alok patel says we need to be focused on the bigger picture. >> if we get a shot out there with 72%,. if we can turn this into an outpatient disease and keep people out of the hospital, that's still a really important step forward. >> reporter: johnson & johnson could apply for emergency use authorization within the next couple of days. the united states has ordered 100 million doses. johnson & johnson says it could meet that number by june. >>> decades ago, a protester climbed a flag pole to take down a confederate flag flying in san francisco. what were the odds we would find him now? i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,... dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who t

alok patel. dr. patel, good morning and thank you so much for joining us. the tsa reported it screened 1.2 million passengers the day after new year's day. a lot of those same people returning home and to work after the holidays. how concerning is that to you given the situation we're in right now? >> well, mona, it's very concerning. we're 30-plus days with over 100 hospitalizations in the u.s. this is likely the result of not obviously the increased traveling, but also the fact that it's winter and people are gathering indoors. we could see a surge heading into mid january. >> hospitals around the country have been overwhelmed with the spike in covid cases. with another surge expected, how can hospitals handle the steady stream of patients in need of care? >> we're already hearing reports that hospitals are coming up with protocols for how to ration care, which is really scary to think about the fact that with another surge we could be at the brink of a health care collapse in certain parts of the country. >> let's turn to the vaccine now. some doctors sa

alok patel, thank you so much for that insight. appreciate it. take care. >> thank you. >> there are so many questions about the vaccines like when can you get one, why is this process taking so long. abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez joining us live now in the newsroom and talked to an expert to help answer some of your questions. lyanne? >> larry, as you can imagine, we're getting hundreds of questions through our website. so thank you for trusting us. you know, i think every family in the bay area is searching for answers, the right answers, yet there is a lot of confusion. now we're going attempt to answer some of them. so here is our first question. can i get a covid-19 vaccine now if i'm 63 years old with previous colon cancer. well, they are still not vaccinating people with underlying conditions who are younger than 65. so here's why. they are still trying to vaccinate people who are older because they are at the absolute highest risk for dying. so unfortunately, you're going have to wait a little longer. so here is another question. why

alok patel, thanks, my friend. >> i love that quote.. >> i should let you know, today there was a push to vaccinate one of san francisco's most vulnerable communities. more than 550 residents and caretakers from the san francisco towers senior living facility received the covid-19 vaccine. residents practiced social distancing as they waited to get their shot. they say they're really looking forward to seeing their loved ones in person once again. >> it's a relief to know that at some point we're goingt asgod v. >> residents and staff will receive the second dose of the vaccine in a few weeks. abc7 news is monitoring the covid vaccine roll-out in california with our tracker at abc7news.com. so far the state has distributed less than 27% of the doses shipped here. when you compare that to the rest of the country you see california is behind most other states. arkansas is having the slowest vaccine roll-out. just 16% of available doses have been administered. the swiftest roll-out is north dakota, 73%. our vaccine tracker also shows you w

alok patel on what to expect but we discuss the hospital worker who admitting to sabotaging hundredsoses. let's begin with that disturbing story where a pharmacist was arrested for intentionally destroying 500 vials of moderna's vaccine. the story brings up concern about the handling of covid vaccines. how can we assure the public about the precautions being taken and what are some preventive measures? >> the story is concerning because of what you outlined. who is actually transporting, handling, storing and administering the vaccines and will be not only a big undertaking and infrastructure but it's also going to involve more surveillance, possibly camera work to make sure they're not being tampered with. a terrible story. >> the new variant of the coronavirus first discovered in the uk has become the predominant form of coronavirus in three months. now it's officially here in the u.s. will this new development set us back from our goal of getting to some type of normal? >> hopefully it won't set us back. now, people have to remember that viruses, especially mrna viruses like sars-

alok patel. thank you for joining us. with his inauguration days away, president-elect joe biden is doubling down on his pledge to administer 100 million covid vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office. but given the issues we've seen with vaccination, what ground work do you think has been done? >> we really have to talk about staff. i'm hearing there is a shortage of trained medical personnel all over the place. so we have to look to see if different sites can train people or get emts, dentists, national guard or anything to get those shots into arms. this is going to take more funding and better coordination so people know where to go. >> dr. patel, we see the situation varies depending on the state, but let's talk about so-called vaccine tourism, reports of people going to other states to get their shots. how much of a concern is this? >> there's an inequality between the states first and foremost. if this isn't held, if this isn't tightened up, all it's going to do is lead to a bigger disparity between those

alok patel about these headlines. the congressman who tested positive even after getting both doses of the covid vaccine. what can you tell us about this case, and should we be concerned? >> i don't think people should be concerned because, remember, the vaccines were tested to prevent symptomatic covid-19 infections. we still don't know how much they can prevent asymptomatic infections. after the first shot after about ten days, we're predicting you can get about 50% protection. after the second shot after a week you're getting 95% so it's possible this conessman got covid-19n mall window, possible asymptomatic we just need to learn more. >> some states have expand vaino of vaccine doses. as more people sign up for appointments, what advice can you give, dr. patel, or should they just hold off for now? >> well, i think it varies from state to state, but in general i feel the frustration of people who are above 65 and are waiting in line, and people are just going to have to realize they may have to wait longer as sta

alok patel. >> good morning and thank you for joining us.that disturbing story out of wisconsin where a pharmacist was arrested for intentionally destroying 500 vials of moderna's vaccine. this story brings up some concern about the handling of covid vaccines. >> i think it's going to be up to every single vaccination site to pay close attention to who is transporting, handling, storing and administering the vaccine so that the public gets assurance and people know the vaccines are not being tampered with. >> the new variant of the coronavirus first discovered in the u.k. has become the predominant form of the coronavirus there in just three months and now it's usually here in the u.s. will this new variant set us back from the goal of getting back to some type of normal? >> it could mutate like the flu or it could be like the measles. it's too early to tell. one thing that is certain is the virus behaves the same way as the other variant does. the united states needs to be on top of identifying different variants so we can get ahead of it a

alok patel. he appeared this afternoon on our program "getting answers." >> this is a multi pronged approach by the white house. and it's not just related to vaccination doses and getting them out there. there's a lot involved in terms of communication, which is going to be really important, in terms of transparency, making sure americans actually trust the national response. there's also the defense production act which is going to help with testing, ppe. there's also a real big push on making sure we're gathering enough data. there's a push to make sure different communities, communities with a lot of resources, communities with less resources, are being equally targeted. making sure they're getting the right information as well. with all this put in place, including the push for everyone to wear masks, that we will get the change we need to see. >>> this all comes as the number of new coronavirus cases is falling in california. there were over 19,000 new diagnosed cases today, the fewest we've

alok patel about why this was so important. >> and one of the biggest take homes is that those temperature checks and those symptom screening measures are not enough, and if the pandemic is really being pushed on by people who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic, then you need every single protective measure in place. >> and dr. patel says until most of the population is vaccinated, people should assume any new contact is a potential exposure to the virus. >>> and time for a look at the weather this friday. we're watching two storm systems in opposite corners of the country. the storm system in the southeast will bring heavy snow to the mountains of georgia, north carolina and virginia with rain along the coast, and the other storm is moving through the pacific northwest bringing rain and heavy mountain snow with a threat of landslides along the coast. seattle gets to 47 degrees today. 35 both in chicago and kansas city. mostly in the 40s across the east coast and 77 in miami. >>> coming up, a jumbo jackpot, the lottery fever on this friday. >>> but first, paying up. boeing agrees to a mass

alok pat patel. he received his second dose of the pfizer vaccine today in san francisco. dr. patel says the process has been well control and seamless, and he feels good enough right afterward to do a little break dancing. a bit later, though, the fatigue set in. >> i feel a little drained, for lack of a better word. one thing i want to make clear, i would not call this an adverse reaction or side effect. this is a normal immune response. my immune system is reacting to antidiesnds is nmal up to make eli' havinri w. he nurse w45pler reactions. thumb's up from dr. patel. abc7 news is monitoring the covid roll-out vaccine in california our vaccine tracker. our vaccine tracker also shows you when you might be able to get the vaccine in california. you can find this on our home page of our website, abc7news.com. >>> today's big headline, california has now topped 30,000 coronavirus deaths. 75% of those are people over the age of 65. nearly half of the people who died, 47%, identified as latino. the bay area has fewer than 3200 deaths. that's roughly 10% of the state's hotel numbe

alok patel. >> building a better bay area for a safe and secure future.ght developing a coronavirus vaccine was going to be the hard part, distributing it seems to be even more ching. good evening and tha y for joing m a daz. >> and i dan ashley.eaed tod ab that effort. trump's vaccine team will no longer hold back the second dose of shots, a move that will practically double the supply. they will cut new shipments to states and cities that don't use all their doses. and califoria's governor wants to expand the first priority round to those 65 and older. right now it's set at 75. >> multiple sites in the bay area are being designated or considered for mass vaccination. sonoma county will be using the fairgrounds starting tomorrow. cow palace is many talks with and college of san mateo is naring approval. it is ultimately going to come down to people power. >> we need people to log people in. we need the vaccine supplies, of course, and then we need people to administer the vaccine, and we need people to be able to sit. >> in the south bay, the 49ers have

alok patel. he is a member of the abc7 news vaccine team. he acknowledged the frustration around distributing the vaccine doses. >> there is no clear-cut national guidance on the distribution and on which providers can lead patients to where and et cetera. people are so confused. so there is a different protocol all over the country. and i think the best thing for people to do is not only check with your physician, but go online. go to the department of health website, look at your specific county and look to see where the information is, and look to see if is there an online port wrinkle you can fill out your information. >> we did that work for you, and you'll find it on this article that's on our website chs. it's also where you you'll find our vaccine tracker tracking our state's progress in all of this. it's right there on abc7news.com. >>> today president-elect joe biden outlined his five-point vaccination plan. it includes administering 100 million shots during his fist 100 days in office. >> let me be clear. i'm convinced we can get

alok patel says we're on the right track. >> we should be cautiously optimistic that we're possibly reefing the end, but we headed into this recent surge from a really bad place because of all the holiday traveling. and so i think we're on the right track. people should stay motivated, but remember we still have a ways to go. >> we do. san francisco is becoming more frustrated with the state's phased allocation of covid-19 vaccines as the city fends off criticism for not moving fast enough. we now know that more vaccines are on the way, but still way below what city health system needs. abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez joins us with the latest numbers. and lyanne, plans for moving forward? >> the vaccines that will be given soon have already been allocated to that first tier. now yesterday san francisco said it wanted to have everyone here vaccinated by june 30th. now 24 hours later, there are many doubters. now here are the numbers. tomorrow the city is allowing private providers like sutter and kaiser to use city college san francisco as a large site to racks nate about 500 people who a

abc7 news contributor alok patel joining me live now. thanks for your time, doc.sident biden signed ten new bills related to covid today, including broader use of the defense production act and the requirement that americans mask up for travel. how much of a difference do you think those two things will impact here? >> larry, i think they're going to a make a difference. with regards to getting vaccines into people's arms, this 200 page document are addressing everything from the actual supply to getting the doses out to looking at issues on the local and state level, make sure states have what they need in order to actually create these max vaccination campaigns, and to make sure people are getting the right amount of communication about where to go to get the vaccines and addressing any misinformation. and then masks, we know they work. and actually having a mandate on federal property or during travel will hope i will curb those outbreaks we continuously see. >> so the president has a goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. meanwhile, san francisco wants