For vaccines that need two dosings, using the same brand of vaccine should be used. Some vaccines in the development only require one injection.

The CDC provides general guidance to vaccination allocation priorities. Each county then decides on its own vaccine allocation and communication plans. Staff who work in healthcare or skilled nursing facilities would be notified by their own institutions. The rest should pay attention to local news, social media, announcements from the Department of Public Health, the City’s Emergency Response Department and hospitals, as well as communications from your physicians via mails, emails, or your electronic medical records. All these may be part of the possible venues to find out vaccination information.

At UCSF, the Human Resources Department just posted the vaccination plan online for managers to share with employees.

Stay tuned as we will also notify you of each phase of vaccination in this email listserv. Anyone who wishes to sign up for this listserv can send an email to ahi@ucsf.edu and put in the subject line: “Add email to listserv”.

Right now, we only have a very limited supply of vaccines in the San Francisco and Bay Areas, so only the critical core of clinical/auxiliary staff who work directly with CoVID-19 patients in the Emergency Room or Critical Care Units could get vaccinations.

(Stanford residents staged a protest in front of the hospital during the weekend for not being included in the first Phase of vaccination, despite that they stayed onsite to take care of patients infected with CoVID-19 in the ER and ICUs. Stanford stated it would make adjustment to its priority plan. )

4.      Does each person need two-dose of vaccine to get the 94.8% protection?

Yes. The first dose provides only ~50% protection by the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Two doses increase the protection to 94.5%.

The second dose should be taken at least 21 days and up to 28 days after the first dose, using the same brand of vaccine.

The body takes up to a few weeks after the first dose, and at least 7 days after the second dose, to build immunity after vaccination.

7.       How long will the 94.8% protection last?

At this time, experts do not know how long someone is protected from getting COVID-19 after taking the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. It is almost certain that the immune response initially generated will wane over time. We don’t yet know the lowest amount of immunity that needs to be retained in the body to protect against infection, nor what type of immunity provides this protection.

8.     Do we need to vaccinate every year? I mean to get two shots every year.

Very likely that annual vaccination will be needed for a couple of years at least, or more. Depending on the brand of the vaccine.  Both Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines require two shots.

9.    I know the vaccine is very effective at 95%. But still does that mean you have a 1/20 chance of still getting sick even with the vaccine if exposed?

Yes. But data from clinical trials suggest that even if one were to unfortunately still get infections after vaccination, the infection is less serious.

10.   What is considered to be severe infections?

A severe infection usually requires hospitalization and may involve the use of supplemental oxygen and/or ventilators. However, there is a condition called “silent hypoxia”, in which patients may have a severe infection, but feel pretty well despite the falling blood oxygen saturation levels. That is why we advise all infected patients to use a pulse oximeter at home for monitoring. A falling or <95% blood oxygen saturation level is an indication to call your physician and go to the hospital as directed.

The local County and State’s Department of Public Health provide the CoVID-19 data on newly confirmed cases as well as deaths from CoVID-19. Many of them have data reported for the race/ethnicities categories. For San Francisco, you can see those data here.

12.   Are Asians still leading in % deaths though not for cases, and why?

Yes, in the San Francisco County, but not statewide. Most of the deaths came from people >65 y.o. and have one or more serious medical conditions. ¾ of deaths in the skilled nursing facilities in San Francisco were comprised of Asians. Disaggregation of race into the Asian sub-groups and an investigation into the death cases in skilled nursing facilities may yield more information.

13.   Could Bay Area ICU capacity be taken over/filled by out of region patients causing beds to be unavailable when local patients need it? What guidance/rules are there in place to preserve ICU capacity for locals?

The state mandates that each County in California should retain a 15% bed vacancy rate in the Intensive Care Units to stay ready for patients infected with CoVID-19. Each individual hospital, along with the county, makes the decision on accepting patients outside of the county in a manner that should not impact care of the local patients.

The whole state of CA is now exploding with CoVID-19 infections, and the Stay-at-home order has been issued to all Bay Area Counties. There is a 10-day quarantine period for any travel out of the 9 Bay Area counties. We need to cancel non-essential travel plans during the holiday. Taking care of ourselves by staying home and wearing masks, and canceling parties and gatherings are a few of the sacrifices that we can make to keep the big picture of the pandemic in control this Holiday Season. It is a small sacrifice that could save lives, including our own. So, we hope that we would all try our best to restrain ourselves from the traditional holiday traveling and celebrations this year.

15.   After vaccination, can one still be able to transmit the virus to others?

Yes. One still needs to wear facial masks and keep the 6 feet minimal social distance after vaccination, until about 70% or more of the population has been vaccinated.

The approved vaccines are quite safe, as they have gone through at least a 6-weeks waiting period after vaccination – during that time most of the adverse effects would have appeared. The adverse effects have been found to be transient, lasting only for a couple of days, and usually more severe after the second dose. After taking the second dose, the side effects may be severe enough to warrant some people to stay off work for a day or two.

According to the FDA’s briefing document dated Dec. 10 here, Bell’s palsy was reported in four vaccine participants and none in the placebo group, out of the 44,000 total participants of the late-stage vaccine trial ( here ). So, it is quite rare.

But the FDA stated that “the observed frequency of reported Bell’s palsy in the vaccine group is consistent with the expected background rate in the general population, and there is no clear basis upon which to conclude a causal relationship at this time.” Still, the agency recommended surveillance of this condition once the vaccine is distributed into larger populations.

We all should have health insurance to cover payment for medical treatments.

22.  Is it safe for breastfeeding women to get the vaccine?

There is no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating women, or on the effects of mRNA vaccines on the breastfed infant, or on milk production/excretion. Please consult your doctors.