SF teachers and grocery workers, now eligible for the vaccine, may still have to wait weeks

Even as San Francisco moves to expand vaccine eligibility on Wednesday to 168,000 teachers, grocery workers and emergency responders who live or work in the city, some may find they won’t be able to take their first dose for another two or three weeks. .

This is because, like many departments and health providers across the state, San Francisco is prioritizing second-dose vaccines. This means that they are giving a second injection to people who had their first injections a few weeks ago and postponing consultations for the first injections until they get more vaccine. Both vaccines currently available in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, are administered in two injections, 21 or 28 days apart.

About 91,000 San Franciscans are expected to receive their second dose in the next two to three weeks, according to the public health department. San Francisco projects that in the next two weeks, the number of consultations for the first dose will decrease significantly compared to the last two weeks.

High-volume vaccination sites that receive vaccine supplies from regional health providers are likewise delaying consultations for the first dose until they receive a new influx of the vaccine. The vaccination site at City College, run by San Francisco and UCSF, is applying only second doses this week, except Thursday, UCSF spokeswoman Kristen Bole said. Next week there will also be only second doses, unless UCSF receives an additional vaccine.

Sutter Health is suspending first dose appointments at all of its nine large-scale vaccination sites in Northern California, including at SF Market in Bayview, due to a lack of vaccines. He will reopen consultations “as soon as more vaccine is made available to us,” said Sutter spokeswoman Monique Binkley Smith.

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