San Francisco will now carry COVID vaccines to individuals’s properties

To reach the unvaccinated in San Francisco, the city will bring COVID-19 vaccines into people’s homes, Mayor London Breed announced on Tuesday.

When a person can bring together between five and twelve people who want to be vaccinated, the city sends a mobile vaccination unit – doctors or nurses plus vaccination equipment – to their home or work place to give the vaccine.

The mobile vaccine unit has been supplying vulnerable groups of the population – such as senior citizens in dormitories and people who are home or homeless – and has administered around 6,000 doses since February. Now the service is available to anyone who organizes a small group, even if it’s just their own family members.

“It’s important that we make it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated,” Breed said at an early afternoon press conference in the outdoor dining area of ​​Sheba Piano Lounge.

Breed found that vaccination rates are still lagging among the black and Latin American communities in San Francisco.

By Tuesday, 77% of all eligible San Franciscans had been fully vaccinated and 84% had received at least one dose. But for the black community, according to district data, only 64% got their first chance and only 74% of Latinos.

Breed added that of the 93 people currently hospitalized in San Francisco with COVID-19, the majority are black or Latinos.

“I understand people have concerns” about the history of the health system, she said. “But the fact is, we are in a different time where we need to focus on saving lives.”

“It’s really a matter of life or death,” added Breed, calling vaccinating more people “the final hurdle” of the pandemic.

She also found that San Francisco had fewer than 600 COVID-19-related deaths, far fewer than other major cities – Los Angeles County had a total of 24,690 deaths and New York City had 33,557.

But with the Delta variant fueling a surge in cases, San Francisco Health Department models show that at the current rate, there are about 300 more deaths likely within a few weeks, Breed said – the vast majority among unvaccinated people.

“We should be so proud” of how San Francisco has fared in the pandemic so far, Breed said. “So let’s not stop now.”

“Vaccines are still our way out,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s health director. “The best protection is the vaccine, the masking, and the encouragement to your friends, family and community members to get vaccinated today.”

While there are some breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people, vaccination is the difference between “sniffing and choking” or “a few days in bed at home” and “a few weeks in an ICU bed,” Colfax said.

“This is not a good time to be unvaccinated,” he said.

To schedule a vaccination visit to San Francisco, visit the mobile vaccination center website. You can also call the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s vaccine call center at 628-652-2700.

Danielle Echeverria is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev