San Francisco’s vaccine supply will run out later this week if the city does not receive new shipments, Mayor London Breed said on Tuesday.
The city may run out of vaccines on Thursday, Breed said. This would affect the people who would receive the vaccine in the city; Private providers have a separate supply, and Breed added that the supply restriction for the city “should not have a significant impact” on plans to open a mass vaccination center soon at City College.
Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s chief public health officer, said the city received 8,000 doses of the Moderna batch that the state recommended not to be administered while they were being studied after a wave of allergic reactions from the batch at Petco Park in San Diego.
“We took a break from those for the sake of caution,” he said. “We didn’t get any replacement doses.” Last week, the city received 12,000 doses in total. This week, only 1,775. “This unreliable source makes planning difficult.”
The supply crisis in San Francisco is emblematic of what city and state health officials have been saying for weeks: there are not enough vaccines to meet public health demand.
San Francisco’s entire health system received 102,825 doses of the vaccine as of Tuesday, Breed said. But these should count as first and second doses. There are approximately 210,000 people in San Francisco eligible for the vaccine under the first tier of California’s vaccine delivery system.
“While we are making progress, we simply need more vaccines,” said Breed on Tuesday.
Overall, 28,501 are Franciscans received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 6,347 received two doses.
“We will be ready to vaccinate 10,000 people a day,” said Colfax. “But now, our challenge is the lack of vaccine. The supply of vaccine (Department of Public Health) will be exhausted on Thursday.”
Asked when the San Francisco home order could end, Colfax said: “We have some promising signs regarding case rates starting to fall and hospitalizations starting to stabilize. … If this trend continues, I hope that let’s move out of this state of staying at home. The trend is a positive direction … It’s not time to let your guard down. “
Regarding the new variant, Colfax said: “There is a likelihood that it will be more infectious.” But “there is no reason to panic” and people must follow standard public safety protocols.
Michael Williams is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]