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.

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.

“This is a historic day for our city and, we hope, the start of a turning point in our response to COVID-19,” said Mayor Breed. “This has been a really tough year, and this is good news for our city and for the fight against COVID. It gives us some much-needed hope during an otherwise challenging and uncertain time. That said, we can’t let today’s news be cause for letting our guard down. This virus is still in our community, and we must remain just as vigilant – taking care to stay home as much as possible, wear face coverings, keep our distance, wash our hands frequently, and avoid gatherings.”

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.

“We are embarking on a vaccine distribution effort unlike anything this country or San Francisco has ever seen,” said Dr. Grant Colfax. “While this is a significant moment that we should celebrate, we have a long road ahead of us. We must also remain focused on the task at hand—overcoming the current surge and saving lives, because even after the vaccine, we will still need to continue using the preventative measures that we’ve come to know so well in the past year, covering our faces, and social distancing for a long time to come.”

“Our dedicated and expert team have been on the front lines taking care of our community since the very beginning of this pandemic,” said Dr. Susan Ehrlich, CEO, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. “We are deeply grateful to be taking this step to better ensure their safety.”

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.

Video Footage, Photos, and Audio from the event will be available at the below resources:

KPIX-TV will feed the pool material via the SF Switch. For any additional questions, email Brian Dinsmore, Dinsmore@kpix.cbs.com.  

San Francisco Chronicle is the designated pool print media outlet. Press will be able to access copy and some still photography here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VY6846mzebKH-8ftuns7rvcIicZPzspI?usp=sharing

Press can access audio, recorded by KCBS, by emailing: tom.lippi@kcbsradio.com

San Francisco Government TV is providing still photography and edited footage of the first vaccine. You will be able to access the content here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yygtsthm6gmde5t/AABAx4Eb8HMRuaW7zX5pIgNTa?dl=0

###