stephanie sierra is here to explain how to know if you qualify. stephanie? >> dan, the state lists 11 severe health conditions that will qualify people toer hhrisk. it's very specific. the problem is the rest of the guidance is vague, vague enough to have some doctors concerned people may take advantage. starting monday, anyone ages 16 to 64 with severe health conditions or disabilities will be eligible for the vaccine. the state details a list of severe health conditions ranging from cancer, chronic diseases to heart conditions. but as the guidance expands, it becomes blurly. anybody at risk deemed by your health care provider. >> we will for the most part be compliant with that record. >> reporter: some call it a loophole. >> we want low barrier access to vaccine. we don't want to create too much bureaucracy, too many forms. >> reporter: mike wasserman sits on california's vaccine advisory committee. he is concerned about vulnerable people who don't have access to doris insurance to get that early approval to qualify. >> that's the concern is that we have

. >> abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra joins us live from the newsroom to explain. stephanie. >> reporter: well, ama and dan, it's important to note all counties will still be receiving vaccine while this transition is taking place. the key difference here is which counties will have the opportunity to qualify for more first. now, we talked to blue shield ceo paul markovich exclusively yesterday and we still had more questions and wanted to dig in more. over the next few weeks all nine bay area counties will be phased into blue shield's vaccination network. solano and sonoma county are first, making the transition in wave two on march 7th. the seven other bay area counties transition last in wave three on march 14th, partly due to having lower rates of covid cases. >> we're vaccinating people in the right sequence. >> reporter: blue shield ceo paul markovich explains the company is using an algorithm that determines dose allocation for counties and providers based on infection rates and vulnerable demographic areas. >> what is the infection rate for covid-19 as a per

stephanie sierra is digging in to the time line. >> 30,000 doses are set to arrive across the bay area and parts of sacramento by tuesday e other 30,000 will arrive the following week. but it is still not nearly enough to meet the demand. in fact, 30,000 sutter health patients will still lose their second dose appointments that were scheduled up until march 9th. blue shield finalized the plan a day after the health care giant announced they spent four weeks trying to request more vaccine from the state. >>> still awaiting guidance about changes to their dose allotment. santa clara county is in a similar situation, reporting a significant cut in their vaccine supply for next week. now, despite the lack of transparency so far, blue shield says they are confident there won't be any further delays, but several local officials expect it will only get more challenging. we'll explain why coming up at 6:00. stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. >> stephanie, thank you. >>> california is once again changing its vaccine distribution plan. this time to put a greater emphasis on closing the equity gap for

stephanie sierra, abc7 news. > that is a nice notice to get. stephanie, thank you. >>> as more people become eligible to get the vaccine in california, there is a greater risk of abuse of the system. dr. patel, a member of our abc news vaccine team says expanding eligibility to those who have serious medical conditions is the right move but is also cause for concern. >> from everything we have seen we don't need a medical provider's note or proof. that is fair because in theory you don't want to violate medical security and it is not easy for everyone out there to see a healthcare provider. at the same time, i went on my turn.gov and made up information and it said i was eligible. i hope people out there are honest and are people who sincerely need the vaccine because this is an abuse of the system. >> with so many more people becoming eligible today, it could be another month, keep in mind, before the next group can sign up for an appointment. that would include people over the age of 50 with no underlying health conditions and those working i

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live tonight with reaction for us. stephanie? >> reporter: well, kristen, the average time that children are being housed in border facilities now exceeds three days, and three days is the legal limit. if moffett field is approved, the hope is that children that come here are reunited with sponsors within three weeks. as unaccompanied migrant children detained has nearly tripled to close to 3500 in recent weeks, federal officials are eyeing space for a temporary shelter at nasa's moffett field in mountain view. the news hit close to home for lilly ray. >> shock. truly shock. it was this feeling of what? >> reporter: ray is the co-founder of bay area border relief, a grassroots organization that helps asylum seekers at the border find a safe home. >> why are we doing this? we have enough ph.ds who have done enough research and enough studies and enough professionals and loads of data that says this is bad for children. >> reporter: ray and a group of women have made seven trips in the past couple of years to the border, seeing fir

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is following the latest developments. she is life in the newsroom. stephanie? >> reporter: well, dan, the state has allotted sutter health 30,000 doses, said to arrive by tuesday or thursday next week. it's a big cut compared to what they were expecting to get. now other counties facing the same issue are concerned it's tied to blue shield's transition. after four weeks of urgent request for more vaccine, blue shield has finalized a preliminary plan with sutter health. the state committing 30,000 doses to the health care system, set to arrive next week. another 30,000 the following week. that's only enough to vaccinate two-thirds of the current backlog. >> all of our health care providers, counties across the state are all feeling the need for greater transparency in the process. >> supervisor sydney chavez says the same problem is impacting santa clara county. she is concerned the delay is tied to blue shield's transition. >> we received much less vaccine via the county than we were expecting, and we just were notified of

abc7 news reporter, stephanie sierra is digging into why. >> we are not going to back off. >> reporter: the governor admits when it comes to vaccine equity, california has work to do. abc7's vaccine tracker shows more than 14 million vaccines have been administered statewide today. yet new data shows around 57% of those doses went to wealthy communities across california. that is a new record for the state, around 43% which went to poor communities. >> we continue to get closer to where we need to be. >> reporter: the state measures vaccine in equity that takes into account health, income, education and access to healthcare. >> we are not doing well within our state and not doing well when we compare our performance against other states across the country. >> reporter: dr. domingo says she is vice chair at u.s. cff. only around 11% living in the poorest areas of california have been fully vaccinated. where is the wealthiest populations have double that. why? >> the sku is not just because of healthcare workers living in more affluent counties or because the older populations in califor

. >> thank you for joining us come abc7 news stephanie sierra is digging into all of this for us tonight. >> we will not back off on that commitment. >> the governor admits california has work to do. abc7 vaccine tracker shows more than 14 million vaccines have been administered statewide today, but new data shows around 57% of those went to out the communities across california. that is a new record for the state. around 42% went to poor communities. >> we continue to not be close to where we need to be. >> the state measures vaccine equity through e thinheto accou health, income, education and access to healthcare. >> we are not doing well within our state and wewell when we broke compare ou performance against other states across the country. >>dr. kiersten as vice dean of population health equity at ucsf. she explains the numbers only if you look at those populations fully vaccinated. for example, only around 11% of people living in the poorest areas of california have been fully vaccinated. whereas the wealthiest populations have doubled that. why? >> this is not just because of hea

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra live in the newsroom now following the latest developments. stephanie? >> well, larry, sutter health just kishlged to us the state has allotted them 30,000 doses set to arrive by tuesday or m next week. the supply has been inconsistent for the past month. now other counties are concerned these cuts are tied to blue shield's transition. after four weeks of urgent requests for more vaccine, blue shield has finalized a preliminary plan with sutter health. the state committing 30,000 doses to the health care system, set to arrive next week. another 30,000 the following week. that's only enough to vaccinate two-thirds of the current backlog. >> all of our health care providers, counties across the state are all feeling the need for greater transparency in the process. >> reporter: supervisor cindy chavez says the same problem is impacting santa clara county. she's concerned the delay is tied to blue shield's transition. >> we received much less vaccine, via the county that we were expecting and we were just notified of that today. and one of the cha

abc7 news i-team reporter stephanie sierra is digging into it. >> sorry i'm upset. >> reporter: it's last thing 80-year-old shawn wanted to hear. >> we need to reschedule you. >> reporter: sutter health suddenly canceled his second dose vaccine appointment scheduled for tuesday morning, giving no opportunity to reschedule. >> it should not happen. >> reporter: after showing up to the sutter health clinic in santa clara county, he received this flyer and was told -- >> she says the system, does not allow because they don't have the vaccine. >> reporter: aside from santa clara, viewers are reporting the same issues in san francisco, san mateo and alameda counties. one writing checked onsite. says all doses canceled until further notice. sutter health confirmed more than 90,000 first and second dose appointments could be canceled due to a delay of shipments from bad weather due to miscommnication from the state. they we are in the process of notifying patients with second dose appointments scheduled through march 9th to let them know their current appointment needs to be canceled due to

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live tonight with reaction. and steph, what's the average wait time for most children at the border now? >> well, ama, most children are housed at these border jails for more than three day, often week, and in some cases even years. the average stay is now over the legal limit. now if moffett field is approved, the hope is the children coming here are reunited with sponsors within three week s as unaccompanied migrant children detained has nearly tripled to close to 3500 in recent weeks, federal officials are eyeing space for a temporary shelter at nasa's moffett field in mountain view. the news hit close to home for lilly ray. >> shock. truly shock. it was this feeling of what? >> reporter: ray is the co-founder of bay area border relief, a grassroots organization that helps asylum seekers at the border find a safe home. >> why are we doing this? we have enough ph.ds who have done enough research and enough studies and enough professionals and loads of data that says this is bad for children. >> reporter: ray a

abc 7 news i-team reporter stephanie sierra is digging into it. >> reporter: it's the last thing 80-year-old shawn shiek wanted to hear. sutter health suddenly cancelled his second vaccine appointment scheduled for tuesday morning, giving no opportunity to reschedule. >> it should not happen. >> reporter: after showing up to the sutter health clinic in santa clara county, he received this flier and was told -- >> it says the system does not allow because they don't have the vaccine. >> reporter: aside from santa clara, viewers are reporting the same issues in san francisco, san mateo and alameda counties. one writing checked onsite. all doses cancelled until further notice. sutter health confirmed more than 90,000 first and second dose appointments could be cancelled due to a delay of shipments stemming from bad weather to miscommunication from the state. the health care system told abc 7 we are in the process of notifying patients with second dose appointments scheduled through march 9th to let them know that their current appointment needs to be cancelled due to insufficient supply. we wil

stephanie sierra has been following the process closely and is in the newsroom with the latest on this. >> we have been helping viewers try to schedule appointments all day and there were thousands of available early this morning but by noon, it was hard to find any appointments in nearly every bay area county. >> i called my doctors office and they said we don't have any so stop calling. >> kelly is struggling with lymphoma and her son is autistic and struggling with. cannot find an appointment the bay area. >> no availability in the area. >> multi is in a similar situation. >> congratulations, you are eligible. >> he has made 12 attempts to secure an appointment but no luck within a 50 mile radius. starting at 6:00 a.m., abc7 checked appointment availability in every bay area county. most locations that pop up our pharmacies. we got the same notice nearly every time. no availability. please try a different search or check back later. the only location we could briefly make an appointment was in fairfield. >> it should not be difficult for them. >> opening up the high risk phase at on

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is following the latest developments. ife in the newsroom. stephanie? >> reporter: well, dan, the state has allotted sutter health 30,000 doses, said to arrive by tuesday or thursday next week. it's a big cut compared to what they were expecting to get. now other counties facing the same issue are concerned it's tied to blue shield's transition. after four weeks of urgent request for more vaccine, blue shield has finalized a preliminary plan with sutter health. the state committing 30,000 doses to the health care system, set to arrive next week. another 30,000 the following week. that's only enough to vaccinate two-thirds of the current backlog. >> all of our health care providers, counties across the state are all feeling the need for greater transparency i

stephanie sierra has followed three san francisco small business owners from the very start of the pandemicir stories of survival. >> oh my god! we made it! that is the first thing i think. so far it

stephanie sierra has followed three san francisco small business owners from the very start of the pandemic. here are their stories of survival. >> oh my god! we made it! that is the first thing i think. so far it is still touch and go. >> ambience in san francisco snowy valley. the boutique has been in san francisco for decades. after losing 75% of her business in the last year, she feared she would close for good. >> it has been incredibly difficult. >> the move to orange comes days after celebrating the 25th anniversary. she didn't lose hope. >> that is what is exciting. the corridor doors are almost fully open. >> o'leary lost her warehouse during the pandemic but kept her three stores. >> we had to adapt quite a >> pete is also downsizng. you lost 20% of his business in the last year causing him to part ways with his annex. >> we rely on the certain of a lot of the items we expanded our things people don't buy as much of. >> paul robertson knows that feeling well. he owns a floral shop off of the balboa. since last march he lost 50% of his business. >> a chunk! this year will possibly

stephanie sierra is here with the look at the solution and

stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> stephanie, since sonoma and solano counties are scheduled to transition on march 7th, will the method to make appointments change? >> great question, ama. they won't. all appointments will still be made through the state's my turn site. but counties won't be directly controlling where doses go after march 7th. blue shield will be making those recommendations to the state. >> okay. all right. thank you, stephanie. and abc7 news is monitoring the covid vaccine roll-out in california with our vaccine tracker. you can find this on our home page at abc7 news news.com. >>> a lot more to come on this busy wednesday. we're all hoping vaccines will bring an end to the pandemic, but for some coronavirus patients, there seems to be no enford>> i'm spencer christian. march came in like a lamb, but its lamb-like qualitieser about to disappear. >>> new information about that horrific crash near the california/mexico border that left 13 people dead, natural the same car. what we're learning tonight abou i have the power to lower my a1c. because i can still make my own i

. >>> stephanie sierra has followed three small business owners from the start of the pandemic and out to the orange tier of reopening. that is the first thing think.n of ambience here. the boutique has been in san francisco for decades. o'leary feared she would close for good. >> the moved to orange comes days before celebrating her stories 25th anniversary. she didn't lose hope. >> that is what is exciting. commercial corridors are almost fully open. >> she lost her warehouse during the pandemic but kept her three source. >> a lot of the items we expended over there are things people don't buy as robertson k feeling as well. he owns a floral shop off of the balboa. since last march hemarch hemarce >> a chunk and this year will probably be a little more because we didn't have the briley big christmas pushchristh the end of last year. >> 80% of these is usually from hotels many of which still sit empty but his hope for the future is now. >> we did a birthday dinner for eight people and maybe next month will be for 20. there is some brightness ahead. >> brightness or resilience. >> eith

stephanie sierra is here with the look at the solution and the situation we are in this moment. >> reporter: if you asked a man that moment a few months ago i would say no way. for the first time since this rollout we finally got one of the most promising updates from the governor giving us hope supply concerns may soon be behind us. those advising us say i will believe it when i see at. >> california is addressing eligibility. >> >> by mid april everyone ages 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine as the expected weekly supply will ramp up to more than 3 million doses. the state is receiving 1.8 million doses per week. >> in a few weeks there will be no world and no limitations as it relates to the ability to get a vaccine administered. >> the loosening of loosening o began first to pay any and estate. providers will be able to vaccinate anyone living in the 400 zip codes the deemed to be most at risk to the virus. this includes 10 zip codes in the bay area like oakland fruitvale district and san francisco's tenderloin district. >> regardless of age and pre- existing condition. >> e

stephanie sierra follows the latest. live in the newsroom. will the counties of a say in how many doses are coming in? and, whether more doses coming in next week? it is an exercise in huge frustrations. >> reporter: that's a great question. there is somewhat of an expectation that it will happen now. and they should be getting more doses. the state will announce that it will direct blue shield to give some decision-making powers to better assess faxing those allotments. most of the bay area counties are questioning what to do next. but 13 days ahead of the deadline for all california counties to fully transition to blue shield's vaccination network and only two bay area counties have announced their plans. santa clara county opting out. sonoma county opsin meaning blue shield has officially taken over distribution. >> the remaining seven other bay area counties tell us they are in discussion with the insurance giant. if they do, counties will be signing them. >> what is in the process of happening? we have inside. we expectwe expt shortly. >