While the numbers and health risks are still low, the new “Cicada” strain of COVID-19 has been slowly — but heavily — mutating since it arrived at SFO last summer. Officials say it may be capable of evading immunity, and they warn that COVID typically spreads more rapidly in the summer months.

The variant was first identified in South Africa in late 2024 and reached the US at least by last June, when it was first detected in a traveler who landed at San Francisco International Airport from the Netherlands, according to the CDC. Since then, it’s been detected in at least 31 states and more than 30 countries, though overall prevalence remains low, as Today reports.

Nicknamed “Cicada” for its tendency to fade into the background before resurfacing, the variant has been traveling undetected behind more dominant strains for two years. According to NBC Bay Area, wastewater monitoring has picked up traces in the Bay Area, but not at significant levels so far.

Experts say the mutations of the Ciacada strain could help it sidestep existing immunity and potentially gain traction during the summer, as COVID transmission spiked during the summer months in 2024 and 2025, as SFist previously reported.

“This very mutated version could certainly make its rounds when we’re both immunologically more vulnerable and we get together during the summer,” said UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, per NBC Bay Area.

Researchers say the Cicada variant stands out for its extensive mutations, particularly in the spike protein — the part of the virus targeted by vaccines and prior immune responses, per Today. Those changes could make it harder for the immune system to recognize, potentially reducing protection from past infections or vaccinations, according to findings published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Even so, there’s no indication it causes more severe illness. “It’s not a more problematic strain than previous ones,” said Dr. Adolfo García-Sastre of Mount Sinai, pointing to data from countries where the variant is more widespread.

Estimates of its spread vary — CDC wastewater data put the variant at about 7% of samples nationwide in late March, while Stanford’s WastewaterSCAN project found it in roughly 20% of sequenced samples in early April. Reduced surveillance in recent years has made it harder to pin down its true prevalence, as Today reports.

The variant’s mutations have also reportedly raised questions about vaccine performance. Current COVID-19 shots, designed to target older strains, are still expected to protect against severe disease, though lab studies suggest they may be less effective against the Cicada strain. Health officials note vaccines can be updated seasonally to better match circulating variants.

Nevertheless, experts continue to recommend vaccination for reducing severe illness and limiting spread, particularly for older adults and people with underlying conditions.

Related: There’s a Scary New COVID Variant, and Stanford Scientists Say It’s Already in California

Image: peterschreiber.media/Getty Images

• CHP is searching for 38-year-old Coretta Gibson who was last seen in San Lorenzo around 8 pm on August 29. [KRON4]
• State lawmakers passed a bill Saturday that would provide safeguards surrounding the state’s vaccine policy to prevent interference by the federal government. [KGO]

• San Francisco held the ribbon-cutting for Cityside Park on Treasure Island Saturday, which will start out as a 6-acre park and then grow to eventually extend along the entire west side of the island. [KPIX]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

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• San Joaquin police seized 16,500 fentanyl pills and 72 pounds of methamphetamine last week after a month-long investigation in collaboration with Stockton and Tracy police departments. [NBC Bay Area]

Image: Oasis, SoMa; Leanne Maxwell/SFist

A half-dozen holdout BART employees who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and lost their jobs because of it, just won a $7.8 million in federal court on the claim that BART did not honor their religious exemptions.

We mentioned earlier this week that six BART employees who were fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine sued the transit agency in federal court claiming that BART refused to honor their religious exemptions. BART, of course, required all employees to be vaccinated in an October 2021 order, at a time when the Bay Area was seeing 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 every week.  

But the Chronicle reports that a federal jury sided with the vaccine refusers who were fired, and awarded them $7.8 million. The jury ruled that BART failed to show how accommodating these employees’ so-called religious exemptions created an “undue hardship” on the agency.

The money is not being split evenly among the employees. According to SFGate, each of the six plaintiffs will receive between $1.2 million and $1.5 million apiece.

The six employees were represented by a right-wing legal outfit called the Pacific Justice Institute. “The choice between their religious convictions and the loss of their livelihood caused an upheaval in these rail workers' lives,” Pacific Justice Institute chief counsel Kevin Snider said in a statement picked up by the Chronicle. “For these employees it was important that a jury heard and understood them.”

For their part, BART had “no comment” on the ruling.

For local marijuana fans, the name Pacific Justice Institute might ring a bell. This is also the organization that led the 2017 charge to deny an Outer Sunset cannabis dispensary that would have been co-owned former Oakland mayor Jean Quan. That organization also sued the City of San Francisco in 2016 for putting a pissoir in Dolores Park.

There were other BART employees who were fired but did not participate in this lawsuit, as Bloomberg reported in July of this year that 16 ex-BART employees managed to get financial settlements. The size of those settlements was not reported at the time.

Related: Six Former BART Employees Sue in Federal Court Over Being Fired for Refusing to Get Vaccinated [SFist]

Image: Pi.1415926535 via Wikimedia Commons

A few holdout BART employees who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and lost their jobs because of it, have taken their case to a federal court, claiming BART did not honor their religious exemptions.

Remember back in the dark days of COVID-19, when the vaccines first became available, and tons of city employees tried to hold out and refused to get vaccinated? As we noted around that time, BART also gave their employees a vaccine mandate. Many refused, so BART did not fuck around, and fired a number of them.  

But that’s not the end of the story. Some of those ex-employees claimed their religious exemptions were not honored. Many brought a class-action suit against BART, which was not successful. A reported 16 ex-BART employees managed to get settlements out of BART, though the size of those settlements has not been reported. And seven of those former BART employees who refused to get vaccinated insisted on proceeding to a jury trial against the transit agency.

The number has somehow whittled itself down to six former BART employees, and KGO reports those ex-employees currently have their case before a federal jury. The gist of the plaintiffs’ arguments is that BART should have honored their so-called religious exemptions, allowing them the “reasonable accommodations” to either work from home or get COVID tests regularly, but did not.

The first half of the trial is actually already over, the jurors have ruled that BART did not provide reasonable accommodations to these employees before firing them. But the jury will still decide whether these six employees had valid religious exemptions, or whether they were just making up excuses. So it seems theoretically possible that the jury might side with some of these plaintiffs, but not with others.

According to KGO, a verdict could come in as early as this week. That outlet points to one example of a Tennessee plaintiff who was awarded $600,000 after refusing to get vaccinated, getting fired, and suing their employer over the firing.

Related: BART Joins Other Transit Agencies In Requiring Employees to Be Vaccinated [SFist]

Image: Exterior of a BART train stopped at the station, with SFO Airport destination sign visible, San Francisco, California, June 7, 2024. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

California is experiencing much the same summer COVID upturn as the rest of the nation, and there’s some evidence that the symptoms of the new virus variants now include gastrointestinal issues too.

Just one month after California COVID-19 hospitalizations hit an all-time low in early April, the new COVID variants started a summer mini-surge just a month later, powered mostly by the KP.2 and KP.1.1 variants colloquially referred to as FLiRT. That mini-surge has continued, and the latest state data shows a 20% increase in emergency room visits compared to the previous week, and a test positivity rate of 10.6%, which more than double that of the previous month.

This is fairly consistent with what the CDC is seeing nationwide. But a new a report in the Chronicle shows that there may be new symptoms for those infected with these FLiRT variant infections, and some people feel they’re sicker than COVID has ever made them.

“The dogma is that every time you get COVID, it’s milder,” UCSF infectious diseases specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told the LA Times. “But I think we need to keep our minds open to the possibility that some people have worse symptoms.”

He added that each time one gets reinfected, it’s “kind of like playing COVID roulette.” That Times piece also quotes a number of social media posts of people saying that this time around COVID was making them sicker than ever. That’s hardly scientific, but indicates we may be seeing a trend.

Per the Chronicle’s report, Chin-Hong and his UCSF colleagues are noticing fewer COVID patients experiencing the shortness of breath and loss of sense of smell and taste than earlier in the pandemic. But more COVID patients sick with the newer variant are reporting gastrointestinal issues.

Death rates still remain quite very low according to state data, with only 0.5% of California COVID deaths attributed to COVID in the last week of June (in January it was 3.4%). Though wastewater tests are showing higher volumes of COVID, and hospitalizations are on the rise nationwide.

It is expected that there will be yet another new update COVID vaccine available in August or September, to address these new variants. But if you haven't received the updated vaccine that was released at the end of 2023, here’s where you can get that vaccine in SF or around the Bay Area. You're supposed to wait four months between vaccine doses, so bear that in mind in deciding whether to wait for the updated version.

Related: COVID Outbreak at SF County Jail, More Than 40 Prisoners Infected [SFist]

Image: Close up positive show result of covid infected show on nasal rapid self test kit at home (Getty Images)

We probably have the anti-vaxxers to thank for this one, as a potential measles outbreak could be on the horizon in Sacramento after an unnamed child exposed as many as 300 people to the virus.

Even though the virus measles was declared eliminated back in the year 2000, we are currently seeing measles outbreaks in Florida and Chicago, while as of Monday morning, measles cases have been confirmed in 17 US states. And California is now one of them, as CNN reports that a child with measles may have exposed up to 300 people at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

“Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) confirms one case of measles in a child who was seen at the UC Davis Medical Center Emergency Department on March 5, 2024, between 12 pm and 5 pm,” according to an official Sacramento County release. “UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) and Public Health and Health Departments in surrounding counties are contacting identified patients to assess their immunization status and provide guidance to individuals who were exposed.”  

While measles is known for producing red rashes on the skin, it’s a highly contagious respiratory virus that can live in the air for an hour. Measles can also produce symptoms like a cough, a runny nose, and red or watery eyes, and occasionally diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. A measles infection can be fatal.

Wearing a mask can prevent the spread of measles, but simply having the measles vaccination is the best protection.

The increase in anti-vaccine sentiment across the country has led to the largest ever number of vaccine exemptions for children, according to the CDC. That organization also notes that 92% of US children have gotten the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, though that national target is 95%.

“Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 but is still the most easily transmitted human virus presently in circulation,” Association of State and Territorial Health Officials chief medical officer Dr. Marcus Plescia said in a statement to CNN. “Thankfully, by following established public health principles, Americans can make informed decisions, prevent outbreaks, and protect our communities. Vaccination is the best and safest way to protect children.”

If you’re not immunized or want a booster, the SF Department of Public Health has a list of recommended places to get immunized in San Francisco.

Related: Huge Percentage of Kids Unvaccinated for Measles at Seven Bay Area Schools [SFist]

Image: Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons

Yet another new COVID variant called JN.1 is fueling yet another surge in COVID transmission according to wastewater data, while flu and RSV cases are also showing a sharp rise in the wake of holiday gatherings.

We’ve become used to post-holiday, early January surges in COVID-19 infection rates over the last three years, as people mobbed airports and gathered in groups in winter months where there is rarely as much ventilation. And thus far, the end-of-2023 COVID infection rates are not as high as they were for 2020, 2021, or 2022. But the new JN.1 COVID variant could change that in a hurry, and the CDC estimates that more than 40% of new COVID cases are JN.1 variant cases, which is up sharply from just about 20% two weeks ago. So yes, that’s a surge.

KGO has taken a look at the data and found several Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, are seeing higher levels of infection in wastewater not just for COVID, but perhaps even more so for the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

But how much higher? The Chronicle charted COVID wastewater levels in 12 Bay Area regions, and the general trend is that the infection rates are the highest we’ve seen since the tail-end of the last holiday surge, that is, February 2023 levels.

"What we've seen over the past few years is a typical pattern of a 'one-two-three-punch' with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and then New Year, followed by increased cases in the community and spillover in the hospital," UCSF Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told KGO.

As seen above, COVID hospitalizations are not that bad right now compared to the previous two holiday seasons. But NBC News has the national data on COVID hospitalizations, and right now we are again seeing the highest national hospitalization rates since February 2023.

The issue is not confined to the Bay Area, but the Chronicle reported last week that nationwide COVID hospitalizations had increased by about 16,000 over the last month. More troublingly, influenza hospitalizations had increased by more than 55,000 over that same month, and we may see more of both surging in January.

"There are substantial increases in respiratory syncytial virus cases and hospitalizations in adults and substantial increases in influenza, in hospitalization, cases and tests in adults and children," UCSF epidemiologist George Rutherford explained to KGO.

So this would be an excellent time to get the updated COVID, RSV, and flu vaccines, all of which are available in SF and around the Bay Area. COVID and flu shots are generally free even for the uninsured, RSV vaccines generally require insurance or a paid fee.

Related: New COVID Variant Spikes Cases in the Bay Area (Again) [SFist]

Image: John Cameron via Unsplash

The disease formerly known as monkeypox is making a troubling little comeback in SF, and while case counts are low, we’ve seen a nearly seven-fold increase in positive mpox cases in the last five weeks.

After the mpox (formerly called monekypox) epidemic of last summer, San Francisco and most of the world pretty much got as handle on things once we had adequate vaccine supply for any of the at-risk population. Game over with the mpox scare, we figured. We may have figured wrong.

KGO reports the SF Department of Public Health (DPH) is noting a sudden surge in mpox cases over the last month or so. And while case numbers are still incredibly low, the increase is definitely notable.

“There have been 7 mpox cases among SF residents in the last 5 weeks,” the DPH said in a Wednesday announcement. “While mpox cases remain low compared to 2022, this is an increase from an average of 1 case per month from January to June 2023.”

As a reminder, mpox is generally spread via close contact like kissing, oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Unlike last summer when the JYNNEOS vaccine was in short supply the DPH says “There are no supply limitations” of the vaccine currently.

The California DPH recommends the JYNNEOS vaccine to anyone HIV-postive, anyone eligible for PrEP, and “any man or trans person who has sex with men or trans persons.”  You can make an appointment online JYNNEOS vaccine for free at any of these sites, though the vaccine is not recommended if you’ve already had mpox.

Related: SF Health Officials Put Out Call For Mpox Vaccinations Again Ahead of Pride [SFist]

Image: Monkeypox new disease dangerous over the world. Patient with Monkey Pox. Painful rash, red spots blisters on the hand. Close up rash, human hands with Health problem. Banner, copy space. (Getty Images)

Your COVID-19 vaccines and boosters won’t be free for much longer, and Moderna is reportedly licking its chops at the prospect of charging as much as $130 per dose for your next booster shot.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, and we don’t know when, COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots will no longer be gratis. The U.S. government is paying for them now, but that arrangement will eventually end. And since not enough people are getting their updated booster shots, perhaps this latest bit of news from the Wall Street Journal will encourage more people to get that Omicron-specific, bivalent booster ASAP.  

Hang on to your Covered California card, because the Wall Street Journal reports that “Moderna Inc. said it is considering pricing its Covid-19 vaccine in a range of $110 to $130 per dose in the U.S. when it shifts from government contracting to commercial distribution of the shots.”

If that doesn’t outrage you enough, consider that the U.S. government is currently paying roughly $26 a dose for the current updated shot.

Why the enormous price increase? A) Because they can. B) Because as Axios explains, “A wavering demand for the shots paired with private market pressures are expected to cost manufacturers billions once the federal government stops buying the doses and sales shift to commercial distribution.”

But note the wording that the doses are “expected to cost manufacturers billions once the federal government stops buying the doses.” This explanation fails to take into account the estimated $30 billion the government has already handed Big Pharma companies for the shots given thus far. And what about the fact that insurance companies will be footing much of this cost and impacting our premiums?

And can you say “collusion?” In October, Axios reported that Pfizer also intended to charge the same $110-$130 for a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Related: Next Omicron Subvariant Arrives In Bay Area; Not Enough People Are Getting Updated Boosters [SFist]

Image: isengrapher via Unsplash

The monkeypox developments are coming in disturbingly quickly, so the SF AIDS Foundation is holding a virtual town hall tonight to unpack the new landscape, and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has had it with the CDC foot-dragging.

I did not originally have the phrase “As monkeypox cases increase in San Francisco” on my 2022 bingo card, but here we are. As monkeypox cases increase in San Francisco, we get word today from the SF Department of Public Health that “SFDPH reported an additional 8 monkeypox cases, bringing the total number of cases in San Francisco residents to 60. These include both probable cases, as well as cases that are confirmed as monkeypox through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

So, in barely over a month, San Francisco has gone from one case to now 60. It is reasonable to now be very worried, particularly (but not exclusively) for men who have sex with men. And to that end. KRON4 reports the SF AIDS Foundation is holding a monkeypox virtual town hall tonight (Tuesday, July 12, 6 p.m. PT) to explain what is going on here. The town hall is free to watch online, though registration is required, and the broadcast will be available in both English and Spanish.

“Monkeypox is circulating in our community, and we want to make sure you have the info you need about what’s going on,” the SF AIDS Foundation says in an announcement. “Please join us for a town hall where we’ll answer questions and facilitate discussion about how the infection is spreading in the Bay Area, testing and treatment, symptoms, unmet needs around vaccine access, and how to get involved in advocating for vaccine access for our community.”

About those “unmet needs around vaccine access.” The post-Pride outbreak has people clamoring for the monkeypox vaccine. We’ve vaccinated about 600 people, and folks, that is a tiny fraction of how many we should have vaccinated. But KGO has the news that Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is introducing a resolution to demand tens of thousands more doses in San Francisco. (We currently have fewer than 3,000.)

“The abysmal federal response to Monkeypox is insulting and dangerous to gay and bisexual men and trans people across the country,” Mandelman said in a release.

“We have seen high demand from San Franciscans who self-identify as gay, bisexual, trans, and MSM [men who have sex with men] to get vaccinated. We take this as a positive sign that people are being proactive about their health and want to protect themselves,” DPH director Dr. Grant Colfax said in the same release. “This week we have requested enough doses from the federal supply to vaccinate 35,000 people who are at highest risk of an infection. This is a starting point and puts us on the path toward our larger goal of making the monkeypox vaccine available to anyone who could benefit from prevention.”

KRON4 explains that “Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is offering the vaccine Monday-Friday 4 p.m.-6 p.m. to people who meet the city’s eligibility requirements, which include close contacts of people with confirmed or suspected monkeypox, people who had ‘close, physical contact with others’ at an event with a reported monkeypox case, laboratory workers who handle viral samples, and clinicians with high-risk occupational exposure”

You can also get the Monkeypox vaccine at San Francisco City Clinic, Strut, and a few other locations. The SFDPH has a list of places where you can get the monkeypox vaccine in San Francisco.

Related: Monkeypox Likely to Have Spread During SF Pride; 40 Total Cases In the City As of This Week [SFist]

Image: Berkay Ataseven, iStock / Getty Images Plus

The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) reports that it has given a total of 600 monkeypox vaccine units to at-risk and eligible residents who had close contact with someone who has monkeypox (suspected or confirmed), or who wasworking in proximity to the virus in a lab setting.

At this current juncture, there are at least 40 cases of either confirmed or suspected monkeypox reported in San Francisco. Over Pride weekend, two large events — Electroluxx’s Pride party and an Afterglow event hosted by the Burning Man camp known as Comfort & Joy — reported that attendees were possibly exposed to the disease after partygoers tested positive for the zoonotic disease.

As a result, lines have been long at drop-in sites set up across the city to inoculate people against this highly communicable strain of monkeypox; hundreds gathered at pop-up vaccine sites Thursday and Friday at places like the Castro’s Strut clinic for a chance to receive a vaccine. Only about 600 people, however, have received a shot in SF so far, but that figure is expected to expand as more vaccines become available.

"We got 2,308 doses of monkeypox vaccine this week from the state – bringing SF’s total to 2,888," tweeted the San Francisco Public Health Department yesterday, which was sent before it was announced by the department that at least 600 units of those vaccines were given to SF residents.

SFDPH is aware of the need for these vaccines — "we know there is high demand among San Franciscans at high risk because of an exposure"— and is "urgently asking" for additional vaccine units. There is also work to open up additional drop-in sites for people to receive these vaccines; currently, the only regular drop-in site for monkeypox vaccination to the general public is at the Zuckerberg SF General Learning Center — 1001 Potrero Avenue — inside Building 30 on the second floor.

As of now, the FDA has two vaccines already approved for use against smallpox, which has proven effective in both treating symptomatic cases and preventing infection, and a two-dose, Danish-made Jynneos vaccine which is also approved for use against monkeypox.

But, again: Unlike Covid-19 vaccine units, which are correctly produced in the billions each month now, smallpox and monkeypox vaccines are created in far fewer numbers, primarily due to a lack of need — which has changed as of late.

For more information on SFPDH's monkeypox vaccine eligibility and drop-in sites, visit sf.gov/information/monkeypox-vaccine-sites.

Related: Monkeypox Vaccine In Short Supply In SF as Hundreds of Potentially Exposed Pride Party-Goers Clamor For Shots

Photo: Getty Images/Marina Demidiuk

Nobody tell the truckers, but Oakland state Assemblymember Buffy Wicks just unveiled a bill that would require every single employee in the state of California to be fully vaccinated.

As of press time for this article, the state of California is 73.7% fully vaccinated (that is, among the population ages five and up who are eligible for the vaccine). Of course, “fully vaccinated” only means two shots, when it really now ought to require the third shot for full vaccination status. But Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) is choosing a bigger fight. The Bay Area News Group reports that Wicks has introduced a statewide vaccination mandate for all employees, no matter their job or the size of their company.  

“Workers deserve to be safe,” Wicks told the news group. “There are many jobs that can’t be done remotely.”

The U.S. Supreme Court shot down the Biden Administration's vaccine mandate in January. And now here on the state and local level, several counties will drop the mask mandate for vaccinated people next week, with a seemingly unconscionable “honors system” in which you absolutely goddamned know that unvaccinated people will go maskless indoors. The only people who will remain masked will be the fully vaccinated people! So you have an emboldened unvaccinated community, with fewer tools to keep them in line. So yes, theoretically, Wicks’ mandate could serve a useful purpose.

But cue the histrionics from the conservative side. “Are we forcing [people] to become homeless? How is that good policy?,” Contra Costa County GOP chair Matt Shupe told the Bay Area News Group. “I think a bill like this only doubles down on the division and the fighting and it’s really unfortunate.”

Ah yes, the Republican party that is so opposed to division and fighting.

The mandate is a great idea, if not nearly a year too late. But even in a best-case scenario, it probably could not go into effect until September 2022 at the very earliest. According to the Bay Area News Group, “The proposal, from a group of Democratic lawmakers, is part of a broader package of legislation aimed at limiting the spread of the deadly virus.”

Related: Predictably, SF's Infuriating Catholic Archbishop Is Not Vaccinated [SFist]

Image: CDC via Unsplash

Need a COVID test or booster shot fast before the holidays? Oakland may be your best bet, as Frank Ogawa Plaza outside Oakland City Hall is performing them free through the holidays, though for rapid tests “cost may apply.”

Social media has lately been awash in posts where people say they’re trying to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, only to be told, “Yeah, maybe in February if you're lucky.” But with the holidays coming up on the Omicron variant surging, KRON-4 reports that the city of Oakland has made the wise and magnificent move to reopen a mass testing and vaccination site at Frank Ogawa Plaza, and the shots and tests are all free, though you may have to pay for a rapid COVID-19 test.

“Amid the season of holiday travel and gatherings, coupled with the emergence of the omicron variant here in the East Bay, it is critical that Oaklanders have easy access to COVID vaccines, boosters, and rapid testing,” city administrator Ed Reiskin said in a statement. “I am pleased that Covid Clinic is providing these essential services to our community.”

The free vaccines they’re offering are the full buffet of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson (though the CDC says J&J is somewhat less effective.) And while normal 1-2 day COVID testing is free, the rapid tests are not. Here are the testing options and whether you may have to pay for them.

• RT PCR Test: 1-2 day results turnaround. No cost to the patient.
• Rapid Antigen Test: 30-minute results turnaround. Cost may apply.
• Rapid Antibody Test: 30-minute turnaround. Cost may apply.

The Frank Ogawa Plaza testing site is open now, and open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – including holidays (though Christmas Day and New Years’ Day fall on Saturdays, so it's a no-go on those particular dates.)

Related: Map: Everywhere You Can Get a Free COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Shot in SF [SFist]

Image: Kevin Y. via Yelp

There are 109 locations in San Francisco providing booster vaccine shots to the general public, and quite a few of them do accept drop-ins.

The COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is now available to everyone 18 and up in the state of California, and it’s on all of us to make sure California keeps the lowest COVID case rate in the country. And that means getting your booster shot if your prior COVID-19 vaccination was six months ago or longer.

There are 109 locations in San Francisco giving out booster shots in San Francisco, and honestly, these are just the normal vaccination sites. But to help you understand how easy it is to get that booster shot, we’ve mapped out all of their locations below, and added the days and hours these locations are open.

Yep, most of these are just Walgreens stores, and the Walgreens locations with pharmacies giving vaccine shots are shown as purple dots. The orange dots are Safeway pharmacies giving out shots and booster shots, and the dark red-purple dots are CVS locations. The blue dots indicate hospital or city-run sites.

Appointments are pretty helpful, particularly at the chain retailers. Here are the links to make a Walgreens vaccine appointment, or to make a CVS vaccine appointment, or to make a Safeway vaccine appointment. Link to appointments for city or hospital run sites can be found here.

Hours are going to be a little wonky this week with the Thanksgiving holiday and all. But there is one place you can get a vaccine shot or a vaccine booster on Thanksgiving Day. That would be Glide, where they are administering vaccines from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Related: San Francisco Plans on Opening 100 Vaccination Sites to Help Inoculate Kids Under 12 This Fall [SFist]

Image: Google Maps