warrant and whether or not those weapons were intentionally pointed at an individual's. that really was a bigger discussion on the intent of how those weapons were positioned. the policy didn't -- other than what the previous standing policy said at the time which was it had to be intentional pointing of weapon to be a use of force. that issue has been addressed now because the commission's revisions now have language that when a weapon is drawn even when it is not intentionally pointed, even if it doesn't amount to use of force it is reportable. it clears up a lot of that issue. that is the good news. i think, you know, there is some acknowledgment when guns are drawn whether or not they are pointed to a certain degree of

promise to other incidents or those who witnessed that. this policy will address this or give us the ability to evaluate whether or not the mere drawing of the gun even if you are down already. which there was a lot of discussion on low ready if that should be reported or not. now it will be reported in most situations. that has been addressed. at the time this incident happened that was the issue. it is the policy that didn't cover it based on circumstances of that case. >> thank you. seeing no names in the ky, i think we have no other questions. public comment, please. >> public comment online item 7 regarding the commission report of disciplinary action.

press star 3 to raise your hands. we have no public comment. >> all right. thank you. next item. >> 8. general public comment. at this time the public is welcome to address the commission for up to two minutes for items not on the agenda. under the rules and order neither police or d.p.a. personnel or commissioners are to respond but may provide brief response. opportunities to speak are available via phone by calling 415-655-0001. enter access code 146 -- star 3 if you wish to comment. if you wish to speak you will be added to the queue.

speak clearly and slowly and turndown devices in the background. you may submit comment in the following ways. e-mail the secretary of the police commission or written comments to the public safety building located at 1245 third street, san francisco. members of the public to make comment press star 3. we have one public comment. >> thank you. this is rebecca young again. some of the commission members know me. i wear several hats. i am a public defender and member of the san francisco police department bias working group co-chair racial justice, it is on bar association of the san francisco criminal justice

task force. as a result of these roles i have done a fair amount of study around meet and confer policy that protects the san francisco police department can collective bargaining from any sort of public reviews. under the city charter 11.100 and .101, all negotiating power is invested in dhr, department of human resources as agent of the mayor. the san francisco police department in 19 88 gave mayor authority over labor negotiations with this bargaining unit. we are asking for transparency. not only in san francisco but across the country is asking this collective bargaining unit poa that they are transparent in their bargaining. we are encouraging the commission to do whatever you

can to encourage the dhr to advise the poa to include a transparency rule on their meet and confer process. we are also asking that you propose a charter amendment so that in the form of a proposition so that the voters can weigh in on whether they want transparency in police negotiation process. without transparency there will not be any accountability. transparency and accountability are like salt and pepper. they go together. you cannot have complete accountability for police behavior and change the culture that chief scott is trying to do without transparency. thank you. >> what was the caller's name? >> rebecca young.

>> one more caller. you have two minutes. >> i just wanted to -- i don't expect this but i am going to do it. i wanted for the sfgovtv concerning my son on august 14 at 3:00 a.m. he was murdered in grove and baker. 17-years old. if anybody has any information we urge them to call the inspector. i forget his name right now. (415)553-1145. the case number tip line 575-4444. case number 060-86-2038.

i wanted to keep awareness of my son in the light of the public. i will continue to do that. hopefully we will get back into the city hall real soon so i can see you guys in person and we can see each other's expressions again. thank you. >> thank you. any other members of the public like to comment? >> that is the end of public comment. >> thank you. let's continue moving forward on the agenda. >> line item 9. public comment on all matters pertaining to item 11 below. closed session including public

comment on item 10, vote whether to hold item 11 in closed session. >> public comment is open. check the lines. >> we have no public comment. >> all right. public comment is closed. next item. >> 10. vote whether to hold item 11 in closed session. administrative code section 67.10. action. >> i will take a motion. >> so moved. >> second. >> motion by hama saki and seconded by commissioner elias. without objection the motion passes unanimously. >> i will take us into closed session. >> thank you

i'd like to entertain a motion. is there a motion? >> motion. >> all right, motion made by commissioner lai, seconded by dejesus. thank you. without objection and the motion passes unanimously. all right. i don't believe we need to take public comment on that do we? >> normally we do, yes. >> i'll take a motion to rescind. is there a motion to rescind. >> motion. >> made by elias seconded by -- thank you, dejesus. so the motion is rescinded. public comment not to disclose what was in closed session.

>> public comment on line item 12 regarding not to disclose, please press star 3 now to raise your hand. and we have no public comment, commissioner. >> excellent. thank you very much. all right, let's redo that motion. motion made by commissioner elias not to disclose. seconded by commissioner dejesus. we can take that again, without objection. without objection, motion passes unanimously. >> yes. >> all right, what else is on the agenda for tonight? >> line item 15, adjournment, action item. >> all right, folks. >> motion to adjourn. >> motion made by supervisor -- supervisor? by commissioner brookter. >> don't do that. >> seconded by -- force of habit. seconded by dejesus. ladies and gentlemen, we are adjourned. i take it we take that without

objection? >> yes. >> thank you, everyone. good night. >> thank you. good night. >> mayor breed: thank you. this is the beginning of a new year, after the end of a very long year. i am optimistic about what lies ahead for our city and our country, and i do believe there is hope on the horizon. that being said, we really -- wy

challenging days in front of us. our daily average case rates of 237 cases per day remains alarming. and we've never had so many people in the hospital with covid at one time. right now, in this very precarious moment, we are seeing what the impacts of the holidays will be. dr. kofax will provide more insight of those numbers, but we won't know the full affect of the holidays for the next few weeks. at this very point, san francisco and the bay area are under the stay-at-home order for the future. we have no control over lifting most restrictions, like those related to dining and personal services. what we do have control over is how we closely follow the health orders. we have control over our individual actions that can lead us to improve our numbers so we can keep people healthy, save

lives, and get out of these state restrictions. i know this continues to be so hard for everyone, especially our small businesses, that remain closed or are very limited in the services they can provide. we're doing everything we can to help. and today, at the board of sup visorssupervisors, they will vote on legislation to waive fees. these are fees that are previously deferred and are scheduled to come due in march. frankly, it is not enough. we need to eliminate them entirely. our small businesses need any and all of the help they can get. while we have provided a lot of direct support for small businesses over the month, including over $25 million in grants and loans, we know we need to do more. that includes finding ways to provide more immediate relief, and we are working on that right now. we're also helping our

small businesses apply for new rounds of p.p.p. loans that are part of the new federal relief package. we know a lot of our small businesses are closed or are struggling to stay afloat, and we will keep working to find ways to support them in every way we can. we all have a long road ahead. december was a really hard month, and january is not going to be any easier. but, like i said, there is hope. the rollout of the vaccine is something like we've never seen. hundreds of millions of doses will be distributed around the country. this is going to take all of us working together. today we're joined by dr. josh aldler, who is the chief clinical officer of health and vice dean of the school of medicine. the doctor will speak a little about how ucsf is

participating in the rollout of the vaccine. it is important for everyone to remember that the distribution of the vaccine is different from how testing was set up in this country. with test, the federal government basically left it to the local and state governments to figure out, on our own, which is why we created our own city-run testing city, city test s.f., which puts san francisco at the forefront of providing testing in this country. but in an expensive and complicated system that we built from scratch. with the vaccine, the federal government has purchased the vaccine and is distributing them through established networks of state and health care providers. so the vaccine rollout is a lot bigger than the city and the department of public health. but we do have a role to play, and one of those roles is to distribute the vaccine to our city-run

facilities. that includes laguna honda hospital, where over 715 vulnerable residents currently live. the good news is that starting yesterday, working with walgreens, we started vaccinating the resident of laguna honda, and by tomorrow, all residents who want the vaccine will receive it. this is in addition to the over a thousand staff members who have already been vaccinated and more to come. now, it's important, for a moment, to take a step back. often these press conferences, we talk about numbers, we talk in data. we talk in concept, like infection rates and i.c.u. capacity. we say things like, we're going to -- we're taking certain actions to keep the virus out of laguna honda, but la laguna honda is just a building.

they attack our seniors. and people living with disabilities are the most vulnerable. protecting the residents of laguna honda is very personal to me. my grandmother lived there for years at the end of her own life. so i know what those residents are feeling. i know what their families are feeling because they are not able to visit. our fight to keep the virus out of laguna honda has been a fight to keep these people alive, until we could do what we started doing yesterday: protecting them with the vaccine. i want to show a few pictures from yesterday. lathis is a photo of bernadette yee. she is someone who has been living for months and months in the type of facility that has seen outbreaks across this country. she, like so many others, have lived with the fear each and every day, and now she has the vaccine. now she and other residents of laguna honda are waking up today with

an end in sight. this next photo is jasper harris. while many of us had to sacrifice by staying home and limiting interactions, his sacrifice was to be in the facility where no one from the outside has been able to visit. he has had to deal with isolation and separation. thanks to the hard work of the staff at laguna honda, and all of the policies, our department of public health has put in place, he is alive and well, so that he can get the vaccine, so that he can keep on living his life. these are the lives we have been fighting for day after day to save. after months of uncertainty, they will now be protected. they are alive because of public health orders we put in place, because of the staff of the facility who have done their very best to care for them. because of the center of disease control who helped create a plan to protect

this specific hospital. and because of everyone at the department of public health, who has done the workday after day to keep our city safe. like i said, this is a moment, but it's a real moment of hope for our city. and we should be so proud. i know it is hard right now, but remember that each one of these people in laguna honda being vaccinated is someone who will continue to have birthdays with families and visits with friends. they will have more time. they will have months and years ahead that so many across this country, sadly, have lost to this virus. i know it is hard to see, but there is hope. the people of this city have rallied together, even though these truly difficult recent months -- through these difficult recent months, and soon we will push this city forward. i know that health orders

can be hard to follow and confusing. i know that people feel like the rules are shifting and changing and contradictory to one other. and even those who are doing their best aren't quite clear on what is okay and what is not okay. all we are asking is for you to do your very best, to use common sense, and to limit your interactions with others as much as possible, to help get us through this. we know it hasn't been easy. it has been tough on every one of us. and i would also ask that you have some understanding, some patience, and really some grace. we are all going through this together. it has been extremely challenging. so let's just remember the vaccine is here. these are difficult times, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. and i can't wait until we're able to get back together again and able to celebrate without a mask on. that day is coming. so let's get through this together. thank you, everyone, for all that you've done and

what you've continued to do. and now i'd like to introduce dr. adler to talk a little bit about what ucsf's role is in helping to distribute the vaccine. >> doctor: thank you very much, mayor breed. good morning to all of you. let me just start with a couple of comments about the public health orders. ucsf has been a partner in supporting the health orders from the beginning. we know they've been affective in helping to slow the spread of covid-19. we've seen this in our own data for our hospitals and our clinics, but, in particular, as we've examined the situations in other health systems throughout california or the united states, it is imminently clear that the san francisco health orders have helped to keep our case orders, and especially the numbers of hospitalized patients in san francisco, lower than most other urban areas. and the importance of this is that it has allowed our

hospitals to continue to function in a somewhat normal fashion, without becoming overwhelmed, as has happened elsewhere, both in our state and in the country. and that's enabled us to continue to serve all of the patients who need hospital care throughout the pandemic. so we are committed to continuing to work with the city and the county to support the residents through this pandemic. and i encourage you all to do the very best you can to ensure that you continue to comply with these health orders, as they are so important. let me turn to vaccines for a moment. so with the approval of two vaccines in the u.s., ucsf is now very focused on vaccination as supplies become available. i will say that the size and scale of this effort is unlike any we've ever seen. so let me describe briefly how ucsf as one health system is part of the chain to provide vaccines

to the people of san francisco. so ucsf is part of what is called a multi-county system. along with other facilities throughout california. as such, the vaccine is allocated to ucsf directly by the california department of public health. and then the deliveries come to ucsf from the vaccine manufacturers directly, based on the allocation of the california department of public health. it is clear that this is a major and complex initiative, and all of us are learning as we go. what is also clear is that we need to increase the rate at which we're able to deliver vaccine to people. and i believe that from the beginning of the time we started vaccinating two and a half weeks ago, that this is already happening. for example, at ucsf, we're now able to vaccinate up to 1100 people per day, and are

working to increase this number even further. at the moment, we are continuing to focus our efforts on vaccinating health care workers primarily, and hope to move on to additional groups in the next few weeks. and i can say that so far the supply of vaccine from the manufacturers and from the state has been able to keep up with the rate at which we are actually vaccinating people, and we hope that this will continue, particular as we increase the number of people we can vaccinate per day. thank you all. i'll turn it back to you, mayor breed. >> mayor breed: thank you so much. and now i want to turn it over to dr. grant colfax to provide an update on where we are in the city with our numbers. and thank you so much for joining us today, dr. colfax. >> doctor: good morning. and thank you, mayor breed. and thank you, dr. adler.

we've always -- the health department has always had a special relationship with ucsf, and we really appreciate the support during this unprecedented time. i also want to express our support for the people in communities and central and southern california, where the covid pandemic is particularly severe, and the situation is dire. and my gratitude to the thousands of people on the frontlines in san francisco fighting the virus every day. including in our hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, community testing sites, and now vaccination clinics. and, of course, to all of you who live and work in san francisco, who have sacrificed so much for nearly a year. a tough year. but i have great hopes for 2021, and i'm sure you do as well. and nearly 12 months into the pandemic, and with a

holiday, i know this has taken a toll on us, including on our mental health and well-being. so i want you to know that if you or someone needs help, it is available. you can call our behavioral health line 855-845-7415, to talk with someone who knows what it is like to struggle with behavioral health issues, or please reach out to your primary care provider or counselor. we need to care for ourselves and each other during this time. i hope we can all commit to that. another hope, of course, is that we will continue to join together to save lives and fight the current surge of covid-19, to vaccinate our residents and workers against it, and to finally overcome this pandemic that has dominated our lives.

the great news is that the vaccine is here. and it is being administered every day. but it will not have much of an impact on our current surge or any post-december holiday surge we may experience in the coming weeks. we remain in a serious and critical position, but our collective actions are making a difference. our cases of covid-19, and unfortunately our deaths due to covid-19 in san francisco, continue to increase, but the rate of increase seems to be slowing. however, at this time we do not know the full impacts of the december holiday. and it is plausible that we could see a sharp increase in cases, followed by hospitalizations, in the next few weeks. let's see where we currently are. can we have the slide, please. as this slide shows, our

number of cases have been on the uptake. this slide shows we are currently at 27 new covid positive cases per 100,000 people here in san francisco. and right now we are averaging about -- could we go to the slide before this, please? this is the slide. this slide shows that we're averaging about 27 cases per 100,000 people in san francisco. and we are averaging about 237 new cases of covid-19 every day. we have seen an increase, as you can see, since december 24th. but the 237 new cases per day is still a drop from about 290 new cases we were seeing in mid-december. but given the infectiousness of this virus, 237 is still far too many for us to let our

guard down. when we stay home, avoid gatherings, stay physically distant, and wear masks over both our noses and our mouths, we will drive this number down. we will keep our fellow san franciscans and ourselves from getting sick, help prevent hospitalizations, and make sure that we are all here for the vaccine. next slide, please. now, this shows the hospitalizations of people with covid-19 since the pandemic began. as you can see, the number of covid-19 -- people with covid-19 who need hospital care continues to climb, as we would expect when the number of cases climb. but thanks to your efforts with regards to precautions, hospitalizations appear to be climbing more slowly now.

but, as with cases overall, we will not know until mid-january how many people got covid-19 over the christmas and new year's holiday, and became seriously ill, requiring hospitalization. that's just based on how long it takes for people to show symptoms and become severely ill with covid-19. it usually takes up to a week, and even two. currently, and unlike many parts of this state, hospitals in san francisco have enough room to care for covid-19 and other patients. locally, we have roughly 35% of i.c.u. beds available. however, across the region, just 5.9% of beds are available. and because our regional i.c.u. bed availability remains well-below the state's threshold of 15%, we here in san francisco will remain under the

state regional stay-at-home order. and, as you know, the situation is much worse in central valley and in southern california. and while we have those i.c.u. beds now in san francisco, it is plausible, with our regional or statewide surge, that those numbers of i.c.u. capacity will drop sharply, perhaps due to a worsening of our local situation, or because of needs in the region and the state. staying home, as hard as it is, is keeping our already strained health system from being overwhelmed. it is saving lives. now i want to talk a little bit about vaccines. we are working with our health care partners, including ucsf, throughout the city, to get as much vaccine into as many arms as possible. unlike testing, we do not

have local control of when vaccine is sent to san francisco. or how much is received. the federal and state government have developed a distribution plan for the vaccine, and the state has defined the prioritization plan, which we must follow locally. that distribution plan shiftships the vaccine directly to health care providers, such as kaiser, ucsf, and d.p.h., which is a health care provider in the city, primarily for people who have medicaid or who are uninsured. with the exception of the vaccine, d.p.h., the health department, gets from the state, we currently have no ability to track the amount of vaccine that is being sent to providers. i can tell you this, that the department of public health, as a health care provider, has vaccinated

more than 6,000 people. most frontline acute care staff at zuckerberg san francisco hospital and laguna honda have been vaccinated, and nearly all paramedics and e.m.t.s have been offered the vaccine. and after today, over 90% of the residents at laguna honda will have received the first dose of the pfizer vaccine. that is great news. given the limited initial supply of covid-19 vaccine, the state has developed a phase approach for which group of people will get the vaccine and when. the first phase, the phase we are in now, defined by the state as phase 1a, prioritizes those workers in health care settings most likely to be exposed to the virus, and most needed to support our health care system. in san francisco, that is

estimated to be over 80,000 health care workers, including nurses, doctors, technicians, environmental service workers, nutrition service workers, e.m.t.s, paramedics, and many, many others. the majority of these workers are being vaccinated by their employer, whether it be the health department, c.p. m. c., ucsf, kaiser, and so far. we are waiting for the state to finalize the next phase, which is proposed to include frontline essential workers, such as public safety, grocery workers, teachers, and those over the age of 75. and we are working with the city's health care providers and pharmacies to scale up vaccine delivery. since the federal and state government are distributing vaccine directly to health care providers, these

partnerships are vital to our collective success locally, as a region, and across the state. we are discussing with our health partners ways to increase vaccination capacity. our goal is to ensure that vaccination is provided to as many people as possible, and as soon as we get vaccine. this is an unprecedented undertaking, the mass vaccination of the entire nation to end the pandemic. we are working hard, but right now vaccine supply remains limited, and many questions remain unanswered with regard to how soon vaccines supplies will meet demand. but please know, and we expect, that everyone who wants a vaccine will get one eventually, and we will work together, as we have done throughout this pandemic, to make this

happen. while we planned for the availability of the vaccine, we still must make a difference in this current surge by supporting each other and continuing to make good and smart choices that we know slow the spread of the virus, such as wearing a mask over both your nose and your mouth when you go outside, avoiding gatherings outside of your immediate household, and physically distancing whenever possible. as we start this new year, nearly 12 months into this pandemic, believe me, i'm counting the days, let's remember that our collective actions have changed the course of the virus in march and july. we can, and we will, do it again. thank you. >> thank you, mayor breed, dr. adler, and dr. colfax.

before we start the "q" and "a," we're going to take a moment for our reporters to submit questions on webex. we'll be right back. >> dr. colfax, are you ready? >> doctor: i'm ready, hello. >> dr. colfax, your first set of questions comes from various news outlets. california has six confirmed cases of the new coronavirus strain. which strain is more contagious and severe, and is there any new and detailed plan to stop spreading the strain. and there is a followup question: how can san

francisco track the possible new strain? >> doctor: so when you're referring to the -- >> the u.k. >> doctor: -- the u.k. strain, we know that the u.k. strain now is responsible for the majority of infections in the u.k., and, as we know, it has been detected across many parts of this country. we have not yet detected the new strain here in san francisco, but it certainly would not be surprising if and when it does get detected. and a number of laboratories, including at ucsf are genotyping of the virus, a select sample, to determine if and when this strain does show up. unfortunately, there is not a lot of capacity to do that, so only a very small member of samples are sent to la laboratories

for this sub-typing, but we would not be surprised if and when it is detected in san francisco or in the region. a couple of things about the virus: while it does appear to be more transmissible than other variants of the virus, it does not appear to be more lethal. and there is no reason at this time to believe that it is somehow resistant to the vaccine. and i think, most importantly, for people going about their lives right now, it just reinforces the need for us to practice those prevention activities, to wear a mask over both your nose and your mouth, to physically distance, and, again, not to gather because with more virus out there than ever before, and with the likelihood that this variant is out there, the things that we may have done in the past that we avoided getting infected, those activities are much more risky now.

>> thank you, dr. colfax. the next set of questions also come from multiple news outlets. why does san francisco have so much more i.c.u. availability than the regional average? even some counties that have had similar public health responses. and the followup is: could you expand on what you said about san francisco's i.c.u. capacity potentially dropping because of needs across the state? >> doctor: sure. i think right now our i.c.u. capacity is really good shape compared to certainly the rest of the state, for a number of factors. primarily, we have as a community so far weathered the worst of surges, so we don't have as many people proportionately in our hospital system because of covid-19 because of all of the efforts we have

invested and the sacrifices we have made. the other key piece right now is seasonally, during the holidays and right after the holidays, there are generally fewer people in the hospital for elective surgeries and so forth, and so we have more hospital capacity for that reason as well. and we have been working very hard with our hospital partners in the city to ensure that i.c.u. capacity is maintained as much as possible. with regard to that i.c.u. capacity being used for other -- for people in need across the state, and even, indeed, across the region, there is a statewide system by which hospitals, regions, can ask for assistance to transfer patients when they run out of capacity, to transfer patients into another jurisdiction. right now, for instance, we have more patients in

our i.c.u.s across the city who are from outside of san francisco. and while we have care available and people need care, it is the moral and ethical and right thing to do to provide that care when asked and when needed. and, again, we are watching that number very careful -- our capacity very carefully because as the central and southern part of the state continue to experience catastrophic situations, and as the region has fewer i.c.u. beds, we would expect our local i.c.u. bed capacity to start going down as well. obviously, i hope that doesn't happen, but it certainly is plausible at this time. >> thank you, dr. colfax. the next set of questions, again, come from various outlets. and it's a two-part question. how many vaccine doses has san francisco received from the state, and of

those, how many doses have been administered. and a followup: how often is san francisco receiving vaccine doses? >> doctor: so dr. adler mentioned the multi-county entities, kaiser, and others are receiving the vaccine allocated by the state. we don't have those numbers. right now the state is working on data systems to have that visibility, but i don't have those numbers, unfortunately, available. they have not been made available to us. i know the state is working very hard to get those numbers to local jurisdictions. what i can tell you is that the health department has distributed -- has -- has delivered 6,000 vaccines to people in our system, the frontline

workers at zuck ber zuckerberg hospital, and our e.m.t.s, and others. so we are distributed 6,000 vaccines. d.p.h. received 30,000 vaccines that were distributed to these other entities across the city. after that, the state switched to the small county entities distribution system, and we do not have those numbers available at this time. >> thank you. again, the next question is from various news outlets. has san francisco hospitals had any excess supply of vaccines? and if so, how have they determined how to distribute them? >> doctor: well, i wish that were the case. i can say we are pushing vaccines out into arms as quickly as possible. i know all of the entities

in the city are doing that. that has not been an issue. we're getting vaccines into arms, and certainly demand for the vaccine far outweighs supply. and we are working with our county partners to scale up vaccine distribution as quickly as possible, so that we will be ready when more vaccine comes. again, right now the demand far outweighs the supply. we are still in the phase 1a, and as required by the state, that phase 1a tier, we estimate that is over 80,000 people who live or work in san francisco who need vaccines. this is, remember, the first dose. we're just starting the second doses this week. >> thank you. this question from various news outlets: what are the city's plans for administering the vaccine to san francisco's immigrant community and people who are undocumented? >> doctor: so vaccines

will, most likely, be distributed through health care providers. and we will be doing extensive outreach with health care providers, through media, through trusted community partners, community stakeholders, community-based organizations, to let people know that vaccine is available. as you know in san francisco, we have a robust health care system. anyone, regardless of immigration status, receives top-quality care, including at the health department, and we are working very, very hard with stakeholders in communities, including immigrant communities, to ensure that people understand about the vaccine, and that people are able to -- will be able to access vaccine when it is available. >> thank you. the next question comes from multiple news outets. new york city is setting up mass vaccination sites

and its five boroughs to avoid delays in getting people vaccinated. is that possible in san francisco? >> doctor: so there have been no delays in getting people vaccinated. the demand far outweighs the supply. we are working with our health care providers, who we expect will be receiving the majority of the vaccines, kaiser, which as we know, covers many, many people, dignity health, and of course, here at the health department, to explore whether we can -- whether the vaccine will be more rapidly distributed and made available to people through these types of mass vaccination sites. and we are working with them to ensure that, again, the vaccine gets into as many arms as quickly as possible. our goal is to make sure that vaccine is not sitting in the freezer, and that as soon as the feds and the sat supply vaccine to local

jurisdictions, to health care entities in san francisco, that we get it into as many arms as possible. >> thank you. the next set of questions come from multiple outlets: how will san francisco determine who will be next in line for vaccines? and is san francisco taking any covid-19 patients from outside the county and/or region? >> doctor: so i will answer that second question first. as i said, there are four patients who are transferred from -- that we know of that are transferred from outside of san francisco in our current hospital systems across the city. so that total is four. with regards to determining who goes next for the vaccine, we are required to follow the state recommendations. again, we are in that phase 1a, and we are waiting for the state to

finalize 1b, which includes essential workers and people 75 and over. and it is anticipated there will be a phase 1c, and we will following the state guidelines in terms of prioritizing those populations for vaccine. >> thank you. and, dr. colfax, your final question from the day, from various news outlets: what is the current situation with infections at laguna honda, prior to vaccinations? >> doctor: so i think the really great news is that vaccinations started yesterday for residents at laguna honda. over 300 were vaccinated. we expect vaccinations to be completed by tomorrow. right now we have 15 laguna honda residents who have been diagnosed with covid-19, and we have 34 staff who were diagnosed. >> thank you, dr. colfax,

for your time today. this concludes today's press conference. we want to thank mayor breed, dr. adler, and yourself, dr. colfax, for your time. for future questions...

my name is doctor ellen

moffett, i am an assistant medical examiner for the city and county of san francisco. i perform autopsy, review medical records and write reports. also integrate other sorts of testing data to determine cause and manner of death. i have been here at this facility since i moved here in november, and previous to that at the old facility. i was worried when we moved here that because this building is so much larger that i wouldn't see people every day. i would miss my personal interactions with the other employees, but that hasn't been the case. this building is very nice. we have lovely autopsy tables and i do get to go upstairs and down stairs several times a day to see everyone else i work with. we have a bond like any other group of employees that work for a specific agency in san

francisco. we work closely on each case to determine the best cause of death, and we also interact with family members of the diseased. that brings us closer together also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone callsness with that particular death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their

lives delivering the worst news they could get. i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the toxicologist supervisor. we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological

substances. i oversee all of the lab operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene. a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or countries don't have the resources and don't have the

beautiful building and the equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called out of the office to go to various portions of the city to investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only handled minimal components then it was turned over to the coroner or the detective

division. i am intrigued with those types of calls. i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family. older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it. if from is a child involved or things like that. i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the

medical examiners office. whawhat do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the a with the enou- with the administrative and the families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i didn't want to be a doctor and didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about

forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened, anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood television show. >> families say thank you for what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job.

if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for the city of san francisco. good morning. the meeting will come to order. welcome to the thursday, januarf government audit and oversight. i am gordon mar, chair. joined by committee member matt haney and gordon peskin. do you have any announcements, mr. clerk? >> yes, thank you. to protect board members, city employees and public the board of supervisors chamber and committee room are closed.