>> i'm kate new director of the office of economic and workforce development. i want to welcome our mayor to

make some opening comments. >> thank you, kate, i'm excited to be here in the mission with your supervisor, hilary ronen, and your new assessor recorder jaoquin torez, who was really an important part to helping deal with the challenges around our economic and workforce development which is the position that indicate now holds and he jumped into action because he knew so many businesses here and they would struggle. in the beginning we waved a lot of fees and we tried to provide grants and loans to small businesses but it was not enough

and it was challenging. so many people had to shut down and many struggled with getting access to ppp and ppp before the protection of their employees and when i think about the vibe antsy of san francisco and this pandemic set us back. we are here today you sacrifice so much it was hard but now that which beginning to reopen and that light we keep talking about is here to so those cases and

and our small and it's time to reopen and folks to get back to shopping in these corridors, going to these cafes. and really enjoying this city like never. i don't know about you but now, when i go out, into the neighborhoods, when i go to my dry-cleaner, i'm like hey, sammy! it's good to see you! you with go and go to the different place us go to and people just feel good and so many businesses have closed temporarily but they've closed permanently and since the beginning of this pandemic, this city has given out about 3,000 buses over $52 million and we waved fees, we come up with creative solutions, but we know there's a lot of people in san francisco who depend on this

economy to survive and so now, because thank you to supervisors and there's a lot of money and they weren't able to open so the business recovery act ha is part of we making it easier for these store fonts for businesses to open in san francisco and it should not be so difficult to be able to do business in the city and working with the supervisors, there was a great for the next year and for those people who are trying to start businesses and we don't have necessarily the capital to invest but we're trying to make it easier by waving some of the

city fees, dealing with the you're ok ra see and cutting the red tape and allowing people to go into business in san francisco. and it should not be hard. and also these great shared spaces. this program is all permanent. now i know there's people explaining about parking, but there's muni lines and thank you, thank you. there's muni lines and there's drop-off points and let's make sure we're taking our seniors and taking care of them. ultimately the city is alive again and it feels so good. so what is the next step. there are businesses out here who just need a little bit to get over that hump. they have back rent they owe, they have employees they owe, they have pg&e they need to pay, they have a water system or they

may need to remodel. there are expenses and in order to ensure every is providing grants is also critical to making sure we give folks just a little bit of that boost in order to ensure their success and today, i'm excited we are giving $10,000 grants to four anchor businesses of this community. [applause] >> this is just a step part of making sure they thrive has everything to do with the people who live and visit this community and you have to support these coffee shops, you have to support these businesses, you have to make sure that you are not order interesting amazon anymore because we have hardware stores and other places and look, if they don't have it they'll order

and get it in for you you just have to be patient. this new generation is like a generation that needs instantaneous satisfaction, i need my hair clip now! do whatever you to continue your espy you help with job opportunities and pay their mortgage or rent and all the things that come with living in an expensive city like san francisco so congratulations we'll be giving out those grants today so you can know who those businesses are and so that after we're done with this press conference, you can go and shop at those. i want to introduce hilary

ronen. >> can we give a big round of applause to our mayor, so has done so much for small businesses than any mayor before her. she is taking action and i appreciate who has she a pointed not once but twice to run our office of economic and workforce development first jaoquin torez a beloved leader this this community. thank you for all you did early on. and now kate who knows about what it means to run a small business in this city and will put small businesses first and for most and give a couple of shout outs to i say knows every

single business. their owners and their kids and their economic situations and she spent more time on this street than anyone i know and we love you for it. thank you so much. and susana rojas, thank you so much for all your work and i want to call out all these people because it really does take a village to support small business community and these days the amazon has changed the way that we buy and think about goods and services we are losing the very thing that makes our

community. when you see all the murals and the amazing arts and gifts and you go and you have a cup of coffee and you go the family-run business and their kids and when they're graduating college and this what makes san francisco special and we're not the type of city that has a chain store on every corner, we love our small businesses and they're usually much run by immigrants and women and families and people of color and it's incumbent like the mayor said to wait those two extra days and to shop we want to keep them safe and the more people walking around, the more vibrant they are and the safer they are to please, do your part. the city is certainly doing our

part with a small business recovery act, the vacancy tax, the shared spaces program. the first year free for new businesses. we're doing everything in our power to make it easier and run and operate a business in the city as we should be again thank you so much to the mayor for her leadership on that and thank you so much and congratulations to all our amazing businesses that are being awarded. tease well deserved grants today. >> there was a shortage at the beginning of this pandemic. >> why don't we have our businesses come up.

>> so, we have connie rivera and she's the owner of the business right behind us here. and congratulations. >> good afternoon, everyone.

i wanted to say thank you to the mayor for all the hard work i do and thinking about small businesses. which really need it. i wanted to say a lot of words but i can't. i just wanted to say thank you. thank you for all the staff for working, for making it possible for choosing us, we really need it in these hard times. i wanted to share something today. when i asked my little boy to come and i say, come to the business and i say, come on, the mayor is coming. and he is like what! and he said yeah, and he said for what? guess what, we getting an award for $10,000 and he was so excite the and he was like yeah, mom

ma, now we can buy a house. i said really. ok, no, you can take me to l.a. to disney! and i said no, forget it. that check is going to my landlord. anyway, i wanted to thank you and thank my landlord for the patience with us and god bless him, god bless all the nice landlords that we have around. without them, we couldn't still hear. he didn't give me mental stress. i went into depression knowing i had to close my business. i had to close another business on 24th street during the pandemic because i couldn't afford it and i couldn't pay so he invest a lot in that business

and we still owe money. thank you, very much. god bless, everyone. please, i want to tell i, look, i sell this, this is what my business represents. let's keep the culture alive. all cultures are beautiful! come support local business! don't make the amazon richer because he already become more richer than anybody else. so, please, come support local business. thank you! bless you. next i'd like to call up carmen, owner of a bakery.

>> hello. thank you, very much, everybody. especially to the mayor. especially one person very special to me diana. [applause] they help me to put my application through and it was a favor to me because i didn't

know too much on the internet and i had to get involved and when i got the e-mail, i was really happy to learn how to read my e-mail. it made me cry and i called diana and i said this is true, dianne. i think his son douglas to help me to put my papers through and everything that seeing the mayor and what you say is true is true and we've been getting a lot and touchdowns good and and that is it. thank you, thank you.

>> up next, the beloved cafe. can i call out amy. and anna. >> my name is amy and i'm here with my husband and our manager and it's been just support from the whole community and this whole time through the pandemic and we couldn't have it done without the amazing support of our team and i just so grateful

for all of their hard work and care and compassion and just diligence and i think that everybody has been under a lot of tremendous stress all year long and to have people by you are side diligent and willing to serve the community and that's what we're here inform i think my husband also wants to say something. i just want to say you know, during this pandemic, we also were working hard to raise money and also serve frontline workers and keep serving and employ people. >> i'm so honored and privileged to live in such a vibrant city in a live city. mull' cultural and everyone comes work together and your so many honored be led by this amazing leader london brow and helping us out for the next

pandemic and we did a lot of everyday to stay alive and help frontline workers and the communities and we serve the community and we're passion to serve to service and also it's in our most inter part of my heart is to see everybody come alive. this city is so powerful and no one city of love, city of connection so we want to bring all the people back again and we want to make these people feel alive again in this city and this vibrant, amazing city of san francisco and so, we are people of the city and we are the people that are going to make it happen, going through this and making it really vibrant city again so thank you, everybody. and at the same time, our feelings for all the businesses, yes, we're pre privileged and thankful. i think about everybody in the city. how we can actually share this help and love with everybody. sol, please, i'm come and support the local businesses and

yes, make it happen together. thank you, everybody. >> is there anything you want to say? >> thank you, diana and everybody thank you. >> all right. >> all right. last and certainly not least we have tamos cafe! [applause]

good afternoon. i'm the owner of the cafe and i've been in business for seven years. it's been very hard year for us since the pandemic started. we've been having hard time finding employees. the business went down and i really appreciate and thank you, thank the mayor for all her help and support for the small businesses. i mean, each help and support forever small businesses will make us a life and it will make us run the business with

positive attitudes and i really would like to thank the community also for their support and their help and being there for us. i close my shop for a month and a half and when i open everyone was coming to my shop so happy and excited and they said we like to be in business and we like to support you so without the community, without the mayor's help and the supervisor and diana's help we couldn't make it and i like also to share with you the money i got today and their word and i really thank you for all this and i appreciate it and it's going to my shop. i need to hire more employees. i'm doing remodeling at the shop and just to make it running and it looks good for the community

and i really thank you all for all your help and support and thank you for everybody you do for us. thank you. >> ta lino task force and everyone working for the organizations around here in the mission community and we have a lot of tremendous for my mother and thank you for everything and what a beautiful day to promote the grants and thank you. >> thank you. >> the last thing i want to say and one of the things we do a lot for businesses and a lot of loans and a lot of low interest loans and fee waivers but we hear from so many businesses these grants make a difference and with give to sf that we started at the beginning of the pandemic, when the private sectors and it makes it possible

for us to forgive some of those loans and we've been able to do as we reopen, the city will make its comments and ultimately these grants make the biggest impact because these businesses can't make up those lost revenues for the past year, if you do hair, you wouldn't get money back that you lost over the pandemic from getting your hair cun, because people are going to go back to their regular schedule of getting your hair done, right. or your nails and your toes, i know because that's something that i really missed during the pandemic. the fact is, there's month makep for that. how do we ensure these businesses stay hope and thrive. we try to provide as much money that they don't have to pay back as possible. to all of you out there, you see

this and you want to help and no dollar amount is too small. give to sf is a program we started and the supervisor, ronen and i worked really hard on getting those small and large contributions to the communities so, you see this and i can't help but get emotional and think about the fact that there's still rent, even with this there's still rent to pay and are there kids who families can't take them to disney land or can't take them on these great trips because they have a business to run and they have to put all of their resources into survive, into food, into school clothes and into all the challenges that exist when you, again, live in an expensive city like san francisco. we'll do what we can to try and get as much resources in the hands of our small businesses and i want all san franciscans to do everything they can too up lift these businesses and we appreciate you all being here

today and i do not want to go to a point where we are shut down again because if we have to go there, guess who suffers the most. our low income families so let's keep each other safe like we did during this pandemic. we did an incredible job. the sun is always shining in the mission and so let's continue to support, up lift one another, support our small businesses, thank you all so much for being here today. and finally let's get a group picture with all the grantees.

>> we hope we can learn more about the current state of covid-19 variant cases and others. let's get through the

housekeeping and get started. recording. today's event is being recorded and being live streamed on facebook on facebook, sfgovtv, comcast 26, and cable 26. we respect all in this meeting, and want to create a safe space for all. all video will be disabled. video will be on for speaker only. the asl interpreter will be on for the duration of this event. to view the asl interpreter during the slide presentation, please click on view button at the upper right hand portion of your screen and click on slide

view. you can also switch from one slide to the other. once the slide comes on, switch to speaker view media. we are prioritizing questions from members of the public during q&a. media are welcome to follow up with additional questions they have -- thank you very much for joining us. now i would like to hand it over to d.p.h. director of public affairs katy tang. >> thank you very muc and thank you for attending this webinar. as covid-19 is circulating out

there, we know there's questions from many of you. so with that said, i'm going to invite dr. colfax to begin his presentation for all of you, but we will reserve a bulk of the time for q&a. so with that, dr. colfax. >> i thank you, katy, and good afternoon, everybody. it's really good to be here and prioritize where we are with regard to covid-19 in our city. thank you, everybody, for joining. looking forward to questions and some discussion. we have some slides that i'll be presenting to let you know where things stand, and i know that this pandemic is creating greater challenges within our community. next slide, please. so as of today, we have over

41,000 cases of covid-19 diagnosed in our city, and we have 565 deaths. we are now in a fourth surge, and you can see that we now have an average of about 235 cases a day, and unfortunately, we are seeing another surge in hospitalizations as of august 1 with 97 people in the hospital. san francisco has done a great job of vaccinating people, and again, thank you for your collective efforts in supporting vaccination. it is our ticket out of the pandemic. 70% of everyone in san francisco has been vaccinated, and that includes, in that calculation, people who are under 12 who, as you know, are not eligible for vaccine yet. total number of vaccines yet, you can see 667,000.

84% of people 12 and older, people who have received at least one dose, and 78% of people 12 and over have completed their vaccine period. so this is remarkable. this is one of the highest, if not the highest jurisdiction of any urban jurisdiction in the united states, and because of this work, and because of what people have done in terms of getting vaccinated, while this fourth surge will present challenges, we are in a much better place, and we will have many fewer deaths as a result of this vaccine coverage. next slide. so on the next slide is the seven-day rolling average of cases, which is 235.

in our winter surge, we peaked at 378. you can see the curve is step and almost vertical. this is because the delta variant is raging through our city, especially among those who remain unvaccinated. we are seeing increases across the world. you see here from the new york times the increase in cases across the globe, and as i already mentioned, going back to the local situation, we have nearly 100 people in the hospital and are tracking those hospitalizations very closely. next slide. in terms of our case rate, so

this is our case rates. this rapid increase, really attributable to the delta virus -- delta variant, excuse me, and the fact that we have reopened much of the city, so therefore, there's more activity. so the combination of these factors are what's driving this increase. next slide. so if there's any change in the current rate of vaccine uptake, and there's no change in san francisco's current contact rate, which is how much we're interacting with the public and each other, then we project the

following, and these are just projections. the current surge would end with 257 additional covid deaths in san francisco. and with that last bullet, just to emphasize, the vast majority would be among people who are not fully vaccinated, and with vaccines, 90 to 95% of these deaths are preventible. next slide. as we've seen throughout the pandemic, covid-19 is having a disproportionate impact on different neighborhoods in the city. in this case, higher rates in the southeastern part of the city. the more the blue shade on this map, the higher the

concentration in the city. so you see mission, tenderloin in particular have high rates. so this is, again, something that we've seen throughout the pandemic, which is why during the pandemic, working with community partners, we at d.p.h. have focused our efforts at testing, vaccine efforts, prevention services in neighborhoods most affected. next slide. so there's been a lot of talk about the delta variants, variants in general during the pandemic. i've used the term several times already during this presentation, so just to be explicit, what is a variant? so viruses constantly change, and this is a normal process of the virus. a variant is a virus that

contains changes different from the parent. some viruses have an advantage over the parent and persist or become more common, so this is basic virology, where a virus adapts. through active genomic surveillance, scientists can identify variants that are concerning, requiring further study, and precautions. public health becomes concerned about a variant when it affects covid-19 transmission, severity, treatment, or

effectiveness. we're now focusing on the delta variant, which we believe accounts for 95% of cases in san francisco, is far more transmissible than the original variant, and the clinical research scientists are determining other factors. so the main way to fight the virus is to reduce transmission, so the virus cannot mutate if it's not reproducing, so this is another reason that vaccination is so key. the faster locally, nationally, and globally we get more people vaccinated, the less likely the

virus will be able to infect more hosts, and the more likely it will be that we will be able to slow the spread of the virus. and again, as i've already said, the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths due to covid-19 are among the unvaccinated here and across the country. so vaccines are highly effective. they are incredibly effective, but breakthrough cases are

possible. but the vaccines are working. they are effective in preventing transmission of covid-19 to totally vaccinated people, and even better, they are effective at reducing hospitalization and death due to covid-19. and, really, you know, i've said this before, it could be the difference -- if you get covid-19 and you're not vaccinated, if you're fully vaccinated versus not vaccinated -- so if you're fully vaccinated versus not vaccinated, it could be the difference between getting a case of the sniffles versus

suffocation and having to go into the hospital with covid-19. i say it's the difference between spending a few days in your bed at home and weeks in the i.c.u. at a hospital. this is not to be taken lightly. these vaccines are life saving and can keep you out of the hospital, and, of course, prevent death. here, an over eight-fold difference, eight times more likely to be hospitalized if you are not fully vaccinated

for covid-19. look at this difference between these two bars. incredible difference showing the effectiveness of these vaccines at the local level. next slide. so i also wanted to touch base on the indoor masking order that our san francisco public [inaudible] issued on august 3, requiring masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. this is an effort that aligns with c.d.c. guidance to reduce transmission of covid-19 and everyone due to the widespread covid-19 delta variant.

so, you know, this delta variant is really covid is steroids, which is why vaccinations are so important, but also protecting ourselves and each other, reducing the rate of transmission by requiring us all to wear a mask in public places will protect everyone, particularly the unvaccinated or those who have not received a vaccine and can help them get protected by availing themselves to a shot. there's lots of resources here. we are really focusing the health department on the most vulnerable communities to covid-19, reaching out to ensure that people have the right information, the correct information and particularly about the vaccines.

know there's a lot of myths out there and misperceptions. we are out there making vaccine available as much as possible. in addition there's information where people can get tested, and for people who want to delve deep into the data, you can see the links to our data and reports. and finally, just to emphasize for further information about covid, the state web side and the c.d.c. -- website and the c.d.c. websites are here to view at your leisure. and i believe that's the end of presentation, and we'll have some question-and-answer now. katy, i'll turn it back to you. >> thank you, dr. colfax, and if you do have questions, please continue to send them through the chat. we also wanted to welcome two of our incredible community liaisons who have been deployed as what we call disaster

service workers throughout the response. these are individuals who have worked in different city departments, and we have called on them to assist with all that's required during this pandemic and want to thank and acknowledge everyone who has been part of that. so today, we have [inaudible] bryant, who normally works at sfmta. has been doing a lot of outreach in the community, and jessica medina, who is also assigned at department of emergency management and has been doing a lot of work. i'll start with [inaudible]. they have been hearing many questions in the community as they've been doing outreach, so we asked them to relay some of those questions with us today, so we'll start with alfini. >> hello. good afternoon, everyone. the first question that's come in from the community is why is the delta variant so deadly, and why is it so contagious

compared to the original strain? >> so can you hear me now? so thank you for the question, and it's a really important one to answer as quickly as possible. we know that the variant is much more contagious than the virus we were dealing with before. as we said, it's covid on steroids, and basically, the virus has mutated so it allows the virus to bind better to our cells in our body. so basically, it has created a way to bind even more tightly to our cells and do it more quickly to infect us. so that's the key reason why delta is so concerning right now. the -- in terms of its causing

more severe disease, there's increasing evidence that it's not only more infectious, but if you get it, you are more likely to have severe illness. that is not concluesive yet, but in talking to our ucsf clinicians and doctors there, there are emerging -- there is emerging evidence that that is the case, and unfortunately, that trend is what we're seeing locally. so it's a series of mutations that allows the virus to enter our bodies more quickly and easily than the prior virus, and then a series of mutations that are causing the virus to create more -- potentially more serious disease. >> okay. thank you for that. jessica? >> thank you, dr. colfax. another question i have is

regarding testing. we're starting to see a lot more people getting tested for covid-19. is the city going to ramp up testing again, especially that the mass testing sites have been closed? >> yes. so we ramped up testing dramatically in both at our al -- alemany sites and [inaudible] and at this point, that increase in demand has not decreased in supply. we are working with our partners and across our health care system partners, kaiser,

ucsf, sutter, and so forth, to expand testing. people who have health care providers are experiencing some delays both in getting some appointments and some delays in getting test results back, so we're working to mitigate that as much as possible. we're also working to access home test kits, which we haven't had in prior times, to help people get rapidly tested. but we acknowledge that testing demand is increasing and, again, are working hard to expand testing options, testing hours for people so that people can get tested when they need to. >> okay. great. next, we'll go back to fini. >> okay. thanks for that. why do some people who are

vaccinated experience symptoms and are being hospitalized despite the small numbers? >> yeah, so i think it's important to look at the broader numbers in san francisco. there are going to be some breakthrough infections, and especially with delta, there are going to be some breakthrough infections. when we talk about breakthrough infections, there are people who, where virus is detected, they don't have any symptoms, but their test would be positive. and then, there are some who have mild to moderate symptoms. but we've all heard of people who got -- did what they were asked to do, stepped up, got full vaccine doses, and they got pretty sick due to covid-19. and, you know, this is the fact that if they hadn't gotten the vaccine, it's highly likely that they'd be more sick, right? possibly in the i.c.u. and possibly to the extent that they could have died, so i

think we just need to look at the numbers and look at the -- the rate of infection and severe infections, and as we keep emphasizing, if people are fully vaccinated, the likelihood of their getting severe illness, the likelihood of getting hospitalized is reduced dramatically, reduced dramatically. i know people who have gotten pretty sick who have gotten fully vaccinated, but we just need to look at the facts, and right now, the facts are because so many people in san francisco are fully vaccinated, many, many fewer people are also going to get sick. and the fact is, with delta here, it's important, if you're not fully vaccinated, to get fully vaccinated. and if you get covid-19, it is incredibly likely that it will keep you out of the hospital.

>> thank you. next question? >> my next question is what is the general guidance with regard to testing currently? what about isolation and quarantine resources if people test positive? >> yeah, so, you know, in terms of getting tested, if you're -- for the -- there are a lot of different circumstances, so i won't go into those details, except to say certainly, if you have symptoms that are consistent with covid-19, you should get tested whether or not you have been fully vaccinated, so really important, and if you are symptomatic, it's important to wear a mask indoors, even if private settings, until you get that tests. in terms of quarantine, people should quarantine until they

get the result of that test as much as possible and isolate for -- for the vast majority of people, isolate if they've had a positive test for at least ten days until they don't have any symptoms. we can continue to provide isolation and quarantine support for people. in some cases, this would mean support -- it's a place where the person is living, providing support for families, resources, or providing a spot where they could go isolate or quarantine as necessary. and at the same time, we do not have the level of isolation and quarantine hotels that we had for these last three surges, so we're continuing to work with community members and others to ensure that we're prioritizing the isolation and quarantine

resources that we do have for the people who are most vulnerable, for the people who don't have another way of managing isolation and quarantine, and again, focusing on providing support for people in other ways so that they can isolate and quarantine as much as possible. >> all right. next question, fini? >> how [inaudible] is the covid-19 vaccine in the long haul? people are scared of the variant, but some people are more scared of the vaccine and the long-term effects, as well? >> yeah, i've heard that concern, and i talk to people about it. so the covid vaccines were developed and approved quickly, which is actually a great thing because they're our way out of this pandemic. but i also think that while the vaccines were developed quickly, it's important to

remember scientists have been studying these covid viruses for over 50 years, half a century. so the science that really drove how it developed has been in existence for many, many years, and this was done quickly because there was an unprecedented support in investment in this scientific research. so right now in the world, the vaccine has been distributed to millions and millions of people, and they are safe and highly effective. you know, we obviously don't know, ten years out from now, what the effects will be, but all of the indications are that these vaccines are safe, and the long-term risks of covid-19 far outweigh the theoretical

risk of any side effects of these vaccines, so just to emphasize that. now, there's also this concern about if i -- when i get a shot, especially if i get a second shot, i get symptoms, i feel fatigued, i feel sore. with the second shot, my arm really hurt for the day. the second day, i had symptoms. you feel achy or like you have a bad case of a cold. it's not a pleasant situation, but believe me, the symptoms of covid-19 are far worse than from these vaccines. so they're just -- there are also a lot of i think myths out there that are on social immediatea and so forth, you know, the vaccines affecting

your re -- media and so forth, you know, the vaccines affecting your reproductive system and so forth. that is not the case. all the experts who specialize in reproductive health are recommending that people get these vaccines. in fact, there was just a study out yesterday that shows for -- unfortunately, for pregnant women who didn't get the vaccine, they were more likely to have their babies early, and the babies were what we call preterm babies, so that was a very negative effect of covid-19. the benefits of these vaccines far outweigh the bad sides, but we all know someone who got the shot and got sicker than they thought, or my brother got the

shot and had an asthma attack a week or two weeks later, and it was, like, did that cause my asthma? no. >> thank you for that. and the last question from jessica? >> the last question is [inaudible] should they then test again. >> so, again, this is this is a situation where they're fully vaccinated and tested positive, basically, you need to isolate for the ten days until -- until you don't have symptoms, assuming you don't have any symptoms after ten days, and

there's no further recommendation to get retested again, and if you do get symptoms similar to covid-19 after that again, the best thing to do is to talk directly to your health care provider. but in general, there's no reason to get tested after the ten days after -- from the day of your positive test. so the most important thing is if you do test positive, to isolate, to wear the mask, and for goodness sake, if you have friends and family that haven't been vaccinated yet, get them vaccinated -- support them getting vaccinated, i should say. >> all right. thank you so much to jessica and fini for all of your work in the community, as you've heard many similar questions that they all have that they've been fielding in the community, so thank you, fini and jessica.

so now, i'm going to get to some of the questions that you've put in the chat. i don't think i'm going to be able to get to one of them, but i'm going to try to combine similar subjects. one thing that has been asked is will the city shutdown again, and will the city take any further efforts to reduce transmission, such as closing restaurants, bars, gyms, or any other place with high risk settings, and do we anticipate going back to the tiered shutdown? so all of these questions have to do with a shutdown? >> so we have no plans to quote, unquote, shutdown the city again. i think we are going to mitigate the virus in ways that allow us to resume the activities that we missed so much and love while also trying to slow the spread of the virus and prevent the most serious

consequences, hospitalizations and, of course, death. so vaccines are key to this. as i said multiple times here today already, they are key along with people wearing masks indoors. they are not as effective as vaccines, but they are another tool that works to slow the spread of the virus. the other thing that we're doing is mandating vaccines in certain settings, including in health care settings, and i think as people know, the city as a whole, the city is requiring employees across departments to become vaccinated, so there is effort to make the vaccine as

available as possible. we will bring the vaccine to you. in your house, if you have five or more people ready to get vaccinated, we can make that happen. and the other thing is now that we've made it as easy for people to get vaccinated, we support efforts for people not getting vaccinated. we support requirements for vaccine. a lot of businesses are requiring to show proof of vaccine status.

>> we're seeing a lot of questions in the chat about boosters and booster shots, so i'm just going to combine some of the questions here. what are the cost-benefit analysis to get a booster shot if they're ready to get vaccinated? how effective is the pfizer and moderna vaccine against the variant, and what's the criteria if someone wants to get a supplemental shot? they've read the news about sfdph affiliated facilities accommodating those requests,

and do you recommend someone getting a shot from two different companies, so if you got a moderna, getting a shot from pfizer or johnson & johnson. so many questions, similar topics. what are your thoughts about booster shots? >> i'm trying to hold all those topics. so a couple of things. starting with one of the questions that was in the middle there was, you know, about the second shot, whether it's from pfizer or moderna. it's just really, really important to get that second shot. there is no recommendation from any major health care body in

the united states, including the c.d.c. and the f.d.a., that people get boosters. i know there's a lot of questions, a lot of discussions about this. right now, we only need to focus on the support of people who haven't gotten vaccines to get the shot. that one shot is j&j or two shots of the moderna or pfizer vaccine. those are the current guidelines, and the health department has not changed its policy with regard to that. now there's a lot of data -- there's actually some data just out today of moderna. there's a lot of discussion around pfizer with booster shots, which would be additional shots based on evidence that people may need them. there are some countries that are exploring or planning to start booster shots in certain populations. that is not happening in the united states right now. we don't know yet.

it's entirely possible that booster shots would be recommended, but again, in the united states, that's not the case. now there has been some publicity about a comment that the health department made, which is giving -- if people who receive the johnson & johnson vaccine, which is a good vaccine, request an additional shot with a pfizer or moderna vaccine, that we will accommodate that, but it hasn't been a change in our policy. but if people have talked to their health care provider and say, you know, i'd really like to have an mrna shot in addition to the johnson & johnson shot that i got, we will accommodate that, but we are accommodating that because we heard from communities that people were concerned that they were requesting it.

we wanted to be responsive, and we wanted to accommodate what people were asking for in the -- in that regard. but it's not a change in policy, we're not recommending it, and we're not promoting it as a way for people to become more protected. >> okay. i know that's super helpful, just given all the questions rolling around that and the news coverage. question, especially with delta and other variants. you recommend upgraded respiratory protection. for example, n-95 masks for unvaccinated individuals in indoor settings, so again, this is unvaccinated individuals in indoor settings. >> yeah, what i recommended for all individuals in indoor setting is to get vaccinated. we know the masks work, but they don't work as well as the vaccines. in an indoor setting, i mean,

the more we know about them, really, it's both about getting that vaccine with delta here and, you know, if many people can't tolerate wearing an n-95 mask inside, so it's better to wear a surgical mask than certainly no mask at all. but i just -- i know that with the masking, the indoor masking mandate coming back in, that that -- that we focus our attention on masks, but i also don't want to lose sight of the fact that the vaccines are so much -- so important, so protective, and easy to get right now, so both the mask and vaccine are key to us getting out of this fourth surge.

>> okay. great. we have some questions about the new variant, the lambda variant. what do you know about the lambda variant in san francisco, and there's some questions that the lambda and epsilon variants might be vaccine resistant? >> yeah, we're working with scientists and researchers as much as we can to be responsive to further variants emerging. and i think one of the key issues that we've had across the country, in the region, and, as well, is in -- in san francisco is scaling up our ability to genotype the virus.

and thankfully, at ucsf, we have a lab that's leading the state in terms of genotyping. it's plausible that we'll see other variants emerge because we don't have high vaccine rates across the country, and we'll have to wait and see if these variants cause more illness or if they spread or are more crippling than delta. but i go back to -- i sound like a broken record -- the way to keep these variants from spreading is to get vaccinated so the variants slow down. the less people the virus is

able to infect, the more the virus slows down, and the less people we infect. the way to support all of this is to support all people getting vaccinated. >> all right. and we've gotten questions about have we seen any differences in outcomes, for example, hospitalizations, for people who have received different brands of vaccine? >> yeah. locally, i'm not aware of any differences in regard to that. >> okay. and i know we've had a series of town halls focused on youth

and children in schools, but we do have a couple questions here in terms of the delta variant specifically and its impact and everything on specifically three to five year olds. is it specifically safe to allow three to five-year-old children to not wear a mask in child care outdoors? what about the delta variant in pediatric outcomes? any sort of thought on the risk of kids under 12, so questions on covid and how the delta variant is affecting children? >> so this has come up in questions from our clinical experts, and i think it's really important to emphasize right now that the public health officers, pediatricians, feel that it's incredibly

important that we return our kids to in-person learning, and that this is thought that we can do it safely, we can do it safely, and it's so important for the health and wellness of our kids, our families, and our community. the best way that we can ensure that is for family members who are eligible for vaccines to get vaccinated. that can protect the children, and that can protect the school. and we have local data that supports that, so in the last 18 months, of the children who are found to test positive for covid-19 in the schools, all those cases were tracked back to the family, so i just think it's important for us to all do our part to support that. i was just talking to a number

of infectious disease experts at ucsf. you may have read the report from louisiana about children's hospitals being filled with children with respiratory illness. that's obviously a concern, and there's much more covid there, much more than we have locally. there's a much lower vaccination rate, somewhere in the range of 35%, compared to our 75% overall, and there's no confirmation that delta causes more disease among children. right now, the consensus is that children are expect -- you know, even if children get covid-19, that they will experience milder symptoms compared to adults. but again, as we've seen during these last 18 months, this is an evolving field and we're watching it very carefully.

but we want to support schools opening for in-person learning as much as possible. >> okay. thank you. we got a couple of questions about rapid testing and testing as soon as possible, so i don't know if you want to share anything about rapid tests? >> well, i think if people want to avail themselves of rapid testing, that's something we didn't have before, so i encourage them to use it. but i'd say to very carefully follow the instructions, and if you have questions, that you consult your health care provider, so just two important caveats to the use of home test kits, and again, they should not be a substitute for getting vaccinated. getting tested itself doesn't get you vaccinated. you can test as much as you possibly can, and it's not protecting you from the virus, right?

so, you know, if you're tested, get the vaccine. >> maybe just a follow-up question on that. if you can describe for the public quickly the difference between the rapid test and what we have traditionally had out there, where test results are sent to labs? >> yeah. well, i mean, i think there are a lot of different rapid tests out there, but basically, the rapid test allows you to get the results, you know, in as short a time as 15 minutes, and those are being used in many settings across the city and at d.p.h. we're using them at our shelters right now and certainly at our testing sites so you get that result very quickly. if you -- the traditional -- the traditional test that we used earlier, our tests that take a longer time to conduct,

and they can take a turnaround from anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. >> we had a lot of questions about the city shutting down again, but also specific events. we were planning for events to be held outdoors but with a lot of people. should we still hold them? should we cancel them? is there going to be a recommendation that people reduce participating in social gatherings indoors or suspend large gatherings? any advice you have on small outdoor private gatherings, so in general, i think the questions are along the lines i think we've talked about safety in covid areas on the spectrum, if you could share that. >> yeah, it is on a spectrum.

we know that being outdoors helps prevent the transmission of the virus, so that's key, as well, and the more people that you're engaging with, particularly inside, the greater the risk of transmission, especially if there are adults there who have not been fully vaccinated. the other piece is we know that people who are older, particularly 65 and older, people who have comorbid conditions are more likely to suffer from negative consequences from this virus, so i think we just all need to think through that and do our own risk assessment to make a determination about what we're comfortable doing.

there's a big difference between an indoor gathering of 5,000 people whose vaccine status hasn't been checked versus an outdoor gathering of 25 people who are fully vaccinated or, you know, people eating inside either in a group -- in a group setting, in a restaurant -- if they're vaccinated, and the staff are fully vaccinated, there's a big difference in that risk compared to people that are not vaccinated in that setting. so i think it's just really being attentive to your own risk, the risk of the people that you love and who are around you, and making the determination about what you're comfortable doing while supporting getting vaccines and while wearing those masks indoors. >> and so along those lines, you know, especially given the high vaccination rate of our

population, do you any insight of where you're seeing outbreaks in san francisco at least? i think you mentioned earlier, but any specific places or demographics or clusters? >> well yeah, i think we're seeing clusters in the neighborhood map -- on the neighborhood map that i showed. we're also seeing larger numbers the people in the 25 to 35-year-old age group who are not vaccinated. that's our age group in san francisco that is least likely to be vaccinated, so if any of you are 25 to 35 or no 25 to 35 year olds who aren't vaccinated yet, please support them in getting vaccinated as quickly as possible. along those lines, we are seeing, when we're asking people their activities, we're seeing more outbreaks in indoor settings, including people who

are frequenting bars, so that's another place where we're seeing more people. it's basically younger people -- there's a higher risk for younger people, 25 to 35 year olds, who have not been vaccinated, who are going indoors into crowded settings where i think mask wearing is lower than it needs to be at this time. >> all right. well, i know we received many questions, and we apologize we couldn't get to all of them, but we will try to through our messages out to the public and other venues, as well, try to get as many questions addressed in those ways. our website,

of information, as well. i will leave it with one last question. many people are wondering how we can live with this virus in the long run like with the flu, so what are your thoughts on that? >> well, it's hard to project into the future, but we have the tools that work. there's a question, if you get the vaccine, will it work against mutations? the vaccine is key to keeping us from spreading the virus and from keeping us out of more serious variants, so i just want to emphasize that. i think in terms of where we'll be in the future, hopefully,

we'll get more people vaccinated. the masking, indoor masking, will help slow the spread of this surge, and then, we'll have to see where we are in terms of the science around further vaccines and determine, you know, if and when additional shots are necessary. but i think right now, the answer -- the most important thing that we know now is that these vaccines are going to be key and that the more people we get vaccinated now, the more we will be able to mitigate and -- and control the spread of this virus in our community and prevent people from dying. these are great medicines, and the vaccines are our way out. >> all right. thank you, dr. colfax. thank you to everyone who participated in this event today -- >> and if i could just say one

more thing. you know, this has been a long 18 months, and i've said a lot about the virus. there's been a toll on our mental health, our ability to care for ourselves and our families, and in addition to getting the vaccine, please make sure that you're taking care of yourself and your families in the ways that are so important for yourself to be resilient during what is a very challenging time. sorry to cut in, katy, but i wanted to say that, and thanks, everyone. >> oh, no, thank you to you, dr. colfax, and thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to sfgovtv, as well. if you want to view this again, it'll be available on sfgovtvs

youtube channel. so thanks, everyone, and have a wonderful day. >> van ness avenue runs from market street to bay street in san francisco. south vanness runs from south of market to cesar chavez street. originally residential after the 1906 earthquake it was used as a fire break. many car dealerships and businesses exist on vanness today with expansion of bus lanes. originally marlet street was named after james vanness, seventh mayor of san francisco from 1855 to 1856. vanness heavy are streets in santa cruz, los angeles and fresno in his honor.

in 1915 streetcars started the opening of the expo. in 1950s it was removed and replaced by a tree-lined median. it was part of the central freeway from bayshore to hayes valley. it is part of uses 101. it was damaged during the 1989 earthquake. in 1992 the elevator part of the roadway was removed. it was developed into a surface boulevard. today the vanness bus rapid transit project is to have designated bus lanes service from mission. it will display the history of the city. van ness avenue.

madam secretary, will you call the role, please. >> clerk: [roll call] >> clerk: we have commissioners present. we have quorum. the department of public health and the governor mission and mayor breed have lifted restrictions on teleconferencing. this meeting is being held via teleconference. for those of you watching the live stream, please be aware of