San Francisco has one of the highest vaccination rates of any city in the country, but the challenge of the COVID-19 virus is far from over for its most vulnerable residents.

There have been 1,610 confirmed cases of COVID among residents of single occupancy hotels and 39 deaths since the pandemic began, according to DataSF, a public portal for The City. This year has been more deadly in SROs than last year, with eight deaths in 2020 and 31 in 2021 so far.

In addition, at least 963 homeless people have contracted COVID, with the number of cases skyrocketing in July and August 2021, even after the vaccine became available. Seven people died in the process.

While nearly 80% of San Franciscans are fully vaccinated, it has been more difficult to reach the same number among the homeless population. In August, according to the city in the public press, around 39% of the homeless were vaccinated.

Although the Ministry of Health was unable to provide updated estimates, service providers said they had made significant progress in the past few weeks.

“We really got to the people who have a belief system that keeps them from getting the vaccine,” said Kenneth Kim, director of strategic initiatives at Glide, a social justice and service organization in San Francisco. “I can’t say we’re in here, but I think we won through the variety of hesitation.”

As The City looks to life beyond the pandemic, it becomes less difficult to mitigate the acute emergency and more about making sure these communities are protected from a virus that is likely to appear here in the long run.

According to experts, part of this work must also be the further dismantling of barriers to access to health care.

When the vaccine was approved, city authorities acted swiftly to target vulnerable populations, from those living on the streets or other shelter in need, to key workers and low-income earners who don’t have much time, energy, or money to spare , to make an appointment.

The city partnered with service providers, organized pop-up events at animal shelters and camps, and sent roving vaccination teams to neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, Bayview, and the Mission. It brought vaccines to shelters and held briefing sessions with patients in emergency rooms and emergency services.

Such initiatives are designed to make it as easy as possible to get the vaccine for someone who does not have a consistent schedule, stable housing situation, or mental health crisis. You should also work through familiar faces in the community, people who could help alleviate suspicions about outreach programs and build trust in the information provided.

To protect all residents from the likely ups and downs of COVID or its variants in the years to come, it is important to ensure that such interventions become a permanent fixture.

“Much of what we asked for is due to the pandemic,” said Kim. “Let’s try to build on that instead of going back to normal.”

A proactive introduction of vaccinations marked a stark contrast to how the city handled the early days of the virus among the homeless.

Communicable diseases have always been a threat in animal shelters, and COVID has exacerbated that risk. Knowing this, proponents urged officials to move people to remote rooms as soon as the virus emerged. But they saw little movement from city officials until 70 people at San Francisco’s largest animal shelter, Multi-Service Center South, contracted the virus in April 2020.

The city has added 200 beds to its total offer in the last four months – but it seems that accommodation will look different in the future.

That includes maintaining strategies to prevent COVID like social distancing, masking, increased hygiene, and following federal guidelines on bed spacing, according to the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. But it could also involve rethinking how facilities are configured, according to proponents.

“That could mean that we use our existing rooms and create private units in these common areas, it could mean that we have private room options,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, the executive director of the advocacy group Coalition on Homelessness.

Kim said this process wouldn’t happen overnight, but providers like Glide can continue to use the pandemic-era vaccination and contact methods that have since proven effective, such as outdoor health centers and mobile centers.

“We will still have a lot to do to prepare for modernization due to the pandemic,” he said.

Proponents also hope to expand something like the shelter-in-place hotel program, where the city rented empty rooms to provide temporary shelter to many at risk of homelessness.

Private hotel rooms not only gave people coming from emergency shelters or dangerous road conditions the opportunity to distance themselves socially, but also made it possible for The City to more easily provide services and support to a traditionally hard-to-reach population.

“The people who came into the shelter-in-place hotels saw a tremendous change in their lives, but the people who stayed outside saw a massive decrease in their quality of life,” said Friendenbach.

Since the hotels opened in April 2020, they have accommodated 3,709 people. Only 729 of them have been permanently housed since then. But seven of the 25 hotels that were used for the temporary program were closed last year, and two more are set to close by the end of 2021.

Homelessness and Supportive Housing announced Wednesday that the remaining hotels will be used for the temporary program through September 2022. Around 1,200 people remain in these units and have to be re-housed.

Finally, if there is a silver lining to the pandemic, homelessness advocates and service providers say that the spotlight is on the dangers to people affected by severe poverty and homelessness.

While they are quick to say the task ahead is daunting, they expressed their optimism that public advocacy for change may outlast the headlines of the pandemic.

“We are all reminded that the health of one person affects the health of another person,” said Friedenbach. “It created an urgency on homelessness that wasn’t there before, and it opened many doors to do things differently and better.”

cgraf@sfexaminer.com

COVID-19 Homeless Vaccines

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San Francisco released its contingency plans for vaccinating children on Friday morning when the Food and Drug Administration issues an emergency clearance to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine aged 5-11.

The city is following in the footsteps of Marin County, which announced a preliminary plan last week.

The city said in a statement that it will tap into the already existing network of nearly 100 vaccination sites in doctor’s offices, clinics, schools, pharmacies and more to inject children in the arms.

The vaccine’s anticipated approval for children comes after the FDA announces the approval of Pfizer booster doses for those 65 years of age and older and other at risk groups. San Francisco said in the statement it was ready to start administering these but would prioritize those that need first and second shots. The city encourages people to contact their health care providers for information on how to get boosters.

“We anticipate that at these locations we can deliver 25,000 doses of vaccine per week to collectively meet demand from eligible children, adults who want a primary vaccination, and third-dose booster vaccinations for those who qualify,” said the city. “We must emphasize that our top priority will be to ensure that all members of our community have access to the first and second dose, including children ages 5-11 if they are eligible.”

While Marin County provided specific data for mass vaccination sites for children in anticipation of the Pfizer vaccine’s emergency approval next month, San Francisco did not provide dates for major events.

Marin County has preliminary vaccination events scheduled for three consecutive weekends: October 30th and 31st, November 6th and 7th, and November 13th and 14th. They also start an awareness campaign.

“We know many parents want advice from their pediatrician or family doctor, so we’re also working to build the capacity for family doctors to have the COVID-19 vaccine in their offices,” said Laine Hendricks, a Marin County spokeswoman Ministry of Health, wrote in an email. “We contact and meet with pediatric practices to investigate vaccine delivery, refrigeration / storage, etc. In that sense, Marin County Public Health would be an addition to what pediatricians offer.”

Hendricks added that the goal in Marin County is to give 75% of eligible children an initial dose within one month of receiving emergency vaccine approval.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccine data for children ages 5 to 11 might be available soon and could be filed with the FDA by the end of September, CNBC reported.

“Then it’s up to the FDA to take the time and then make a decision,” Bourla said during an interview at Research America’s 2021 National Health Research Forum.

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Three counties in the San Francisco Bay Area suspended deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to One Medical offices after the private health care provider allowed unauthorized people to queue for vaccines, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday.

According to the Chronicle, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Alameda counties have stopped shipping doses of vaccine to One Medical and are aiming to return more than 1,600 doses. NBC Bay Area later confirmed the report.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health was investigating complaints that the company was administering vaccines to individuals who did not meet the state’s early eligibility criteria, the report said, and the company’s response suggested that individuals were indeed ineligible before their time had been vaccinated.

California only vaccinated people over 65, as well as health care workers and other important people. Early supply shortages forced some local health officials to limit vaccinations to those over 75 or health workers.

In a letter to One Medical executives, the San Francisco Health Department requested the immediate return of 1,600 doses of vaccine because they were unable to verify the eligibility of some vaccine recipients. The cans had been reserved for “other uses,” the letter said, which had not been approved by the health department. The company was allowed to keep enough doses to give a second shot to those who had already received an injection.

Officials from the San Mateo and Alameda counties also found discrepancies, the Chronicle reported, and canceled their assignments.

NPR reported Wednesday that One Medical disregarded local regulations by causing people in several states to cut the limit on vaccinations, including employees who did not interact with the public. Forbes reported similar claims earlier this month.

In a statement to MarketWatch, One Medical said, “Any allegation that we generally and knowingly disregard regulatory compliance guidelines directly contradicts our actual approach to vaccine delivery.

“The recent media coverage of One Medical perpetuates dangerous public misunderstandings about our COVID-19 vaccine protocols and, more importantly, has built on our corporate values ​​in our efforts to work with health officials across the country to deliver COVID-19 vaccines Asked a question. While this type of reporting is discouraging for our team members who have worked tirelessly nights and weekends on the complexities and challenges of introducing the vaccine, we remain determined to serve our communities and hope this report continues our ability to do so do not handicapped. this vital work, ”the company said, adding that 96% of those vaccinated had proof of eligibility and the other 4% were“ vaccinated according to zero waste protocols ”.

One Medical is a member-based health clinic with offices in 12 major markets and works with more than 7,000 companies. In November, One Medical reported more than 511,000 members.

Shares in One Medical parent company 1Life Healthcare Inc. ONEM, + 2.35%, fell more than 4% on Wednesday. After going public in January 2020, stocks are up 126% over the past 12 months, compared to the S&P 500’s SPX, + 0.75% 26%.

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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) – San Francisco city officials tasked with leading the city’s COVID-19 response said Thursday that an unstable vaccine supply could stifle those plans, even though the city is on track, everyone Vaccinate residents by June.

During a hearing on the city’s vaccination distribution in the Board’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of emergency management for the San Francisco Emergency Management Department, said the city had successfully vaccinated thousands of residents at its three mass vaccination sites.

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To date, approximately 285,000 people have been vaccinated at the Moscone South location, while more than 60,000 people have been vaccinated at the San Francisco City College location and more than 30,000 at the SF Market location in the Bayview District.

“We wanted, and I think we are very proud, to put these high-volume websites in places that were really accessible to people all over the city and especially in areas where COVID was prevalent,” she said. “This was really a partnership not only with our health care providers but also with employees from across the city in the many, many different departments that have participated. “

So far, 66 percent of Franciscans over 16 have received at least their first dose of vaccine.

According to Naveena Bobba, assistant director of the San Francisco Department of Health, the city has deployed mobile vaccination clinics in underserved areas such as high-case neighborhoods, senior housing areas, single-unit hotels, and prisons to ensure equitable access to the vaccine.

“We currently use one or two mobile teams every day. We could upscale that, the big problem is we don’t have the supplies, ”said Bobba. “Mobile immunization has been used in Tenderloin, South of Market, Treasure Island, Mission, Bayview, Chinatown and Nob Hill to name a few, and teams are out all over town. The greatest challenge here is the vaccine supply and the future state of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “

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The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are currently reviewing the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine based on reports of patients getting blood clots.

Efforts to reach other vulnerable populations such as the homeless include equipping clinics that provide the vaccine to homeless patients and deploying mobile vaccination teams in places such as sleeping places, shelters and homeless camps. To date, more than 1,500 homeless San Franciscans have been vaccinated.

As early as January, at the start of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the city’s Ministry of Health expected that practically every Franciscan would be vaccinated by June.

“I think we are on the right track. Supply problems are our biggest obstacle and we have the least control over them, ”said Bobba.

“We really built this system and continue to build it where we see gaps. However, as long as the supply is there and there aren’t any major other issues with the vaccine, we’ll be able to say that until the end. In June, the vaccine reached a place where anyone who wants it should get it or be offered it. But here too I would like to point out that the supply has been very unstable, but these are forecasts by the federal government that we are relying on, ”she said.

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