Author: Alfredo Casuso

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Friday, January 22, 2021

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

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SAN FRANCISCO LAUNCHES FIRST HIGH-VOLUME COVID‑19 VACCINATION SITE

The City will partner with UCSF Health to operate the high-volume vaccination site at City College of San Francisco’s Ocean Avenue Campus, which will further ramp up when supply increases

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced the launch of the first high-volume vaccination site in San Francisco, which is part of the City’s plan to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. The new vaccination site is located at City College of San Francisco’s main campus on Ocean Avenue in the Oceanview, Merced Heights, Ingleside (OMI) neighborhood. This location, which is operated by the City and staffed in partnership with UCSF Health, is the first of three high-volume vaccination sites announced by Mayor Breed last week. 

Two additional high-volume vaccination sites will be located at the Moscone Center in SoMa and the SF Market in the Bayview. These high-volume sites will serve anyone eligible to receive the vaccine regardless of health coverage (by appointment only) and are part of San Francisco’s planned network of vaccination sites to facilitate the quick and efficient delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. 

The high-volume vaccination sites, like the new site at City College, will be complemented by targeted efforts to ensure communities most highly-impacted by COVID-19 receive equitable access to the vaccine. These targeted efforts include mobile vaccination teams, community vaccination sites, San Francisco Department of Public Health’s community clinics, and other safety net clinics in neighborhoods such as Chinatown, the Mission, the Western Addition, and the Bayview.

“Large vaccination sites like this one at City College are going to be critical for getting people vaccinated quickly and safely, and getting our City on the road to recovery. This is an all-hands effort where we are working with our health care partners and City College to create a site that will be able to handle thousands of vaccinations per day once we have vaccine doses we need,” said Mayor Breed. “San Francisco has a plan and we are ready to distribute 10,000 doses per day once we have enough vaccine. To fully deliver this plan, we need more vaccine and we will continue to do everything we can to be ready when our supply of vaccine does increase.”

The City College high-volume vaccination site will begin with an initial launch to test operations, establish successful processes, and ensure safety for patients and workers. Appointments are required and will remain limited in the short-term due to extremely constrained and unpredictable vaccine supply coming to San Francisco. The launch of this site will allow the City and UCSF to effectively build the vaccination infrastructure needed so that when more vaccine supply is available it can be quickly, efficiently, and equitably distributed. 

The City College vaccination site will operate from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm this Friday 1/22, Saturday 1/23 and Sunday 1/24, by appointment only. The hours for the week of January 25, 2021 will be determined based on vaccine supply.

Due to the limited vaccine supply at this time, appointments at the City College site will initially be available by invitation only and will follow the prioritization criteria required by the State. Once vaccine supply increases, the site will scale up, and anyone who lives or works in San Francisco and who is eligible for vaccination will be able to access the vaccine at this site regardless of their health coverage status or provider. While vaccine supply remains the limiting factor in the short-term, the site will have the capacity to vaccinate more than 3,000 people per day once fully operational.  

“The opening of the City College site is an important milestone in our mass vaccination effort, which will, in time, bring this terrible pandemic to an end,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director, San Francisco Department of Public Health. “While vaccine supply coming to San Francisco remains extremely limited, this site, and the other high volume vaccination sites that will be opening in the coming weeks will provide the physical space, medical personnel, and logistical processes to efficiently deliver the vaccine when it becomes available.”  

There are more than 210,000 people in San Francisco who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase (Phase 1A) and people 65 and older. Each person must receive two doses; therefore, San Francisco health care providers need at least 420,000 doses to complete Phase 1A and vaccinate people 65 and older. However, as of January 20, the Department of Public Health and private health care providers have received only a quarter of those doses. 

“As with all of our COVID response efforts over the past year, quickly establishing the City College high volume vaccination site has been an exercise in collaboration, urgency, and science-driven decision making. It has taken significant coordination between different City agencies and City College of San Francisco, as well as our partners at UCSF. I’m proud of the role that the COVID Command Center played in leading this coordination and we will continue to ensure that all available resources are deployed to our shared goal of quickly and equitably distributing the vaccine,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management.

“With the launch of this mass vaccination program, Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health are providing the critical leadership that has made the City a model for managing the pandemic,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood. “As our community waits for vaccine supplies to become more widely available, UCSF is prepared to support San Francisco in vaccinating the City’s residents, focusing first on those who are most vulnerable to this disease.”

“City College is honored to have been chosen as a partner for the mass distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Rajen Vurdien, Interim Chancellor of City College of San Francisco. “This pandemic has wreaked havoc in our communities, so we are ready to collaboratively contribute to keeping our communities healthy by providing the City of San Francisco access to our Ocean Campus.”

Earlier this week, Mayor Breed announced the launch of a webpage for people who live and work in San Francisco to enter their information and be notified once they are eligible to be vaccinated. People who live and work in San Francisco can sign-up for vaccine notification at sf.gov/vaccinenotify.

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Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

President-Elect Biden Nominates Dr. Rachel Levine to be Assistant Secretary of Health

Nomination Marks First Transgender Federal Official Slated to Receive Senate Confirmation

19 January 2021 – San Francisco, CA: Dr. Rachel Levine has been nominated by the incoming Biden / Harris administration to be the next assistant secretary of health for the United States Department of Health and Human Services.  This appointment would make Levine  the first openly transgender federal official to receive Senate confirmation.

“Team Biden / Harris are quickly showing their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” stated Paul Pendergast, President and founder of BuildOUT California. “Through her work in Pennsylvania during COVID, Dr. Levine has proved that she is, quite simply, the best person for this job .”

Levine has been leading Pennsylvania’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming the public face of the state’s public health response as she has led regular briefings alongside Gov. Tom Wolf. Levine was first appointed as Pennsylvania’s health secretary in 2017, also leading the state’s response to the opioid epidemic during her tenure. The Pennsylvania official was confirmed three times by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, the Biden transition noted in a statement announcing her nomination, and Levine was the first transgender person appointed to a Cabinet position in Pennsylvania when she became its physician general in 2015.

About BuildOUT California:

BuildOUT California is the world’s first LGBT Industry Association dedicated to the sustainable growth of LGBT owned & certified businesses, and our allies, in the fields of Architecture, Engineering, Construction Services, Real Estate Development, and Related Industries. BuildOUT California’s efforts are directed toward advocacy at the regional, statewide and national levels, providing relevant technical assistance & training and delivering connections that lead to measurable business growth. BuildOUT California’s 21 Founders represent over 620 years of experience in the A&E/Construction industries. For more information, visit www.buildoutcalifornia.org

Media Contact: DP&A, Inc. / David Perry / news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

LYRIC’s Toni Newman Calls Nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine “Historic and Reflective of America’s Diversity”

19 January 2021 – San Francisco, CA: Following today’s announcement by the incoming Biden / Harris Administration of Dr. Rachel Levine to be assistant secretary of health, Toni Newman, Interim Executive Director for San Francisco’s esteemed nonprofit LYRIC (www.lyric.org), called the nomination “historic.” If confirmed, Levine will be the first openly transgender federal official to receive Senate confirmation. 

“The incoming Biden / Harris Administration promised a cabinet that looked like the people it is charged with serving,” said Newman. “This nomination of Dr. Levine is historic and reflective of America’s diversity.”

Levine has been leading Pennsylvania’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming the public face of the state’s public health response as she has led regular briefings alongside Gov. Tom Wolf. Levine was first appointed as Pennsylvania’s health secretary in 2017, also leading the state’s response to the opioid epidemic during her tenure. The Pennsylvania official was confirmed three times by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, the Biden transition noted in a statement announcing her nomination, and Levine was the first transgender person appointed to a Cabinet position in Pennsylvania when she became its physician general in 2015.

LYRIC is the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading organization offering expertise in youth workforce development, healthcare navigation, individual counseling, and group-based community building to marginalized low-income LGBTQQ+ youth.  In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, LYRIC has continued its vital work for LGBTQQ youth in our community.

Newman is the former Interim Director for Employment Services at the San Francisco LGBT Center and a consultant for the Transgender Strategy Center. Toni is a graduate of Wake Forest University and current candidate for her Juris of Doctorate (JD). Toni served as the Executive Director for St. James Infirmary and the Director of Development for Maitri Compassionate Care, and previously served as the Interim Director of Development & Communications at To Help Everyone Health and Wellness Centers and as a Strategic Fundraiser, Volunteer Recruiter, and Legislative Aide for Equality California. Additionally, Toni is a best selling author, noted for her memoir I Rise – The Transformation of Toni Newman released in 2011, which is based on the poem I Rise by Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor, Dr. Maya Angelou. 

LYRIC’s mission is to build community and inspire positive social change through education enhancement, career trainings, health promotion, and leadership development with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth, their families, and allies of all races, classes, genders, and abilities. For more information and to make a donation, go to www.lyric.org  

SF Mayor London Breed Announces Plan for Network of COVID-19 Vaccination Sites in Francisco

Contact: San Francisco Joint Information Center, dempress@sfgov.org

MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CREATE NETWORK OF COVID-19 VACCINATION SITES IN SAN FRANCISCO

City will partner with health care providers to stand up a mix of high-volume and community-based sites to quickly get people the COVID-19 vaccine as supply become more readily available

15 January 2021 — San Francisco, CA: Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today outlined the City’s plan to create a network of vaccination sites to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible when doses become more readily available. In partnership with the health care providers in San Francisco, which are receiving the majority of the vaccine doses from the state, the City will facilitate the quick and efficient delivery of vaccines through high-volume vaccine sites as well as community-based sites. 

The providers partnering with the City include Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Health, Dignity Health, Sutter Health/California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) and the Department of Public Health, which provides healthcare to the uninsured and underinsured. The City has also created a vaccination notification website where, starting Tuesday, January 19, people who live and work in San Francisco can sign up to be notified when they become eligible under state guidance to receive the vaccine.  

The goal of this initiative is to ensure all health care providers in San Francisco are fully-prepared to facilitate wide-scale vaccinations for those who live and work in San Francisco as soon as health care providers receive sufficient vaccine allocations from the state and federal government. The sites will be created to scale-up capacity as vaccine supply increases. Once the vaccine locations are fully operational, pending vaccine supply, the city has a goal of facilitating 10,000 vaccine doses per day.

“We are doing everything we can to help get people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” said Mayor Breed. “The vaccine is the most important tool we have to end this pandemic once and for all, and getting people protected from this virus is our top priority. By creating these vaccination locations with our private healthcare partners and continuing our efforts to serve the highest-need residents by bringing the vaccine to them, we can all work together to move the vaccine more quickly as supply increases. We need more vaccines now, and we will be ready when they do arrive.”

“We have begun the most ambitious vaccine distribution effort in our City’s history,” said Dr. Grant Colfax. “This is a historic and hopeful moment for all of us. We are working with all of our health partners to ensure an effective and equitable distribution. We have been planning for months now to be ready to vaccinate as many people as fast as possible when the vaccine is more readily available from the federal and state government.”

COVID-19 Vaccination Sites

In partnership with health care providers, DPH, and COVID-19 Command Center, the City will establish high-volume vaccination sites at several locations. These sites will provide a unified place for health care providers to set-up vaccination stations and vaccinate people who are eligible. Each site will have space for all of the City’s health care providers to have vaccination strategies and create coordinated, centralized vaccine locations that people can go to regardless of their insurer.

The selection of these high-volume vaccine sites is informed by the rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalizations, and deaths in San Francisco. The highest rates of infection are in the Southeast sector of the city, and the City has selected the locations of vaccine sites so they are easily accessible to the residents of these neighborhoods. 

The City is working with the providers to ensure these facilities have everything in place to activate and begin offering vaccinations as soon as they receive sufficient vaccine supply. The sites will open and scale based on the amount of vaccine doses health care providers receive.

• SoMa: Moscone Center. 
• OMI: City College of San Francisco (Main Campus).
• Bayview: The SF Market (San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market).

In addition to the high-volume vaccination sites that will serve everyone, the City and health care providers will augment COVID-19 vaccination in high impacted communities with pop-up vaccine sites, DPH’s community clinics, and other safety-net clinics for the uninsured and underserved in neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Mission, Western Addition, and Bayview. 

The City is also working with One Medical, Safeway, and Walgreens to deliver vaccines as doses become available. Additionally, the City has been working with partners to develop mobile vaccination teams to deploy to hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations. The City is working with community partners to best understand where and how to embed these teams within communities to reach the populations most at risk of disease.

Additionally, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFGH) will begin scaling up vaccination of its patients this weekend. ZSFGH serves approximately 110,000 inpatient and outpatient clients annually at their hospitals and clinics.

Vaccine Notification Webpage

Mayor Breed also announced the City has created a webpage for people who live and work in San Francisco to enter their information and be notified once they are eligible to be vaccinated. Starting Tuesday, January 19, people who live and work in San Francisco can sign-up for vaccine notification at sf.gov/vaccinenotify.

“Hospitals throughout San Francisco look forward to partnering with local public health officials and other health care providers to vaccinate as many people as possible, once there are sufficient and reliable allocations of the vaccine,” said Bryan Bucklew, President and CEO, Hospital Council Northern and Central California.

“As part of our commitment to getting the COVID-19 vaccine to all of our members and communities as soon as possible, we are working with counties and state leaders on expanding vaccination locations,” said Carrie Owen Plietz, FACHE, President, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. “We are pleased also to be working together with other healthcare providers to create these mass vaccination sites, and are anticipating opening quickly and as soon as vaccine supplies are available.”

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