SF Gave First COVID-19 Vaccine to Health Care Workers Today
San Francisco Administers First Covid-19 Vaccine To Health Care Workers
Doctor at San Francisco General Hospital is first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in San Francisco
First round of vaccines in San Francisco to be allocated to acute care facilities, in accordance with the State of California’s vaccine prioritization plan
San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced that San Francisco has administered the first COVID-19 vaccines to frontline health care workers.
This first vaccine administered today at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is part of the initial 12,675 vaccine doses that San Francisco is receiving from the state and federal government. The City is in the process of allocating the vaccine doses to acute care facilities throughout the city.
San Francisco was one of the first four cities in California to begin immunizations.
San Francisco General Hospital expects to administer 100 to 150 shots a day to staff starting Wednesday, said spokesman Brent Andrew.
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The City of San Francisco’s goal is to ensure that vaccination is provided quickly and safely to as many people as possible. San Francisco is allocating COVID-19 vaccines in accordance with the State of California’s vaccine prioritization plan, which requires that the first phase of vaccines be administered to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, including nursing homes.
Additional segments of the population will receive COVID-19 vaccines as more supplies become available. The general population will likely not have access until the vaccine supply is no longer limited, which is expected to be later in 2021.
The first 12,675 vaccine doses are being allocated to acute care facilities. These hospitals and facilities are allocated doses based on the percentage of healthcare workers at each hospital in proportion to San Francisco’s entire hospital worker population, as well as the number of COVID-19 patients the facility cares for and the readiness to receive and administer the vaccine. Upon distribution of the vaccines to those facilities, each facility is responsible for identifying individual recipients and administering the vaccine in adherence with state and federal guidelines.
Dr. Antonio Gomez was the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in San Francisco. He is Medical Director of Critical Care Services at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where he has treated the most critically ill COVID-19 patients. Dr. Gomez has been on staff at the hospital since 2002.
Phung Nguyen, RN, was the second person to receive a vaccine today. She is a nurse in the intensive care unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which has treated the most acute COVID-19 cases in San Francisco during the pandemic. The vaccines were administered by Kai Chen, RN, a nurse at the hospital.
The 12,675 COVID-19 vaccine doses that San Francisco is receiving from the state and federal government will be administered to 12,675 individuals. The vaccine administered today requires two shots, spaced 21 days apart to be effective. San Francisco expects to receive a second allocation of COVID-19 vaccines from the state next week and every week thereafter. Facilities will be responsible for administering the second dose to recipients.
San Francisco is still experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. In an effort to stabilize COVID-19 cases, San Francisco adopted California’s Regional Stay at Home Order to significantly reduce gatherings and additional activities. San Francisco’s updated Stay at Home Order went into effect on December 6 and is expected to be in effect through January 4, 2021.
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine in San Francisco, please visit: https://sf.gov/information/about-covid-19-vaccines. This webpage will be updated regularly.
Additional reporting provided by the San Francisco Chronicle pool feed.
