california's health and human service secretary mark ghaly says more attention now is shifting to theand their evolving mutations. >> some of those mutations are meaningful and create what i call additional stickiness, more infectiousness of the virus. >> reporter: dr. ghaly says the state is actively sequencing more than one thousand mutations of california's two west coast variants, both of which have been detected in the bay area. but questions still linger whether these mutations are affecting how treatments work or the efficacy of moderna and pfizer's vaccine. >> again, unclear about its exact role in either making people sicker because they have the variant strain. >> reporter: as of today, more than 3.5 million doses of covid vaccine have been used. abc7's analysis found that's only 63% of the state's available supply. yet there is no indication how much of it has gone latino and black communities disproportionately affected. dr. ghaly, you said today we don't have to make a choice between speed and equity when it comes to vaccinations, yet the state is not releasing any race o

ghaly says the covid icu rate is down 14%, the 14-day positivity rate declined over 30%. >> we're in this moment of vaccinating our communities, seeing the trends come down. >> at last check more than 3.3 million doses of covid vaccine have been administered in the state. that's 63% of the state's available supply >>> covid case numbers in some counties are now below the state's threshold for reopening schools. that means in-person classes can reassume at all public k through 6th grade schools. higher grade levels will return when the counties leave the purple tier. >>> foster farms is vaccinating workers at its plant in fresno as it tries to ward off another outbreak. an outbreak in september at its livingston plant sickened about 400 workers died. nine of them died. foster farms plans to vaccinate a thousand workers. >>> oakland leaders have approved hazard pay for grocery store workers, but san jose leaders reached a stalemate last night on a similar proposal. the california grocers association has criticized hazard pay saying it will lead to higher food prices. up to $400 a year

. >> reporter: a promising outlook on the future of hospital capacity across the state mark ghaly says more attention now is shifting to the uk and west coast variantedst and their ainvolving mutations. >> some of those mutations are meaningful and create what i call additional stickiness, more infectiousness of the virus. >> reporter: dr. ghaly says the state is actively sequencing more than one thousand mutations of california's two west coast variants, both of which have been detected in the bay area. but questions still linger whether these mutations are affecting how treatments work or the efficacy of moderna and pfizer's vaccine. >> again, unclear about its exact role in either making people sicker because they have the variant strain. >> reporter: as of today, more than 3.5 million doses of covid vaccine have been used. abc7's analysis found that's only 63% of the state's available supply. yet there is no indication how much of it has gone to latino and black communities, disproportionately affected. dr. ghaly, you said today we don't have to make a choice between speed and equi

ghaly says the state is actively sequencing more than one thousand mutations of california's two west coast variants, both of which have been detected in the bay area. but questions still linger whether these mutations are affecting how treatments work or the efficacy of moderna and pfizer's vaccine. >> again, unclear about its exact role in either making people sicker because they have the variant strain. >> reporter: as of today, more than 3.5 million doses of covid vaccine have been used. abc7's analysis found that's only 63% of the state's available supply. yet there is no indication how much of it has gone latino and black communities disproportionately affected. dr. ghaly, you said today we don't have to make a choice between speed and equity when it comes to vaccinations, yet the state is not releasing any race or ethnicity data to show which groups are actually getting vaccinated. can you explain why this isn't happening? >> we're working on it with our local partners to make sure that we have as accurate as you can. i'm glad you pointed out. it's going to be incomplete at the

ghaly says, they will offer free rights over anyone vaccinated there. registrations will be available on the state's my turn scheduling system for those eligible groups. >>> healthcare workers on a two- day strike at a seagate nursing home run by company muscular test for-profit operator. kpix 5's kiet do weighs in on cases ranging to bribery. >> reporter: they are nurses, cooks, dietary aids, housekeepers and laundry workers. they say, the last thing they want to do is harm the patients. >> we are not trying to stop anybody from taking care of the patients. we are trying to cause an economic incentive towards the employer, to make sure that they recognize that we are serious at the bargaining table. they need to bargain in good faith. >> reporter: the union, afs local 829 says, have been trying to negotiate a contract since last summer, asking for wage increases, more staff and more portable healthcare. instead, they started changing wages and hours with no notifications. esquirez says, she did know what Ãif she was working. they never asked? >> no, i

mark ghaly says gathering now would be like fumbling close to the end zone. >> ditch the gatherings.rter: san mateo county supervisor is concerned superspreader parties will bring shutdowns back. >> i don't think the super bowl is worth us going all the way back to stay at home. we just can't afford to do it. >> reporter: restaurants that offer outdoor dining like momo's in san francisco will be showing the game on televisions outside. you will need a reservation. financial fans we talked to say pa plans are sidelined. >> i am not going to a super bowl party because that would be super irresponsible. >> reporter: but they're concerned about covid fatigue. >> you know, stuck at home for so long now that i don't think they're going to listen, but maybe. you never know, maybe they will just stay at home, right? >> reporter: time will tell. jean elle, "nbc bay area news". >>> b cities. oakland becomes the first city in the bay workers. the council unanimously voted to require major grocery chains like safeway and whole foods to pay employees $5 an hour more than they already make because

. >> reporter: a promising outlook on the future of hospital capacity across the state mark ghaly says

journalists ahmed abdul samad and safaa ghali were gunned down in the street.tware engineer tahseen oussama was shot in his office. lodya worried she was next. >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: lodya told me she had been threatened by the militias before, after she attended a women's day event at the u.s. consulate with her best friend, riham yacoub. >> (speaking arabic) >> navai: a tv channel owned by an iranian-backed militia accused them of collaborating with the u.s. consul general. >> (speaking arabic): >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: in august 2020, lodya was getting into a car to go to the funeral of one of her murdered friends. >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: lodya's friend abbas, who was driving, was shot in the back, but survived. two days later, it was riham's turn, ambushed while driving down one of basra's main streets. >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: i'd been tracking the rising power of the shia militias and their ties to iran for years. in 2016, i reported on their instrumental role in the fight to drive isis out of iraq. ese shia militias were or

ghaly, and all of the bay area still in the most restricted purple tier. governor newsom said if cases continue to drop many counties could be in the yellow tier by spring. that is the least restrictive tier. >> we've been following developing news since our 5:00 newscast in san francisco. just moments ago police lifted a shelter-in-place order in the visitation valley neighborhood just after 3:00 this afternoon. sfpd says officers were investigating a possible trespasser on campbell avenue. when they went to check it out they heard a gunshot. police say the shooters took off in a car but left one person behind who was promptly arrested. they then launched a search in the neighborhood including into back yards. that shelter in place has been lifted in visitation valley. no word if they found or arrested anyone else. >>> new at 6:00, armed and ready to protect themselves and their community. as attacks in oakland's chinatown continue to spike some merchants are taking matters into their own hands. last night an armed liquor store owner tried to stop a stree

mark ghaly, california's department of health and humans secretary says if you watch the game, do sooutside of your households, staying in the backyard to watch the game p keep your distance and be sure to wear a mask and that advice to wear a mask being echoed across the nation. this as new variants are being discovered throughout the country. "the chronicle" is reporting six suspected cases of the uk variant of covid, the cases believed to be the first of its kind in the bay area, just moments ago on the "today" show, the nation's top doctor, dr. anthony fauci, discussed the presence of mutations as well as that potential for a spike from sunday's big game, take a listen to what he has to say. >> one of the ways that you prevent the further evolution of virus to become mutational, the way do you that is to suppress the replication of the virus and the best way to do that is two-fold. one, continue to double down on the public health measures to prevent spread from person to person, and as you just mentioned, the top of the show, get as many people vaccinated as you possibly can. >>

ghaly. can you explain why this isn't happening? and if so, why hasn't this been made public? >> we're working on it with our local partners to make sure you have as accurate as you can. we'll continue to get better. that transparency is important. >> more transparentsy. >> it turns out the state has many thousands of records missing from their database, and santa clara county told us they're working to try to address the issue. >> that's not a problem. the problem is what are they going to do about it now. >> reporter: this brings us back to the point. how can california prioritize equity without the proof. we have called each of the four other bay area county health departments that have not released this data yet. every day this week pushing for it to be made available, and we will continue to do so. for the i-team, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> hey, stephanie, before you go, speaking of that, what's the status of the four other counties that have yet to release any race or ethnicity of vaccination data? with a are you hearing? >> well, marin, napa, solano counties are al

mark ghaly will live street his afternoon update, the first time we've seen him since the state lifted the stay-at-home order. you can watch it at noon. >>> and in the east bay, two law enforcement agencies say they haven't been offered the shot despite their frontline duties and the high number of online duty deaths linked to covid-19. amy hollyfield is live with why they say they are not being made a priority. >> reporter: yeah, officers here are looking around and they are realizing that other counties are treating their officers differently than they are being treated here in marin and contra costa, they have offered the vaccine to their law enforcement officers. but in alameda county, officers have not been vaccinated. that includes sheriff and police officers. and oakland firefighters have been vaccinated. but not police. which officers say is a risk not only to the police but also to the public. >> officers every weekend go to probably 30, 40 calls a shift. and in that time, they are exposing the citizens to whatever they are carrying if they are asymptomatic and they are being

mark ghaly yesterday.ew year, valentine's day all coming up in the next week and a half. abc7 news special correspondent dr. alok patel joining us live to talk about what you should and should not do when celebrating this month. so doc, here we go again. we got through thanksgiving. we survived christmas and new year's eve, and now we've got the super bowl on sunday. you know, everybody loves to get together, watch the big game, and your advice is? >> my advice is first of all, we got through thanksgiving, you know, the holidays and new year's eve with a lot of outbreaks. so my advice for people is to not host a super bowl party. do it via zoom. just cheer on your team. hopefully cheering for the chiefs, sorry, tom brady. but keep it away for the big gatherings. the super bowl is a time where a lot of people are going to be sharing food, and it's the potential for a massive outbreak. >> we'll talk about the chiefs comment a little later. but lunar new year. not as widely celebrated, but i assume your advic

mark ghaly says the state is getting $1.7 billion in unanticipated federal funds for covid response andtions. he said california will begin collecting race and ethnicity data on those who have been vaccinated. >> track our ability to reach communities of color, communities that have been disproportionately impacted, we have to have that data. we're working on it with our local partners to make sure we have as accurate as we can. >> he says the state's equity framework may include money for targeted outreach efforts and payments to providers to bring vaccines to communities of color. >>> vaccine doses will head straight to pharmacies in a new strategy to speed up the shots. the federal government will ship doses to 6500 pharmacies nationwide. that includes wall greens and cvs locations across california including three in the bay area, san francisco, sonoma and sunnyvale. >> this pharmacy program will expand access in neighborhoods across the country, so you can make an appointment, get your shot conveniently and quickly. >> cvs is scheduled to administer nearly 82,000 doses in californi

mark ghaly just announced starting march 15th, many more californians will be eligible to get vaccinated. doctors will be given flexibility to use their clinical judgment to vaccinate people ages 16 to 64 with certain conditions that put them at risk for covid complications or death. the list of those conditions includes cancer, pregnancy, heart disease, down syndrome, severe obesity, type 2 diabetes, and immunocompromised conditions among many others. the state estimates this adds another four million to six million people to those eligible to be vaccinated by mid-march, putting about half of the state's population in an eligibility tier. dr. burk harris, will the vaccine supply be large enough for that eligibility influx? and how do you reconcile this new group with essential workers in groups 1b and 1c who still need the vaccine? >> those are great questions. thank you so much for that. and what we know right now is that our -- we are building a system in california that we hope to be limited only by supply. and while we're expanding eligibility to this group of people, we do want to

mark ghaly will live stream his afternoon update. it will be our first update since the state lifted the stay-at-home order. you can watch this starting at noon on abc7news.com or your free abc 7 news app. >>> we're on vaccine watch this morning. in the east bay, two law enforcement agencies say they haven't been offered the shot, despite their frontline duties and the high number of on duty deaths linked to covid-19. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield live with why they say they're not being made a priority. amy? >> reporter: officers here started looking around and realizing they were being treated differently than officers in other counties. in marin and in contra costa, they did offer the vaccine to their law enforcement first responders there. but in alameda county, officers say they have not been vaccinated. and that includes sheriff deputies and oakland police officers. oakland firefighters have been vaccinated, but not police. which officers say is a risk not only to police, but also to the public. >> officers every weekend g

ghaly would like to start with you. how would accurate and complete data regarding the ethnicity and residence of individuals who receive the coronavirus vaccine was through these disparities. >> as you mentioned is hugely important to have the data. not having the data is trying to have our flight a plane blind. you need to know where you are and where you want to go. so having the data is critically important for unit i think what you point to and others have mentioned, we are lacking for public health systems in this country. we would not have been caught off guard we would've had the surveillance systems in the kind of information you're talking about print is incredibly important for us to invest in this . we have a vaccination nationwide vaccination program for children that work relatively well. we do not have one for adult . we don't do a good job with this party so there is a lot that we need to strengthen this meeting and i think about how to be how we have the public health infrastructure to be able to meet o