San Francisco vaccine eligibility opens to educators, food workers

San Francisco educators, childcare providers, emergency services employees and persons working in food and agriculture sectors are now eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine if they can find an open appointment.

The City moved into California’s Phase 1B of the state’s vaccine distribution plan, but city officials said doses remain in limited supply, especially after last week’s winter storm delayed shipments nationwide.

The Moscone Center vaccination site is still closed due to the supply limitations but plans to reopen Thursday, officials said.

Under Phase 1B, an additional 168,000 people who live or work in The City are now eligible, adding to approximately 210,000 healthcare workers and people at least aged 65 who were already included in Phase IA.

Eligible individuals can visit The City’s website to book an appointment online.

Mayor London Breed said in a statement:

“We’ve been dealing with this pandemic for a year now, and throughout that time, our workforce has kept the City going. From the grocery store clerks, child care providers and teachers, to emergency workers and restaurant cooks and waiters, these frontline workers have showed up for all of us, and I’m glad we’re able to move forward with expanding vaccine eligibility to include them.”

The insufficient dose supply has strained The City’s network of vaccination sites, especially as the number of people requiring a second dose increases, officials said.

If supply shipments do not increase as more people become due for second doses, city officials warned they may limit first-dose appointments.

Department of Public Health data reflected that the rolling seven-day average of new doses administered was as high as 7,853 on Feb. 11 — that number has dipped to 4,327 as of Monday.

A total of 244,345 doses have so far been administered citywide. Approximately 18 percent of The City’s population over the age of 16 have received first dose while 7 percent of the population over the age of 16 have received both doses.

The mayor did have some good news to share in a Tuesday interview with the Washington Post.

Breed said she expects The City next week to move out of the state’s most restrictive purple tier and into the red tier — the second most restrictive tier in the state’s reopening blueprint.

The red tier designation would allow indoor dining and indoor museums to reopen at 25 percent capacity, while retailers and malls could increase capacity from 25 percent to 50 percent.

Local officials will have final say on what can reopen and at what capacity if the The City does indeed move into the red tier next week.

San Mateo and Marin counties were the first in the Bay Area to move back into the red tier as of Tuesday.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.