonight. the developing headline as we come on the air. the audio tonight of house republican leader kevin mccarthy. you will hear what he said, his concerns after january 6th, over members of his own party fufling unrest in this country.

asking at one point,