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SFHSS director briefs board on vaccine rollout; caller warns Kaiser site poses access challenges for seniors
Summary
Director Abby Yant told the Health Service System board San Francisco remains in phase 1A of the COVID-19 rollout, prioritizing health‑care workers and long‑term‑care residents, and urged continued masking; a public caller said a Kaiser vaccination location was difficult for seniors to reach.
Director Abby Yant told the San Francisco Health Service System board the city is still in phase 1A of vaccine distribution and that federal and state allocation systems — not the local health department — determine who receives doses first. She said two vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are in use and that the Pfizer product is more challenging to manage because of cold‑storage requirements.
"The Health Department here locally does not decide who gets vaccinated first," Yant said, describing a supply flow from manufacturers to states and then to multi‑county entities and health systems. She said San Francisco and its health partners are prioritizing health‑care workers and long‑term‑care residents and that a recent federal shift to include people 65 and older in 1A expanded eligibility for available doses.
Yant outlined operational challenges, including uneven allocations, limited transparency about shipments, and the need to coordinate multiple providers and health plans. She said local officials are working to stand up as many vaccination sites and staffing capacity as possible so that, when additional doses arrive, the city can administer them quickly.
"We may have a moment in time where we have more capacity to give the vaccine than we have the vaccine," Yant said, and urged patience as distribution ramps up. She also stressed that vaccinated individuals must continue to wear masks and keep physical distance until broader immunity is reached.
During the general public‑comment period, caller Richard Rothman said he was able to secure appointments on Kaiser’s website but urged Kaiser to choose vaccination locations that are easier for seniors and people with ADA needs to reach. Rothman said the site he saw required parking in a medical‑center garage and walking more than a block and a half, and he asked that Kaiser consider using sites where flu shots had been administered to improve accessibility.
The board heard no further public callers on the item. Yant and staff said they would continue coordinating with health plans and the Department of Public Health and would provide updated counts of San Franciscans vaccinated when that data becomes available.
