how much time monica gandhi is a professor of medicine and associate chief in the vision of hiv infectious diseases and global medicine at the university of california san francisco good to see you again monica attard how much longer do you think this will take this vaccine dr yes we have been plagued by a many difficulties in the us with this transition of power but president biden has committed to purchasing 200000000 more doses which meant that we have 400 before supposedly 600 this enough to vaccinate the entire u.s. population with its huge oses and the current estimates are by the end of the summer so things are slower than we had hoped and anticipated in the united states what about his promise of 100000000 shots 100 days going to achieve that. we are not yet at that goal 'd either but i actually think that that can happen i do think that can happen we he signed in what's called the national defense production act last week actually was one of his 1st executive orders when he came into office which allows more supplies in sort of a war urgently like situation to help produce more do

monica gandhi. lots of questions from viewers. this one from alex. why are some of the testing sites doing self-testing now? is it aniless accurate? >> actually, self-testing for a while now, if you do your own swab or your own saliva collection has shown to be just as good as somebody doing it for you. in a way people are vigorous with their own self-testing, so it is not less accurate. there is rapid antigen testing but i don't think that's what you're asking about, maybe, but if that comes up, i'd be happy to talk about that, too. >> i've got to know about this. governor newsom says the new inventor has been identified here in california, southern california, san bernardino coup. do we know if this inventor makes you sicker or is it simply that it's more transmissible so that more people will get sick? >> yeah. we don't think it makes you sicker, so that's a good thing. we have enough cases that it's not virulent. if you got it, you're not more likely to be hospitalized. that's a good thing. what does that mean? between 30 and 0% may be more trans

doctor monica gandhi at ucsf explains the roller coaster of fluctuations. >>this whole icu capacity thing is a little murky because what happens is people sometimes stay in the icu because there's no room on the floor because they can't be discharged out because there's no congregate settings and so it's actually not a hard measure and so what probably happened is a lot of people just got released from the hospital can people can go out from the icu it's fluctuating for sure and we're always busy during the winter according to california's current guidelines state looks at hospital icu capacities across all counties within a given region. >>and then based on that data comes up with an icu capacity percentage that represents the entire region that numbers then used to determine what can and cannot operate within the region so even though the city and county of san francisco has an icu capacity of 29%. >>it doesn't matter it's limited operations allowed under the entire region's icu capacity we're still in a search we still have increased hospitalizations and

doctor monica gandhi with ucsf was once a proponent of california's tiered vaccination system. >>prioritizing high-risk groups and essential workers. but now says the best thing to do is to scrap that plan and now i. >>totally changed my mind and why because these this tiered approach to vaccinations has actually totally slowed us down in his media logistically harder she was one of several doctors who penned a letter to the state's health department with a new proposal doctor gandhi believes to achieve herd immunity, both ethically in quickly. california should instead set up mass vaccination sites, stick the needle in the arm of anyone and everyone who is willing to line up and get it a few minutes miserable, the only way to get through the pandemic and stop lockdown is to get to herd immunity threshold people are clamoring to get the vaccine and i think we'll be able to get even with people who don't want to how say no. so we have to think in huge numbers not clinic infrastructure not testing site. but huge places huge numbers and utilizing all these people in the city who w

monica gandhi said it is a breath of fresh air. >> it feels like you've been yelling into the wind and suddenly the wind stopped and you were speaking calmly. >> both doctors would like to see president biden invoke a defense production act to speed up the vaccine rollout.>> we need 6 million doses very quick. >> this is not a normal time, people are dying every day more than 9/11, every day in this country. and i think it requires at least a temporary all hands on deck approach. >> both say vaccination is the fastest way back to normal. >> getting needles into arms is the only thing i want out of this entire next three months.>> muscogee center is one of the designated mass vaccine sites in san francisco. today we learned that the california department of public health has released that lot of shots from the moderna vaccine back to counties. we know already that marin county plans to start distributing those immediately.>> this just in, the new head of the cdc is extending the federal eviction moratorium through march due to the pandemic. in just a few minutes we will take a look at h

monica gandhi. i wa ask you about the capitol siege. lawmakers were locked down, oftentimes in rooms with dozens of people, some refusing to wear masks. now three representatives have tested positive. do you expect more positives? >> i'm worried about the additional layer of being a super spreading event. we all saw the imagery, maskless crowds together. then when the lawmakers crowded into a room, some republican lawmakers actually refused to wear a mask, which was really harmful. so, yes, i'm worried that more and more cases will come out of that. a terrible side effect of this insurrection during the pandemic. >> but most lawmakers were vaccinated a week or two before the attack. i know it takes time to develop the immunity, but does that suggest anything to you about the vaccine? >> no. i'm actually really confident in these vaccines. but yes, depending on what vaccine you get, it takes ten to 12 days before immunity kicks in, to get the immune response. and the second shot is really important to get a better immune response. and it

monica gandhi, an infectious disease doctor with ucsf and says, there are several strains circulating right now. >> it's the new variants and having so many cichlids in the virus. it's really important for us to stamp down on this circular virus. >> the sign says yes. i would say okay. >> reporter: doctors are recommending double-masking indoors and in highly populated areas like airports or even the grocery store. more layers, more protection. >> the more the merrier i suppose. [ laughter ] >> take note, there are specifics to double-masking. are you saying i need to put two of these on? double up on these? >> no, that's actually really important to not to double up for the same type. they have the same mechanism, that doesn't help. that's right, it's one surgical and one cloth. >> reporter: surgical masks repel the virus, the cloth material blocks of errors. a filter works, too. >> actually put a filter inside the mask. that is just as good as double- masking. the >> reporter: the double mask recognition is for adults, not children, who seem to be adapting to the changing times with

monica gandhi says we should get rid of the tier rollout and-to-speed it up. >> they did this in 1940s for smallpox. this is what we have to do now. we're in a medical emergency and we have the shots. >> i mentioned we were in tier one. tier two is people 75 and olde r workers in the food, education and agriculture sector. >>> kaiser permanente denying accusations it failed to tell the state it had an infected employee at the start of the pandemic, which led to a fine by cal osha. kaiser is appealing an $85,000 fine for that failure. that infected worker was hospitalized for a week last spring when the hospital says covid rules were still evolving. kaiser also has been hit with a $56,000 fine, accused of failing to report two worker hospitalizations at its antioch facility last year. this is on top of recent fines from santa clara county in connection to the recent san jose outbreak doctors believe was tied to an employee wearing an inflatable christmas tree costume. one kaiser employee died in that outbreak. a dozen more e.r. workers were infected. >>> happening today, bus test expres

distribution of vaccine we're never going to reach herd immunity without worldwide distribution monica gandhi university of california san francisco thank you very much for being on the show again thank you. derek williams a science correspondent has been looking at your questions on the coronavirus. what possible adverse events are they looking out fall asphyxia proofed and rolled out a notch number. temporary side effects like fatigue or headache or a slight fever are fairly common with many of the vaccines that have been launched but but around 70000000 people worldwide have received at least 1st doses so far and major adverse events remain extremely rare a handful of people per 1000000 have had serious allergic reactions after vaccination which is a side effect that occurs by the way occasionally with vaccines for other diseases as well but so far no deaths from an awful lactic shock have been linked to getting a covert vaccine in norway over 30 deaths recently among very frail elderly people that occurred soon after they received a shot might have been linked to their vaccination and aut

monica gandhi, an infectious disease doctor with ucsf and says, there are several strains circulating >> it's the new variants and having so many cichlids in the virus. it's really important for us to stamp down on this circular virus. >> the sign says yes. i would say okay. >> reporter: doctors are recommending double-masking indoors and in highly populated areas like airports or even the grocery store. more layers, more protection. >> the more the merrier i suppose. [ laughter ] >> take note, there are specifics

>>doctor monica gandhi is an infectious disease specialist at ucsf. >>what matters is you want to keep people the hospital you don't want people to get sick and then you want to get to herd immunity. so getting the herd immunity is getting everyone back says quickly as possible to bringing down with just a cult barriers that except for the vaccine supply i think it's all the state's new guidelines just that guidelines until the vaccine supply increases substantially. >>ucsf and many other providers will continue to limit the next priority group. >>to 75 years of age and older. not so san francisco's public health department within our san francisco health. >>that work. our clinical care system. the health department people 65 years of age and older, we'll begin to be offered vaccine, san francisco's public health director says people 65 and up only account for 15% of san fraacisco's covid cases. >>but account for 80% of its deaths and nearly half of its covid hospitalizations. >>as a result local experts believe that lowering the number to 65 will mak

monica gandhi says the problem with the n95 is they are still in short supply.fense production act will help bring in more for front line health care workers, but for everyday people, mask-wearing is evolving. people are starting to double mask. the trend is to wear a single mask and put a cloth mask on top it. health care workers have been doing it for a while. double masking was seen at this week's inauguration. dr. gandhi says it's not a bad idea. >> older people who are very vulnerable, especially indoors, if you have to work in crowded indoor conditions, and if you happen to be in an area where there is a lot of transmissibility going on. >> reporter: but when it comes to wearing two masks in the u.s., doctors don't always agree on its effectiveness. >> the air sort of rushes around the areas around your nose and your mouth. so it actually is almost in a way bypasses the effect of actually having a filter. so i think for that reason, i would actually encourage peoepl to not double mask. >> i wouldn't be doing it for going to the grocery store or something.

monica gandhi says she sees the down side of shutting down outdoor businesses adding that the data outdoor dining leads to a surge of cases is fairly limited. >>> all right, as we kick off the newel year my tv wing man for the past, what, 12 or 13 years is doing it in style. even in a covid year, look at this jeff ranieri is going all out. in case you missed it that was our new year's eve newscast. i was not working. in fact, i'm getting to be an old man. i was in bed by 10:30. but jeff working the tuxedo forecast. you bring a smile to my face for so many years. when i see you, i can't wait to hug you in person. >> you too. happy 2021 to your family and of course to everybody at home that maybe wasn't watching that night. i've got to tell you just by putting on that tux, it just felt good. you were just so ready for that new year. who goes, maybe i'll break it back out another night here. as we bring you into that microclimate forecast for tomorrow, we are looking at some fog developing. that really is kind of the top headline i'm following right now over the next few hours. it does look l

good will to she vaccine we're never going to reach herd immunity without worldwide distribution monica gandhi university of california san francisco thank you very much for being on the show again thank you time for derrick williams our science correspondent has been looking at your questions on the coronavirus. possible adverse events are they looking out for as vaccines are proved and rolled out and large numbers. temporary side effects like fatigue or headache or a slight fever are fairly common with many of the vaccines that have been launched but but around 70000000 people worldwide have received at least 1st doses so far and major adverse events remain extremely rare a handful of people per 1000000 have had serious allergic reactions after vaccination which is a side effect that occurs by the way occasionally with vaccines for other diseases as well but so far no deaths from an awful lactic shock have been linked to getting a covert vaccine in norway over 30 deaths recently among very frail elderly people that occurred soon after they received the shot might have been linked to their va

people who are most vulnerable to this infection vaccinated is the right approach i like doctor monica gandhinfectious disease specialist at ucsf. >>this will be a big deal because we are not just seeing 90.8 eur year-old son. >>getting sick, we're seeing 65 year-old 70 year olds getting sick. it is the older population and 65 to me seems like the right number for what i see the state's new guidelines are just that guidelines and due to limited supply of vaccine. ucsf and many other providers will limit the next priority group to 75 and over and the other hand san francisco just announced tuesday. the public health department will begin vaccinating those in itself network or 65 and older beginning this week. among the san francisco population people 65 years of age not. >>only account for 15%. covid-19 cases. a cow for over 80%. a san francisco's covid deaths and nearly half of our hospitalizations. >>the take away from that is is that if jurisdiction is get enough vaccine and they're able to not late those 65 and over it will rea

distribution of vaccine we're never going to reach herd immunity without worldwide distribution monica gandhi university of california san francisco thank you very much for being on the show again thank you. for derrick williams our science correspondent has been looking at your questions on the coronavirus. possible adverse events are they looking out for as vaccines are proved and rolled out and watch numbers. temporary side effects like fatigue or headache or a slight fever are fairly common with many of the vaccines that have been launched but but around 70000000 people worldwide have received at least 1st doses so far and major adverse events remain extremely rare a handful of people per 1000000 have had serious allergic reactions after vaccination which is a side effect that occurs by the way occasionally with vaccines for other diseases as well but so far no deaths from an awful lactic shock have been linked to getting a covert vaccine in norway over 30 deaths recently among very frail elderly people that occurred soon after they received the shot might have been linked to their vaccin

how much time monica gandhi is a professor of medicine and associate chief in the vision of hiv infectiousdiseases and global medicine at the university of california san francisco good to see you again monica. much longer do you think this will take this vaccine dr yes we have been plagued by many difficulties in the u.s. with this transition of power but president biden has committed to purchasing 200000000 more doses which meant that we have 400 before supposedly 600 not to vaccinate the entire u.s. population with its huge oses and the current estimates are by the end of the summer so things are slower than we had hoped and anticipated in the united states what about his promise of 100000000 shots 100 days going to achieve that. we are not yet at that goal 'd either but i actually think that that can happen i do think that can happen we he signed in what's called the national defense production act last week actually was one of his 1st executive orders when he came into office which allows more supplies in a sort of a war urgently like situation to help produce more doses so we thought

monica gandhi happens to believe in the supply chain philosophy. >> one philosophist i have dose. i'll give it to anybody at risk and that is over 65. >> reporter: she is hoping for widespread infrastructure going up so when more doses are delivered, we'll all be ready. >> it seems it is moving. >> reporter: dodgers stadium is the largest site of its kind in the country able to give 12,000 shots a day. >> let me just be quite candid with each and every one of you. we have to increase the pace and the distribution in the administration of these vaccines. the reality is we need to get them out of the freezer and into people's arms. >> reporter: and president-elect joe biden will enlist the support of fema and the national guard to administer the shots. >> some our administration will release them when they are available so more people can get vaccinated quickly, with still a small reserve for unseen shortages or delays. >> reporter: the question, will there be shots to inject. >>> 1.2 million doses have been given in california. that is only a third of the state supply. california s

ucsf infectious disease expert doctor monica gandhi says this decision isn't data-driven.>> whenever reach this hospitalizations are icu capacity concerns that the state have set of metrics for this degree of shutdown and then to continue it indefinitely as our new year's present to san francisco, it did not make sense to me. >> san francisco is in better shape than most of the bay area and the state. currently about 30% of icu beds are still available. the seven-day average of new cases daily is 206, compared with 290 the week before. the city says preliminary data shows that orders seem to have slowed the infections.>> honestly i'm think it is a little bit overboard and i think closing restaurants, if it is outdoor dining that is perfectly safe, it is no different than being able to go shop at walmart or target.>> it is good to try to maintain the spread of the virus but also remember that you have people hurting a lot. >> doctor gandhi believes the city should take a more nuanced approach like allowing indoor gymnasiums to open a 20% capacity and outdoor dining with safety protoco

best ways to prevent the spread of covid-19 that's right, although it may sound excessive doctor monica gandhiisease expert with ucsf. >>says there is data to back this up. >>we think there's more virus around him exposed number one second is the variance like you said in numbers to anyone who's endorsed industry endorses marcus that out us i would say it is for people running outside for example that surgical mask blocks the virus left just actually it's almost like a lecture proposed and in last mass blocks it and fibers they can't get to us in putting those 2 together is as effective as n 95. >>95 mask still in short supply, so doctor recommends going with double mask use in via advise that you wear surgical mask on the outside and the cloth mask on the inside. she says this method method rather allows surgical mask to be reused up to about 5 times while the cloth mask can be washed of course more often. now to the east bay this morning contra costa county health officials have the gold delivering 1 million doses of the covid vaccine by independence day. currently the county has the lowest

monica gandhi about all the ups and downs of the vaccination distribution efforts. join us is dr. gandhi, infectious disease expert. thanks for joining us on this saturday. i want to get right to it and ask you, how do you think vaccine distribution is going so far? >> i think it's pretty obvious it's not going that well. every state is different, and california's quite near the bottom, i think sometimes second, sometimes third, sometimes fourth, so it's not going that well in our state. other maces, it's going better. we're hoping for more up formity and doing better all in all. >> what do you think need to happen? name two of the biggest things that need to happen to get faster and be more efficient? >> i think from what i've understood is that each county and state is pretty much deciding for themselves how they're going to distribute it, for better or for worse. you could say i wish we had a national system, but that ship sailed a hopping time ago. already. so if every coup is deciding for themselves, they actually need to know their supply chain. they need to know which day t

monica gandhi says the problem with the n-9 5, they are still in short supply. production act will help bring in more for front line health care workers. but for everyday people, mask wearing is evolving. people are starting to double mask. the trend is to wear a single mask and put a cloth mask on top of it. health care workers have been doing it for a while. double masking was seen at this week's inauguration. dr. gandhi says it's not a bad idea. >> older people who are very vulnerable, especially indoors, if you have to work in crowded indoor conditions. and if you happen to be in an area with a lot of transmissibility going on. >> when it comes to wearing two masks in the u.s., doctors don't always agree on its effectiveness. >> in the air sort of rushes around the areas around your nose and mouth so it bypasses the need for a filter. for that reason i would encourage people to not double mask. >> i wouldn't be doing it going to the grocery store or something. but if you're intensely exposed on a flight, i think it probably makes more sense. make sure to wea

monica gandhi is an infectionous disease doctor and professor. >> basically saying you know what? we're too slow. we're too slow. let's just get to the groups that are most at risk. we'll get to everyone else. we will get to them. >> reporter: the governor says he wants to vaccinate 1 million more people by the end of the week and the expansion in vaccine eligibility came after the cdc announced changes to the distribution plan. also next week the state plans to offer a new online system that would let all californians sign up to get an alert the moment they become eligible for the vaccine. nbc bay area news. >>> the governor's decision to expand the list of recipients to include 65-year-olds surprised some local public health departments. just today santa clara county opened up vaccinations to people who are 75 years and older. county public health department says expanding sites and providing vaccines to private health providers has allowed them to vaccinate as many as 6,000 people a day. county officials say they can't meet the governor's new goal for 65-year-olds without much

monica gandhi, and here's what she had to say. . >> i don't think so.ppening right now is we just don't have another supply, like you have just said. and anything that can increase the supply is going to get us all to a point of herd immunity when this whole thing slows down on its own. and we may have outbreaks here and there. we can only get back to normal when we get multiple people vaccinated. it is a chicken and egg problem. i can't get it. i want johnson & johnson. so really i'm not sure a choice will be given. >> the golden state is reaching a new milestone when it comes to vaccination. 3 million shots have been administered across the state, double from two weeks ago when the number was 1.5 million. here in the bay area, more than 607,000 doses have been administered. governor gavin newsom says 58% of the vaccine stock has been put in arms. >>> taking a closer look at the bay area, in san francisco, 97,000 people have gone their first dose. that means 8% of people in the city. 2% have received their second dose. meaning they are fully vaccinated

are at this point time should we be wearing their masks and i think the answer is yes, doctor monica gandhi an infectious disease physician with ucsf she along with doctor are an expert in virus transmission. >>virginia tack recently put forth a medical commentary on the principles of the importance of face masks and more precisely the data supporting double mask came there to be these it's because there's more virus around him exposed number one second is the variance like you said in numbers to anyone who's indoors inside a wrecked minister indoors is martha said wednesday, it is for people running outside for example with so many mass out there. >>now the question is what to mask should we wear that is really up what we wrote about is it surgical mask blocks the virus left just actually it's almost like a logical and in last mass blocks it and fibers they can't get through this in putting those 2 together is as effective as an n 95 speaking of an n 95. the doctor says that it is the gold standard because of its unique material. >>however she says they must be properly fitted and are stil

we have done a poor job actually roll out no one would ever say that we did a great job doctor monica gandhi with ucsf explains once harold is a ray of hope to end the pandemic the vaccine rollout has caused more questions and answers with a flawed system to explain where it is who is getting it and when. >>and that's not good for anyone during this time of so much anxiety. >>you know people who know but i think many residents still this is a murky process that's a fair thing to say now was the change in administration was stopped partially what was going on was it that we we need federal government could make the call so they need to to pfizer moderna to say how many doses are coming with a committee meetings will become what they are now doctor gandhi says that more clear information would help reassure the public, especially. >>now when there are more questions about the virus, it's mutations and what it will take to get through all this how many do you how many are we giving out to the different counties and the counties could get out gas or let's say how many we had and tell me if we ge

ucsf infectious disease specialist, monica gandhi, says stanford's decision to stop freshmen and sophomorese in the worst time we've been in california. we have high community transmission, high hospitalizations. it will all get better. we need to get vaccinated. i do understand and think it's a reasonable decision. >> reporter: graduate students and students with special circumstances started moving in over the last few days. undergrad r.a.s and undergrads with approved special circumstances will be allowed to stay on campus for now. in palo alto, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >>> we have a difficult story to tell you about this weekend how dangerous the conditions are along the coastlines right now. a man remains missing after being swept into the ocean. about 3:15, the man and the woman, both from redwood city were searching for muscles on the rocks. a wave swept them under. a witness was able to pull the man out of the water but the woman has not been found. >>> a san jose man is missing after being swept into the ocean off point bonita. they were tawalking along the bluffs when th

monica gandhi is infectious disease doctor with ucsf and says there are several strains circulating right now. >> it is the new variants appear just having so much circulating virus. and it is really important for us to tamp down all of the circulating virus. >> science says yes, i would say okay. >> reporter: doctors are recommending double masking indoors in highly populated areas like airports or even the grocery store. more layers, more protection. >> the more the merrier, i suppose. >> reporter: and take note. there are specifics to double masking. >> are you saying i need to put two of these on? double up on these? like this? >> no, because that is actually really important to not double up on the same type because they are the same mechanism and it doesn't help. so it is one surgical an one cloth. >> surgical masks repel the virus, the cloth material blocks the virus actually filter works too. >> actually put a felt are inside the mask. >> and that is just as good as double masking. >> the double mask recommendation is for adults, not children who seem to be adapting to the changin

are at this point time should we be wearing their masks and i think the answer is yes, doctor monica gandhi an infectious disease physician with ucsf she along with doctor are an expert in virus transmission. >>and virginia tack recently put forth a medical commentary on the principles of the importance of face masks and more precisely the data supporting double mask came there to be these it's because we think there's more virus around him exposed number one second is the variance like you said in numbers to anyone who's endorsed industry endorses marcus that out us i would say this for people running outside for example with so many mass out there. >>now the question is what to mask should we wear that is really up what we wrote about is it surgical mask blocks the virus left just actually it's almost like a logical and in last mass blocks it and flavors they can't get through this in putting those 2 together is as effective as an n 95 speaking of an n 95. the doctor says that it is the gold standard because of its unique material. >>however she says they must be properly fitted and are s

specialist doctor monica gandhi says equally important is the decision to rejoin the world health organization. >>there's a lot of symbolism to that that we're going to join together with the world to try to fight the pandemic it said it's all very important. the new administration is going to make a profound difference in how we handle this pandemic u c berkeley infectious disease professor doctor john swartzberg agrees. >>he says simply having a plan in a coordinated group to execute that plan, we'll go a long way in terms of prevention and vaccine rollout he says president by this commitment to be honest with the american public. we'll also go a long way. >>i think the trips are cheats critical was that change is critical as every all the end of this pandemic. we the american people need to know what's going on. we can we can do with that news just need to see we can trust. >>dan kerman kron 4 news. here's a look at the latest numbers in the covid-19 vaccine rollout according to the centers for disease control and prevention close to 36 million covid shots have been distributed in the u.s.

monica gandhi says we should get rid of the tier rollout to speed up the process of mass vaccination. 1940s for smallpox. this is what we have to do now. we are in a medical emergency and we have the shots. >> reporter: dr. gandhi says while health care providers can easily contact their employees to get shot, this next phase will be much more complicated. there are estimates that are out there that we need to vaccinate 50,000 people a day to quickly get to herd immunity. reporting live here in san ramon, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> i have grim numbers for you. 2.7 million since the start of the pandemic cases, 264 additional deaths. the state has now lost nearly 30,000 people. to put that in perspective, the california death toll now matches the entire population of los gatos. >>> happening today, bus test express is on its way to berkeley, the first of its kind mobile testing bus will actually start up. they're going to hopefully test about 500 people a day. it's also equipped to provide vaccinations and offer health and wellness services. bus test express buses are already o

specialist doctor monica gandhi says equally important is the decision to rejoin the world health organization. >>there's a lot of symbolism to that that we're going to join together with the world to try to fight the pandemic it said it's all very important. the new administration is going to make a profound difference in how we handle this pandemic u c berkeley infectious disease professor doctor john swartzberg agrees. >>he says simply having a plan in a coordinated group to execute that plan, we'll go a long way in terms of prevention and vaccine roolout he says president by this commitment to be honest with the american public. we'll also go a long way. >>i think the trips are cheats critical was that seems it's critical was every element of this pandemic. we the american people need to know what's going on. we can we can do with that news just need to see we can trust. >>dan kerman kron 4 news. >>developing news today, san francisco is expected to run out of covid vaccine unless something is done the cities in the middle of setting up new vaccination sites across san francisco. a car for

monica gandhi says we should get rid of the tiered vaccine rollout to make it more simple and speed upss vaccination. >> they did this in 1940s for smallp smallpox. this is what we have to do now. we're in a medical emergency and we have the shots. >> reporter: dr. gandhi says while health care providers can easily contact their employees to get shots, talking about doctors and nurses and the like, the next phase will be much more complicated. their estimate that you need to vaccinate 50,000 people a day to quickly get to that herd immunity that we're striving for. reporting live here in san ramon, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> it's a race against the clock, bob. california yesterday added another 40,000 infections, which now exceeds 2.7 million since the start of the pandemic, with 264 additional deaths, the state has now lost nearly 30,000 people. to put that into perspective, california death tolls now match the entire population of los gatos. >>> now to los angeles this morning, where the next few days will really be critical for that city and what they're undergoing, in just

sit said 4.7% up from 0.7% on monday in just a few days ago, our icu capacity set at 3% doctor monica gandhi at ucsf explains the roller coaster of fluctuations this whole icu capacity thing is a little murky because what happens is. >>people sometimes stay in the icu because there's no room on the floor because they can't be discharged out because there's no congregate settings and so it's actually not a hard measure and so what probably happened is a lot of people just got released from the hospital can people can go out from the icu. >>it's fluctuating for sure and we're always busy during the winter according to california's current guidelines state looks at hospital icu capacities across all counties within a given region. >>and then based on that data comes up with an icu capacity percentage, the represents the entire region that numbers then used to determine what can and cannot operate within the region so even though the city and county of san francisco has an icu capacity of 29%. >>it doesn't matter it's limited operations allowed under the entire region's icu capacity we're still

monica gandhi is an infe san francisco. she says the state's decision to remove the stay at home order came at the right time. it was a little bit arbitrary, some of the restrictions and it led to so much outcry that i think what ended up happening is they were like, okay, the tier system made sense. tier system we actually created behind it. let's go back to the tier system. now counties will follow the coloredtier system. most of the state, including san francisco, will be assigned the purple tear, meaning they'll still have to implement. the most strict rules were still in the mist of this pandemic. we still have a responsibility. yes this is good news that we're finally seeing a difference with our numbers. but there's still work to be done. the rules under the purple tear are not as strict as that under the stay at home order, likely what most californians are probably looking forward to outdoor dining can return. in a statement provided to ktvu from the golden gate restaurant association, its executive director, says,

best ways to prevent the spread of covid-19 a low it may sound like you're overdoing it doctor monica gandhi an infectious disease expert at ucsf says. >>there is data to back that up. >>we think there's more virus around you exposed number one second experience like you said in numbers to anyone who's indoors inside a black minister indoors is marcus that out said wednesday, it is for people running outside for example that surgical mask blocks the virus left just actually it's almost like a lecture popo and in last mass blocks it and flavors they can't get through this in putting those 2 together is as effective as an n 95. >>and 95 masks are still in short supply so doctor gandhi recommends going with the double mask, she advises wearing surgical mask on the outside and the cost mask on the inside even if it's not as pretty it does allow the surgical mask to be reused up to about 5 times while the cloth mask can simply be washed. every few days. delivering a million doses of the vaccine by independent stay that is the goal set by contra costa county health officials as of tonight the coun

thanks joining us now is dr monica gandhi from ucsf doctor. why is it taking so long to vaccinate people across the country? you know, i thought that the cdc guidelines and the it's we're actually very reasonable when they first came out about. this kind of tiered approach going slowly going to this group, and when that group in the next group actually think it's slowing us down, and there are some of us advocating for kind of throwing out some of these tears going for higher age first, because those are patients who really need to get vaccinated, first opening up mass vaccination camps, checking someone in outside or in a convention center of there in a cold place going in having someone give you the vaccine after. asking you questions. wait for 15 minutes and out the door mass vaccination sites, mass vaccination campaigns where one place or two places in the city. you can get a lot of people on a daily basis. that was my next question. we should have mass vaccination sites i heard today they're making dodger stadium. one of those mass vaccin

>>doctor monica gandhi with ucsf was once a proponent of california's tear vaccination system prioritizingrkers. but now says the best thing to do is to scrap that plan and now i. >>totally changed my mind and why because these this tiered approach to vaccinations has actually totally slowed us down in his meeting with just a clean harder. she was one of several doctors who penned a letter to the state's health department with a new proposal doctor gandhi believes to achieve herd immunity, both ethically in quickly. california should instead set up mass vaccination sites and stick the needle in the arm of anyone and everyone who is willing to line up and get it a few minutes miserable, the only way to get through the pandemic and stop lockdown is to get to herd immunity threshold people are clamoring to get the vaccine and i think we'll be able to get it even with the people who don't want to how do say no. so we have to think in huge numbers not clinic infrastructure not testing site. but huge places huge numbers and utilizing all these people in the city who want to help in a state of ab

monica gandhi says while she considers the president's overall plan solid she would like to see more going to become less important than getting out the vaccine because the way to get out of other aspects like masks, distancing, testing, everything else we're doing is to get the mass vaccination. so i lift that equation, lift those numbers and put way more into mass vaccination. >> reporter: the plan includes more funding for genetic sequencing which led to the discovery of a new covid strain here in the bay area and schools are a big focus of the $1.9 trillion plan. >> we'll also do everything we can to keep our educators and students safe, to safely reopen a majority of our k-8 schools by the end of the first 100 days. >> reporter: dr. gandhi schools need to be part of a successful plan. the question now is whether president biden will meet the tight deadlines he's imposed. in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> not many people get a front row seat to history. valerie jarrett has attended two inaugurations. jarrett is senior adviser to president obama. she posted these