live in the studio, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> right direction. thank you so much, stephanie. >>> governor newsom said today that assuming the fda grants emergency use authorization of the johnson & johnson vaccine, california expects to receive more than 380,000 doses by as early as next week. as for vaccinations, he says the state is on the right track. >> it is remarkable to just think just a few weeks ago we had 5 million doses of vaccines administered. today we announced that we're at 8,240,000. >> state officials say they are on course to administer 3 million covid vaccines a week by march 1st if the supply catches up with the state's distribution capacity. now, if it does, california could conceivably finish vaccinating the entire state in 23 weeks. that's under six months. today abc7 news special contributor dr. patel shared his insights on how things are going nationally. >> right now about 13% of americans have gotten one shot. about 6% have gotten both shots. so i don't know if on a national scale that's made a huge difference in our cas

abc 7 news i-team reporter stephanie sierra is finding out that trying to access one site, stephanie, while another is closed is awfully complicated. >> yes, it is complicated, dan, but it doesn't have to be. the oakland coliseum site was launched with the premise of serving northern california, yet it's available to those eligible in alameda and san mateo counti counties. but not if you're in san francisco county. >> and he turned and said you can go in now. i almost fainted. >> reporter: mar yea tambarino is a 74-year-old uc berkeley professor eligible to get vaccinated under phase 1b. despite living in alameda county she was able to secure an appointment at the moscone center last week before it temporarily closed. >> before i knew it the shot was in my arm and i was in the waiting area. >> reporter: yet sheila ivlev's 85-year-old father, a san francisco resident, didn't have the same luxury. >> it was so chaotic. it was so unorganized. >> reporter: she took her parents to kaiser in oakland to get the shot. no luck scheduling with the oakland coliseum site. >> there are so many thi

i-team reporter stephanie sierra is live with a close being look at vaccine equality. hi, stephanie. >> every vaccine is submitted to the statewide immune registry. tonight we are digging into what is a preliminary and very narrow picture of that registry showing some of the same disparities seen throughout the pandemic. >> i feel good. >> reporter: the 85-year-old san francisco resident blessed with a devoted caretaker got vaccinated right away. how good do you feel on a scale of one to ten? >> good so far. i would say ten. >> reporter: but he worries about his latino neighbors and there's data to validate his concerns. >> equity. >> reporter: after weeks of promises to prioritize equity the state has released a preliminary picture of the nearly 6 million doses administered, around 32% went to white people. 16% to latinos. 13% to asian americans. close to 14% went to multirace with only around 3% of black people. around 20% identified race as other or unknown with pacific islander, american indian and alaskan native making up less than 1%. >> the distribution of vaccin

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live. stephanie, what are you hearing about when supplies will actually increase? >> well, dan, at least another month until we'll notice a reasonable increase in supply if johnson & johnson's vaccine is approved for emergency use. now the governor says california's allotment is increasing modestly last week after president biden's promise to allocate an additional 20% to states. but it's certainly not enough. >> the supply is the issue. that's the constraint. >> reporter: the governor reinforcing the state's struggle to access vaccine doses from the federal government. >> the state of california will receive roughly the equivalent number of doses that we received a week ago. a little over one million. >> reporter: however, a majority of that shipment will be reserved for second doses. this means the state is really only getting enough to vaccinate 594,000 people per week. >> next week we anticipate a modest increase in the total allocations. >> we've really missed an opportunity to fully en

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra looked into that today and joins us live with more on the challenges. stephanie? >> reporter: yes, dan. and as those rules keep changing, it is getting more complicated. the oakland coliseum site was launched with the purpose of serving northern california, yet only a few counties are getting access. >> he turned and said you can go in now. i almost fainted. >> reporter: maria is a 74-year-old uc berkeley professor, eligible to get vaccinated under phase 1b. despite living in alameda county, she was able to secure an appointment at the moscone center last week before it temporarily closed. >> before i knew it, the shot was in my arm and i was in the waiting area. >> reporter: yet sheila's 85-year-old father, a san francisco resident, didn't have the same luxury. >> it was so chaotic. it was so unorganized. >> reporter: she took her parents in kaiser in oakland to get the shot. no luck scheduling with the oakland coliseum site. . there are so many things within the process that need to be improved. >> reporter: after being closed for eight day, the appo

abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra is digging into that question. she's live tonight. e all want to know. >> reporter: it may be hard to hear this, dan. experts predict it could be close to seven years for the world to reach herd immunity if we keep at the current pace of vaccinations. and for the u.s. it's closer to being a year away. >> if you can get people protected and get an umbrella of what we call herd immunity -- >> reporter: herd immunity is what we're all waiting for. oce we get there -- >> the level of infection is going to go very, very low down. >> reporter: but for now -- >> just hang in there a bit longer. >> reporter: just how much longer? the u.s. is administering around 1.4 million vaccine doses per day. at that pace bloomberg's vaccine tracker estimates the u.s. will reach herd immunity where 70% to 80% of the population will be vaccinated by the start of 2022. that's 11 months away. do you agree with that prediction? >> i do. i think that's a very reasonable projection based on the fact that we need to have close to 300 million people in the united

stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >>>le apple releasingen an update to fix a charging problem destroying some laptops. linked to later models of the mac book pro and air. seems to take place when connected to third party usb hubs and docks. >>> the latest tech gadgets, apple is teaming with target to create mini stores. tech workers will get special training from the company. you will see this rolling out in select locations including one in san jose next month. one of the big perks is if you have a target red card you will be able to use your 5% discount apple products. >>> that's a good one. i can see people getting involved in that. >> i can see it. hey mike. >> hi mike. >> i like it. sorry, i was listening to you out of one year and one eye over here look at the computer graphics, tries to gel them set up. so yeah. congratulations to those that shop at target. now you have something new. let's look at what's going on. starting in san rafael, about 46 under a clear sky. south on the 101. mostly sunny and blue. we'r

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra has been following the hearing for us all day, joining us live now with the latest developments. hey, stechph. >> an incredibly detailed conversation. eight and a half hours in, the panel unanimously agreed this vaccine is safe given the preliminary data released. but the final decision to grant emergency use authorize is not expected until tomorrow. the 22 experts that sit on this advisory panel specialize in everything from internal medicine, pediatrics to epidemiology. the majority of evidence presented today supported the shot, citing the fact it's not only meeting the fda's standards for authorization, but it also requires only one dose and it's much easier to store. it can sit in most standard refrigerators for at least three months. but the efficacy rates raised concern today. johnson & johnson's is between 72 to 86% effective compared to moderna and pfizer's efficacy ranging between 94 to 95%. experts say we need to start tracking data on distrust, siting people may not want to take the shot and rather wait for other options. >> if, god forbi

as abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra explains, at least one local doctor says the cdc's self-proclaimed science-based approach doesn't follow the science. >> reporter: after promises from the biden administration to open more than 50% of our nation's schools by his 100th day in office, the cdc is finally laying out the details weeks from the deadline. >> the president will not rest until every school is open five days a week. >> reporter: cdc director dr. rochelle walensky says in order for that to happen, five key mitigation strategies need to be followed, like correct use of masks, six feet of social distancing, hand washing, cleaned facilities, and use of diagnostic contact tracing. >> i want to underscore that the safest way to open schools is to enure there is as little disease as possible in the community. >> reporter: the cdc has outlined four color coded reopening zones to measure transmission. the zones indicate whether schools can offer in-person instruction based on a county's number of new cases per $1,000 people. blue and yellow point to lower transmission, where as orange

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is on the story. >> we predict that fewer than half the people in hospitals today will be in hospitals 30 days from now. >> 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

. >> stephanie sierra asked the governor why there was a wait to open levi stadium. >> vast amount of vaccinations are not done in sites like this. they are distributes to thousands and thousands of smaller providers. >> the mass vaccination site at the oakland coliseum with open a week from today. >> teachers are next in line to get the vaccination in san francisco, starting february 24th, child care workers, grocery employees and emergency workers. mayor breed does not think it is realistic that schools will reopen this year and stressed the importance of getting kids back into the classrooms. >> we support our teachers. we support our educators. we want them to be safe. but we also know that our children are broken. >> the mayor says one hurdle is a tentative agreement between the union and the district saying classes can resume in the red tier after all teachers are vaccinated. >> former president trump will stand trial in the second for a senate time tomorrow. they voted 56-44 that the impeachment trial is constitutional and can move forward even though mr. trump is no longer in

reporter stephanie sierra is pushing for an explanation. >> it's an issue now of scarcity, an issue ofer: as vaccine supply hits a new low across the state, it's even more crucial the vaccine is getting into the arms of those most vulnerable. >> it's frustrated when people that are more resourced, more connected, perhaps more technically savvy and find out about information, get ahead of the line. >> reporter: yet the governor's administration allowed that to happen. >> some people are not getting appointments. >> reporter: she is a fitness instructor in santa clara county. on january 7, they were told they were eligible to receive the vaccine under tier 1a after the state released guidance. and she classified under the classification of health care workers. >> there was an email that went out saying that. i was like, hold on. >> reporter: word spread fast about the alleged new classification. a manager in santa clara was tagged in this post on facebook, encouraging her colleagues to call a toll-free number to schedule their appointment, writing yes, you are a health care worker. >> we

for the i-team, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> interesting report there. >>> today texans will get af warm relief from this historic and deadly freeze. electricity is slowly starting to come back on, but at last check this morning about 85,000 people are without power. many more are struggling to find basic drinking water. texes' elected leaders are facing nonstop questions about how the power grid failed and who is to blame. >> it hasn't been a problem for a long time. became a problem this week. we believe that, you know, we had not had a problem except for some rolling brownouts in the summer. let me finish. >> i want to. but i have to stop you. that was incorrect to say that this only became a problem this week is incorrect, sir. >> a weak cold front is expected tomorrow night, but that should only bring minimal impacts. all right. we're thinking of everyone there in texas. >>> breaking barriers. we talked to some newmarin coun the first female class. love this story. excited to share that with you. >>> meantime, look out here at the golden gate bridge this morning. we'll talk wi

stephanie sierra is pushing for an explanation. >> it's an issue now, scarcity. it's an issue of supply. >> reporter: as vaccine supply hits a new low across the state, it's even more crucial the vaccine is getting into the arms of those most vulnerable. >> frustrated when people are more resourced, that are wealthier, more connected, perhaps more technically savvy and find out about information get ahead of the line. >> reporter: yet the governor's administration allowed that to happen. >> some people are not getting appointments. >> reporter: kimmi horry is a fitness instructor. back on january 7th, she and her colleagues were told they were available to receive the vaccine after state released guidance, roles like recreational facilities, facilitating outdoor exercise qualified under the classification of health care workers. >> even at my own health club, there was an email going out saying first tier. i was hold on. >> reporter: yet word spread fast about the alleged new classification. a manager at the bay club in santa clara was tagged in this post on face

abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra is getting? answers for those scrambling to save their spot in line. >> i haven't heard really anything. >> reporter: 88-year-old phillip page calls it painful silence. he never imagined he'd be on his cell phone for hours trying to confirm if his vaccine appointment at the moscone center will be canceled next week. >> if not again i'm going to assume the scheduled appointment's on and we'll just show up. >> reporter: with roughly 33,000 appointments backlogged due to supply issues will people like page still have their spot in line? the short answer is yes. abc 7 reached out to the san francisco department of public health and was told there were no cancellations of appointments as a result of the recent pause. at the moscone and city college high volume vaccination sites. as spots are only released once the vaccine supply is confirmed. the moscone center will reopen thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on friday and thereafter the site will operate from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. depending on vacc

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is tracking that for us. stephanie, any insight?ply if johnson & johnson's vaccine is approved for emergency use. the governor says california's allotment is increasing modestly each week after president biden's promise to allocate an additional 20% to states. but it's certainly not enough. >> the supply is the is the issue. that's the constraint. >> reporter: the governor reinforcing the state's struggle to access vaccine doses from the federal government. >> the state of california will receive roughly the equivalent number of doses that we received a week ago, a little over one million. >> reporter: however, a majority of that shipment will be received for second doses. this means the state is really only getting enough to vaccinate 594,000 people per week.

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live. nother month until we'll notice a reasonable increase in supply if johnson & johnson's vaccine is

reporter stephanie sierra is pushing for an explanation. >> it's an issue now of scarcity, an issue ofply. >> reporter: as vaccine supply hits a new low across the state, it's even more crucial the vaccine is getting into the arms of those most vulnerable. >> it's frustrated when people that are more resourced, more connected, perhaps more technically savvy and find out about information, get ahead of the line. >> reporter: yet the governor's administration allowed that to happen. >> some people are not getting appointments. >> reporter: she is a fitness instructor in santa clara county. on january 7, they were told they were eligible to receive the vaccine under tier 1a after the state released guidan and she classified under the classification of health care workers. >> there was an email that went out saying that. i was like, hold on. >> reporter: word spread fast about the alleged new classification. a manager in santa clara was tagged in this post on facebook, encouraging her colleagues to call a toll-free number to schedule their appointment, writing yes, you are a health care wo

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is on the story. >> we predict that fewer than half the people inhospitals 30 days from now. >> reporter: a promising outlook on the future of hospital capacity across the state mark ghaly says more attention now is

stephanie sierra is digging into how many doses have gone to waste across the bay area.e you found? >> so far 631 doses have been wasted in clinics across four bay area counties. now we have analyzed the numbers. and when you compare them to the total number of doses administered in each county, the waste is pretty limited. >> we still need to be cautious until we reach herd immunity. >> reporter: the governor reminding californians to be cautious as vaccine doses continue to be in short supply. 8.7 million doses have been delivered across the state. nearly 77% have been used. that leaves more than two million doses potentially waiting in freezers, reserved for second shots. but how can we be sure those doses aren't wasted? >> mor

abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra is getting?ambling to save their spot in line. >> i haven't heard really anything. >> reporter: 88-year-old phillip page calls it painful silence. he never imagined he'd be on his cell phone for hours trying to confirm if his vaccine appointment at the moscone center will be canceled next week. >> if not again i'm going to assume the scheduled appointment's on and we'll just show up. >> reporter: with roughly 33,000 appointments backlogged due to supply issues will people like page still have their spot in line? the short answer is yes. abc 7 reached out to the san francisco department of public health and was told there were no cancellations of appointments as a result of the recent pause. at the moscone and city college high volume vaccination sites. as spots are only released once the vaccine supply is

stephanie sierra is digging into the state's contract with the company. it's 55 pages?porter: yes, 55 pages, dan, and we've gone over all of it. certainly the promises the made to ramp up vaccines and meet equity goals sound great. but several amendments listed in this contract could be problematic in the long run. blue shield of california is setting big, bold promises. by march 1st, the insurance giant vows to have three billion doses administered per week. by april 30th, that goal jumps to four million doses per week. >> we need to do better and do more. >> reporter: the contract is a compelling read on paper. you'll see commitments to close equity gaps, increase

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is digging into the numbers. >> we predict that fewer than half ofay will be in hospitals 30 days from now. >> reporter: a promising outlook on the future of hospital capacity across the state. california's health and human service secretary mark ghaly says more attention now is shifting to the uk and west coast variants and 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 th

stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> stephanie, the clinical trial really impressive the percentage of hospitalizations that were prevented from johnson & johnson's vaccine. give us some more specifics, if you would. >> yes, dan, 100%. that's what was so remarkable about that study. one shot from this vaccine prevented 45,000 people from getting sick enough to go to the hospital in the clinical trial. and the side effects are not excessive, as dr. maldonado pointed out. patients may experience only mild to moderate flu-like symptoms. >> that is encouraging. thank you, stephanie. >>> congresswoman barbara lee and dr. nadine burke harris spoke about the impact of covid-19 on the black community. one of the issues they addressed were vaccine hesitancy and poor access to the vaccine. >> we in the black community and other communities of color, there is a pandemic upon pandemic. we have this crisis, first of all, of health care and the pandemic and the underlying conditions, of course. >> we have a vaccine that is safe and effective. so when we are talking about to our african american communities and talki

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 all in the process of collecting this data and working to make it public. some have blamed the state's messy database which is causing counties to do some cleanup. and others are waiting for the data to be more complete. >> okay. stephanie, thanks very much. >>> levi's stadium will be turned into the biggest covid vaccination site in california, but the news comes amid a national vaccine shortage. abc7 news chris nguyen has the story. >> reporter: in santa clara county, levi's stadium can soon become the largest covid-19 mass vaccination site in the state, but that distinction comes with a caveat for now. >> all of that effort is undermined by our ability to procure the number of vaccines that we know that we can get administered every day. >> reporter: supervisor susan ellenburg says the county has done a good job

for the i-team, stephanie sierra, abc news. >> let's talk about what happens next. will there be any kind of penalty against one medical? >> at this point we are told from the state, dan, unless formal complaints are filed to the state medical board, it's unlikely we will see anything but vaccine supply cut off. it's possible if complaints continue and are found to be true, fines or further penalties could be next. so we'll see what happens. >> okay. you'll keep us posted. thanks, steph, very much. >>> an advisory committee will meet tomorrow to consider whether the fda should authorize the one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine. stanford medicine infectious disease physician dr. hail hailey gantz spoke with us. >> i am excited, particularly against the severe disease and the variants. i have some questions that i would like to clarify on how they're going continue to monitor immunity. this is a lasting question we all have. >> so far more than 75% of vaccine doses delivered to california have been given out. you can check the progress any time on our vaccine tracker. t

live in the newsroom, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> we know cbs is launching limited vaccinations starting this week. did the governor give incite to how many doses california pharmacies will be receiving from the federal government? >> yes, 100,000 doses will be coming to california pharmacies out of the one million doses allotted nationwide. so certainly a very fraction to meet the demand serving the thousands of assisted and long-term care facilities across the state. >> stephanie, thank you. >>> what officials hope will be the largest mass vaccination site in the state is now open at levi's stadium in santa clara. individuals 65 years and older walked inside the stadium to be the first of some 500 people to receive the vaccine today. officials say the site could soon accommodate up to 15,000 appointments a day depending on the supply of the vaccine. santa clara's been hard hit by this pandemic than any other bay area county. >> we must work intentionally to be very sure that no one is left behind. we must redouble our efforts in those pockets of our community that we know are home to t

stephanie sierra is digging into the state's contract with the company. it's 55 pages? >> reporter: yes, 55 pages, dan, and we've gone over all of it. certainly the promises the made to ramp up vaccines and meet equity goals sound great. but several amendments listed in this contract could be problematic in the long run. blue shield of california is setting big, bold promises. by march 1st, the insurance giant vows to have three billion doses administered per week. by april 30th, that goal jumps to four million doses per week. >> we need to do better and do more. >> reporter: the contract is a compelling read on paper. you'll see commitments to close equity gaps, increase accessibility, robust data monitoring sites and sites to ensure vaccine monitors are following the rules. >> it's all about analytics. >> reporter: yet there is little transparency about key logistical details. blue shield will use a vaccine algorithm that will determine the vaccines across the state, taking into account vaccine availability, areas with high rates of covid-19 and feedback from relevant

stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >>> in san francisco, a change in the method for delivering the covid vaccine, at least in one location. age will no longer be the only factor. abc7's wayneas more y u, bayvt' nurpriseow fou oro face it >> reporter: social distancing, waiting in line for something new, a drop-in clinic for the moderna covid vaccine. >> have i been. >> reporter: as the city sees it, this is a new way of distributing vaccine, a bit of an experiment based on zip code and based on reality. here in the bayview, roughly 10% of the population has been infected. >> what the city is wanting to do is to make sure that the communities that have been hit hardest by the covid-19 areshor zip code is -- >> 91424. >> or 91425, they'll have 200 doses a day, seven days a week for an unknown amount of time. it's also open to 65-year-olds anywhere in san francisco's health net work. being here was a relief for 81-year-old laurence blount. he used to work for united airlines. >> oh tshis a yo g i. just not even knowing you have it. >> reporter: that same relief holds true for sal alcala, now that h

stephanie sierra is digging into how many doses have gone to waste across the bay area. steph, what have you found? >> so far 631 doses have been wasted in clinics across four bay area counties. now we have analyzed the numbers. and when you compare them to the total number of doses administered in each county, the waste is pretty limited. >> we still need to be cautious until we reach herd immunity. >> reporter: the governor reminding californians to be cautious as vaccine doses continue to be in short supply. 8.7 million doses have been delivered across the state. nearly 77% have been used. that leaves more than two million doses potentially waiting in freezers, reserved for second shots. but how can we be sure those doses aren't wasted? >> more transparency. >> yet, the state isn't tracking that information on their website. so we're pushing the california department of public health to change that. after multiple calls and emails raising the question, we received a response stating we are now looking into it. >> it's really easy to plan this stuff when you have it al

for the i-team, stephanie sierra. >>> today texans will get a brief bit of warm relief from this historicy freeze. electricity is slowly starting to come back on, but at last check this morning about 85,000 people are still without power. texas' elected leaders are facing nonstop questions about how the power grid failed and who is to blame. >> it hasn't been a problem for a long time. became a problem this week. we believe that, you know, we had not had a problem except for some rolling brownouts in the summer. let me finish. >> i have to stop you, that was incorrect to say this only became a problem this week is incorrect, sir. >> a weak cold front is expected tomorrow night, but that should only bring minimal impacts. >>> all right, still ahead on . breaking barriers. we talked to some new eagle scouts in marin county who are part of the first ever female class. >>> and here is a live look outside as we head to break and a little rainy this morning, but that is going to clear up by the time most of us wake up. we'll chat with lisa when we get back. stick with us. advanced non-small cel

sierra is live tonight with a closer look at this issue of vaccine equity. stephanie? >> reporter: dan, every vaccine across the state of california is submitted to the state registry and tonight we are digging into what is a preliminary and very narrow picture of that registry showing some of the same disparities seen throughout the pandemic. ramon considers himself lucky. the 85-year-old san francisco resident blessed with a devoted caretaker got vaccinated right away. >> how good do you feel? on a scale of 1 to 10. >> well, i feel good. so far i feel 10. >> reporter: but he worries about his latino neighbors, and there's data to validate his concerns. >> equity. >> equity. >> equity. >> reporter: after weeks of promises to prioritize equity, the state has finally released a preliminary picture of the nearly 6 million doses administered, around 32% went to white people. 16% to latinos. 13% to asian americans. close to 14% went to multirace, with only around 3% to black people. around 20% identified race as other or unknown. with native hawaiian pacific islander ameri