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San Francisco COVID-19 replace: SF ramping up vaccine distribution, accepting out-of-county sufferers

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in San Francisco is well underway, city officials said Tuesday. It is a glimmer of hope in the midst of an ever worsening winter flood.

So far, 90% of residents at the qualified care facility in Laguna Honda have already received the first dose, said Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax. This process should be completed by Wednesday, Mayor London Breed said. Laguna Honda was an epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the Bay Area at the start of the pandemic.

“Each of these people at Laguna Honda who are vaccinated is someone who continues to have birthdays with families and visits with friends,” said Mayor Breed. “You will have more time. You will have months and years ahead of you that so many in this country have unfortunately lost to this virus.”

In addition, most of the frontline workers at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda have received their first doses, Colfax said, and almost all paramedics and paramedics have been offered the vaccine.

With vaccine assignments being primarily federal and state, and shipments being sent direct to health care providers, Colfax says it is impossible to pinpoint exactly how many people in the city have been vaccinated to date.

VIDEO: Mayor London Breed discusses vaccine launch at Laguna Honda

Colfax announced that the Department of Health, which acts as health care provider for many in the city who receive Medicaid or are uninsured, vaccinated around 6,000 people. UCSF is able to deliver approximately 1,100 doses per day, a representative from the hospital said.

Once the city completes Phase 1A of vaccinations, which includes healthcare workers and nursing home residents, it will follow instructions from the state to transition to Phase 1B.

MORE: Who Will Be Next to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine in California? Here’s who is included in Phases 1A, 1B, and 1C

While vaccination progress is welcome news, it is too late to tackle the winter COVID-19 surge in San Francisco.

“The good news is that the vaccine is here and it was given every day,” said Colfax. “But it won’t have much of an impact on our current surge or any post-December vacation surge that we will see in the coming weeks.”

Last week, San Francisco extended its home ordering and travel quarantine rules indefinitely as ICU capacity remains relatively small. About 35% of intensive care beds in the city are still open, Colfax said, but other parts of the state are so bad that patients are being transported.

“While we have care available and people need care, it is moral, ethical, and right to provide that care when it is asked and when it is needed,” he said.

RELATED: SF extends home stay order indefinitely. Will the rest of the Bay Area follow suit?

Officials fear we have not yet reached the peak of the winter flood and may soon see the full effects of holiday gatherings.

San Francisco records approximately 237 new COVID-19 cases every day.

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