in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> all right, lyanne, we'll see you at 5:00 and 6:00. here is something kristen was talk about, refrigeration. a wild scene in seattle. hundreds rushing to the medical centered a@midnight. officials were forced to act because a freezer at a community hospital failed around 9:00, and that put some 1600 doses of the vaccine at risk of being wasted. >> so i put out the bat call, and we arrived within like i said within an hour and a half, and we just have a lot of people who care a lot, are very passionate about making sure the community gets vaccis vaccinate. >> it was breaking news. i hit it. #breaking news an he was there and got a shot. officials put in place a plan to administer the vaccine. they got the word out that appointments were available. and you know what? all of that worked. look at those lines. by midnight, lines stretched around the buildings, keeping the vaccine from being wasted. and they got their shots. abc7 news is monitoring the covid vaccine roll-out in california. we've got our own vaccine tracker on our website, ab

abc7 news reporter lyanne answer some of our questions. lyanne?> well, we're getting hundreds of questions through our website. we thank you for that. 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 to attempt to answer some of your questions. so let's start with our first question. my doctor told me on friday for me to get my vaccine asap. i'm disabled, have high blood pressure and diabetes, but i'm 61 years old. what do i do? and the answer, they are still not vaccinating people with underlying conditions who are younger than 65. and 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 to have to wait a little bit longer. now another question, the california vaccine distribution plan phase 1, tier 1b includes those who work in education. is this limited to those working in the school district system, meaning public schools, or does it includes those in any privat

lyanne melendez tells us about that conversation. >> thschools help us with guidelines on how to open safely and uniformly. let's being on the same page. that's what they wanted, and today it didn't happen. dr. fauci said go do it on your own doesn't work. that's why he's optimistic this new administration has a better approach when it comes to this mammoth effort of getting kids back to school. back in july, dr. anthony fauci said we should try and get children back to school for their psychological welfare and the good of families, but he said this was paramount. they were counting on dr. fauci's expertise to make sure the necessary school safety standards are in place. this is what he told the big teachers' unions. >> the american rescue plan is something that hopefully will provide the resources for masking, for better ventilation schools might need to protect the students and the teachers. >> we need the cdc guidance, we need these rapid tests, we need to make sure we have the accommodations and the vaccines. i hear all four of those things a lot. >> as you know, i have a persona

. >> all right, lyanne, thank you. check out this scene last night in seattle with hundreds rushing to the center in washington. this was around midnight because they learned the moderna vaccine was suddenly being made available to whoever wanted it no matter what their age. a freezer at a community hospital broke down around 9:00, so some 1600 doses of the vaccine were at risk of being wasted. >> so i put out the bat call, and we arrived like i said within an hour and a half. and we just have a lot of people who care a lot and very passionate about making sure the community gets vaccinated. the found it on twitter.n >> in minutes officials put a plan in place to distribute the vaccine. they organized two locations to administer the doses. that started around 11:00 p.m. and they got the word out appointments were available. and when you look at the lines, you can see their process certainly worked. by midnight lines stretched around the buildings keeping the vaccine from being wasted. abc 7 news here we are monitoring

abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez is live in the newsroom with what was said. lyanne? >> well, you know, many things stood out for me, but one in particular. school districts have been saying for a long time to the federal government help us with some guidelines on how to reopen safely. basically, they were saying let's be on the same page, and that didn't happen. well, today dr. fauci said the idea of go do it on your own doesn't work. that's why he's optimistic that this new administration has a better approach when it comes to this mammoth effort of getting kids back to school. back in july, dr. anthony fauci said we should try to get children back to school for their psychological welfare and for the good of working families, but safety he said was paramount. today six months later, the biden administration is counting on dr. fauci's expertise to make sure the necessary school safety standards are in place. this is what he told the big teachers unions. >> the american rescue plan is something that hopefully will provide the resources for masking, for better ventila

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> and lyanne, let's talk about the tier system. how likely is it that that may go away, and how would that affect things? >> the state has not confirmed this and won't talk about it, but those very close to the roll-out, including some in health departments and in the medical field say there are a lot of conversations going on regarding possibly changing the status quo. now you asked who could be affected. well, teachers, for example come to mind. younger teachers, they're supposed to be vaccinated soon. then how would that affect reopening our schools, right? that could change things. >> absolutely. all right, lyanne, thank you for that update. >>> president biden has made it very clear that tackling the coronavirus pandemic is his top priority now that he is in office. reporter josh haskell of our sister station in l.a. shows you what the president has already done. >> reporter: president biden says help is on the way to fight covid-19 and reopen our economy. but because a clear national plan has been absent, biden says it will g

lyanne? >> hi. well, the site is supposed to be used not only by the city, but by private providers as well to make it easier to accommodate a lot of people. a high volume of folks. except that the supply as we know is unpredictable. now aside from that, it was relief from patients who got the shot. this is the start of the end of this pandemic. >> optimistic words from the mayor of san francisco, despite not knowing when the next big shipment of the covid-19 vaccine will arrive. for now, 500 people were given the moderna vaccine at city college san francisco. patients were notified through ucsf's online resource site, mychart. >> we just drive through and they give the shot and you wait 20 minutes and wow. >> reporter: the state has promised to deliver another 10,000 doses next week. after that, it's anyone's guess. the mayor has set a goal of vaccinating a minimum of 10,000 people a day. she said governor newsom is receptive to the needs of san francisco. >> definitely. but the governor is not the

more doses, lyanne. larry, that side is supposed to be youth used not only by the city but private providers as well to make it easier to accommodate a loft people, high volume number of folks. except that the supply is, as we know, unpredictable. aside from that, there was relief from patients today who got the shot. >> this is the start of the end of this pandemic. >> reporter: optimistic words from the mayor of san francisco, despite not knowing when the next big shipment of the covid-19 vaccine will arrive. for now, 500 people were given the moderna vaccine at city college san francisco. patients were notified through ucsf's online resource site my chart. >> you just drive through and they give you the shot. and you wait 20 minutes, and wow. >> reporter: the state has promised to deliver another 10,000 doses next week. after that, it's anyone's guess. the mayor has set a goal of vaccinating a minimum of 10,000 people a day. she said governor newsom is receptive to the needs of san francisco. >> defin

in the newsroom lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> welcome newsorany there. lyanne, thank you. >> yes. >>> well, it didn't take long for outdoor dining to resume in berkeley. abc 7 news was on shadduck avenue this afternoon. restaurants serving guests. others simply getting ready to serve diners once again and were setting up tables and tents. we should note while berkeley is in alameda county it has its own health department that issues health orders. the city allowed outdoor dining to resume as soon as the governor lifted the stay-at-home order. in contra costa county the return to the purple tier came shortly after the governor's office lifted the stay-at-home order. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony joins us live, and laura, some businesses, they wasted no time getting back to business. >> reporter: that's right, ama. some of the business owners told me they anticipated this was going to happen, today they were ready, back open within minutes of both the state and the county orders. others, though, told us they were a bit frustrated, caught of guard reall

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez explains. >> we've just launched an interactive tracker on our websitehere's how it works. find the vaccine tracker story on our home page. open it up, scroll down to the interactive tracker. what you will see is number one how many doses have been shipped to california. and number two, how many of those doses have been administered. you can also click this button to see how california's rollout compares to other states across the country. another feature lets you figure out when you may be able to get that vaccine. fill out the series of questions and it will tell you your likely place in line. the last feature explains the vaccine tiers or phases of california's rollout including an estimated start date. all the information on this tracker is updated in realtime, so check often. in the newsroom lyanne melendez, abc 7. >> and abc 7 news today was at pier pacifica which has been closed because of safety concerns. it needs to bring in some engineers to inspect it and come up with a repair plan. until then people are not allowed on the pier. stay safe. >>>

abc7 news reporter lyanne menendez. >> reporter: you know age matters, right? this was a compromise between those who were advocating for teachers and law enforcement to get vaccinated, and those who are not quite 65, but are still at a higher risk. >> reporter: two groups, health care workers and people 65 and over, are currently being vaccinated in the state. california's health secretary dr. mark ghaly. >> and it's no small feat to get 2.5 million californians vaccinated in seven weeks. >> reporter: but even he admits not enough people are getting the vaccine because, in part, there is a shortage. so today dr. ghaly announced changes to the way the vaccine will be distributed. after that first group has been vaccinated, the expectation is that in mid-february these are the people who will get the vaccine. first responders, food and agriculture workers, and teachers and school staff. san francisco's school board president gabriella lopez says that gets them one step closer it reopening schools. >> just to make sure when we are in the space, they are -- there

abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez joins us now with that. hi, lyanne. >> hey, larry. you've seen vice president harris showing off her pearl, and she wears heels, yep, like the rest of us. but she has another side to her, the cool and down to earth kamala. this morning i woke up to pictures of friends and women across the country wearing what until now i believed was a walking contradiction. they showed off their glamorous and coveted pearls and sneakers. not just any sneakers, you know, chuck taylor converse shoes. i was clearly encountering a symbolic moment for many celebrating the swearing in of the first female vice president. >> this symbolizes all the work that kamala did to get to where she is at. but with the tennis shoe, for me, we got to hit the ground rung. we have to work. >> reporter: kamala harris was the first to come up with this iconic style of converse sneakers and pearls. she even appears on the cover of "vogue" magazine wearing the peculiar combination. >> she really is an ordinary woman that just blends everything from her family to her beliefs a

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> lyanne, thank you. so many moving parts there to keep track of. >>> today the covid-19 death toll in the u.s. topped four 000 people. here in california, there is some positive news on the covid front. the number of new cases dropped to 23,800. that is the lowest number in quite a while. also a significant drop in the state's 14-day positivity rate, which is down to 11.6%. that is an 8.7% decrease. >> we're seeing that statewide, not just in certain parts that often have seen that decrease first. but we're seeing it also in some of those most heavily impacted areas like southern california and san joaquin valley. >> in other good news, state health and human servicesghaly reported an 8.5 drop in hospitalizations as well as a drop in icus statewide in the last week. the positive reports are allowing the state to revise the state's hospitalization rate downward for the second half of this month. they actually expected that number to go up. now we're monitoring all of this. the state's vaccine roll-out is

abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez tells us how one teacher and her students are trying to tell thisf the american story. >> i mean, i'm also impacted by what's happening. >> reporter: sergio robledo teaches government and economics at balboa high school in san francisco. >> the last couple of days have been incredibly jarring. >> this is our capitol! >> reporter: the assault on the u.s. capitol recently made its way into his curriculum by necessity, to help his students understand this chapter in america's history. >> to help students recognize how we got here, and then also to get them to think about being sort of solution-oriented both for their lives and for their communities. >> reporter: christopher riano is with the center for civic education. >> you don't think about the weaknesses, and if you don't talk about those, whether it's with your students or with other people in your community, you can't address them. you can't make sure that we find ways to strengthen our democracy. >> i joseph r. biden jr. do solemnly swear -- >> that was biden in 2013 being sworn in privately for

in more rag ca, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> stay here with us. the outdoors, because the weather really should be wonderful. spencer has the forecast coming up. ♪ here's to the duers. to all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. if your financ

abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez explains. >> if you're wondering how california's vaccine roll-out is going, we've got you covered. we've just launched an interactive vaccine tracker on our website, abc7news.com. here's how it works. find the vaccine tracker story on our home page. open it up, scroll down to the interactive tracker. what you will see is number one, how many doses have been shipped to california. and number two, how many of those doses have been administered. you can also click this button to see how california's roll-out compares to other states across the country. another feature let's you figure out when you may be able to get that vaccine. fill out the series of questions and it will tell you your likely place in line. the last feature explains the vaccine tiers or fay phases of california's roll-out, including estimated start dates. so remember all the information on this tracker is updated in realtime. so check often. in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc7. >>> disappointing news today for customers of a long-time sporting goods store in livermore. family-owne

abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez tells us how one teacher and his students are trying to tell this chapter of the american story. >> i mean, i'm also impacted by what's happening. >> reporter: sergio robledo teaches government and economics at balboa high school in san francisco. >> the last couple of days have been incredibly jarring. >> this is our capitol! >> reporter: the assault on the u.s. capitol recently made its way into his curriculum by necessity, to help his students understand this chapter in america's history. >> to help students recognize how we got here, and then also to get them to think about being sort of solution-oriented both for their lives and for their communities. >> reporter: christopher riano is with the center for civic education. >> you don't think about the weaknesses, and if you don't talk about those, whether it's with your students or with other people in your community, you can't address them. you can't make sure that we find ways to strengthen our democracy. >> i joseph r. biden jr. do solemnly swear -- >> that was biden in 2013 being sworn in pri

in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> lyanne, thank you.mber of our team dr. patel is joining us this afternoon. thanks for your time. what do you think of the state's adjusted vaccine plan? >> one thing that i did appreciate hearing today is that in addition to the vaccine plan there seems to be more of a focus on making sure there's transparency and a better way for californians to know if they're eligible and to get the vaccine. regarding the age-related plan i agree with dr. galley in theory. after we get essential workers, everyone needs to get vaccinated. it will be easier to verify somebody's age rather than trying to verify their potential exposure and use those complicated algorithms. >> let me give you a hypothetical here, doc. say i'm a front line worker, 45 years old, at risk every single day. with the new state guidelines, a random 65-year-old might be able to get ahead of me in line? if that's the case, i'm not going to be real happy. you're a front line health care wo worker yourself. getting pushed back in line, tat's not go

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez talked with experts to get some answered, including this one. >> flu vaccine sido since the mid-1960s tp two times i ended up with high temperatures, 103, 104 degrees within hours of the shot. what do you suggest i do? a lot of people asking that. a reaction to a vaccine is normal according to the doctors because it means your body is responding to the vaccine, that vaccine is working for you. now, health experts say there should be no reason for anyone not to get the vaccine, especially older people. >> the question we get most often, how do i get the vaccine? the answer is, you've got to be persistent and register everywhere you can, the county, state, local health provider. if you have questions about the vaccine we can help you here. go to abc 7 news.com/vaccine. there you see the big blue box. click on that. it will take you to a form. you can send the question to our abc 7 news vaccine team. we're tracking california's vaccination progress on the website as well. you can too. our vaccine tracker available any time on our home page, abc7news.c

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> one of many remarkable moments today. we move on, new developments on the vaccine for covid-19. san francisco announces a new goal and new hope for jump if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, inflammation in your eye might be to blame. looks like a great day for achy, burning eyes over-the-counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. ha! these drops probably won't touch me. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. what is that? xiidra, noooo! it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda approved treatment specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you're allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra, wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. got any room in your eye? talk to an eye doct

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez talked with experts to get some answered, including this one. >> haven't had the flu vaccine sido since the mid-1960s tp two times i ended up with high temperatures, 103, 104 degrees within hours of the shot. what do you suggest i do? a lot of people asking that. a reaction to a vaccine is normal according to the doctors because it means your body is responding to the vaccine, that vaccine is working for you. now, health experts say there should be no reason for anyone not to get the vaccine, especially older people. >> the question we get most often, how do i get the vaccine? the answer is, you've got to be persistent and register everywhere you can, the county, state, local health provider. if you have questions about the vaccine we can help you here. go to abc 7 news.com/vaccine. there you see the big blue box. click on that. it will take you to a form. you can send the question to our abc 7 news vaccine team. we're tracking california's vaccination progress on the website as well. you can too. our vaccine tracker available any time on our home

lyanne melendez joins us with the latest numbers and the plan for moving forward. >> reporter: the ones on the way are not for me or for many in san francisco, the ones coming have been allocated to the first tier. san francisco said it wanted everyone here vaccinated by june 30th. 24 hours later there are many doubters. here are the numbers. tomorrow the city is allowing private providers like sutter and keizer to use city college san francisco as a large site to vaccinate about 500 people who already had appointments. >> those appointments are already filled. we do ask people not to show up there. we will not have additional vaccine to give. >> reporter: the city's health care network, which serves those with limited resources, will soon continue to vaccinate those in phase tier 1-a. health care workers and people 65 and over. abc 7 news was told today that the state has promised to give san francisco another 10,000 doses next week. again, that falls short of what san francisco needs. >> while that's better than what we received last week, it is not sufficient to meet the demand. cert

. >> well, lyanne asked, and tonight he answered.n a confederate flag from a flag pole over 30 years ago. an act that is now wrapped up in the debate over renaming some san francisco schools. >>> the bay area's biggest county hits a daunting figure that was once unthinkable. abc7 news at 6:00 starts right now. >> building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. >> from one to 100,000, santa clara county is the first in the bay area to reach six digits of diagnosed cases of coronavirus. now what will stop it from reaching 200,000? good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm larry beil. this weekend it will be exactly one year since santa clara county reported its first case of coronavirus. it actually was the first case in the entire bay area. take a look now at the journey that our region has been on. every day abc7 has been keeping track of new cases diagnosed in the bay area, as well as a rolling seven-day average. you see the summer surge, and that was absolutely dwarfed by the w

abc reporter lyanne melendez asked them to weigh in onov by l board. >> reporter: richard bradley neverhought these black and white pictures would resurface 37 years later. it shows him taking down the confederate flag. full disclosure. it was one of 18 flags in front of city hall used to symbolize the different stages of american history. after bradley took the flag down, then mayor diane feinstein ordered it be changed again. because of what he did, at least one school board member is hinting perhaps a school be named after him. who is richard bradley i asked on tv. if he is out there, please reach out to me. i'd love to talk to you about what you have done here in san francisco. he called us. hi, mr. bradley. thank you for joining us. you now live in south tlooin klein. you told me you would climb any pole again at your age if it meant taking down the confederate flag. >> yes, i will. >> tell me about that flag. what does it represent? >> the ugliness in the world we live in. r. should the name dianne feinstein berom that school because she ordered the flag to be replaced even after

. >> reporter: in san francisco lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> gosh, dan, we've had so many great interviewso today. >> we have. and every year at this time we bring out all of these quotes and we interview people and it's so inspiring. spencer, for you particularly i know you'll talk about the weather in a second, but i know it's very inspiring to you particularly because you lived through a lot of difficult times in this country. >> i lived through the jim crow era. i grew up in the old south. it wasn't until i was 20 years old basically that all those barriers started coming down and obviously martin luther king jr. was one of my heroes. i was a junior in college in 1968 when he was assassinated. but his spirit lives on. >> it does indeed. >> shall we talk about weather? >> sure. >> yeah. let's do that. we had an amazing day around the bay area today. no fewer than ten record high temperatures for this date. 80 degrees in santa rosa. almost 80 in roqueland and kentfield. san jose. all around the bay area. numerous record highs for this date. so on we go. along with the warmth we had poten

the polls have been closed bare lyanne hou ly an hour. the count is coming in quickly. know again that's a million plus, 1.1 million there in change. more than 3 million votes cast. we have a lot of votes to count. you would rather be on top. two races tracking. 52% for ossoff and 47% for perdue. fulton county and atlanta and suburbs around it, democrats need to be at 80%. that looks good, dekalb county, joe biden ran in the 80s here. if you are warnock, you are pleased with that. democrats are tracking it. we still have a long way to go and you are starting to see one other thing you are watching here is you see the red coming in, rural, small town america, trump's country. republican country. you start to look now and you look here, you see the republicans, if you are happy at 82%. smaller county, 79% counted already. we are looking around, where is the vote? we know we are missing votes in the major population center. only 1% counted here. we'll bounce around. some of them are moving quickly and some of them are not as much. you see democrats there. one interesting t