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Limited supply slows COVID vaccine rollout
West Coast Prides face decisions for 2021 events
Marchers took part in the 2019 Seattle Pride parade.
by Liz Highleyman
S
an Francisco has expanded its capacity to administer COVID-19 vaccines but is limited by an inadequate supply, Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said this week at a media briefing and a web forum Screengrab sponsored by the AlSan Francisco ice B. Toklas LGBTQ Health Director Democratic Club. Dr. Grant Colfax The local and state rollout got off to a slow start after the first two vaccines were authorized in December, but the city has “built an ecosystem focused on equity, speed, and access to meet the needs of San Francisco’s diverse communities,” he said. Colfax, a gay man, said the city now has the capacity to administer upward of 10,000 vaccine doses per day but is only receiving about 10,000 doses per week. Given the short supply, many eligible residents have been frustrated in their attempts to secure vaccine appointments. About 13% of city residents, largely health care workers, have received their first dose. “The chief problem we have is supply, supply, supply,” acting city health officer Dr. Susan Philip said at a January 28 virtual meeting of the city’s Getting to Zero Consortium. “The vaccine supply comes in fits and starts, so it’s hard to plan.” San Francisco is employing a multi-pronged approach that will include mass distribution sites, community sites in neighborhoods with high concentrations of COVID-19 cases, pharmacies, and mobile units. The city has three mass distribution sites: at City College of San Francisco’s main campus, Moscone Center, and the SF Produce Market in the Bayview. Community sites include a walk-up site at 24th and Capp streets, a popup at the Southeast Health Center in the Bayview, and a site in the Western Addition. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Strut health center in the Castro is also administering vaccines to eligible individuals. Officials expect that the general public should be eligible for vaccines in the late spring or early summer. If the city gets up to 10,000 doses a day, all city residents could be vaccinated in six months, dropping to four months if the number rises to 15,000, according to Colfax. “Vaccines remain our ticket out,” Colfax said at the briefing. “When you are eligible and offered a vaccine, take it. The vaccines are effective and they are safe. I am hopeful and even optimistic that our supply will increase in the coming months.” See page 8 >>
by John Ferrannini
A
s Pride committees up and down the West Coast begin to make plans for their 2021 celebrations, already one major city will not see an official parade this year. Seattle organizers told the Bay Area Reporter this week they are scrapping their in-person event this June and are once again
Vol. 51 • No. 6 • February 11-17, 2021
going virtual due to the COVID pandemic. Other Prides are likely to follow suit with having strictly virtual events this year, while others are contemplating holding hybrid celebrations, with some events virtual and others smaller in-person gatherings. Most of the annual LGBTQ festivals take place in late spring or the summer, just when federal, state, and local health officials expect to see
most Americans vaccinated against the virus. The Biden administration is aiming to roll out 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in its first 100 days, which will be April 30, while San Francisco officials aim to vaccinate all of the city’s residents by June 30. Meanwhile, federal health experts expect herd immunity in the country by this fall. See page 8 >> Nate Gowdy
California legislators author bills addressing gender identity issues by Matthew S. Bajko
O
ne area of focus California state lawmakers will be tackling this legislative session is how various documents, records, and state codes address the gender identity of individuals. If the bills are passed, their implementation will have positive impacts for gender-nonconforming Golden State residents from their births to their deaths. Gay freshman Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego) is reviving legislation that Governor Gavin Newsom ended up vetoing in the fall over last minute concerns it would inadvertently out transgender and nonbinary individuals. Senate Bill 741 was aimed at allowing Californians to update their marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children to accurately reflect their legal name and gender. It was the first LGBTQ-focused bill to be authored by lesbian former state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), who was termed out of office last year. After lawmakers had sent the bill to Newsom, state health officials flagged a problem with its implementation they said could result in individuals who sought to update certain records publicly revealing they had transitioned their gender.
Courtesy Chris Ward
Assemblyman Chris Ward
Under current procedures, a person seeking to legally change their name is required to file a petition with the superior court of the county where they reside as part of the process to update their marriage or birth records or the birth certificates of their children. They also must publish their current name and the new name they are requesting in a newspaper in that county at least once a week for four weeks. Such public announcements can routinely be found in the Bay Area Reporter’s classifieds section. With his Assembly Bill 218, Ward is trying to address how someone seeking updates to
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their records due to transitioning their gender can avoid the public notification requirement. People can currently keep their names confidential in order to avoid domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or human trafficking. Ward’s legislation lays out a process for how people can without a court order request directly from the State Registrar a new birth certificate or marriage license reflecting their correct gender and sex identifier of female, male, or nonbinary. But his office informed the B.A.R. it is still working on language to ensure that transgender and nonbinary individuals can work around the public posting requirement so their names are not published. People no longer living in California but who were issued a marriage license or a birth certificate for themselves or their child by the state will also be able to apply to have their records updated if they now live in a jurisdiction that does not provide name changes by court order. “I am really happy to make sure we are cleaning up some of the technical issues to help our youth and anybody through their life spectrum so their public record are reflective of their true gender identity without question,” Ward told the B.A.R. in a February 5 phone interview. See page 9 >>
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