SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced that the city has administered the first COVID-19 vaccines to frontline health care workers.
The first vaccines administered 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 governments.
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. Gomez has been on staff at the hospital since 2002, the announcement said.
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 health care 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 vaccines.
San Francisco's goal is to ensure that vaccination is provided quickly and safely to as many people as possible. The city is allocating COVID-19 vaccines by the California state'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 announcement said.
"This is a historic day for our city and, we hope, the start of a turning point in our response to COVID-19," said Breed.
San Francisco is still experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. To stabilize COVID-19 cases, the city 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 Dec. 6 and is expected to be in effect through Jan. 4, 2021. Enditem
