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WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL B SESSION AGENDA.
THE TIME IS 2:11 PM AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL OUR, UH, SESSION TO ORDER.
MADAM CLERK, COULD YOU READ THE ROLE? COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER MCGEE RODRIGUEZ.
PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN.
COUNCIL MEMBER VEO HARTA HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER PEZ HEARING COUNCIL MEMBER PURGE PRESENT.
[1. Briefing on the City's response and preparedness on COVID-19. [Erik Walsh, City Manager; Claude Jacob, Director, Health] ]
YOU EVERYBODY.UH, COUNCIL NOW WILL BEGIN OUR SESSIONS, UH, FROM OUR JULY BUDGET, UH, RECESS.
AND, UM, APPRECIATE YOU ALL WHO ARE HERE TODAY.
UH, ADHERING TO OUR METRO HEALTH, UH, PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WEARING MASKS WHILE WE'RE INDOORS.
WE ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO DO THAT AS WELL.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA TODAY, STARTING WITH A COVID UPDATE.
SO LEMME TURN IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER, ERIC WALSH.
UH, YES, WE'VE GOT TWO ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA.
IAN, UM, FROM METRO HEALTH, GIVING AN UPDATE ON C OVID 19.
OBVIOUSLY, AS YOU'VE SEEN, UH, MY EMAILS, UM, AND, UM, THE COMMUNICATION INTERNALLY ACTIVITIES PICKED UP.
UM, JUST SO YOU KNOW, WHILE DR.
KIAN IS WALKING UP TO THE PODIUM, UH, BEGINNING TODAY, UH, WE ARE, WE WILL BE SENDING OUT A DAILY SIT REP TO THE COUNCIL AT THE END OF THE DAY.
UM, WE DID THAT FOR A YEAR AND A HALF.
UH, WE STARTED MOVING TO, UM, DAILY, I'M SORRY, WEEKLY, UH, EARLIER IN THE SUMMER.
UH, LAST WEEK WE MOVED TO TWICE A WEEK, BUT THE ACTIVITY IS PICKED UP.
UM, AND, UH, WE'RE GOING BACK TO DAILY REPORTING.
THAT WILL MEAN THAT OUR WEBSITE WILL BE UPDATED THAT EVERY DAY AT SIX O'CLOCK, JUST LIKE IT HAS BEEN FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF.
SO, WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO ANITA, AND THEN AT THE END OF ANITA'S PRESENTATION, I'LL UPDATE THE COUNCIL ON A COUPLE OTHER, UH, LATEST ACTIVITIES.
ANITA? THANK YOU, CITY MANAGER.
UM, TODAY'S PRESENTATION, UH, UH, TODAY'S C OVID 19 UPDATE.
UM, I'LL BE, UH, I'VE BROKEN IT INTO THREE SECTIONS.
SO I'LL START WITH THE LOCAL BURDEN OF C OVID 19 HERE.
TRANSITION INTO TALKING ABOUT VACCINATION EFFORTS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING SOME OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WE ARE PUTTING IN PLACE TO IMPROVE THE VACCINATION COVERAGE.
AND THEN END WITH KEY POINTS, UH, FROM THE UPDATED C D C GUIDANCE, UH, FOR THE VA FULLY VACCINATED FOLKS THAT, THAT CAME OUT LATE LAST WEEK.
SO, MOVING, UH, SO WHAT YOU SEE IS THE SNAPSHOT OF THE C OVID 19 BURDEN HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AS OF YESTERDAY, WE ARE REPORTING 244,802 CASES, UM, WITH 3,619 COVID RELATED FATALITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, OUR SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE, UH, CURRENT SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE IS 1,146.
AND I WANNA POINT OUT THIS IS ABOUT A 58% INCREASE FROM LAST WEEK.
UH, ABOUT 96% OF OUR CASES ARE CURRENTLY
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ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN FULLY RECOVERED.HERE'S THE SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE, UH, OF COVID, 19 NEW CASES HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, WE HAD DOCUMENTED A CONSISTENT DECLINE IN THE SEVEN DAY AVERAGE IN OUR CASE STATUS, DAILY CASE, UH, CASE COUNTS, UM, ALL THROUGH THE MONTH OF MAY, UH, ALL THE WAY UP UNTIL THE END OF JUNE.
FOR THE PAST FIVE WEEKS, BEGINNING THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY, WE SAW THESE, THESE INDICATORS GOING UP, CREEPING UP SLOWLY.
SO FOR THE PAST FIVE WEEKS, WE HAVE SEEN A CONSISTENT INCREASE IN OUR NUMBER OF, UM, SEVEN DAY IN OUR SEVEN DAY AVERAGE OF NEW CASES.
UH, OUR CURRENT SEVEN DAY AVERAGE IS, AS I MENTIONED IN THE LAST SLIDE, IT'S 1,146.
AGAIN, IT'S A 346% INCREASE COMPARED TO WHERE WE WERE IN THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY.
HERE'S LOOKING AT THE CASES BY VACCINATION STATUS, UH, AS ILLUSTRATED.
CLEARLY, 99% OF OUR CASES CURRENTLY ARE DOCUMENTED AMONG THE UNVACCINATED.
UH, THE, THE TEAL COLOR LINE THAT YOU SEE, THE TOP LINE IS THE NUMBER OF CASES AMONG VACCINATED, OR, OR I SHOULD SAY IT'S THE SEVEN DAY AVERAGE PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND.
IN THESE, IN THE UNVACCINATED, THE RED LINE ARE THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES IN THE VACCINATED.
SO, AS DOCUMENTED NATIONWIDE, UH, THIS IS CLEARLY NOW BECOMING A PANDEMIC OR HAS ALREADY BECOME A PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED.
UM, WE ARE DOCUMENTING A SMALL PROPORTION OF BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS AS WELL.
UH, BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, ARE INFECTIONS OCCURRING AMONG FULLY VACCINATED CASES, UH, FULLY VACCINATED PERSONS.
UM, EVEN THOUGH THE F D A AUTHORIZED VACCINES ARE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE, BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS ARE EXPECTED, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE POPULATION IMMUNITY HAST REACHED HIGH LEVEL ENOUGH TO BREAK THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION IN, IN OUR, IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO IF MORE PEOPLE ARE VACCINATED, UH, THE THE VIRUS HAVE FEWER FOLKS TO INFECT, THEREBY INTERRUPTING.
THEREBY WE CAN INTERRUPT THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, SO LONG AS THE PANDEMIC LINGERS AND MORE TRANSMISSIBLE VARIANTS OF THE VIRUS ARE CIRCULATING WIDELY, AND YOU'LL SEE THE STRAIN, UM, IN IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES TO COME.
UM, WE EXPECT THE NUMBER OF BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS IN OUR COMMUNITY TO RISE CURRENTLY.
1.1% OF ALL OUR, UH, CASES ARE, UM, ARE, ARE BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS, MEANING THESE ARE INFECTIONS OCCURRING AMONG FULLY VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE NEW CASES IN THE PAST FOUR WEEKS, THE BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS ACCOUNT FOR 5.3% OF ALL NEW CASES REPORTED TO US.
HERE'S THE SLIDE SHOWING THE WEEKLY CHANGE AS FAR AS THE POSITIVITY RATE GO.
JUST LIKE THE CASES, WE ARE SEEING A CONSISTENT INCREASE IN OUR POSITIVITY RATE AS WELL.
THIS HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED, UH, CONSISTENT INCREASE HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED IN THE PAST FIVE WEEKS.
OUR CURRENT POSITIVITY RATE IS 19.99%, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 13.2 PERCENTAGE INCREASE, UH, COMPARED TO WHERE WE ARE, UH, TOWARDS THE END OF JUNE.
UH, THE BLUE LINES THAT YOU SEE ARE THE NUMBER OF TESTS, WEEKLY TESTS DONE HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AGAIN, THE NUMBER OF TESTS ARE ALSO SLOWLY CREEPING UP.
UH, MOST RECENT LAST WEEK, WE DOCUMENTED SLIGHTLY UNDER 27,000 TESTS DONE HERE, COMMUNITY-WIDE.
UM, COVID 19 TESTS JUST LIKE VACCINES.
THEY'RE READILY AVAILABLE, EASILY ACCESSIBLE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, WE HAVE 13 AT AT PRESENT, 13 FREE TESTING SITES HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
10 OF THOSE 13 ARE ACTUALLY CITY RUN FREE TESTING SITES.
IN ADDITION TO THESE CITY RUN FREE TESTING SITES, YOU TESTING IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN YOUR DOCTOR'S OFFICES, URGENT CARE CENTERS, UM, YOUR FQHCS HOSPITAL SYSTEM LABS, UH, AND, AND, AND A HOST OF RETAIL PHARMACIES.
UM, SO THEY ARE, THEY ARE EASILY AND READILY AVAILABLE.
THE NEXT SLIDE THAT YOU SEE IS THE WEEKLY C OVID 19 HOSPITALIZATIONS.
UH, THE BLUE LINE ARE THE IN, UH, COVID 19 PATIENTS WHO ARE CURRENTLY HOSP, UH, WEEKLY HOSPITALIZATIONS, UH, WITH THE, LEMME START OVER.
THE BLUE LINE IS, IS YOUR C OVID 19 INPATIENT, UM, UH, PROPORTIONS.
THE YELLOW LINE ARE NUMBER OF C OVID 19 PATIENTS IN THE I C U ON WEEKLY BASIS.
AND THE TEAL, UH, REPRESENTS THE NUMBER OF C OVID 19 PATIENTS ON WHENS.
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ALL THESE THREE HOSPITAL, UH, INDICATORS OF METRICS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY INCREASING FOR THE PAST FIVE WEEKS.JUST LIKE OUR, JUST LIKE OUR CASE STATUS, UH, AS WELL AS OUR POSITIVITY RATE.
CURRENTLY, UH, WE, WE HAVE 920, UM, COVID POSITIVE PATIENTS HERE IN A HOSPITAL.
260 OF WHICH ARE IN I C U 132 ARE ON VENT, AND 88% OF, UH, OF THE HOSPITALIZATIONS ARE DOCUMENTED AMONG THE UNVACCINATED.
SO, NEEDLESS TO SAY, WITH, WITH ALL THE THREE WARNING INDICATORS CONSISTENTLY INCREASING IN THE PAST FIVE WEEKS ARE OVERALL C OVID 19 RISK LEVEL AT THIS TIME IS SEVERE.
UM, JUST WANNA POINT OUT, JUST LAST WEEK, OUR RISK LEVEL WAS IN THE MODERATE CATEGORY.
SO WITHIN A WEEK'S TIME, WE HAVE JUMPED ONE WHOLE RISK, UH, CATEGORY AS FAR AS THE RISK OF TRANSMISSION GOES.
WHAT YOU'RE SEEING ARE THE RESULTS OF THE WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING DONE ON THE, UM, SARS COV TO TWO POSITIVE OR COVID 19 POSITIVE SPECIMENS.
UM, THESE GENOMIC SEQUENCING IS, IS NOT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.
THEY ARE AT, AT THIS TIME, DONE IN RESEARCH LABS, IN PUBLIC HEALTH LABS AND STATE PUBLIC HEALTH LABS AND THE C D C LABS.
WE ARE PARTNERING WITH UT HEALTH, UH, LAB, UH, TO, TO, UH, MAKE THESE RESULTS AVAILABLE TO US IN A TIMELY MANNER.
I WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THAT LAST BAR, WHICH IS THE RESULTS OF THE SEQUENCING DONE IN THE MONTH OF JULY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT BLUE SHADED PART OF THE BAR DENOTES THE B ONE, UH, B 1 607 0.2, WHICH IS YOUR DELTA VARIANT.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE DELTA VARIANT PROPORTIONS HAVE, HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED.
THEY HAVE DOUBLED IN THE PAST FOUR WEEKS AT THIS TIME.
88% OF OUR SAMPLES THAT ARE SEQUENCED ARE DELTA VARIANT AND DELTA VARIANT.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE IS NOW CURRENTLY THE PREDOMINANTLY CIRCULATING, UM, STRAIN HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, THE, THE RECENT M M W R OR THE RECENT C D C REPORT, UM, HAS INDICATED THAT WHEN INFECTED WITH DELTA VARIANT, UM, THE VIRAL LOAD LEVELS REMAIN SIMILAR AMONG BOTH VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED FOLKS.
SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE CONTRARY TO WHAT WAS BELIEVED EARLIER, BECAUSE OF THE SIMILARLY HIGH VIRAL LOADS AMONG VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED FOLKS WHEN INFECTED WITH DELTA VARIANT, WE NOW CAN SAY THAT FOLKS WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED, WHEN INFECTED WITH DELTA VARIANT CAN TRANSMIT THE ILLNESS TO OTHERS.
AND C D CS HAS ALSO REPORTED THAT THIS DELTA VARIANT IS AS INFECTIOUS AS CHICKEN POX WITH THE RNOT OR THE INFECTIVITY, UH, VALUE OF RATE OF EIGHT.
WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT WHEN YOU ARE INFECTED WITH A DELTA VARIANT, YOU CAN INFECT OR YOU CAN TRANSMIT THE ILLNESS ON AN AVERAGE TO EIGHT TO NINE OTHER FOLKS.
NOW, THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL SARS COV TO TWO STRAIN HAD THE INFECTIVITY RATE OR THE R NOT SIMILAR TO YOUR COMMON COLD VIRUS.
SO THE ORIGINAL STRAIN COULD INFECT ON AN AVERAGE TWO TO THREE PEOPLE.
NOW DELTA VARIANT CAN, CAN INFECT, CAN TRANSMIT ILLNESS, AND CAN INFECT, UM, ABOUT EIGHT TO NINE PEOPLE.
SO THIS IS THE, UH, PIVOTAL DISCOVERY AND, UH, AND A GAME CHANGER AND PRIMARY REASON BEHIND WHY C D C UPDATED THAT MASK GUIDANCE OR UPDATED THE GUIDANCE WHILE VACCINATED FULLY VACCINATED FOLKS.
AS FAR AS THE COVID 19 VACCINATION EFFORTS GO, WE CONTINUE TO HAVE OUR MASS VACCINATION SITE.
UH, ALAMODOME IS STILL OPERATIONAL WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, UH, 12:00 PM TO 8:00 PM UH, THE TIMINGS WILL BE CONSOLIDATED COME THIS FRIDAY, UM, TO DIVERT MORE OF OUR RESOURCES TO HOLDING MORE POP-UP CLINICS.
SO WHAT WE ARE ENCOUNTERING NOW IN TERMS OF VACCINATION COVERAGE IS VACCINE APATHY, VACCINE HESITANCY.
WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT CONVENIENCE IS GOING TO BE THE FACTOR IN, IN GETTING THAT NEXT GROUP OF PEOPLE VACCINATED.
SO WE WANNA HOLD VACCINATION, UH, EVENTS, UM, AT THEIR, AT FOLKS PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.
WE ARE PARTNERING WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
UM, WE WANNA TAKE VACCINES TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE, MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE TO PROVIDE THIS VACCINE AND HOPEFULLY IMPROVE THE, IMPROVE THE COVERAGE.
UM, WE ARE PARTNERING, WE HAVE A WHOLE STAKE, A WHOLE ARRAY OF STAKEHOLDERS WE PARTNER WITH IN HOLDING THESE POP-UP EVENTS.
UH, U H SS, UT HEALTH, U I W H E B, UM, HEALTH COLLABORATIVE, THEY'RE ALL GOOD PARTNERS TO US, AND
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WE WORK COLLABORATIVELY IN HOLDING POP-UP EVENTS, UH, ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY.SO WHAT YOU SEE UP THERE IS THE INTERACTIVE MAP OF POP-UP EVENTS.
IT'S DISPLAYED ON OUR WEBSITE.
IT IS UPDATED ON WEEKLY BASIS.
UM, AND THIS MONTH, UM, YOU CAN SEE WE, FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, WE ALREADY HAVE ABOUT 64 POP-UP EVENTS SCHEDULED OR PLANNED.
UM, AND ONE THING I WANT TO POINT OUT ALSO, NO APPOINTMENTS ARE NEEDED, UH, BOTH AT THE ALAMO DO AS WELL AS AT ANY OF OUR POP-UP EVENTS.
HERE'S A GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AS FAR AS THE VACCINATION COVERAGE GOES.
CURRENTLY, APPROXIMATELY 76% OF OUR VACCINE ELIGIBLE RESIDENTS HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
AND, UH, 63% OF OUR VACCINE ELIGIBLE RESIDENTS ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
A COUPLE OF THINGS I WANNA POINT OUT, UM, ALTHOUGH WE ARE DOING PRETTY WELL COM, UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL VACCINATION COVERAGE, WE ARE DOING WELL COMPARED TO THE STATE AS WELL AS THE NATIONAL ESTIMATES.
BUT AS CLEARLY SHOWN HERE, THERE ARE POCKETS OF LOW VACCINATION COVERAGE, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH, SOUTHWEST AND THE, UM, SOUTHEAST AND THE WEST SIDE.
AND WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? BECAUSE, UM, IF WE ARE TO WIN THE BATTLE OVER THE PANDEMIC, WE SHOULD IMPROVE OUR VACCINATION COVERAGE UNIFORMLY ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WE CANNOT HAVE AN OVERALL RATE WITH POCKETS OF LOW VACCINATION COVERAGE EXISTING.
UM, SO OUR GOAL AT THIS TIME IS NOT JUST TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL COVERAGE, BUT TO MAKE SURE EVERY SINGLE VACCINE ELIGIBLE PERSON GETS VACCINATED.
HERE'S THE, UM, DISPARITIES AS FAR AS AGE GROUPS GO, UH, FOR THE VACCINATION COVERAGE.
UM, I'VE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED, UH, UM, WHEN EACH PHASE OF ELIGIBLE PRIORITY POPULATION WAS ADDED, UH, TO THE VACCINE ROLLOUT EFFORTS.
UH, ONE OF OUR BIGGEST SUCCESSES, UM, THAT WE ARE VERY PROUD OF IS OUR VACCINATION COVERAGE IN OUR OLDER ADULTS, 65 YEARS AND OLDER.
APPROXIMATELY 74% OF OUR FOLKS 65 YEARS AND OLDER ARE FULLY VACCINATED AT THIS TIME, AND THEY'RE CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY THOSE 50 TO 64 YEAR OLD, WHICH ARE APPROXIMATELY 70% FULLY VACCINATED.
NOW, AMONG THE YOUTH AND THE YOUNG ADULTS, THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM EXISTS.
THE 19 TO 29 YEAR OLD, THE 30 TO 39 YEAR OLD, THEY HAVE LOWER VACCINATION COVERAGE COMPARED TO OUR OLDER ADULTS.
THE 19 TO 29 YEAR OLD, ONLY 41% OF THOSE ARE FULLY VACCINATED AT THIS TIME.
AND THIS IS CONCERNING BECAUSE THE DELTA VARIANT, WHICH IS THE PREDOMINANTLY CIRCULATING VARIANT HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY, MORE READILY IMPACTS THIS, THIS PARTICULAR AGE GROUP.
SO IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT WE DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE THE VACCINATION COVERAGE, UM, IN THE, IN THIS PARTICULAR AGE GROUP.
UM, JUST ALSO WANNA POINT OUT THAT LAST RED LINE IS, IS OUR VACCINATION COVERAGE IN THE 12 TO 15 YEAR OLD.
MANY OF YOU REMEMBER WE EMBARKED ON VACCINATING THIS GROUP, UM, ON MAY 13TH.
AND AT THIS TIME, UM, WE HAVE SLIGHTLY OVER 53,000, 12 TO 15 YEAR OLD WHO HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE OF VACCINE HERE AND AT MELY.
SO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL WALK THROUGH ALL THE STRATEGIES WE HAVE IN PLACE, OR WE ARE WORKING ON TO ENCOURAGE THE COVID 19 VACCINATION COVERAGE, NOT JUST OVERALL IN OUR COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO TARGETING THOSE POCKETS, GEOGRAPHIC AREAS OR POCKETS OF LOW VACCINATION COVERAGE.
SO WE, THIS, THIS APRIL, OH, SORRY, AUGUST, I'M STILL STUCK IN APRIL.
AUGUST, UM, IS THE NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION AWARENESS MONTH.
SO WE ARE LEVERAGING THIS TO KICKSTART OUR, UH, RENEWED MEDIA CAMPAIGN, UM, TO INCREASE VACCINE CONFIDENCE.
AND IT INCLUDES TV, RADIO, PRINT, BILLBOARDS, AND VARIOUS ACTIVATION EVENTS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, AS MENTIONED EARLIER, OUR LOWEST VACCINATION COVERAGE IS AMONG THE YOUTH AND THE YOUNG ADULTS IN THE 19 TO 29 YEAR OLD.
SO WE ARE RELYING ON GEO, UM, UM, TARGETING, UM, DIGITAL AD APPROACH.
SO WE ARE TAKING THAT DIGITAL, UM, THE, THE GEO-TARGETED DIGITAL AD APPROACH TO TARGET, UH, YOUTH IN LOCATIONS WHERE THEY TEND TO CONGREGATE HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WE ARE TRYING TO SEND SPECIFIC MESSAGES TARGETING SPECIFIC OR PARTICULAR AGE GROUP USING DIGITAL MEDIA.
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COMMUNITY FEEDBACKS FROM SEVERAL FOCUS GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED NOT JUST BY, UH, METRO HEALTH, BUT ALSO BY OUR PARTNERS.UM, AND WE ARE USING THE, FROM OUR COMMUNITY AND CONSTANTLY TWEAKING OUR MESSAGES, UH, TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE, UM, IN OUR MESSAGING.
UM, WE ARE ALSO USING TESTIMONIALS AND PERSONAL STORIES TO COMPEL OTHERS TO GET VACCINATED.
UM, IF SOMEONE IS UNSURE ABOUT WHETHER TO GET VACCINATED, A COMPELLING TESTIMONY FROM TRUSTED VOICE COULD GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS BUILDING THEIR CONFIDENCE.
SO WE ARE LEVERAGING PEER INFLUENCES, MICRO INFLUENCERS, AND ONE SUCH INFLUENCER THAT WE, WE ARE GOING TO BE USING IS, UH, A FOOTBALL PLAYER FROM U T S A, FRANK GARRETT FROM U T S A.
UM, WE ARE, UM, WE ARE ALSO PLANNING AND SCHEDULING VARIOUS, UH, COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS.
WU AND I WILL BE DOING THESE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS, UM, ALONG WITH, UM, UH, SEVERAL OF OUR PARTNERS.
AND AGAIN, THE FOCUS NOW IS TO AMPLIFY POSITIVE MESSAGES.
SO C D C SAYS, NOW IS THE TIME TO FOCUS ON VACCINE ACCEPTANCE RATHER THAN VACCINE HESS HESITANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, FOCUS AND AMPLIFY THOSE POSITIVE MESSAGES WITH REGARDS TO VACCINE AND BUILD PEOPLE'S RESILIENCE TO FALSE INFORMATION OR INFO DYNAMIC, UH, INFO DYNAMIC THAT THAT IS CURRENTLY EXISTING.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE TARGETED POP-UP AREAS IN, UM, IN GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED WITH C OVID 19.
WE USE OUR COVID INDEX TO GUIDE OUR POP-UP EVENTS.
UH, FOR MOST PART, UM, WE ARE ALSO GETTING ASSISTANCE FROM THE STATE, UH, TO A TEAM WILL BE SENT, I DON'T HAVE THE DETAILS JUST YET, BUT A STATE TEAM WILL BE COMING DOWN HERE TO ASSIST US WITH OUR POPUP, UM, EVENTS, UH, TO IMPROVE THE COVERAGE, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE, UH, AREAS WITH LOW VACCINATION COVERAGE.
UM, AS WE REACH, UH, THE CRITICAL JUNCTURE IN THE COVID 19 VACCINE RESPONSE, UH, WHERE VACCINE SUPPLIES OUT, UM, PACING VACCINE DEMAND, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO EXPAND THE STRATEGIES THAT WE HAD IN PLACE.
SO WHAT WE ARE DOING IS, UH, EXPANDING THE STRATEGIES BY INCLUDING INCENTIVES.
UM, WE, WE'VE ALREADY INCLUDED INCENTIVES IN, IN, UH, IN THE PAST, UH, WE HAD THOSE SIX FLAGS FREE TICKETS THAT WERE GIVEN AWAY.
WE HAD THOSE FIRST SEASON PACKAGE TICKETS THAT WERE GIVEN AWAY.
NOW WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE'VE ALLOCATED ABOUT, UH, $1 MILLION THAT WE ARE RECEIVING FROM THE, UH, FROM THE FEDS TOWARDS, UM, UM, INCENTIVES TOWARDS FUNDING INCENTIVES.
AND WE'LL BE USING UP TO $100 PER PERSON.
UH, AND THESE INCENTIVES CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM STORE VOUCHERS TO GENERIC GIFT CARDS, UH, GROCERY STORE CARDS, UH, GAS STATION CARDS.
SO WE'LL BE, THE INCENTIVES WILL BE ABOUT UP, UP TO $100 PER PERSON.
UM, WE ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE FEDERAL GRANT GRANTOR APPROVAL TO IMPLEMENT THIS IN OUR POPUP EVENTS.
UM, THE LAST STRATEGY, WHICH IS ALREADY HA IN IN PLAY, IS, UH, WE WILL BE RUNNING A REPORT, UM, MONTHLY REPORT OF OUR, UH, SECOND DOSE, UH, NON-COMPLIANT FOLKS.
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE OVERDUE OR LONG OVERDUE TO RECEIVE THEIR SECOND DOSES.
UH, WE'VE ALREADY SENT OUT, WE'VE IDENTIFIED 120,000 FOLKS WHO FELL INTO THIS CATEGORY.
WE HAVE MAILED OUT REMINDED NOTICES TO ALL OF THEM.
UH, MANY OF THEM HAVE CALLED US BACK ALREADY STATING THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR SECOND DOSE.
SO IT WAS PARTLY FAILURE OF THE PROVIDER TO TIME TO ENTER THAT DATA TIME IN A TIMELY MANNER INTO THE REGISTRIES.
UM, WE ARE ALSO PLANNING TO SEND OUT TEXT ALERTS, UH, TO THE FOLKS.
UH, SO WE ARE HITTING THEM WITH A REMINDER NOTICES THAT HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT, AND AS WELL AS THE TEXT, TEXT ALERTS.
WE ARE JUST, UM, WORKING WITH THE I T S D TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SEND OUT THESE TEXT ALERTS IN A HIPAA COMPLIANT MANNER, UM, BASED ON WHAT WE'VE HEARD BACK FROM THE COMMUNITY.
AND I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THE REASON, THE PRIMARY REASON WHY FOLKS DON'T COME BACK FOR THE SECOND DOSE ARE BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF ADVERSE EVENTS THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH THE SECOND DOSE.
SO I JUST WANNA TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU GET THOSE TWO DOSES TO BE FULLY VACCINATED.
SO WHEN YOU GIVE THE FIRST DOSE, YOU'RE PRIMING YOUR BODY, RIGHT? YOU'RE, YOU'RE LETTING YOUR BODY KNOW THIS IS THE VIRUS THAT YOU SHOULD BE LOOKING OUT FOR, THE BODY SAYS, GOT IT.
AND THE SECOND DOSE IS ACTUALLY A TRIAL RUN FOR THE BODY TO, TO SEE IF THE BODY REMEMBERS.
YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM REMEMBERS THAT THERE IS THIS VIRUS THAT WAS INTRODUCED AND TO, TO DETERMINE IF, UH, IF, IF THEY'RE GOING
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TO RUSH TOWARDS TAKING, YOU KNOW, KILLING THIS VIRUS COMPLETELY.SO THOSE ADVERSE EVENTS ARE ACTUALLY A GOOD THING TO HAVE THOSE MILD, UH, LOCAL AND SY UH, SYSTEMIC EFFORTS, UH, UH, ACTUALLY ARE GOOD THING TO HAVE.
IT MEANS YOUR BODY HAS REMEMBERED THAT, THAT THE WEATHER, THAT IS THIS VIRUS THAT I NEED TO ATTACK.
SO IT'S YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM COMING FULL IN ACTION, YOU KNOW, COMING INTO PLAY AND TAKING CARE OF THAT INFECTION.
SO, UM, ALSO WANNA POINT OUT THESE ADVERSE EVENTS.
THEY, THEY, THEY GO AS QUICKLY AS THEY COME.
SO WITHIN 24 TO 48 HOURS, THEY GO AND YOU CAN TREAT THESE EVENTS SYMPTOMATICALLY, UH, BY TAKING OVER THE COUNTER OF FEVER, REDUCING MEDICATIONS AND STAYING HYDRATED.
I CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THESE TWO VACCINES TO BE FULLY AFFECTED AND TO HAVE A LONG LASTING IMMUNITY AGAINST THIS VIRUS HERE.
SOME OF THE THINGS, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S COMING DOWN IN THE PIPELINE WITH REGARDS TO COVID 19 VACCINES, UH, PFIZER VACCINE, UM, PFIZER HAD SUBMITTED ON JULY, UM, HAD SUBMITTED THE, UH, APPLICATIONS TO F D A FOR, UM, APPROVING THEIR VACCINES.
SO THIS WAS ACCEPTED BY F D A.
NOW, F D A HAS ABOUT, UH, 10 MONTHS.
UH, THEY, THEY SHOULD BE COMING BACK WITH A DECISION NO LATER THAN JANUARY, 2022.
WE EXPECT F D A TO MAKE A DECISION AS EARLY AS SEPTEMBER, 2021.
SO BY SEPTEMBER, 2021, IF ALL THINGS GO WELL, WE SHOULD HAVE OUR FIRST F D APPROVED VACCINE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES.
UM, THERE ARE RESULTS FROM THE US STUDY OF MODERNA VACCINE IN THE 12 TO 17 YEAR OLD, UM, THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED.
AND WE EXPECT THE EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION TO BE HERE BY MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR, BY BY FALL OF THIS YEAR, SORRY.
AND SO BY FALL OF THIS YEAR, WE WILL HAVE TWO VACCINES NOW THAT ARE AUTHORIZED TO BE USED IN THE 12 TO 17 YEAR OLD AGE GROUP.
AND THE LAST THING THAT IS IN THE PIPELINE IS THAT THE PFIZER AND THE MODERNA ARE CURRENTLY HAVING STUDIES, UH, THAT ARE ONGOING FOR VACCINES DOWN TO SIX MONTHS OF AGE.
SO WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT BY LATE THIS YEAR OR EARLY NEXT YEAR, WE SHOULD HAVE VACCINES THAT ARE AUTHORIZED TO BE USED FOR CHILDREN UNDER 12 YEARS OF AGE.
SO UNTIL THAT HAPPENS, REMEMBER 20% OF THESE CHILDREN ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.
SO UNTIL THAT HAPPENS, IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT EVERYBODY AROUND THEM GET VACCINATED TO PROVIDE THAT COCOONING PROTECTIVE EFFECT TO THOSE WHO CANNOT GET VACCINATED.
AT THIS TIME, I'M GONNA END BY, UM, PROVIDING KEY, UH, POINTS FROM THE, UH, UPDATED GUIDANCE FOR VACCINATED, UM, PEOPLE AND FULLY VACCINATED, UH, FOLKS WE DEFINE.
AND THAT DEFINITION IS PROVIDED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SLIDE.
FULLY VACCINATED FOLKS ARE, UH, FOLKS, UM, WHO HAVE RECEIVED TWO DOSES AND HAVE, UM, ARE, ARE TWO WEEKS DOWN AFTER RECEIVING THIS TWO, TWO WEEKS PASSED AFTER RECEIVING THE SECOND DOSE, OR, UM, FOLKS WHO HAVE RECCE OR, UM, OR TWO WEEKS AFTER RECEIVING THAT SINGLE DOSE, SINGLE DOSE VACCINE, WHICH IS YOUR HANSSEN VACCINE, OR JOHNSON AND JOHNSON.
SO THE GUIDANCE AT THIS TIME FOR FULLY VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS IS, IS FULLY VACCINATED.
FOLKS IN THE LIGHT OF THE DELTA VARIANT BECOMING THE PREDOMINANT STRAIN IN THE LIGHT THAT DELTA VARIANT INFECTIONS NOW CARRY SIMILARLY HIGH VIRAL LOAD AMONG BOTH VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED FOLKS.
THE RECOMMENDATION HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR FULLY VACCINATED FOLKS, AND NOW THEY'RE RECOMMENDED TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC INDOOR SETTINGS IN AREAS OF SUBSTANTIAL AND HIGH TRANSMISSION.
AND I WANT REMIND YOU, WE ARE, ACCORDING TO CDCS DEFINITIONS, WE ARE IN, IN THAT WE FALL IN THAT HIGH TRANSMISSION AREAS.
UH, FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE MIGHT ALSO CHOOSE TO WEAR MASK REGARDLESS OF THEIR, OF THEIR LEVEL OF TRANSMISSION, UM, IN THEIR COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY IF THEY'RE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED OR IF THEY LIVE WITH IMMUNOCOMPROMISED FOLKS, OR IF THEY LIVE WITH SOMEBODY WHO'S NOT FULLY VACCINATED, OR IF THEY LIVE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR VACCINATION AT THIS TIME.
ADDITIONAL KEY POINTS FROM THE GUIDANCE IS THAT FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE, UM, WHO HAVE KNOWN EXPOSURE TO A CONFIRMED OR A SUSPECTED CASE AT THIS TIME, THEY ARE RECOMMENDED TO BE TESTED THREE TO FIVE DAYS AFTER EXPOSURE AND TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC INDOOR SETTING FOR 14 DAYS OR UNTIL THEY RECEIVE A NEGATIVE TEST.
THIS IS, UH, THIS IS A DIFFERENCE FROM THE GA GUIDANCE THAT EXISTED IN THE PAST THAT SAID FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE WITH A KNOWN
[00:30:01]
EXPOSURE CAN COME TO WORK JUST BY SELF-MONITORING THEIR SYMPTOMS. AT THIS TIME, THAT GUIDANCE IS FULLY VACCINATED.PEOPLE WITH KNOWN EXPOSURE SHOULD WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC INDOOR SETTING AND GET TESTED THREE TO FIVE DAYS AFTER EXPOSURE.
AND IF TESTED POSITIVE SHOULD EXCLUDE THEMSELVES FROM PUBLIC SETTINGS, STAY HOME FOR AT LEAST 10 DAYS, UM, OR, AND, AND 10 DAYS, UH, FROM THEIR DATE OF POSITIVE TEST OR THEIR DATE OF, UH, SYMPTOM ONSET.
THE ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THIS UPDATED GUIDANCE IS THAT UNIVERSAL INDOOR MASKING IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL TEACHERS, STAFF, STUDENTS, AND VISITORS TO SCHOOLS, INCLUDING ON SCHOOL BUSES, REGARDLESS OF THE VACCINATION STATUS.
SO THAT GUIDANCE ON USING MASK IN, IN HUBS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION HAS EXISTED EVEN BEFORE THIS GUIDANCE.
BUT NOW, C D C HAS EXPLICITLY COME OUT AND PUT THOSE SCHOOL BUSES IN THAT PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONVEYANCE, UH, SYSTEM AS WELL.
AND THAT WHAT YOU SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE IS THE DEFINITION FOR THE CLOSE CONTACTS, CLOSE CONTACTS AS SUMMON WHO IS WITHIN SIX FEET OF AN INFECTED PERSON AND HAS SPENT CUMULATIVELY 15 MINUTES OR MORE OVER A 24 HOUR EXPOSURE PERIOD WITH A CONFIRMED CASE.
AND THAT PRETTY MUCH BRINGS ME TO THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION.
MAYOR, ONE THING I WAS GONNA ADD, UM, IS THAT, UM, WE, UH, UH, BASED ON A LOT OF THE CONDITIONS THAT THAT, UH, DR.
KIERAN WENT THROUGH, MOVING FROM MODERATE TO, UH, SEVERE, UM, THE SITUATION IN THE HOSPITALS, UH, THAT, UH, THE MAJORITY OF THE POSITIVES IN BEXAR COUNTY ARE OF THE DELTA VARIANT.
UM, AND TO REITERATE THAT YOUR BEST PROTECTION IS TO GET VACCINATED, UM, AND WEAR A MASK.
UM, WE ARE, UH, PLANNING ON DOING, BASED ON THE CONVERSATION THIS MORNING, A WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT THIS AFTERNOON, UM, THAT WILL BE COORDINATED.
UM, AND IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE WE'VE DONE THAT.
BUT TO PUT THAT MESSAGE BACK OUT THERE, UM, ONE THING THAT, UM, UM, THAT, THAT NEEDED, UH, REFERENCED, BUT I THINK IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE, THAT THE HOSPITAL SYSTEMS RIGHT NOW ARE, ARE, UH, DEALING WITH AN ISSUE OF STAFFING, NOT NECESSARILY SPACE, UM, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE'VE DEALT WITH IN PREVIOUS, UM, UH, SPIKES.
AND, UH, THAT IS CAUSING, UH, ADDITIONAL CONCERN, UH, FROM, UH, FROM THE HEALTHCARE STANDPOINT.
I WANT TO GET TO OUR COLLEAGUES' QUESTIONS AND, UH, CONVERSATION UP HERE, UH, QUICKLY.
BUT I DID WANT TO EMPHASIZE ONE THING THAT YOU MENTIONED, UH, AT THE CONFERENCE THIS MORNING.
CURIAN, WHAT IS THE PROPORTION OF POPULATION IN OUR COMMUNITY TODAY THAT IS INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE VACCINE? THEY'RE NOT GETTING THE VACCINE, NOT BY CHOICE, BUT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN AUTHORIZED TO GET IT YET.
SO 20% OF, WE HAVE 20% OF OUR KIDS WHO ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 12 WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, AND THEN MAYBE ONE TO 2% WHO MAY NOT BE ELIGIBLE IN TERMS OF THEIR MEDICAL CONDITIONS THAT THEY EXIST.
SO AGAIN, UM, THEY DON'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF CHOICE.
THEY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE VACCINE, WHICH IS READILY AVAILABLE TO FOLKS.
UM, AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION WE HAD, UH, SECRETARY MAYORCA HERE, UH, RECOGNIZING THE WORK THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS DONE TO GET FULLY VACCINATED.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION WITH ONE DOSE AND THEN TWO DOSE, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE PROPORTION OF ELIGIBLE POPULATION OR THE TOTAL POPULATION? IT'S, IT'S, UH, WHEN WE SAY ONE AND TWO DOSE, DOSE ARE PROPORTION OF VACCINE ELIGIBLE.
SO WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.
SO WHEN I SAY 63% OF OUR POPULATION ARE VACCINATED, FULLY VACCINATED, THOSE ARE 63% OF OUR VACCINE ELIGIBLE POPULATION.
WHICH, TO ME UNDERSTOOD IS A POINT AGAIN, UH, THAT FOR THOSE WHO ARE, ARE ELIGIBLE, UH, IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US, UH, TO DO OUR PART TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE WHO JUST SIMPLY DON'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF CHOICE TO RECEIVE THE VACCINE.
LAST THING I'D, UH, I WANTED TO MENTION WAS A LITTLE BIT, UH, SURPRISED AND, AND I'D ADMIT DISAPPOINTED AND SEEING THE SHARP RISE IN VACCINATION RATES AMONG THE 12 TO 15 POPULATION.
BUT NOW WE'RE SEEING IT PLATEAU JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHERS.
ARE WE DOING ANYTHING, UM, SPECIAL WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS? UH, OR DO WE HAVE ANY PLANS TO REACH PARTICULARLY TO THOSE 12 TO 15 YEAR OLDS WHO, AGAIN, ARE GONNA BE GOING INTO SCHOOL NOW, BUT THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE VACCINE AND THEY PROBABLY SHOULD DO IT, UH, IMMEDIATELY.
WE'VE HELD A NUMBER OF, UH, EVENTS WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME, BUT A NUMBER OF EVENTS HAVE BEEN HELD
[00:35:01]
WHERE VACCINES HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED.WE HAVE SEVERAL BACK TO SCHOOL EVENTS ALSO PLANNED WITH THE SCHOOLS.
AND JUST AGAIN, ENCOURAGING, UH, THE COMMUNITY AS THEY DO THINK ABOUT BACK TO SCHOOL, IF THEY HAVE AN EVENT THEY CAN CALL METRO HEALTH, UH, AND WE CAN WORK WITH THEM TO SCHEDULE A POP-UP CLINIC CORRECT.
TO REALLY REACH THAT, UH, COMMUNITY.
AND I JUST WANNA MENTION, SORRY, I JUST WANNA MENTION THAT YES, WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ACCOMMODATE THE DATES THAT YOU WISH THOSE EVENTS TO BE, UM, UH, HELD.
IF NOT, YOU KNOW, WE WILL ACCOMMODATE AT THE FIRST AVAILABLE OPENING THAT WE HAVE, AS YOU SAW THE, FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST ALREADY.
WE HAVE 64 EVENTS THAT ARE ALREADY ON OUR CALENDARS, BUT WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT AND WE HOPE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE STATE, UH, TO BE MORE FLEXIBLE AND ACCOMMODATING.
AND, AND, UH, BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, UH, I DID WANT TO THANK YOU AND THE STAFF AT METRO HEALTH.
UH, WE REALLY THOUGHT WE SAW THE WORST OF THIS AND IT WAS BEHIND US, BUT YOU GUYS ARE RIGHT BACK INTO, UH, THE RHYTHM OF THE BATTLE AGAIN.
AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE AT THIS POINT, BUT OUR COMMUNITY OWES YOU A DEBT OF GRATITUDE FOR, FOR DOING THIS DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY, AND WE'RE GONNA DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO HELP YOU.
UM, I JUST WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE I HAVE A WHOLE TEAM HERE, CRITICAL KEY PERSONNEL SITTING BACK THERE WHO'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, ADDED SINCE JANUARY OF 2020.
KRAN, FOR TODAY'S PRESENTATION AND EVERYTHING YOU'VE BEEN DOING, UH, WITH THIS SURGE.
UM, I, WE'RE ALSO GOING THROUGH A TRANSITION.
WE HAVE OUR NEW HEALTH DIRECTOR, SO, UH, I JUST, WHEN I SAY HATS OFF TO YOU AND THE TEAM FOR HANDLING THIS TRANSITION SO, SO GRACEFULLY AND CONTINUING YOUR WORK, UM, I WANTED TO, UH, I, I DO HAVE A, A FEW COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS, BUT BEFORE THAT, I, I WANTED TO SPEAK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT OUR C R E C AND BRING, UH, MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES UP TO SPEED ON THE COMMUNITY, SORRY, THE COVID RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION THAT HAS, UH, THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS.
UM, WHEN THE PANDEMIC STARTED, UH, WE HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH, UH, WITH TESTING, RIGHT? SO THERE WAS, THERE NEEDED TO BE SOME COORDINATION.
AND SO A GROUP WAS FORMED OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, UH, WHO, WHO FOCUSED ON TESTING.
AND THAT EVENTUALLY GREW THROUGH A NUMBER OF PHASES INTO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, WHICH IS, UM, A HOST PROBABLY OVER A HUNDRED OF NOT JUST HEALTH PROFESSIONALS NOW, BUT ALSO COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND, UH, BASICALLY INFLUENCERS OR CONNECTORS IN THE FIELD.
AND, UH, THEY ARE, THEY ARE MADE UP OF A NUMBER OF WORKING GROUPS.
BUT, BUT THE BENEFIT OF THIS GROUP THAT, THAT WE HAVE IS THAT IT IS, I WOULD SAY AN ARMY, UH, A BRAIN TRUST THAT IS AVAILABLE TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, TO THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE, AND EVEN TO OUR COUNCIL IN TERMS OF IDEAS, QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE VIRUS OR WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEY HAVE THEIR PROJECTS THAT THEY WORK ON AS WELL.
SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE STRATEGIES FOR VACCINATIONS ARE BEING LED.
THE IDEAS ARE BEING LED BY THE MEMBERS OF THESE GROUPS.
AND IF YOU ARE, UH, IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO SERVE ON THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY, I'M SORRY, THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE, YOU MIGHT BE, UH,
THEY HAVE JOINED US PREVIOUSLY.
BARBARA TAYLOR AT THE UT HEALTH, UH, MEDICAL SCHOOL.
UM, AND I BELIEVE NOW WE HAVE, UH, DR.
JACOB, UM, WHO IS, WHO IS THE CO-CHAIR.
SO, UH, YOU WILL HEAR MORE OF THAT, OF THAT LATER.
BUT I DO WANT TO JUST MAKE SURE TO GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE, IS WE HAVE A TEAM OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE ALSO WORKING WITH US, UH, IN, IN RESPONSE.
UM, I WANTED TO, UM, ADD ON TO THE MAYOR'S QUESTION ABOUT SCHOOLS AND THE, AND THE PARTNERSHIPS THERE.
IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW EFFECTIVE THOSE HAVE BEEN, AND IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT THE COUNCIL CAN DO TO, TO SUPPORT THAT.
SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT OFF OFFLINE.
ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO WORK WITH THE ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGES OR ANY OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSITIES NOW THAT WE'RE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL? SO WE, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH ALAMO MM-HMM.
AND WE CONTINUE TO, THERE'S ANOTHER ARABIC GROUP.
UM, WELL, I'LL, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, LAST WEEK WE HAD A PRESS CONFERENCE ON HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO, TO MASK UP, AND THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE GAVE THAT MESSAGE.
AND I, I WAS MENTIONING TO THE MAYOR THAT I WAS AT A COUPLE OF EVENTS AND THAT MESSAGE HADN'T GOTTEN THROUGH.
SO I'M VERY GLAD THAT WE'RE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION TODAY THAT WE HAD THE PRESS CONFERENCE THIS MORNING, AND THAT THE WIRELESS ALERT WILL BE ISSUED.
[00:40:01]
DRIVE HOME THE SERIOUSNESS OF WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW.UH, WE HAVE TO GET THE MESSAGE RIGHT THOUGH.
SO, SO WHAT WILL BE THE MESSAGE THAT GOES OUT ON TODAY'S WIRELESS ANNOUNCEMENT, COUNCILMAN? UM, WE'RE, WE'RE LIMITED BY THE NUMBER OF, UH, WORDS, BUT ESSENTIALLY THE MESSAGE IS, UM, TO ADVISE THE, UH, COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE MOVED TO SEVERE THAT, UM, UM, UM, THAT HOSPITAL, THE MAJORITY OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE HOSPITAL ARE UNVACCINATED, AND THESE AREN'T THE EXACT WORDS.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL SHARE THAT WITH THE COUNCIL BY EMAIL THIS AFTERNOON IN ADVANCE, UM, TO GET VACCINATED AND TO, UM, PROTECT YOURSELF AND WEAR A MASK, PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY.
THOSE ARE THE FA FOUR MAIN POINTS OF THAT MESSAGE.
AND WE'RE LIMITED BY THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS.
AND, UH, LAURA MAYS AND G P A ARE WORKING TO WEAVE THAT MESSAGE IN, AND WE WILL SHARE THAT WITH YOU BY EMAIL BEFORE THAT ALERT GOES OUT.
I'M SURE MY COLLEAGUE ACROSS THE DIOCESE IS GONNA HAVE SOME
UM, BUT CERTAINLY BEHAVIOR CHANGE IS ALWAYS, UH, SORT OF THE BEST MESSAGE YOU CAN GIVE WHEN YOU'RE, UH, REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE ON THEIR, ON THEIR PERSONAL DEVICES.
SO I'M, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT.
UH, I WANTED TO, UH, I KNOW I DON'T HAVE 11 MINUTES, BUT I WILL BE BRIEF
UM, I WANTED TO SHARE WITH, UH, WITH MY TEAM SOME OF THE THINGS, SORRY, WITH, UH, MY COLLEAGUES, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING ON MY TEAM AND, AND SEE WHAT ELSE WE CAN DO.
SO, UH, WE'RE CONSIDERING THIS IN DISTRICT SEVEN, AN ALL HANDS ON, ON DECK APPROACH.
SO, UH, MY STAFF AND I HAVE BEEN REACHING OUT TO BUSINESSES, APARTMENT COMPLEXES, UH, FAITH ORGANIZATIONS, UH, TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR POP-UPS THAT YOU'RE HAVING, AND ALSO TO SEE IF, UM, THEY'RE WILLING TO HOST, UH, POP-UP VACCINES THAT POP-UP VACCINE EVENTS THEMSELVES.
UH, WE HAVE SO FAR CONTACTED OVER A HUNDRED ORGANIZATIONS.
WE HAVE 11 ORGANIZATIONS INTERESTED IN HOSTING AN EVENT.
AND I KNOW RIGHT NOW YOU'RE, YOU'RE REALLY BOOKED THROUGH
BUT, UM, IF THERE'S ANY WAY WE COULD, UH, FIND, UH, FIND THE RESOURCES TO HAVE THOSE EVENTS, I, I WOULDN'T WANNA LET THAT OPPORTUNITY, UH, SLIP AWAY SO, UH, MY TEAM CAN, CAN BE IN TOUCH WITH THE, WITH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ABOUT THAT.
UM, ON ANOTHER NOTE, UH, WE ARE RESUMING USING OUR, UH, CITY COUNCIL PROJECT FUND DOLLARS TO BOOST THE METRO HEALTH AND, UH, PSAS THAT ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL MEDIA.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT OUR DOLLARS ARE ALLOWED FOR.
AND WE, WE SAW A LOT OF TRACTION THE LAST TIME WE DID IT.
ARE WE AS A CITY CONSIDERING ANY, UM, CANCELLATION OF EVENTS OR ADDITIONAL, UH, PROTECT HEALTH PROTECTIVE MEASURES? UH, NOW THAT THIS IS IN PLACE, AND I'M THINKING IN PARTICULAR ABOUT EVENTS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH OUR YOUTH OR FACILITIES THAT, THAT WELCOME OUR YOUTH COUNCILMAN AT THIS TIME, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY MAJOR EVENTS DEALING WITH YOUTH.
UM, WE ARE, UM, WE ARE, UH, THINKING ABOUT PRE-K FOR SA AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SCHOOL STARTS THERE.
UM, BUT I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY, UH, MAJOR EVENTS DEALING WITH YOUTH.
UM, I WILL SHARE WITH THE COUNCIL THAT WE HAD A SCHEDULED EMPLOYEE KICKOFF AT THE ALMO DOME NEXT FRIDAY FOR THE CHARITABLE CAMPAIGN, AN IN-PERSON EVENT.
UM, A RATHER LARGE EVENT THAT, UM, THAT I'VE ASKED TO, UM, TO DELAY.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, UH, WE'VE NOT MADE ANY OTHER, UH, ADJUSTMENTS AT THIS POINT THAT I'M AWARE OF.
AND, UM, AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WORK.
AND I'M GONNA TURN OVER MY LAST QUESTION TO ANDY.
AND I, I DO WANT TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT OUR OPTIONS ARE FOR REQUIRING MASKS.
OF COURSE, WE WANT EVERYONE TO BE VACCINATED, BUT THE FASTEST THING WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW IN THIS URGENT SITUATION IS ENSURE PEOPLE ARE MASKED.
UM, SO WHAT, WHAT OPTIONS, UH, ARE, ARE THERE? AND, AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MAYOR.
UH, THE, UH, GOVERNOR'S ORDER GA 38 GIVES US VERY LITTLE OPTIONS IN THAT IT CLEARLY, UH, PRECLUDES, UM, THE CITIES LIKE US FROM ISSUING MASS MANDATES.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, UH, THERE'S SOME THINGS IN THERE IN THE ORDER, UH, THAT ARE OPEN TO INTERPRETATION.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT THOSE ARE IN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT, UH, CLEARLY IT'S, UH, PROHIBITING US FROM ISSUING, UH, WIDE MASS MANDATES THAT, THAT APPLY TO THE COMMUNITY.
[00:45:01]
THANK YOU, MAYOR.UH, DOCTOR, I WANT TO JUST REVIEW A FEW OF THESE THINGS, MAKE SURE I'VE GOT 'EM RIGHT.
WE'RE SAYING RIGHT NOW NEARLY ONE IN FIVE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TESTED HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID, RIGHT? CORRECT.
BASICALLY ONE IN FIVE, APPROXIMATELY 20%.
UH, AND RIGHT NOW WE HAVE OVER 900 HOSPITALIZED TODAY.
DO YOU RECALL, OR DO YOU HAVE, UH, A WAY OF LOOKING AND SEE HOW MANY WERE HOSPITALIZED JUST SIX WEEKS AGO? IT WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE TWO OR THREE HUNDREDS, ACTUALLY.
THE, I CAN GET THAT INFORMATION.
WAS IT THAT MUCH? 'CAUSE I, I THOUGHT IT WAS MORE LIKE A HUNDRED, 150 OR SOMETHING.
IT WAS, I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY LOW SIX WEEKS AGO.
BUT YOU'RE SAYING MAYBE EVEN 200? CORRECT.
UH, AND FROM THE TESTING WE'VE DONE, NINE OUT OF 10 PEOPLE HOSPITALIZED HAVE THE DELTA VARIANT FROM THE FOLLOW-UP TESTING, APPROXIMATELY 88%.
UH, ARE YOU FINDING THAT THE INFECTED TODAY IN HOSPITAL ARE SICKER OR NEED TO STAY LONGER IN THE HOSPITAL THAN THE, UH, EARLIER HOSPITALIZATIONS? SO, STR IS LOOKING AT THAT INFORMATION, WE'VE REQUESTED THAT INFORMATION FROM, UH, THE HOSPITAL SYSTEMS, UM, AND THAT, THAT REPORT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO US.
WELL, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING? ANECDOTALLY? ANECDOTALLY, WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A SHORTER STAY AND FOLKS ARE 50 YEARS AND OLDER AND, UH, THERE ARE SOME PEDIATRIC CASES, BUT PRIMARILY THEY'RE 50 YEARS AND OLDER.
YOU KNOW, I THINK IN A NEWS CONFERENCE THIS MORNING, WE HEARD THAT THERE WAS AN 11 MONTH OLD BABY CORRECT.
WHO WAS INFECTED IN THE HOSPITAL.
AND THEN A, A FOUR YEAR OLD PRESCHOOLER.
AND THOSE WERE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF, OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN HOSPITALIZED.
UH, AND I THINK WE HEARD 5% OF THE HOSPITALIZATIONS AT THAT PARTICULAR CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL WERE RELATED TO COVID.
DID WE HAVE ANY KIND OF NUMBERS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, AT THE BEGINNING OR IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS OUTBREAK? SO BASED ON THE DATA THAT WE HAVE, UH, IT'S ABOUT 0.9% OF CASES WERE IN THAT ZERO TO NINE YEARS OF AGE GROUP.
WE'VE HAD BABIES AS YOUNG AS ONE MONTH WHO'VE BEEN INFECTED WITH COVID AS WELL.
UM, BUT THE PROPORTION OF HOSPITALIZATIONS, I DON'T HAVE IT AT MY FINGERTIP JUST YET.
BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE OF, OF A MIND THAT YOUNG CHILDREN DIDN'T GET SICK AND DIDN'T NEED HOSPITALIZATION.
UH, BUT WE'RE FINDING AT LEAST RIGHT NOW, THAT'S, THAT'S NOT VERY RELEVANT.
'CAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF SICK CHILDREN IN HOSPITALS.
UM, DO PEOPLE WHO COME FOR TESTING, UH, DO YOU FIND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SHOWING UP FOR TESTING, ARE THEY SHOWING UP BECAUSE THEY'RE SICK OR BECAUSE THEY JUST WANT TO KNOW THEIR STATUS? SO AT THIS TIME, MAJORITY OF OUR TESTING ARE DONE AMONG FOLKS WHO'VE BEEN EITHER SYMPTOMATIC OR FOLKS WHO ARE EXPOSED.
UM, INITIALLY, UH, DURING OUR SUMMER FALL PEAK, WE WERE SEEING A LOT OF SCREENING TESTS DONE, ROUTINE SCREENING TESTS DONE.
BUT NOW IT'S A DIFFERENT, UH, SECTOR OF POPULAR, PRIMARILY THEY ARE SYMPTOMATIC OR BEING EXPOSED TO A CASE.
UH, IF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE COVID, BECAUSE WE'RE SAYING ROUGH, ROUGHLY NINE OUT OF, UH, OR ONE OUT OF, UH, FIVE ARE COVID, THE OTHER 80% WHO COME FOR TESTING, UH, WHAT DO THEY HAVE A, A COLD OR THE FLU OR JUST SOME OTHER MINOR AILMENT? WE DON'T GET THAT RESULT.
IF IT'S NEGATIVE, IT'S JUST REPORTED AS NEGATIVE TO US.
THIS, SO STARTING, UH, JUST GO AHEAD.
SORRY TO INTERRUPT, BUT RIGHT NOW ALL THE TESTS JUST TEST FOR C OVID 19, BUT PRETTY SOON WE'LL HAVE THOSE MULTIPLEX ASSAYS WHERE A SPECIMEN CAN BE TESTED FOR MORE THAN ONE RESPIRATORY VIRUSES.
SO IF THAT HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S COVID NEGATIVE, THE SPECIMEN CAN BE, YOU KNOW, CAN PICK UP FLU OR R S V OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
UH, I THINK WE SAID ABOUT 20 TO 22% ARE INELIGIBLE, INCLUDING CHILDREN.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE, UH, THE RATE, UH, THE POSITIVITY RATE, YOU'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE OTHER, ROUGHLY 80% OF THE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, RIGHT.
THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ARE TESTING AND THEY'RE TESTING ABOUT ONE OUT OF FIVE POSITIVE TESTING.
IS EVERYBODY OKAY? EVERYBODY CAN GET TESTED.
SO THE 20% IS BEING INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VACCINES AT THIS TIME.
I GUESS MY POINT IS, I'M TRYING TO GET AT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW WHO HAVEN'T BEEN VACCINATED.
UH, AND, AND I WAS JUST DOING SOME PENCIL CHECKING IF 20% AREN'T, UH, ELIGIBLE, SO THERE'S
[00:50:01]
80% OF THE POPULATION WHO'S ELIGIBLE FOR BEING VACCINATED.AND I THINK YOU SAID 63% HAVE HAD BOTH SHOTS? CORRECT.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU TAKE 20, 22% OF OUR POPULATION AWAY, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A POPULATION OF ABOUT, OH, ABOUT 1,250,000 PEOPLE LEFT OVER OUT OF ABOUT 1.6 MILLION IN A, IN A COMMUNITY.
AND IF 63% OF THEM HAVE BEEN VACCINATED, THAT'S ANOTHER 750,000 PEOPLE.
THAT MEANS THERE'S ABOUT 500,000 PEOPLE JUST WITHIN THE CITY, NOT INCLUDING THE COUNTY WHO ARE WALKING AROUND UNVACCINATED TODAY.
NOW YOU ALSO MENTIONED THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE HAD ONE SHOT BUT HAVE NOT GOTTEN THEIR SECOND SHOT.
ARE THEY INCLUDED IN THE VACCINATED OR THE UNVACCINATED GROUP? WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS NUMBER, THEY'RE INCLUDED IN THE UNVACCINATED.
SO THAT LINE THAT WE LOOK AT CASES WE COUNT ONLY BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS, SUCH INFECTIONS OCCURRING AMONG FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE.
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE ONLY HAD ONE SHOT OF THE MODERNA OR THE OTHER ONE AND NEED A SECOND SHOT? HOW MANY OF THEM ARE WALKING AROUND YOU SAID? YEAH, WITHOUT THAT SECOND SHOT? WITHOUT THAT SECOND SHOT.
SO AT THIS TIME, IF WE CAN GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE, I THOUGHT I HAD HEARD LIKE 120,000 PEOPLE HADN'T GOTTEN THEIR SECOND SHOT.
SO THERE, UM, APPROXIMATELY, UH, SLIGHTLY OVER, UM, 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
SO WE ARE A POPULATION OF 2.1 MILLION RESIDENTS.
SO 2.1 MILLION MINUS ONE APPROXIMATELY ONE POINT OKAY.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S ALMOST 900,000 PEOPLE WHO EITHER ONLY GOT ONE DOSE OR NO DOSE AT ALL, AND PROBABLY A HALF A MILLION.
SO I JUST, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE I DON'T THINK PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHEN THEY HEAR A PERCENTAGE HERE OR THERE.
THEY'RE NOT REALIZING THAT THERE ARE 900,000 PEOPLE WALKING AROUND WHO AREN'T FULLY PROTECTED OR PROBABLY FIVE OR 600,000 WHO AREN'T PROTECTED AT ALL.
AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE SITTING NEXT TO YOU AT WORK OR THEY'RE SITTING NEXT TO YOU AT CHURCH OR THEY'RE SITTING NEXT TO YOU WHEN YOU'RE OUT SHOPPING OR IN LINE SOMEWHERE.
AND THIS IS A VERY, VERY CONTAGIOUS, CONTAGIOUS, UH, VARIANT.
AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE NEED TO GET THEIR SHOTS AND IN BETWEEN UNTIL THEY DO, THEY NEED TO WEAR A MASK.
AND MAYOR, I'M CONCERNED THAT, THAT WE ARE NOT DOING MORE TO PROTECT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE 2.5 MILLION PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THIS COUNTY AND CERTAINLY NOT THE 1.6 MILLION WHO LIVE IN THIS CITY BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR'S TOLD US WE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S OUR PUBLIC OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY.
AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS ELECTED FOR.
AND I KNOW OUR, OUR FRIENDS IN HOUSTON HAVE SAID, WE'RE GONNA PROTECT THE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY AS BEST WE CAN, AND WE ARE GOING TO REQUIRE THINGS THAT WE THINK PROTECT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEY'RE WILLING TO GO TO COURT WITH THE STATE OVER THAT.
AND I STRONGLY URGE THAT WE CONSIDER TAKING THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE ACTION OR MAYBE SOME IMPOSSIBLE ACTIONS IF NEED BE, TO PROTECT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF EVEN THE VACCINATED WHO WE KNOW NOW CAN AGAIN, CATCH OR TRANSMIT, UH, THAT DISEASE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO CHECK OUT THESE NUMBERS AND I WANTED TO BRING 'EM INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD.
WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT PERCENTAGES, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REAL PEOPLE AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE AROUND US EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE WE GO.
AND I THINK THE CITY HAS A GREATER RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THE COMMON GOOD OF EVERYBODY.
SO THAT'S THE END OF MY COMMENTS, MAYOR.
CAN I RESPOND TO THAT, SIR? SO WHEN I SAID, YOU KNOW, WE ARE CONSTANTLY LISTENING FOR COMMUNITY FEEDBACKS AND TWEAKING OUR MESSAGES, I MEANT IT.
SO OUR MESSAGING IS NOW GOING TO INCLUDE THOSE COUNTS INSTEAD OF PERCENTAGES.
SO FOLKS CAN ACTUALLY PUT THIS IN THE CONTEXT THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND.
THANK YOU TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR ALL THE HARD WORK YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE DONE TO DATE.
I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT, UH, INFORMATION BEING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN US HAVING AS MUCH INFORMATION, AS MUCH DATA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SO THAT OTHER DATA SCIENTISTS CAN STUDY WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SAN ANTONIO COMPARED TO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OTHER CITIES.
AND THEY CAN SEE WHAT, WHAT SEEMS TO BE WORKING BETTER, WHAT SEEMS TO BE WORKING, NOT,
[00:55:01]
NOT AS WELL, UH, LOOKING AT TRENDS.AND SO I'M WONDERING WHAT, WHAT DO WE HAVE THAT'S PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN TERMS OF OUR GREATER POPULATION? MM-HMM.
AND THEN SPECIFICALLY ALSO IN TERMS OF THE, UM, THE 120,000 PEOPLE WHO'VE GOTTEN A FIRST DOSE BUT NOT A SECOND DOSE.
JUST LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, MANY OF THEM HAVE CALLED BACK AND SAID THEY'VE RECEIVED THOSE SECOND DOSES.
IT WAS JUST A FAILURE OF THE PROVIDER ENTERING THAT INFORMATION INTO THE REGISTRY.
SO THAT I DON'T HAVE AT THIS TIME.
BUT AS FAR AS CASES GO, WE PUT OUT ONCE A MONTH OUR EPI DEPARTMENT PUTS OUT A FABULOUS EPI SUMMARY REPORT THAT BREAKS OUT THE CASES BY AGE GROUP, BY GENDER, BY RACE, ETHNICITY, BY HOSPITALIZATION, UM, BY UNDERLYING MEDICAL STATUS AND BY ZIP CODE AS WELL.
WE, WE HAVE THE G I S MAP WE PUT OUT BY ZIP CODE.
AGAIN, WE RUN INTO, WHEN WE ARE DEALING WITH SMALLER NUMBERS, WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT THE PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY IS MAINTAINED AS WELL.
BUT YES, WE DO PRODUCE THE MAPS, JUST LIKE YOU SEE FOR THE IMMUNIZATIONS.
WE PRODUCE THOSE MAPS, UM, THE CASE CASE, UM, NUMBERS BY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
UH, THOSE G I S MAPS ARE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT AS WELL.
AND WE DO THIS NOT JUST FOR CASES.
AND ARE THERE DATA FILES THAT THEY CAN DOWNLOAD THERE? YES, THERE ARE.
THERE IS, THERE ARE DATA FILES ON OUR WEBSITE THAT CAN BE DOWNLOADABLE.
I MEAN, UH, THE, THE NO WITHOUT ANY PATIENT IDENTIFIER, RIGHT? YES.
AND IF IT'S NOT AVAILABLE, PLEASE REACH OUT TO US AND WE'LL MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, WE CAN THANK YOU.
SO FOR THE 120,000 HERE LOCALLY WHO'VE GOTTEN A FIRST DOSE, BUT NOT THE SECOND DOSE THAT WELL, THERE'S A LAG.
WHAT, WHAT IS THE BREAKDOWN OF THAT LAG? LIKE HOW, HOW MUCH OF IT IS OH, THEY WERE ELIGIBLE A WEEK AGO VERSUS THREE MONTHS AGO.
SO WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS FOLKS, SO TYPICALLY IF IT'S PFIZER, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE IT WITHIN 21 DAYS, MODERNA WITHIN 28 DAYS.
SO IF YOU MISS THOSE, WE ALSO GIVE THE, GIVE YOU A, UM, A GRACE PERIOD OF SIX WEEKS.
AND IF YOU'VE PASSED THOSE, THEN WE WILL REACH OUT.
BUT I SEE WHERE YOU'RE GOING STARTING NEXT, NEXT MONTH ONWARDS, NEXT WEEK ONWARDS.
WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IS ANYBODY WHO'S A WEEK OVERDUE, YOUR RECOMMENDED TIMEFRAME OF GETTING SECOND DOSES WILL BE PULLED OUT TO SEND OUT A REMINDER.
AND SO HOW OF THAT 120,000, HOW MUCH OF, OF, IS THAT 120,000 THEY'VE ALL EXCEEDED THE, THE RECOMMENDED TIME PERIOD FOR THE SECOND DOSE? CORRECT.
AND I'M WONDERING, DO WE HAVE A PLAN TO REACH OUT TO 12 TO 17 YEAR OLDS RIGHT NOW? OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS? WE HAVE BEEN REACHING OUT TO ISDS.
WE'VE HELD NUMBER OF EVENTS WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, OVER THE SUMMER AND AS RECENT AS LAST, LAST FEW WEEKS AGO AS WELL.
I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS OF NUMBER OF EVENTS HELD WITH VACCINES ADMINISTERED, BUT YES, WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY WORKED WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
ONE THING THAT I THINK IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE, I DON'T THINK ANITA MENTIONED IT EARLIER, BUT LAST FRIDAY, UM, THE CITY FACILITATED A CALL BETWEEN THE FIVE HOSPITAL SYSTEMS AND ALL 16 SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS.
AND, UH, WE HAD THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ON THERE, THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE.
UM, AND, AND REALLY IT WAS SO THAT THE HOSPITAL SYSTEMS COULD, COULD REPORT THE CURRENT CONDITIONS.
'CAUSE EVERY SCHOOL IS PREPARING FOR SCHOOL AND MAKING THEIR OWN DECISIONS GIVEN THE GUIDANCE THAT THEY'RE GETTING FROM THE STATE OR, OR LACK OF GUIDANCE.
UM, SO WE FACILITATED THAT CONVERSATION LAST WEEK, BUT THEN ALSO ASK THEM, LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP A LOT, MANY OF THE SCHOOLS REPORTED LAST WEEK THAT THEY HAVE, UM, REQUESTS AT THE STATE LEVEL THAT THEY'RE WAITING TO HEAR.
UH, Y'ALL, UH, MANY OF YOU WILL RECALL THAT A LOT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DID SCREENING, UM, UH, OF THE STUDENTS.
UH, AND THEY WERE STILL WAITING TO HEAR FROM THE STATE ON THAT.
SO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT WE, WE FACILITATED THAT CONVERSATION LAST WEEK.
SO THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT.
WE, I THINK WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE SUPERINTENDENTS TO HEAR EXACTLY FROM THE, THE HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS AND THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERS, WHAT THE CONDITIONS ARE.
SO SOMEBODY SENT ME AN ARTICLE, UH, THAT WAS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT MESSAGING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
AND UH, IT STATED THAT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE, THEY'RE NOT AFRAID
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OF THAT THEY'RE GONNA GET SO SICK THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE HOSPITALIZED.THEY'RE NOT AFRAID THAT THEY'RE GONNA DIE.
BUT WHAT THEY FOUND EFFECTIVE WAS, UM, THAT LETTING, THAT LETTING TEENAGERS KNOW, HEY, IF YOU GET THE VACCINE, YOU'RE LESS LIKELY TO GET TO TEST POSITIVE AND THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO QUARANTINE FOR TWO WEEKS.
ARE YOU ALL USING THAT MESSAGING? YES.
AND IN FACT, OUR MARKETING MANAGER IS IN THE AUDIENCE AND THE NEW TERM THAT I LEARNED, AND I AM, YOU KNOW, NOT THE
SO SHE'S USING, SO WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE ARE USING THAT FEAR OF MISSING OUT, ESPECIALLY AMONG THIS YOUNG ADULTS AND YOUTH AND MESSAGING THAT WAY.
ALSO, WE ARE, UM, SONIA, DO YOU WANNA COME UP HERE AND TALK? YOU KNOW, ALSO HIGHLIGHTING THAT IF YOU GET C OVID 19 INFECTIONS, YOU'LL HAVE LOSS OF SMELL AND LOT OF LOSS OF TASTE.
SO IN A WAY YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON DRINKING AND GOOD FOOD AS WELL.
SO ALL THOSE MESSAGES ARE BEING USED.
SO YES, WE'RE REALLY, UH, BEING STRATEGIC IN HOW WE'RE ADDRESSING OUR MILLENNIALS.
WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE NOT REALLY FOCUSED ON GETTING SICK OR THINKING ABOUT, UM, BEING HOSPITALIZED, BUT WE WANNA REMIND THEM THAT THEY MIGHT MISS THOSE OPPORTUNITIES AND THOSE MOMENTS, WE KNOW THAT THEY, UM, ARE VERY FOCUSED ON ENJOYING MOMENTS WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CREATING MESSAGES THAT RELATE TO THEM AND GIVE THEM THAT INFORMATION.
UH, THE OTHER THING THAT I WANNA MENTION IS THAT WHERE WE'RE PLACING THEM, AGAIN, WE KNOW WHERE THEY GET A LOT OF THEIR MEDIA.
WE'RE NOT RUNNING TV ADS PROMOTING FOMO.
WE KNOW THAT THEY GET THEIR INFORMATION FROM DIGITAL ADS.
SO THAT'S HOW WE'RE USING THE MEDIA THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE, EXCUSE ME, ENGAGING ON TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE RELATING THOSE MESSAGES TO THEM.
SO, ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? UH, I, I THINK WE ANTICIPATE THAT WITHIN TWO MONTHS THAT PFIZER'S VACCINE'S GONNA BE APPROVED FOR, UH, CHILDREN UNDER, UNDER THE AGE OF 12.
IS THAT RIGHT? LATER THIS, SO THE RE SO WHAT WE EXPECT BY SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR IS F D A APPROVAL OF THE VACCINE FOR 12 AND OLDER.
UH, SO UNDER 12 YEARS IS SOMETIME LATER THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR.
UM, HAVE YOU ALL LOOKED INTO THE, THE LYFT TO VACCINE PROGRAM WHERE, WHERE PEOPLE COULD GET EITHER FREE OR DISCOUNTED LYFT RIDES TO GO TO GO GET THE VACCINE? AND WHERE ARE WE AT IN UTILIZING THAT? WE'VE, SONIA AGAIN, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT, SO WE'VE DONE LYFT AND UBER AS WELL.
UM, WE'VE USED THAT FOR, FOR BRINGING FOLKS INTO THE ALAMODOME THAT DIDN'T HAVE TRANSPORTATION.
SO, AND, AND WHO PAYS FOR THAT? OR HOW IS THAT FUNDED? UH, IT'S, UM, I FORGET, LET ME GET ALL THOSE DETAILS FOR YOU.
BECAUSE I THINK IT'D BE GOOD FOR US TO KNOW WHEN WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT, THAT ARE HAVING CHALLENGES GETTING THERE SO WE CAN LET THEM KNOW HOW TO GET, HOW THEY CAN GET A RIDE.
UM, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE DOING RIGHT NOW? YOU SAID IF SOMEBODY EXCEEDS THE, THE, THE THREE WEEK PERIOD, IF THEY GO ONE WEEK PAST FOR GETTING THE, THEIR SECOND DOSE, YOU SAID WE'RE NOTIFYING THEM.
HOW ARE WE NOTIFYING THEM? SO WE ARE DOING MAILOUTS UH, NOTICES, LETTERS, AND WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS NOT JUST FOR COVID, WE'VE DONE THIS FOR ALL CHILDHOOD VACCINE SERIES.
UH, WE SEND OUT REMINDER NOTIFICATIONS THAT SEND OUT THROUGH SNAIL MAIL, AND THEN WE ARE ALSO LOOKING INTO NOTIFYING THEM USING TEXT ALERTS.
SO ONE THING THAT, UH, THE DISTRICT ONE STAFF AND TEAM IS, IS LOOKING INTO DOING, IS WORKING WITH PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO, UM, PARTNER WITH ANY OF THE POP-UP CLINICS OR THE EXISTING CLINICS WHERE PEOPLE CAN GET VACCINES AND SEEING IF WE CAN GO AND KNOCK DOORS.
I MEAN, WE, WE SEE IT AS A CAMPAIGN, JUST LIKE A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN WHERE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE WILLING TO, TO GET VACCINATED, THEY JUST HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO IT, AND WE HAVE TO GIVE THEM THAT EXTRA PUSH.
SO WE WANT TO TEXT THEM, WE WANT TO CALL THEM, WE WANT TO KNOCK THEIR DOOR.
SO WE'RE LOOKING TO WORK WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO BE ABLE TO, WELL, TO BE ABLE TO PARTNER WITH YOU OR THE TEXAS MILITARY OR, OR ANYBODY ELSE WHO CAN, CAN OFFER A CLINIC, BUT TO WORK WITH PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY SO THAT WE'RE COUPLING THAT WITH OUTREACH EFFORTS THAT ARE NOT JUST, UM, LETTING THEM KNOW THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA OR EMAIL, BUT ACTUALLY GOING OUT AND KNOCKING THEIR DOORS AND TRYING TO TALK TO 'EM FACE TO FACE.
SO COUNCILMAN, WE ARE DOING THAT.
UM, SO ANYTIME AN EVENT IS PLANNED, WE USE THE HOST SITE, UH, TO BLOCK WALK THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE USE OUR OWN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS.
UH, WE HAVE A TEAM OF 22 ACTUALLY NOW
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WITHIN THE IMMUNIZATION TEAM WHO DO BLOCK WALKING THAT MIGHT INCLUDE EVEN KNOCKING ON THE DOORS AND TALKING ABOUT THE EVENT, UPCOMING EVENT IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD.SO, BUT YOU DO THAT AHEAD OF TIME, YOU DON'T DO IT WHILE THE EVENT IS HAPPENING? OR DO YOU DO BOTH? SAY THAT AGAIN? DO YOU DO THAT WHILE, WHILE THE POPUP CLINIC IS TAKING PLACE? OR DO YOU DO THAT IN ADVANCE? SO IF WE HAVE ADVANCED NOTICE, SO MY PREFERENCE IS TO AT LEAST START DOING THOSE BLOCK WALKING, UH, WEEKS, AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE EVENT ITSELF.
BUT SOMETIMES THESE EVENTS ARE PRO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO LEAD TIME.
UH, SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
WHEN WE HAVE LEAD TIME, WE USE IT.
IF WE DON'T, THEN WE JUST DO IT ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT.
I MEAN, FRANKLY, WHETHER IT'S DONE A WEEK IN ADVANCE, THE DAY BEFORE, THE DAY OF, UM, THE, THE, THE, THE MULTIPLIER EFFECT OF, OF MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE COVERING IN THE AREA WILL TAKE ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET REALLY AT THE END OF THE DAY.
SO, UM, IT, IT IS, IT IS A FORCE MULTIPLIER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE CONNECTING TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN THAT AREA OR THAT CHURCH OR THE COMMUNITY CENTER, WHATEVER THAT, THAT GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IS.
SOMETIMES, SOMETIMES A FACE-TO-FACE IS, IS BETTER THAN, THAN THIS.
AND, AND SO ANY IDEAS THAT YOU GUYS MAY HAVE AND, AND FRANKLY, IT'S PROBABLY DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO ANY IDEAS THAT YOU GUYS WILL, UH, MIGHT HAVE, UM, WOULD BE, UH, WOULD BE HELPFUL.
COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA.
AND, UH, YOU'RE ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER MY CALLS AND MY QUESTIONS.
UH, SO THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH.
UM, SO OBVIOUSLY WITH THIS NEW VARIANT AFFECTING CHILDREN, I THINK IT, IT'S OUR JOB AND I, I THINK COUNCILMAN COURAGE SAID IT CORRECTLY, AND IT'S OUR JOB TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
UM, SO I, I WANNA JUST, UH, KEEP IN MIND THAT WE HAVE BACK TO SCHOOL, AND SO THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMUNIZATION DRIVES THAT THE SCHOOLS ARE ALREADY DOING, AND WE ARE DOING BACK TO SCHOOL DRIVES.
I KNOW MY COLLEAGUES ARE DOING THEM AS WELL.
SO THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE WITH THAT.
AND SO I KNOW MY TEAM IS WORKING WITH SEVERAL, UM, SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SEE IF WE'RE ABLE TO BRING VACCINES TO THEIR, UM, VACCINATION EVENTS IN DISTRICT FOUR.
THE LAST NUMBERS THAT I SAW CHILDREN WERE, UM, THE MOST AFFECTED IN SAN ANTONIO IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT I HAVE IN DISTRICT FOUR.
SO THAT'S A PARTICULAR, UM, CONCERNED TO ME.
SO NEED TO CONTINUE TO, UH, ADVOCATE FOR, UM, OUR PARENTS WHO ARE ABLE TO VACCINATE THEIR KIDS BETWEEN 12 AND 17 TO DO, DO THAT ASAP.
AND THEN I'M ALSO CONCERNED BECAUSE, UM, AS YOUR HEAT MAP PRESENTS, AND AS WE'VE KNOWN, UM, HALF OF THE RESIDENTS, ABOUT HALF OF THE RESIDENTS IN DISTRICT FOUR STILL ARE NOT VACCINATED.
AND SO THANK YOU FOR IMPROVING THE, UM, HOURS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
SO THE ALAMO DOME, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE CHANGED IT FROM FOUR TO EIGHT.
A LOT OF OUR RESIDENTS WORK PAST CERTAIN TIMES.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CONSIDERATION TO THAT.
THANK YOU FOR THE, UM, INCENTIVES.
I KNOW WE'VE HAD FEDERAL FUNDING THAT'S BEEN ALLOCATED, AND DR.
CURIAN IS SMILING BECAUSE I'VE BEEN ASKING ABOUT INCENTIVES AND IT'S NOT JUST, UM, UH, I WASN'T JUST ASKING ABOUT CASH INCENTIVES.
AND SO I'VE BEEN, BEEN DOING MY RESEARCH AND, UM, THE $1.9 TRILLION IN THE A R P, UM, THERE'S EVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO INCLUDE FULL REIMBURSEMENTS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES THAT PROVIDE WORKERS PAID TIME OFF TO GO GET VACCINATED.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY THAT I THINK AS WE'RE SPEAKING TO OUR LOCAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE, I KNOW, ERIC, YOU'RE MAKING THE, THE ROUNDS WITH THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND, AND TALKING TO THEM ABOUT OTHER THINGS, THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND THEM ABOUT THAT.
UM, SO I KNOW I WAS TALKING TO THE WEST CHAMBER THIS MORNING, AND SO JUST THAT, THAT CONTINUOUS MESSAGE TO ENCOURAGE OUR EMPLOYERS.
I WAS TALKING TO COUNCILMAN BRAVO THE OTHER DAY, AND HE MENTIONED THAT HE HAD AN EXPERIENCE WHERE THE WAITERS AT A RESTAURANT SAID WE GOT VACCINATED, UM, BECAUSE WE HAD AN INCENTIVE.
BUT THAT IS THE EMPLOYER TAKING THAT ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
I KNOW THE SAN ANTONIO RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION IS READY TO DO VACCINE DRIVE, SO WE HAVE BUSINESSES THAT ARE READY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS AS WELL.
SO IT WON'T BE ALL UP TO US TO COME UP WITH THE INCENTIVES.
UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY I THINK THAT, UH, THE MESSAGING IS GONNA BE CRITICAL.
SO THE FOCUS I THINK THAT, THAT WE SHOULD ALSO CONSIDER IS THERE'S 110 DAYS UNTIL THANKSGIVING.
AND SO WE THINK ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS THAT ARE COMING UP, RIGHT? AND SO WE DON'T WANNA SPEND OUR HOLIDAYS AGAIN IN THE SAME BOAT THAT WE DID LAST YEAR.
SO ONE OF THE KEY MESSAGING STRATEGIES THAT I THINK SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN GENERAL AS WE ENCOURAGE OUR ADULTS TO TAKE CARE OF OUR CHILDREN, IS THAT RIGHT? MAKE IT ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS.
THE HOLIDAYS ARE USUALLY ABOUT FAMILY, ABOUT CHILDREN.
SO I'D BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT KIND OF MESSAGING POINTS YOU HAVE, UH, CONSIDERED GOING FORWARD IN THAT.
UM, BUT SOME OF THE INCENTIVES THAT I'VE SEEN OUT THERE THAT I THINK HAVE GOTTEN REALLY CREATIVE.
SO, UM, EVEN HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES IN SOME STATES, RIGHT? AND
[01:10:01]
SO, UM, THERE'S, UH, THERE'S SOME ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ALSO THAT I THINK WE CAN TALK ABOUT, MAYBE EVEN WITH OUR UNIVERSITIES.AND SO I KNOW IN HARRIS COUNTY, UH, THEY DID A SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG FOLKS THAT GOT VACCINATED.
I THINK IT WAS BETWEEN AGES 18 AND 24.
SO THINGS THAT ARE, I THINK, VERY CREATIVE AND OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, AND I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE CONSIDERING, BUT THE REASON THAT I'M MENTIONING THIS, AND NOT JUST INCENTIVES TO, TO PURCHASE CARDS TO LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES AND, AND LOCAL BUSINESSES, UM, BUT IT WORKS.
SO, TEXAS RIGHT NOW IS 37 OUT OF 51, THE TOP 10, UH, STATES WITH, UH, VACCINATION LEVELS THAT ARE THE HIGHEST HAPPEN TO HAVE HAD AWESOME INCENTIVE PACKAGES, RIGHT? SO, UM, I MENTIONED, UH, IN VERMONT, THEY, THEY PARTNERED WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES.
MASSACHUSETTS HAS THE SCHOLARSHIP GRANT OPPORTUNITIES, UM, IN MAINE WAS THE FISHING AND THE HUNTING LICENSES.
SO IT WAS BEYOND JUST THE INCENTIVES OF A DEBIT CARD, IF YOU WILL.
UM, AND SO I, I WOULD LOVE, AGAIN, TO BE INVOLVED A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I KNOW THAT WE'RE FOCUSING, UM, THERE'S A UPENN PROFESSOR AND BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIST THAT SAID THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE MOVABLE MIDDLE, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TO GET THEM THERE, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE TAKE EVERYTHING INTO ACCOUNT.
SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR DOING THAT.
WE'VE HAD, UM, I KNOW THE TEXAS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SAYS THAT THEY AGREE WITH INCENTIVES.
IT, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A TOUCHY SUBJECT AT FIRST, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S WORKED IN SOME OTHER PLACES.
AND SO I'D LOVE TO, TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THAT WITH YOU ON THAT.
IAN, UM, UH, THE COMMISSIONER FOR THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES ALSO SAYS, AND THIS IS ANOTHER MESSAGE POINT, THAT OUR HEALTH PROVIDERS ARE STILL THE ONES THAT WE TAKE OUR INFORMATION FROM THAT WE TRUST.
WE MIGHT NOT NECESSARILY TRUST AN ELECTED OFFICIAL TELLING US TO GET A VACCINE, BUT WE TRUST OUR DOCTORS.
HOWEVER, IN DISTRICT FOUR, MY RESIDENTS DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO PRIMARY HEALTH DOCTORS.
THAT'S PROBABLY THE SAME IN SOME OF MY FELLOW COLLEAGUES DISTRICTS.
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TO GET DOCTORS, UM, IN FRONT OF THESE FOLKS AND ENCOURAGING THEM, EVEN IF IT'S NOT THEIR DOCTOR? WE KNOW THAT A LOCAL PERSONALITY WAS INFECTED WITH C O V I D AND HAD ANOTHER UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITION THAT THEY WERE HESITANT ABOUT.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO SEE HOW ELSE WE GET THAT MESSAGING OUT TO THE FOLKS THAT EITHER DON'T HAVE TIME, DON'T HAVE, UM, THE ACCESS TO, OR MAYBE DON'T HAVE, UH, INSURANCE TO BE ABLE TO GET SOME, SOME SORT OF ADVICE FROM A PROFESSIONAL, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM, FROM, FROM A DOCTOR.
UM, WE IN DISTRICT FOUR ARE LOOKING AT DOING ROBOCALLS AS YOU ALL HAVE THE DIFFERENT POP-UP EVENTS.
I KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD 16 IN DISTRICT FOUR IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY 931, UH, DOSES HAVE BEEN TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF, AND THAT INCLUDES SOME THAT JUST GOT THE FIRST DOSE.
AND SO, ON AVERAGE ABOUT 58, I WAS DISAPPOINTED THERE WAS ONLY 12 DOSES AT THE TRADER'S VILLAGE.
BUT I DO THINK THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM THERE WITH MESSAGING, PARTICULARLY TO OUR FOLKS WHO ARE MOST VULNERABLE.
SO THEY MIGHT BE SCARED, THEY MIGHT STILL THINK THEY HAVE TO PAY LATER, THEY WILL GET BILLED.
UM, THEY MIGHT BE AFRAID THAT THEIR IMMIGRATION STATUS MIGHT BE REVEALED OR THAT THEY MAY BE TRACKED LATER.
AND SO THERE STILL IS, I THINK, AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, MESSAGE TO THESE FOLKS THAT IT'S FREE, THAT IT'S SAFE, UM, AND THAT WE'RE HERE TO HELP THEM.
BUT AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY'RE GONNA TRUST ELECTED OFFICIALS NECESSARILY.
THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, I, I, I GUESS YOU CAN CALL IT, BASED ON THE HISTORICAL EXPLOITATION THAT HAS HAPPENED OVER THE AGES, RIGHT? THERE'S A LOT OF DISTRUST IN OUR SYSTEMS. SO I THINK THAT WE HAVE TO CONSIDER WHAT OTHER INFLUENCERS AND CONNECTORS ACTUALLY WORK FOR THOSE DE FOR THAT DEMOGRAPHIC, NOT JUST FOR THE MILLENNIALS WHO WE KNOW THAT NEED IT, NOT JUST FOR GEN Z.
UM, BUT WE NEED TO ALSO CONSIDER FOR THOSE DEMOGRAPHICS.
BUT, UM, I REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
IT WAS, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING ALWAYS MY, MY CALLS AND MY QUESTIONS AS NEEDED.
AND THANK YOU IN PARTICULAR FOR THE FOCUS ON THE INCENTIVES.
UM, LET ME GO TO MY QUEUE HERE.
SO MY FIRST QUESTION IS, CAN, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE IT NOW, BUT IF YOU CAN GET US A GOLD NUMBER TO THAT WE CAN GET IN TERMS OF VACCINATIONS TO GET US OUT OF SEVERE AND BACK TO MODERATE.
AND THEN THAT WAY WE CAN KIND OF HAVE THAT, LIKE IF IT'S A HUNDRED VACCINES A DAY OR A HUNDRED VACCINES IN DISTRICT THREE A WEEK, PLEASE, IF YOU COULD GET US THAT NUMBER, I'D APPRECIATE IT, BECAUSE THAT WOULD HELP ME IN TERMS OF HOW I, UH, AM A CHEERLEADER FOR MY, UM, MY RESIDENCE.
I HAD AN EVENT ON SATURDAY, A TOWN HALL, AND WHERE THE ARMY SET UP, AND WE HAD FOUR VACCINATED AND 20 TESTED.
IT WASN'T A VERY LARGE EVENT, BUT FROM THAT, MY TEAM IS GOING, UH, MY TEAM HAS GONE TOGETHER.
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DOING A GET VACCINATED IN D THREE MONDAY'S, TWO TO 5:00 PM THE ARMY'S GONNA COME OUT AND THEY WILL GIVE FREE COVID VACCINES AND RAPID TESTS.SO WE'RE GONNA START THAT IN DISTRICT THREE, BUT PART OF IT IS GOING TO BE THE MESSAGING AND HOW WE GET THEM, UH, OUT THERE AND MAKING SURE.
AND A LOT OF IT IS JUST PEOPLE WHO, MAYBE I HAD A COUPLE RESIDENTS COME OUT BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN OUT ALL WEEK AND THEY JUST WANTED TO GET TESTED TO MAKE SURE THEY, THEY WERE STILL CLEAR OF THE VIRUS.
BUT, UM, I UNDERSTAND THE, UH, THE IMPORTANCE.
I, I LIKED THE TERM PANDEMIC OF UNVACCINATED.
SO IF Y'ALL USE THAT IN YOUR MARKETING, I THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD.
AND BREAK THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION WAS ANOTHER GOOD TERM THAT YOU USED.
UM, DO WE THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE ANY C D C GUIDELINES, UH, COME DOWN WHEN CITIES GET TO SEVERE AND, UM, CRITICAL? WILL THERE BE MORE GUIDELINES IN TERMS OF WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN TERMS OF WEARING MASKS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
IS THAT IN THE PIPELINE? THE C D C IS CAN ONLY MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE RECOMMENDATION AT THIS TIME FROM THE C D CS, REGARDLESS OF THE VACCINATION STATUS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE HIGH TRANSMISSION IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
EVERYBODY SHOULD WE, THEY RECOMMEND IT'S NOT, THEY DON'T USE THE WORD SHOULD, MUST, THEY RECOMMEND MASKING INDOORS.
AND IF YOU ARE AT HIGH RISK, ALSO CONSIDER MASK MASKING OUTDOORS.
OKAY? SO THE MORE LAYERS OF PROTECTION YOU HAVE IN PLACE, THE BETTER CHANCES OF YOU NOT CONTRACTING THIS VIRUS.
SO WE DON'T THINK THEY'RE GONNA COME DOWN WHERE THEY SAY, UM, GYMS SHOULD GO BACK TO 50%, OR RESTAURANTS SHOULD COME BACK TO I COUNCILWOMAN THOSE, THOSE RESTRICTIONS OR THOSE POLICIES WERE REALLY AT THE STATE LEVEL, UM, UH, INITIALLY LAST YEAR.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I THINK AS MORE DATA IS MADE AVAILABLE ABOUT THE DELTA VARIANT, UM, THERE COULD POTENTIALLY BE CHANGES AT THE C D C LEVEL.
CURION AND OTHER HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERS ARE KIND OF PLUGGED INTO THAT.
GENERALLY, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAST 18 MONTHS, UH, AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, WE'VE NOT SEEN AN EARLY INDICATOR WHEN THEY MAKE CHANGES, BUT IT IS, IT DOES DRIVE MUCH OF WHAT WE DO.
I THINK THE DIFFERENCE HERE BETWEEN WHERE WE SIT TODAY AND WHERE WE WERE AT A YEAR AGO TODAY, IS THAT THE STATE PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE THERE IN THE MIDDLE MM-HMM.
UM, AND, AND AS ANDY MENTIONED EARLIER, THE, THE TABLES CHANGED A BIT BASED ON, ON STATE GUIDANCE.
AND THEN ON, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER ON SLIDE 12, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GETTING GROUPS INVOLVED, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE REACH OUT SPECIFICALLY TO THE FAITH GROUPS, UM, LOOK FOR OUR ALLIES THERE, UM, ESPECIALLY THE BIGGER CHURCHES, UM, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IF IT COMES FROM THEM TO GET VACCINATED OR IF THEY DO A POPUP, THEIR, UM, THEIR FOLLOWERS WILL TEND TO BE MORE PART OF IT.
ADRIANA ROGER GARCIA'S, UH, INCENTIVES IDEAS.
AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE, MAYBE PAIR THE INCENTIVES WITH THE, THE Y M C A OR SOME GYM MEMBERSHIPS, ESPECIALLY FOR RESIDENTS IN DISTRICT THREE, SO THAT THEY CAN GET OUT AND GET HEALTHY.
MAYBE THE ZOO OR SOME OTHER OUTDOOR, UM, MITCHELL LAKE GIVE FREE MEMBERSHIPS FOR THEM TO, TO GO THERE, BECAUSE THEN IT WOULD ALSO GET THEM OUTDOORS.
UM, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT MAKES US HIGH, OTHER THAN THE TRANSMISSION RATE? UM, IS THE ICUS ALSO MAKE US IN THAT SEVERE? YES.
SO WE, WE TRACK THREE WARNING INDICATORS TO COME UP WITH THAT OVERALL RISK.
ONE IS YOUR CASE NUMBERS, YOUR SEVEN DAY CASE AVERAGES.
WE LOOK AT THE POSITIVITY RATE, AND THEN WE LOOK AT THE HEALTH HEALTH SYSTEM STRESS SCORE, WHICH TAKES INTO ACCOUNT A MULTIPLE, UM, FACTORS.
AND ONE OF THOSE ARE I C ADMISSIONS, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY STAFF BEDS YOU HAVE, HOW MANY, WHAT'S THE P P E RESOURCES AVAILABLE? SO THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO PRIMARILY THREE WARNING INDICATORS, CASE STATUS, POSITIVITY RATE, AND THE HOSPITAL STRESS SCORES.
I JUST, SO NOT ONLY DO WE NEED TO GET PEOPLE VACCINATED, BUT ONCE THEY GET THE, THE DELTA VARIANT, THEY HAVE TO REALLY STAY HOME AND TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES AND, AND RECOVER.
ANYBODY WHO'S SYMPTOMATIC TESTING POSITIVE AT THIS TIME SHOULD ISOLATE.
UH, BECAUSE YOU ARE TRANSMITTING ILLNESS EVERY TIME YOU STEP OUT INTO THE, YOU KNOW, INTO A PUBLIC SETTING.
AND I THINK THAT THAT, UH, KIND OF LIKE WHAT COUNCILMAN COURAGE SAID IS WE NEED TO KIND OF STRESS JUST, JUST HOW DANGEROUS
[01:20:01]
THIS IS THAT, UH, THAT EIGHT TO NINE PEOPLE WAS AN EYE-OPENER.UM, UM, SO YOUR COMMENT ABOUT WORKING WITH FAITH-BASED, UH, WE'VE WORKED WITH OVER A HUNDRED CHURCHES.
SO INITIAL ROLLOUT OF OUR POP-UP EVENTS WAS PRIMARILY OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THESE FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND CHURCHES, AND IN, IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED WITH C OVID 19.
UM, YOUR COMMENT ABOUT INCENTIVES, UH, WE DO HAVE, THESE ARE GRANT FUNDED, SO THERE ARE ALLOWABLE AND, UH, NOT ALLOWABLE INCENTIVES, BUT I LIKE ALL THE IDEAS THAT YOU'RE RECOMMENDING.
WE WILL CERTAINLY REACH OUT TO EVERYBODY WHILE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, BRAINSTORMING ON WHAT OTHER INCENTIVES CAN WE COME UP WITH.
AND THEN I WANT TO USE THE FAMOUS LINES OF OUR HEALTH AUTHORITY.
YOU KNOW, THE IDEA IS NOT TO REVERT BACKWARDS, GO TO WHERE WE WERE BACKWARDS.
THE IDEA IS TO HAVE THESE UNVACCINATED FOLKS MOVE FORWARDS, COME WITH US AND GET VACCINATED.
COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ.
UM, I WANTED TO START OFF BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE MASS CONFUSION THAT EXISTS.
UM, WE SEE CONFUSION CREATED BY ONE, THE DISJOINTED NATURE OF THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
UM, IS SOMEONE ELSE, AM I, UM, CONFUSION BASED ON EFFECTIVENESS OF THE VACCINE, UH, CONFUSION ABOUT, UM, SECOND DOSES WHEN PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THESE POPUPS, AND THEN LATER ON THEY'RE LIKE, WAIT, WHERE DO I GO TO GET THE SECOND DOSE? AND WHEN DO I DO THAT? UM, AND SO I WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO OUR COMMUNITY, DIRECTLY TO MY CONSTITUENTS, UM, BECAUSE THE FACTS ARE THAT WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASE IN CASES, UM, LARGELY AMONG OUR UNVACCINATED RESIDENTS, BUT ALSO AN INCREASE AMONG THOSE WHO ARE VACCINATED.
AND I'VE HEARD, UM, A FEAR THAT THE VACCINES DON'T WORK, BUT WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'VE SEEN AND THE DATA THAT WE'VE JUST, UH, RECEIVED IS THAT, IS THAT PROOF THAT WE NEED THAT IT DOES IN FACT WORK AND WE CAN'T EXPECT A VACCINE, UM, TO PREVENT C O V I D A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME.
BUT WE DO SEE THAT IT IS PREVENTING AND SLOWING SYMPTOMS THAT WOULD LEAD TO HOSPITALIZATION OR DEATH.
AND I'LL ALSO STATE THAT I'M FRUSTRATED AND DISGUSTED BY GOVERNOR ABBOTT'S, UH, COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR CITY, OF OUR RESIDENTS, OF MY NEIGHBORS, OF MY CONSTITUENTS, UM, AND OUR ABILITY TO PROTECT THEM.
AND WE'RE OBVIOUSLY, WE'RE BEYOND MANDATES.
UM, AT THE CITY LEVEL, WHAT WE CAN DO IS, UM, SPREAD AWARENESS, PRESENT NEWS AND UPDATES, UM, AS WE'RE AWARE AND WE CAN ENCOURAGE OUR RESIDENTS TO GET VACCINATED AND TO CONTINUE TO WEAR MASKS.
UM, BUT BECAUSE THE ONUS IS ON RESIDENTS, I REALLY WOULD LIKE US AS A, LIKE US AS A CITY TO, UM, CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO INCENTIVIZING THE BEHAVIORS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE, THOSE BEING MASKS, THOSE BEING, UH, VACCINATIONS.
UM, AND I DO WANT TO, I WANT TO DOUBLE DOWN ON THE COLLABORATION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WITH THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND WITH OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY.
UM, BECAUSE I CAN THINK OF A FEW RESTAURANTS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MANAGER IS UNVACCINATED AND GOT C O V I D, AND THEN WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OF THOSE, HOW MANY OF THEIR EMPLOYEES HAVE THEN GOTTEN C O V I D.
HOW MUCH OF THAT SPREAD HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF, UH, INTERACTIONS LIKE THAT BECAUSE OF SOMEONE IN A POSITION WHERE THEY'RE HANDLING FOOD OR HANDLING, UH, DOCUMENTS THAT THEY'RE HANDING BACK AND FORTH.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT COUNCILMAN BRAVO AND I HAVE SPOKEN, AND I THINK HE'S GONNA SPEAK AGAIN, UH, ON SOME VERY SPECIFIC ONES.
BUT, UM, I THINK IT'S GREAT THAT WE HOST THE POPUPS AND THAT WE HAVE THE INCENTIVES THAT WE DO.
UM, GETTING PEOPLE TO THESE POPUPS DOES POSE ITS OWN PROBLEM, AND WE NEED THIS OF OUR RESIDENTS, SO WE NEED TO DO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AS A CITY TO INCENTIVIZE, UM, BEYOND WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ, GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER KEO HDA.
KIAN, FOR YOUR HARD WORK FROM YOUR TEAM.
UM, I ESPECIALLY APPRECIATE THE OUTREACH EFFORTS.
I IMPLORE, I'M JUST GONNA TAKE A MINUTE TO IMPLORE OUR CITY.
IF YOU'RE NOT VACCINATED TO PLEASE GET VA VACCINATED IF FOR NOTHING ELSE, AND TO GIVE DR.
CURIE AND HER TEAM A GOOD NIGHT'S REST
UM, BUT, UH, YOU, YOU MENTIONED THE, THE WELL IN, IN REGARDS TO THE OUTREACH EFFORTS, IS THE VACCINATION RATE GOING UP? I MEAN, IS IT, ARE OUTREACH EFFORTS WORKING? SO WHEN YOU
[01:25:01]
TRACK THOSE RATES, WE TRACK THOSE RATES ON WEEKLY BASIS? YES, THEY ARE GOING UP, BUT THEY ARE CREEPING UP PRETTY SLOWLY.SO BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE THIS HIGHLY TRANSMISSIBLE VARIANT IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT IS THE PREDOMINANTLY CIRCULATING STRAIN.
IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE JUST DON'T MOVE THE NEEDLE, YOU KNOW, VERY SLIGHTLY.
WE NEED TO HAVE BIG UPTAKES AND ESPECIALLY IN POCKETS WHERE THE VACCINATION COVERAGE IS NOT, NOT IS MUCH LOWER COMPARED TO A REST OF THE, I MEAN, EVERY SINGLE PERSON VACCINATED IS, YOU KNOW, ONE, UH, AN INCH FORWARD.
BUT, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, I'M SURE, WATCH THE NUMBERS AND STEP UP OUR GAME AS AS NECESSARY.
UM, YOU NOTED THAT ALL THREE WARNING INDICATORS ARE INCREASING IN THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS AS THE INFECTION RATE, UM, CONTINUES TO, TO INCREASE.
AND I THINK WE'VE TOUCHED ON THIS A NUMBER OF TIMES, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, IS THERE A LEVEL A NUMBER, UM, THE CRITERIA WHERE WE HAVE TO LOOK AT, UM, TRIGGERING ADDITIONAL MEASURES? OR ARE WE MAXED OUT ON MEASURES? I KNOW WE'RE SOMEWHAT LIMITED.
UM, I THINK THAT'S FAR AS PUBLIC HEALTH PREVENTIVE MEASURES GO.
UM, AND, AND ON THAT, I'M JUST GONNA MAKE A BRIEF MENTION OF THE, UM, I HEARD TELL THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS CONSIDERING A A, AN EXECUTIVE ORDER OF SOME SORT, UM, REGARDING COVID PROTOCOL.
SO I, I WOULD JUST ASK CITY STAFF TO, OF COURSE, I'M SURE Y'ALL ALREADY ON IT, BUT TO KIND OF KEEP US ABREAST OF ANY DEVELOPMENTS IN THAT REGARD, IT SEEMS LIKE THE ONLY THING THAT'S GONNA GET US, UM, GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO I IMPLEMENT, UH, MORE SIGNIFICANT MEASURES.
UM, AND I, YOU MENTIONED THE STUDIES REGARDING VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER, UM, AND YOUR, THE TIMEFRAME, UH, WAS LATER THIS YEAR, EARLY NEXT YEAR.
WE'RE HOPING, UM, IS, UH, ON THAT SAME REGARD, HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT BOOSTER SHOTS? WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO COMMENT ON HAVING A BOOSTER DOSE AT THIS TIME.
PFIZER DID SUBMIT THOSE DATA TO F D A F D A.
LOOK, F D AND C D C LOOKED AT IT AND CONCLUDED THAT THERE'S NOT ENOUGH DATA AT THIS TIME TO RECOMMEND A BOOSTER SHOP.
AND I'M SURE Y'ALL ARE KEEPING YOUR EYES ON THAT AS WELL.
UM, I'M, I'M JUST SORT OF CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THE, I GUESS, ORIGINAL COVID GETS, UM, CAN IMPACT OR INFECT IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE POSITIVE, YOU CAN IMPACT TWO TO THREE PEOPLE, WAS IT, AND WITH THE NEW DELTA VARIANT, YOU CAN IMPACT INFECT EIGHT TO NINE.
WHY IS THAT? IS IT, DOES IT, DOES IT LINGER LONGER IN YOUR SYSTEM AND YOUR, YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO EXPOSE MORE PEOPLE, OR IS IT JUST STRONGER? SO VIRUSES, THEY, THEY'RE PRETTY TRICKY.
SO WHAT MUTATION DOES IS ENABLES THE VIRUS TO EVADE THE CURRENT, UH, THERAPEUTIC AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES, RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHAT'S HAP AND MAKING IT, UH, MORE VIRULENT AND SURVIVE LONGER IN THE BODY.
SO OUR BODIES NATURAL DIFFERENCE MECHANISM ATTACKS A VIRUS, BUT THEN PRETTY SOON THE VIRUS WILL LEARN HOW TO MUTATE AND SURVIVE THOSE IMMUNE RESPONSES OR ANTIBODIES THAT OUR BODY CREATES TO COMPLETELY KILL.
SO EVERY MUTATION, THE VIRUS IS GETTING STRONGER AND STRONGER AND STRONGER.
AND THAT IS WHY WE SAY THIS IS THE TIME TO GET VACCINATED, BECAUSE DELTA VARIANT IS KNOWN TO MUTATE PRETTY QUICKLY.
AND I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD C D C DIRECTOR SAY, WE ARE ONE MUTATION AWAY FROM THIS VIRUS, NOW EVADING THE CURRENTLY AUTHORIZED VACCINES, WOW.
VACCINES AT THIS TIME ARE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE AGAINST THIS STRAIN.
BUT YOU DON'T WANT THIS TO MUTATE WHERE IT COMPLETELY WEIGHTS THE PROTECTION, UH, CONFERRED BY THESE VACCINES.
SO GETTING A VACCINATION NOT ONLY PROTECTS YOU FROM AND AND OUR COMMUNITY, BUT IT COULD POTENTIALLY PREVENT, LIMIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FURTHER VARIANT STRAINS.
THAT COULD BE HIGHLY INFECTIOUS AND VIRENT.
ALL THE MORE REASON SAN ANTONIO TO GET A, A VACCINATION.
UM, AND I JUST WANNA THANK YOU TOO, AND, AND, AND AGAIN, YOUR TEAM FOR ALL THE WORK YOU'RE DOING, AND, UM, ALSO REMIND EVERYBODY THAT THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE.
EVERY PEOPLE ARE ARE MAKING THIS ABOUT, UM, POLITICAL, UM, YOU KNOW, POLITICS AND, AND RIGHTS.
AND IT'S, IT'S REALLY, IT'S ABOUT OUR HEALTH.
IT'S ABOUT, AND HEARING THE LAST THING YOU SAID, NOW EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANTLY, WE HAVE TO, UH, DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE AND KEEP IT FROM JUST, YOU KNOW, MUTATING INTO SOME KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BUT BE MUCH WORSE THAN WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DEALING WITH.
VARDA, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO.
[01:30:01]
THANK YOU, MAYOR.UM, DO WE HAVE NUMBERS ON HOW MANY CHILDREN UNDER 12 HAVE BEEN, HAVE CONTRACTED C OVID 19 OR THE NEW DELTA VARIANT? I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS, BUT IT'S ABOUT 0.9% OF TOTAL INFECTIONS.
BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THERE'S A FOUR YEAR OLD ON A VENTILATOR AND AN 11 MONTH YEAR OLD WHO HAS CONTRACTED COVID THAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE HOSPITAL.
AND AS CHILDREN GO BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, AND SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE ALREADY RETURNED, UM, MANY OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE GOING BACK TO A HUNDRED PERCENT IN, IN-PERSON LEARNING.
UM, DO WE THINK THAT'S GOING TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF THE SPREAD OF CVID 19? UM, IS IT GOING TO INCREASE, DECREASE, OR KEEP NUMBERS THE SAME? WHAT ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE EXPECTING WITH A HUNDRED PERCENT IN PERSON LEARNING? SO OUR RECOMMENDATION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, C D C IS RECOMMENDING IN-PERSON LEARNING PROVIDED THAT YOU IMPLEMENT THOSE VARIOUS PREVENTION STRATEGIES, LAYERS OF PREVENTION STRATEGIES.
RIGHT? SO THE FIRST LAYER IS MAL IS, IS VACCINATION, UH, BUT OF COURSE UNDER 12, THEY'RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR VACCINATION.
SO IMPLEMENT OTHER LAYERS OF PREVENTION, UH, SUCH AS MASKING, PHYSICAL DISTANCING, ENHANCED HAND HYGIENE, STAY HOME WHEN YOU'RE SICK, UH, MAYBE IMPLEMENT ROUTINES, SCREENING TESTS, UH, TO, UH, DETECT INFECTIONS QUICKLY, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO YOU'RE EXCLUDING THE POSITIVE PERSON, LIMITING THE FURTHER TRANSMISSION MM-HMM.
AND WITH THE CLASSROOM, PER SE, WITH 30 STUDENTS, WHAT'S THE RECOMMENDED DISTANCE THAT EACH STUDENT SHOULD KEEP FROM EACH OTHER? SO IN, WITHIN, IN, IN THE SCHOOL FACILITY AMONG STUDENTS, UH, WE ARE SAYING MINIMUM OF THREE FEET.
UM, BUT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE STUDENT AND THE TEACHER, AND BETWEEN THE TEACHERS, IT HAS TO BE SIX FEET MM-HMM.
AND AS A CITY, UM, IN OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SUPERINTENDENTS OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHAT HAVE WE RECOMMENDED? WE'VE MADE THESE RECOMMENDATIONS MM-HMM.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT SUPERINTENDENT MEETING THAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY, DR.
W AND I SPOKE TO ABOUT 500 PLUS SCHOOL NURSES THE FOLLOWING MONDAY.
AND ADDRESSING ANY CONCERNS THEY MIGHT HAVE.
AS A CITY OR THE METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT, CAN WE MAKE THE RECOMMENDATION OR THE STRONG RECOMMENDATION THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY USE THEIR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDS, UM, TO GO TO REMOTE LEARNING? CAN WE MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION? CAN WE MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS? WE CAN, UH, WE WE CAN ENFORCE THEM.
WE CERTAINLY CAN MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS.
HAS, HAS THAT RECOMMENDATION BEEN MADE, UM, TO USE FEDERAL FUNDING TO GO PARTIALLY REMOTE? TO GO PARTIALLY REMOTE? WE HAVEN'T MADE THAT YET, BECAUSE THAT'S ONE, NOT ONE OF THE CDC D RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE JUST FOLLOWING THE C D C RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, WELL, I, UH, I GET, I GET THE, THE ROAD YOU'RE GOING DOWN, UM, AND, UM, THE SCHOOLS AND THE SUPERINTENDENTS, UM, ARE, UM, HAVE THEIR OWN AUTHORITY MM-HMM.
UM, BUT, UM, AND HERE IN, IN SAN ANTONIO WITH 16 SCHOOL DISTRICTS, THERE ARE 16 INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE PROBABLY DEALING WITH THAT QUESTION RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND, AND WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT THEM.
AND THAT WAS PART OF THE REASON WHY WE WANTED TO FACILITATE THAT CONVERSATION.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, AS THE HEALTH AUTHORITY, DR.
WU GIVES ADVISORY INFORMATION TO THE SCHOOLS, UM, AND AS WE SAW LAST YEAR AS WE ISSUED ADVISORIES, UM, SOME SCHOOLS, UH, SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS CHOSE TO, TO, UH, NOT FOLLOW THAT ADVICE, BUT WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO WORK WITH THEM ON THAT.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, THEY OPERATE AS THEIR OWN ENTITY.
UM, BUT I ECHO, UH, COUNCILMAN COURAGE AND THAT WE NEED TO DO MORE AS A CITY.
UM, WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE ENCOURAGING FOLKS WEAR THEIR MASK AND HOLD A FIRM POSITION.
OTHER CITIES THROUGHOUT TEXAS HAVE TAKEN POSITIONS TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE, UM, OPERATE REMOTELY OR IMPLEMENT, UM, REQUIRING MASK.
UM, AND, AND WE NEED TO DO OUR PART.
AND THAT'S GOING TO BE TAKING A BOLD STANCE AND ENSURING AND LETTING SCHOOL DISTRICTS KNOW THAT THEY CAN USE THOSE FUNDS TO OPERATE REMOTELY.
AND WE SHOULD BE RANKING THAT RECOMMENDATION TO ENSURE THAT OUR MOST PRECIOUS, OUR CHILDREN, THOSE UNDER 12, UM, WE KNOW, I KNOW THIS ISN'T UNIQUE TO DISTRICT FIVE, BUT WE HAVE MANY, UH, MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS, MANY OF WHICH WORK IN THE SERVICE
[01:35:01]
INDUSTRY.YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE OPERATING, THEY'RE, THEY'RE SERVING OUR FOOD.
AND, YOU KNOW, IF WE DON'T ENSURE THAT OUR MOST VULNERABLE UNDER 12 ARE PROTECTED AND SAFE, WE'RE GONNA FIND OURSELVES IN THE SAME POSITION AND SEE MORE FOUR YEAR OLDS ON VENTILATORS AND 11 MONTH YEAR OLDS HOSPITALIZED.
SO WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE ARE, IT, IT'S MORE THAN, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE DOING OUR PART BY MAKING THESE STRONG RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT THEY MUST FOLLOW, BUT I BELIEVE THAT AS A CITY, WE MUST MAKE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, BUT SHIFTING GEARS, UM, I ECHO, UM, THE, THE COMMENTS MADE ABOUT THE INCENTIVES.
UM, OUR, OUR OFFICE ALONGSIDE COUNCILMAN ANA SANDOVAL, WE HAD A, A DRIVE-THROUGH CLINIC WITH THE EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
AND I SPOKE TO THIS WOMAN WHO HADN'T GOT THE SECOND DOSE, AND SHE WAS WORRIED BECAUSE SHE SAYS SHE COULDN'T AFFORD FOR THE, THE IMPACT OF THE SECOND DOSE.
SHE'S LIKE, I HEARD IT PUTS YOU OUT.
YOU KNOW, I, I CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO WORK.
SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH INCENTIVES, UM, TO ENSURE THAT FOLKS GET THAT SECOND DOSE.
UM, BUT MOVING FORWARD, IS THERE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, THE METRO HEALTH DISTRICT, AS WELL AS THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES DEPARTMENT? BECAUSE WE KNOW WITH THE DATA WHERE THERE ARE HIGHER, UM, LOW VACCINATION RATES, WE'RE ALSO SEEING AN INCREASE IN EVICTION FILINGS.
SO TO PARTNER WHERE WE'RE SHARING THAT THESE RESOURCES FOR THE EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE AND THE VACCINES AVAILABLE AS WELL.
YES, WE ARE, ARE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE? ABSOLUTELY.
HAVE WE AVAILED OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES? ABSOLUTELY.
SO WE HAVE WORKED PRETTY CLOSELY WITH, UH, MOST OF THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS, UM, SINCE THE VACCINE ROLLOUT.
COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO, GOING NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER ELA.
UM, I'M, UM, I'LL, I'LL START, UH, ECHOING SOMETHING THAT, UM, MY COLLEAGUE FROM DISTRICT TWO WAS TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, THE DISAPPOINTMENT IN MOST RECENT GOVERNOR ABBOTT, UH, EXECUTIVE ORDER.
UM, I READ THAT, AND THE FIRST THING THAT I THOUGHT WAS THAT THIS GOVERNOR IS, IS GONNA END UP WITH BLOOD ON HIS HANDS.
WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO WITNESS PREVENTABLE DEATHS.
AND, UH, MORE OF MY NEIGHBORS ARE GONNA HAVE TO ATTEND LOVED ONE'S FUNERALS BECAUSE OF WHAT I, WHAT I, WHAT I THINK IS, IS PLAINLY EVIDENT BECAUSE OF GROTESQUE DISHONESTY AND, AND IDIOTIC DISREGARD FOR TEXANS LIVES.
AND, AND WHATEVER THIS MAN IS DOING, YOU CAN CALL IT ANYTHING OTHER THAN LEADERSHIP.
'CAUSE IT LEADERSHIP, IT IS NOT.
UM, WITH, WITH THAT SAID, I, I KEEP HEARING, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS, THAT WE INTEND TO SEND OUT TEXT MESSAGES.
I HEARD THE WORD, OR I HEARD THE TERM FOMO THROWN OUT THERE, THAT WE'RE TRYING TO REACH DIFFERENT AUDIENCES, UM, ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND, YOU KNOW, PRINT, ET CETERA.
BUT, UM, IT WORRIES ME THAT, UM, MAYBE WE'RE NOT PULLING FROM EVERY LEVER HERE.
AND, UM, AND, AND I THINK THAT WE MIGHT BENEFIT ERIC FROM BRINGING IN A PR FIRM TO HELP US WITH OUR MESSAGING.
UM, YOU KNOW, AT CITY HALL, WE'RE REALLY GOOD AT GETTING INFORMATION OUT TO PEOPLE, BUT
UM, AND, AND BY RESONANCE, I MEAN THAT WE'RE NOT EXPERTS IN CREATING MESSAGES THAT, THAT INSPIRE MESSAGES, THAT PULL THE HEARTSTRINGS OF DIVERSE AUDIENCE.
AND SPECIFICALLY, NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO EVER ACCUSE US OF SPEAKING TO AND INSPIRING YOUNG PEOPLE, UH, VERY EFFECTIVELY.
AND SO, UM, I'LL REMIND MY COLLEAGUES THAT IN THE NEXT ITEM THAT WE'LL BE COVERING, WE'RE GONNA BE SPENDING $800,000 ON A S BETA CONSULTANT, WHICH IS MONEY WELL SPENT.
UM, WE'RE SPENDING, I THINK COUNCILWOMAN SOUND, AL YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO REMIND ME, BUT I THINK WE'RE SPENDING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON MESSAGING CONSULTANTS TO HELP US WITH THE SPREAD OF, UH, OF, OF GOOD NEWS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND SOME OF OUR OTHER SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES.
AND, AND I THINK, UM, THAT IN THE PAST WE'VE HIRED EXPERT MESSAGING CONSULTANTS TO HELP US WITH GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT PARTIES AND FESTIVALS.
AND SO, UM, I, I CAN'T THINK OF A, OF A TIME WHERE IT'S PROBABLY MORE URGENT TO BRING IN, UM, MESSAGING EXPERTS THAN IT IS NOW.
AND SO, ERIC, CAN, ARE WE ALREADY DOING THAT? OR IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT? YEAH, COUNCILMAN.
UM, WE HAD BEEN USING ONE, UM, AND, UM, WE'LL NEED TO, WE'LL NEED TO RE-UP IT, BUT I, I, YOUR, YOUR POINT IS WELL MADE.
UM, ALL OF THOSE ASPECTS AND HOW WE MESSAGE, GIVEN THE CHANGE THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, I THINK WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO RETHINK,
[01:40:01]
UM, BASED ON SOME OF THE GRAPHS THAT, THAT DR.I MEAN, WE'VE HAD DIFFERENT MESSAGES THAT NEED TO RESONATE WITH, WITH DIFFERENT AGE CATEGORIES AND, AND IT'S NOT ONE MESSAGE.
SO WE DID USE THAT EARLIER IN THE YEAR.
WE WILL LOOK TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND UPON THAT GOING FORWARD AND BRING SOMEBODY IN TO HELP US FROM THE OUTSIDE TO, TO NAIL DOWN, UH, SOME OF THOSE ISSUES.
AND, AND I THINK IT'S AN EMERGENCY.
I MEAN, WHATEVER, WHATEVER VEHICLE WE HAVE TO BRING THAT SOONER THAN LATER.
UM, I, I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE SMART.
UM, I'LL CONSIDER THAT PERMISSION.
COUNCILMAN, I'M CHANGING YEARS OF YOU A LITTLE BIT.
UM, I, I'LL PREFACE THIS COMMENT BY, BY REMINDING EVERYBODY THAT I LOVE MY FRIENDS IN THE PERSONAL INJURY BUSINESS.
UH, ALL, ALL THOSE LAWYERS ARE GOOD FRIENDS OF MINE.
UH, BUT IT FRUSTRATES ME VERY MUCH TO SEE BUSES VIA BUSES ROLLING AROUND TOWN WITH, UH, ADVERTISING FOR, UH, PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS.
'CAUSE IT'S JUST SUCH A WASTED OPPORTUNITY NOW, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS, UM, THIS CRISIS, THIS EXISTENTIAL CRISIS, UM, WHEN EVERY ONE OF THESE BUSES COULD HAVE A SIMPLE MESSAGE ON IT, WHICH IS, GO GET YOUR BUTT TO WHEREVER THEY'RE HANDING OUT VACCINES, RIGHT? WEAR YOUR MASK.
NOT SOME OF THE BUSES, GUYS, I'M TALKING ABOUT EVERY SINGLE BUS.
AND I, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND, UH, OR MAYBE SOMEBODY CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN, AS A CITY COUNCIL, UM, SEND WORD DOWN THAT THAT'S OUR EXPECTATION OF VIA, UH, THAT MAYBE JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE, WE CAN GIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, PERSONAL INJURY INDUSTRY, UH, ARREST AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE HELP US FIGURE OUT A WAY OUT OF THIS PANDEMIC WITH SOME, WITH SOME CREATIVE MESSAGING.
UM, THE OTHER THING, ANDY, THIS, THIS MAY BE UP YOUR ALLEY.
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR OUR MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGES WHO HANDLE THOUSANDS OF TICKETS EVERY SINGLE MONTH, WHO HAVE INDI YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL SAN ANTONIANS, UH, WHO ARE PROBABLY VERY LIKELY UNVACCINATED? IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THOSE JUDGES TO CONDITION DEFERRED ADJUDICATION ON THE DEFENDANT'S, UH, AGREEMENT TO GET A VACCINATION? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, COUNCILMAN.
THAT'S SOMETHING PROBABLY WE'LL HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT, CLOSER LOOK AT.
I CAN'T TELL YOU THAT USUALLY JUDGES DO HAVE A LOT MORE DISCRETION IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY CAN DO IN THEIR COURTROOM AND IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY CAN DO IN THEIR RULING.
SO, UM, WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT ONE.
THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION, AND WE'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT, LOOK, LOOK AT THAT IN MORE DETAIL.
A A ADDITIONALLY, ONE OTHER THING THAT JUST OCCURRED TO ME AS YOU WERE TALKING IS MAYBE, MAYBE EVEN OFFERING A, A ONE, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THAT WE OFFER A ONETIME PASS TO FIESTA TEXAS, MAYBE WE OFFER A ONETIME PASS ON JURY DUTY, UM, FOR THOSE PEOPLE THAT AGREE TO GET THEIR VACCINATION.
UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M, I'M SURE WE CAN COME UP WITH SOMETHING REALLY CREATIVE.
I CAN, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THEY CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT BUILDING THAT THEY CAN CERTAINLY DO.
UH, LAST, NOT LASTLY, TWO OTHER THINGS.
UM, I WAS WATCHING THE ZONING, UM, THE ZONING COMMISSION MEETINGS, AND I NOTICED THAT OUR ZONING COMMISSIONERS, SOME WORE MASKS, SOME DIDN'T.
UH, MY ZONING COMMISSIONER WORE A MASK.
BUT I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, IF WE WANT OUR LEADERS TO, YOU KNOW, MODEL BEHAVIOR, UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO'S, UM, YOU KNOW, WHO ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS, UH, THAT WE CALL OUR APPOINTEES AND TELL 'EM, WE'RE EXPECTING YOU GUYS TO WEAR YOUR MASKS AT THESE MEETINGS WHEN YOU'RE GONNA BE WITH, YOU KNOW, OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR PUBLIC, UM, YOU KNOW, WHO'S COMING TO SEE YOU.
AND SO I'M CALLING ALL OF MY BOARD MEMBERS, UM, TO ASK THEM THAT WHEN THEY ATTEND THESE BOARD MEETINGS.
AT THE VERY LEAST DURING THE BOARD MEETINGS, IF YOU KNOW THAT THEY, UH, THEY HELP US OUT.
AND I'M, I'M HOPING THAT THE REST OF MY COUNCIL WILL JOIN ME IN DOING THAT.
LASTLY, I PROMISE, LASTLY, UM, WE CAN'T GET THE WORD OUT TO PEOPLE IF THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET AND IF THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO COMPUTERS OR EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.
AND, UM, THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT, THE MORE IT'S, UM, IT'S BECOMING CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT THIS DIGITAL DIVIDE IS, IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
NOW, UM, IF YOU DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS, THEN YOU DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE TO GO GET YOUR VACCINE.
YOU DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T RELIABLE, UM, SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL INFORMATION.
UM, IT, IT'S, IT, IT, IT'S HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND HOW, UM, HOW WE'VE LET IT GET THIS BAD, BUT IT'S PRETTY BAD.
AND, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, I'LL MAKE A PITCH HERE.
YOU'RE ALL GONNA SEE, UH, OAT SENIOR PLANET COME AND TALK TO US ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY MADE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR FOR ME TODAY THAT THEY'RE SEEING THIS AS NOT JUST AS A NICE TO HAVE, BUT AS A, AS A HAVE TO HAVE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE REALLY GOTTA GET, UM, OUR SENIOR CITIZENS, UM, ENGAGED
[01:45:01]
AND NOT JUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING THEM INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, UH, GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT FUN THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN SAN ANTONIO, OR IMPORTANT SERVICES THAT THEY CAN GET.BUT I MEAN, PEOPLE ARE DYING IF THEY DON'T GET ACCURATE INFORMATION AND IF THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS, UM, TO THE ABILITY TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS, THIS VACCINE.
AND SO, UM, COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, YOU'RE GONNA GET A VISIT FROM OATS AND SENIOR PLANET, AND, UM, THEY'VE GOT A VERY SPECIFIC ASK, AND I'M HOPING THAT Y'ALL TAKE IT VERY SERIOUSLY.
UM, GLAD TO SEE MY COLLEAGUES LOOKING AT THE DATA AND, AND, UM, UH, PRESS ALONG WITH THAT.
UM, ON SLIDE NUMBER TWO, IF YOU COULD PULL THAT UP YEAH.
UM, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THESE NUMBERS ARE THESE, UH, SINCE THE ONSET OF THIS, OR IS THIS LAST MONTH OR YESTERDAY, OR WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE TIME PERIOD ON EACH ONE OF THESE LINES? SO THE TWO 244,802 ARE CUMULATIVE TOTALS.
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC.
THE SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE IS THE CURRENT, IT'S THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES IN THE PAST WEEK.
IT'S AN AVERAGE OF NUMBER OF NEW CASES IN THIS SEVEN DAY PERIOD, THIS PAST SEVEN DAY PERIOD.
THE DEATHS, IT'S CUMULATIVE TOTALS.
SO EACH DAY WE'RE AVERAGING A THOUSAND NEW THOUSAND.
FOR THE PAST, EACH DAY, FOR THE PAST SEVEN DAYS.
IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE YES.
SO IT COULD BE LESS THAN THAT, IT COULD BE MORE THAN THAT, BUT THE AVERAGE FOR THE LAST SEVEN DAYS, TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES DIVIDED BY SEVEN DAYS.
WHAT'S THE NEXT ONE? THE DEATHS IS THE CUMULATIVE TOTAL, TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS.
AND STARTING THIS WEEK, UH, SINCE WE WILL BE REPORTING EVERY DAY, UH, WE WILL BE TRACKING THOSE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DEATHS.
SO NEW DEATHS WILL BE REPORTED, BUT THIS IS A CUMULATIVE NUMBER.
AND THEN THE ACTIVE AND THE RECOVERED ARE, AGAIN, CUMULATIVELY, CUMULATIVELY.
96% OF THOSE 244,802 CASES ARE ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN RECOVERED.
SO THE 231 OUTTA 2 44 HAVE FULLY RECOVERED? ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN RECOVERED, YES.
NOW, WHAT IS THIS 9,000 ACTIVE? THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR, UH, THEY HAVE NOT COMPLETED THEIR ISOLATION PERIOD.
THEY'RE, THEY STILL HAVE THOSE INFECTION.
THEY CANNOT, THEY'RE STILL ACTIVE CASES.
I, I'M, SO ONCE, IF YOU CAN COME BY AND EXPLAIN TO ME THE SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE ALSO AS OPPOSED TO THE 9,600 ACTIVE, I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE THAT A LITTLE BIT CLOSER ON WHAT WE'RE REALLY SAYING HERE.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO KEY IN ON IS THE 2 42 40 4,000 TO TWO 31,000 RECOVERED.
UH, WHAT'S THAT PERCENTAGE? THE RECOVERED? YES.
SO FOR 4% ARE COVERED IN THIS 3,600, IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? THE 3,604 4% ARE COVERED IN THAT 96 9,647.
SO THEY ARE STILL ACTIVE CASES, MEANING THEY'RE STILL INFECTIOUS.
UH, BUT I'D STILL LIKE FOR YOU TO COME BY AND LET'S, LET'S DISCUSS THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE ON HOW THIS IS TRACKED.
BUT 96% YOU'RE SAYING, HAS TOTALLY RECOVERED FROM THOSE THAT BECAME INFECTED.
UM, THERE, I, ON SLIDE FOUR, IF YOU CAN MOVE TO SLIDE FOUR.
IS THERE ANY DATA THAT SHOWS THAT PEOPLE THAT ARE VACCINATED ARE LESS LIKELY TO GET TESTED EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY BE SICK? WE DON'T HAVE THAT DATA AT THIS TIME.
UM, SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT PEOPLE WHO GOT TESTED BY THEIR VACCINATION STATUS? MM-HMM.
UM, TODAY, HOW MANY VACCINES DO WE HAVE ON HAND? UM, METRO HEALTH FOR US, WE HAVE ABOUT CLOSE TO 18,
[01:50:01]
19,000 PFIZER.UM, WE HAVE FEW HUNDRED MODERNA, AND THEN WE HAVE ABOUT 6 50, 600 ISH, UH, JOHNSON AND JOHNSON.
SO THAT'S JUST METRO HEALTH? YEAH.
I DON'T HAVE AN INVENTORY FOR ALL THE PROVIDERS HERE IN BAYER COUNTY.
SHOULDN'T WE KNOW THAT DATA THROUGH THE STR? UH, WE CAN PULL THAT DATA.
IT'S A, NOT THROUGH STR, BUT WE CAN GET IT THROUGH D SS H S, UH, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE ALLOCATING THE VACCINES.
SO YEAH, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT HOW MANY VACCINES ARE AVAILABLE ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, AND HOW MANY PER DAY OUT OF THAT EXPIRES DO, DIDN'T, DON'T THEY HAVE A SHELF LIFE? YES.
AND THEY, IT DEPENDS UPON THE LOT NUMBER YOU HAVE.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT LIKE ALL VACCINES IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE GOING TO EXPIRE AT THE SAME TIME.
SO ALL PROVIDERS, WE HAVE 563 C OVID 19 VACCINE PROVIDERS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
EACH PROVIDER GETS DIFFERENT LOT NUMBERS.
IT DEPENDS UPON YOUR LOT NUMBER.
SO SAY FOR INSTANCE, R J AND J WAS SUPPOSED TO EXPIRE, UM, ON AUGUST 7TH.
AND THEN F D A INCREASED THE SHELL SHELF LIFE BY 45 DAYS.
SO NOW WE HAVE VACCINES THAT WILL EXPIRE ON SEPTEMBER 21ST.
UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM MAY HAVE A DIFFERENT LOT NUMBER AND THEIR EXPIRATION DATE MAY BE DIFFERENT.
SO AT ANY GIVEN TIME, UH, EVERY PROVIDER MAY HAVE DIFFERENT EXPIRATION DATES BY VACCINE TYPES THAT THEY HAVE IN THEIR INVENTORY.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THAT INVENTORY IS AND, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY HAVE WE TOSSED ALTOGETHER AND HOW MANY DO WE TOSS ON A DAILY OR WEEKLY OR MONTHLY BASIS THAT HAVE EXPIRED? I'M ASSUMING WE JUST TOSS 'EM.
AT THIS TIME, THE RECOMMENDATION IS TO, UM, DISPOSE OF THE EXPIRED VACCINES.
AND THEN, UM, INCENTIVES, TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THIS INCENTIVE PROPOSAL THAT Y'ALL ARE COMING UP.
DO YOU HAVE ANY DETAILS ABOUT THAT ON HOW WE'RE GONNA ALLOCATE THAT? ARE WE GONNA ALLOCATE IT TO JUST ANYBODY THAT SHOWS UP FROM OUT OF THE CITY, OUT OF, OUT OF THE STATE, OUT OF, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW ARE WE GONNA HANDLE THAT? SO THE FEDERAL GRANT STIPULATION THAT THE FERTILE GRANT THAT WE ARE USING IS TO ALLOCATE, UM, THE INCENTIVE TO ANYBODY WHO RECEIVES THE VACCINE.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE VACCINE ADMINISTRATION IS NOT PREDICATED ON YOUR RESIDENCY OR LEGAL STATUS EVEN.
WE GET THE VACCINES FROM THE STATE, AND IT'S A STATE GUIDELINES THAT VACCINES MUST BE ADMINISTERED TO ANYBODY WHO'S, UM, COMING IN FOR ADMINISTRATION REGARDLESS OF THEIR RESIDENCY OR LEGAL STATUS.
SO, UM, BY THAT TOKEN INCENTIVES ARE GOING TO BE GIVEN TO ANYBODY WHO COMES AND GETS THE VACCINES.
UM, WHAT KIND OF ESTIMATES ARE YOU PUTTING TO THAT? SO, INISH, SO AT THIS TIME, BECAUSE THE, UH, BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE THAT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT YOU CAN GIVE INCENTIVES UP TO $100 FOR EACH PERSON WHO GETS VACCINATED, UM, WE ARE FOLLOWING THE SAME GUIDANCE.
SO IT'LL BE EVERYBODY WHO GETS VACCINATED WILL BE GIVEN INCENTIVES UP TO $100.
BUT WHAT, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT OVERALL? I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY ESTIMATES OR TARGETS OR GOALS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT ON HOW MUCH MONEY WE'RE GONNA, $1 MILLION FROM A FEDERAL GRANT HAS TO BE, HAS BEEN ALLOCATED TOWARDS INCENTIVES.
AND, UM, UM, HOW, HOW IS THAT GONNA BE TRACKED? HOW, HOW ARE WE GOING? IS IT BASED ON THE NAME OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, OR HOW IS THAT GONNA BE TRACKED? WE DON'T COLLECT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.
BUT IT'LL BE TRACKED ON, WE HAVE A BUSINESS OFFICE THAT WE GIVE OUT INCENTIVES IN, IN OUR TESTING EVENTS, NOT JUST FOR COVID, BUT FOR OUR S T D TB.
SO WE HAVE A TRACKING SYSTEM THAT TRACKS, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY GIFT CARDS HAVE YOU ALLOCATED TO ONE SITE, AND THAT INVENTORY OF THE GIFT CARDS THAT'S, UM, HANDED OVER HOW MANY HAVE BEEN USED.
THERE IS A TRACKING SYSTEM FOR IT.
SO THERE, THERE'S NO WAY SOMEBODY CAN GO OUT AND GET TWO OR THREE SHOTS TO COLLECT TWO OR 300 BUCKS.
WE TRACK, UH, YOU KNOW, EVERY TIME SOMEBODY'S GOING TO COMING IN TO GET A A DOSE, WE DO LOOK INTO A REGISTRY TO CONFIRM THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR MOST PART, UH, SOMETIMES IT'S NOT IN THE REGISTRY.
WE DON'T DENY SERVICES BECAUSE OF THE DATA ENTRY ERRORS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
BUT WE DO VERIFY THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED ONE DOSE OR THEY'RE COMING IN FOR THE SECOND DOSE.
BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME NAMES.
WE TRACK DATE OF BIRTH AND THERE ARE TWO OR THREE POINTS.
WE, WE HAVE THEIR DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION WE ADDRESSES FOR CELL PHONE NUMBERS.
UM, SO WE DO COLLECT A WIDE ARRAY OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.
[01:55:01]
NOT SOCIAL SECURITY THOUGH.UM, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MARKETING THIS VACCINE.
WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT AS FAR AS, UH, THE AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR MARKETING? I'LL LET OUR MARKETING MANAGER COME DOWN.
UM, IT'S ABOUT $400,000 THAT WE HAVE TO CARRY US.
AND THIS IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN RUNNING FROM JUNE THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
WE HAVE NEW ADDITIONAL FEDERAL GRANTS THAT WILL CARRY US THROUGH 2024.
WE'RE LOOKING AT STRATEGICALLY HOW TO IMPLEMENT, UM, WHETHER IT'S THE CREATIVE PLACEMENT AND SECURING THE MESSAGING AS WELL.
SO OBVIOUSLY A TV SPOT IS NOT GONNA BE THE SAME AS A BUS SHELTER AD.
SO WE'VE GOTTA BUILD THAT OUT AND STRATEGICALLY BUILD THAT OUT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE TARGETING THE RIGHT AUDIENCE.
BUT OVERALL, THAT'S WHAT WE'VE GOT TO SPEND FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT NOW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30TH.
AND AGAIN, THESE ARE ALL FEDERAL GRANTS.
UM, WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
AND I, AND I'LL BE BRIEF, UM,
KAREN, YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB.
I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A LONG SESSION AND YOU HAVE BEEN ON YOUR FEET, THE
UH, A COUPLE OF, UH, QUICK QUESTIONS.
SO I, I SUPPORT, UH, THE USE OF INCENTIVES FOR THE VACCINE FOR, FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT THAT WERE SHARED.
AND I DO THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE DOING THAT.
ALTHOUGH THE, THE WAY TO GET A BIGGEST IMPACT RIGHT NOW IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SURGE, IS FOR PEOPLE TO, YOU KNOW, TO NOT EXPOSE PEOPLE TO THE VIRUS.
AND, AND THAT MEANS WEARING A MASK OR NOT BEING, UH, WHERE PEOPLE ARE, ARE NOT WEARING MASKS.
SO, UM, ANDY, I KNOW YOU SAID, UH, THAT IF WE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THAT, WE'D HAVE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSIONS.
SO, UM, I WON'T MAKE YOU TALK ABOUT IT NOW, BUT I, I DO SUPPORT COUNCILMAN COURAGES, UH, PLEA FOR US TO, UH, TO REALLY TAKE STRONGER ACTION AND EXPLORE WHAT, WHAT ELSE WE CAN DO TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WAS ON, ON THE RECORD IN CASE ANYONE'S COUNTING THE, THE NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT SUPPORT THAT.
KIAN, I WILL ASK YOU, UH, ONE MORE QUESTION.
UM, I THINK YOU USE ESTIMATES ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE RECOVERED.
CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW, HOW YOU MAKE THAT ASSUMPTION? SO THERE IS A D DSHS ALGORITHM, UH, THAT I THINK IS COMING FROM C D C AS WELL.
SO IT'S PLUGGED INTO THAT ALGORITHM TO COME UP WITH THAT, UM, ESTIMATE.
YEAH, I CAN GET BACK TO YOU ON THE DETAILS OF THOSE ALGORITHM WE USE.
DO, DO YOU KNOW IF THE ALGORITHM CONSIDERS ANY, UM, LONGSTANDING RECOVERIES? YOU KNOW HOW SOME PEOPLE RECOVER FAIRLY QUICKLY OR, YOU KNOW, IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND SOME PEOPLE TAKE LONGER.
SO IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S CAPTURED IN THESE NUMBERS THAT YOU'RE SHARING WITH US? I'M NOT SURE ON THAT.
IT OCCURS TO ME, UH, AND I FORGOT TO MENTION IT EARLIER, THAT WE HAVE IN DISTRICT EIGHT, UH, THE LARGEST, UM, AFRICAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN, UM, POPULATION.
UM, LOTS OF REFUGEES, UH, BUT A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, PROFESSIONAL, UM, UH, FOLKS WHO ARE IMMIGRANTS AND THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH.
UH, I NOTICED THAT WE DO, UH, A GOOD JOB AT TRANSLATING, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR MATERIALS FROM, UH, FROM ENGLISH TO SPANISH, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING IN OU OR CHINESE OR BURMESE OR, UM, YOU KNOW, HINDI.
AND THESE ARE LANGUAGES COMMONLY SPOKEN IN MY DISTRICT.
AND SO MY REQUEST IS, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY, I'M, I'M, I'M HOPING THAT FOR DISTRICT EIGHT, YOU GUYS WILL PRODUCE SOMETHING THAT CAN SPEAK TO, UM, THOSE FOLKS.
UH, IF, IF WE REALLY WANT TO TALK TO THEM, LET'S GO TO WHERE THEY ARE.
AND THEY SPEAK LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
AND SO CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THAT, ERIC? SO, C D C C D C HAS NUMBER OF DOCUMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, MANY OF THOSE DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO SOME OF THE LANGUAGES THAT YOU'VE MENTIONED.
SO WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU GET THOSE FROM US AS FAR AS HOLDING EVENTS IN THOSE LOCATIONS AND BEING ABLE TO SPEAK IN THE LANGUAGE.
WE MAY, WE HAVE ACCESS TO LANGUAGE LINES.
AND SO WE USE THOSE TRANSLATORS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY MESSAGE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE, UM, ACCESS TO THOSE LANGUAGE LINES TO HELP US FACILITATE
[02:00:01]
THOSE POP-UP EVENTS.AND THIS MAY BE A QUESTION FOR ERIC.
UH, GIVEN THE NEW FEDERAL EVICTION MORATORIUM AND HOW IT'S FOCUSED ON AREAS EXPERIENCING HIGH INCREASED COVID RATES, UM, WOULD ALL SAN ANTONIO RENTERS AS WELL AS FOLKS BEHIND ON MORTGAGE PAYMENTS BE COVERED UNTIL OCTOBER 3RD WITH THE EXTENSION, THE EXTENDED EVICTION MORATORIUM? YEAH, COUNCILWOMAN, AND WE'RE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW TO SEND A REPORT OUT TO THE COUNCIL BASED ON THE ACTIVITY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT YESTERDAY.
THE ONLY THING THAT I'M NOT CERTAIN ABOUT IS WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE FUNDS FOR THE MORTGAGE PROGRAM.
UM, REGARDLESS OF, OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S STATEMENT YESTERDAY, UH, REMEMBER WE HAD FUNDS PROGRAMMED, UM, UH, BASED ON THE CURRENT ACTIVITY THROUGH THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, BUT, UH, OUR NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES DEPARTMENT, THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ARE GOING THROUGH THAT AND WE'LL SEND A COUNCIL, UH, AN EMAIL KIND OF OUTLINING WHAT WE THINK THE CHANGES ARE.
WE CERTAINLY HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY MEET THAT HIGH SPREAD REQUIREMENT.
UM, BUT UH, AND WE STILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY DEDICATED TOWARDS THAT.
BUT THE ONLY THING I'M NOT CERTAIN ABOUT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD IS THE MORTGAGE PORTION OF THAT.
'CAUSE I THINK WE RAN OUT OF THAT PORTION OF THE MONEY EARLIER IN THE YEAR, BUT WE'LL GET THAT VERIFIED, I COULD GIVE A SHORT ANSWER TO.
THE, THE, THE SHORT ANSWER COUNCILWOMAN IS THAT YES, THE C D C EXTENDED THEIR MORATORIUM.
THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT ISSUED A, UH, POSITION ON THAT, UH, ESSENTIALLY GIVING JP COURTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO HONOR THE, THE MORATORIUM.
AND THE GOOD NEWS IS, FROM OUR UNDERSTANDING IS ALL THE JP COURTS IN BARD COUNTY, UH, HAVE DECIDED TO HONOR THE MORATORIUM.
AND AS ERIC SAID, UH, BEAR COUNTY IS ONE OF THE COUNTIES, UH, UNDER THE C D C MORATORIUM, UH, THAT WOULD, WHICH ON WHICH THE MORATORIUM APPLIES IS WE HAVE A HIGH COVID RATE.
AND THAT'S CRITICAL BECAUSE WE HAVE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE WORKING IN THE JP COURTS OR HAVE BEEN WORKING IN THE JP COURTS TO CATCH, UM, OR MAKE AVAILABLE THE PROGRAM FOR FOLKS THAT MAY NOT BE AWARE OF IT.
UM, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
THANKS ERIC AND ANDY? THANK YOU.
COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO, I'LL GO NOW TO COUNCILMEMBER BRAVO.
KIAN, CAN YOU, I'M INTERESTED IN, UH, THE INCENTIVES THAT ARE BEING OFFERED.
YOU SAID THERE WAS A $1 MILLION GRANT THAT YOU HAVE ACCESS TO, IS THAT RIGHT? YEAH.
NOW WHERE'S, WHERE'S THAT FUNDING COMING FROM? IT'S A FEDERAL FUND, SO IT'S PART OF OUR IMMUNIZATION GRANT.
WE ARE ONE OF THE TWO JURISDICTIONS HERE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT RECEIVE DIRECT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR IMMUNIZATIONS PROGRAM.
AND SO THIS IS PART OF THAT IMMUNIZATIONS PROGRAM GRANT.
AND THEN WHAT ABOUT THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS? LIKE TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I WAS READING ABOUT, UM, WITH THE, THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS CALLING ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO OFFER A HUNDRED DOLLARS VACCINE INCENTIVES USING THE, UH, AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS.
YEAH, WELL, WHEN THE PRESIDENT TALKED ABOUT THAT, AND THE IMMUNIZATION GRANT THAT DR.
CURIAN IS REFERRING TO OUR GRANTS THAT WE RECEIVE IN NORMAL TIMES FOR IMMUNIZATIONS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, UM, UM, AND, UH, THE FINAL GUIDELINES FROM ARPA, UH, HAVE NOT BEEN ISSUED.
WE DID PROVIDE THAT FEEDBACK, UH, TO THE, TO THE, UH, FEDERAL, TO THE TREASURY DURING THE MONTH OF JULY.
BUT IDEALLY, I MEAN, I THINK THAT THERE, WE COULD PROBABLY MAKE A CASE TO BE ABLE TO UTILIZE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS FOR INCENTIVES.
UM, REMEMBER THE TIEBACK GENERALLY IN ARPA IS, IS IMPACT OF COVID.
UM, BUT, UM, THAT CERTAINLY COULD BE A POSSIBILITY AS WELL.
WELL, I JUST, I, I GUESS I WANTED TO EXPRESS MY SUPPORT FOR THAT.
YOU KNOW, UM, AS, UH, COUNCILMAN ROCHA GARCIA STATED, UH, I, I WENT OUT TO EAT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, AND WE WERE HAVING A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE, THE RISING NUMBERS OF COVID CASES.
AND SO WE ASKED THE SERVERS, WE ASKED THE BUSERS THERE IF THEY HAD BEEN VACCINATED, AND THEY SAID THEY HAD, AND NOT ONLY HAD, DID THEY SAY THAT THEY HAD, THEY WERE EXCITED TO SAY THAT THEY HAD, BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN PAID $50 BY THEIR EMPLOYER TO DO THAT.
AND SO IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY POSITIVE IN THEIR MINDS.
YOU KNOW, MY, UH, BROTHER-IN-LAW I WAS TALKING TO TWO DAYS AGO, HE'S A C E O OF A COMPANY, AND, UH, HE ENCOURAGED ALL OF HIS, HIS EMPLOYEES TO GET VACCINATED, AND THEY PLATEAUED JUST OVER 60%.
AND, UH, SO THEN HE DECIDED TO PAY HIS EMPLOYEES TO GET VACCINATED, AND HE GOT SOME PUSHBACK.
AND SOME PEOPLE SAID, OH, NO, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT.
UM, THEY SAID, I CAN'T DO IT FOR MEDICAL REASONS, SO IT'S NOT FAIR.
YOU CAN'T DO IT FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.
WELL, THEN IT TURNS OUT QUICKLY, THE PEOPLE WHO WERE CLAIMING TO BE NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT FOR MEDICAL REASONS CAME BACK THE NEXT WEEK AND SAID, OH, IT TURNS OUT I TALKED TO MY DOCTOR AND THEY SAID, IT IS OKAY, AND I'M GONNA TAKE THAT MONEY.
UM, AND I, I THINK SAN ANTONIO CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS, GIVEN
[02:05:01]
OUR ECONOMIC SEGREGATION, BECAUSE IF WE HAVE AREAS OF TOWN WHERE WE, WE SAW, YOU SHOWED US ON, ON THAT MAP, HOW THERE WERE AREAS OF TOWN WHERE WE HAVE HIGH, MUCH HIGHER VACCINATION RATES AND MUCH LOWER.SO IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WE COULD HAVE OUTBREAKS IN THE AREAS, REGIONAL OUTBREAKS IN THE AREAS WITH LOWER, UH, VACCINATION RATES.
AND SO A LOT OF THOSE AREAS LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE AREAS THAT WERE LOWER INCOME AREAS OF TOWN.
AND SO I WOULD THINK THAT THEY WOULD BE MORE FINANCIALLY MOTIVATED BY THESE INCENTIVES TO GET INVOLVED.
AND SO I LOOK AT, I'M GLAD THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING TO, UM, MESSAGING CONSULTANTS AND THAT WE'RE DOING A LOT OF THESE THINGS, BUT I'M WONDERING IF SOME OF THIS MONEY COULD JUST GO DIRECTLY MORE TOWARDS INCENTIVES AND PUSH THAT OUT IN A BIG WAY AND, UH, SEE IF WE CAN GET MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED SOONER.
BECAUSE I, I LOOK AT, I GUESS, A LOT OF THESE CAMPAIGNS, A LOT OF THIS WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, IT, IT COULD, IT MIGHT BE, UM, FOCUS GROUPS, RIGHT? WHERE WE BRING PEOPLE IN AND WE TRY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT MESSAGING WORKS.
YEAH, YOU WANNA RESPOND TO THAT, UH, DR.
KARE, BEFORE I GO TO THE NEXT COUNCILPERSON.
WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER PURGE.
WE'RE ON THE CLOCK, RIGHT? THREE MINUTES.
SO I WANNA FOCUS ON CITY EMPLOYEES.
AND I HAVE A QUESTION, UH, SHOULD EMPLOYEES THAT CHOOSE NOT TO GET VACCINATED AND GET SICK, SHOULD THE CITY REQUIRE THEM, UH, OR ENABLE THEM TO TAKE PAID TIME OFF, UM, OR USE THEIR OWN VACATION TIME VERSUS PAID SICK LEAVE? YEAH, BECAUSE, UH, THEY BECOME SICK BECAUSE THEY DON'T GET THE VACCINE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.
AND ALSO THE CITY'S HEALTHCARE INSURANCE HAVE TO COVER THEIR EXORBITANT MEDICAL BILLS IF THEY GET HOSPITALIZED.
SO ARE WE REALLY TRYING TO USE ALL THE INFLUENCE WE CAN ON OUR CITY EMPLOYEES TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY? YEAH, I, I, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION, COUNCILMAN.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT INTERNALLY HERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY MORE WE CAN DO.
UH, REMEMBER A YEAR AGO, OR OVER A YEAR AGO, UM, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, UM, UH, MANDATED ALL EMPLOYERS TO GIVE ADDITIONAL LEAVE FOR THOSE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT OR NEEDED TO QUARANTINE.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, VERY GENEROUS, UM, I THINK IN TERMS OF RECOGNIZING THE EMPLOYEES EVEN BEYOND THAT DEADLINE.
UM, BUT I THINK, I THINK THE QUESTION YOU RAISED IS WHETHER OR NOT AS AN ORGANIZATION, UM, AND NOT UNLIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS, UM, HOW WE START TO CREATE THE INCENTIVES OR DISINCENTIVES FOR EMPLOYEES.
AND I, AND, AND TO YOUR POINT, I DO THINK THAT, UM, AS LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO, UH, THE COMMUNITY, UH, AND THE CUSTOMERS AND THE RESIDENTS WE COME INTO CONTACT WITH.
UM, I'LL ALSO, UM, REMIND THE COUNCIL THAT THE LEGISLATURE ALSO APPROVED A BILL, UM, IN THE LAST, UH, LEGISLATURE THAT, UH, MADE, UM, COVID FOR OUR PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES A, UM, A, UM, A PRESUMED, UH, UH, ILLNESS, UH, THAT WAS CONTRACTED ON DUTY.
SO THOSE INDIVIDUALS ARE COVERED UNDER WORKERS' COMP.
I THINK THAT GIVES US THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO MAKE CHANGES FROM A, FROM AN EMPLOYER STANDPOINT.
UM, AND BEYOND THAT, I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT DETAILS WITH THE COUNSELOR IN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION OR ON A ONE-ON-ONE BASIS.
THE OTHER THING I WANNA MENTION, UH, RELATED TO WHAT, UH, COUNCILMAN BRAVO WAS JUST SAYING, IF WE GIVE A HUNDRED DOLLARS TO THE 500,000 PEOPLE WHO STILL AREN'T VACCINATED, THAT'LL COST US $50 MILLION.
UM, UM, ARE WE BENCHMARKING WITH ANY OTHER CITIES HERE IN TEXAS? YES.
UH, IN TERMS OF VACCINATION STATUS OR CASE? WELL, WE DO BOTH.
THE, THE ENTIRE PROGRAM HERE, YOU KNOW, WHAT OUR INFECTION RATES ARE, HOW WE'RE, RIGHT NOW IT'S CLIMBING.
WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE OTHER CITIES LOOKING LIKE ACROSS TEXAS? YES.
SO WE DO BENCHMARK AGAINST THE FIVE MOST POPULOUS COUNTIES HERE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
UH, DALLAS TURNED, UM, AUSTIN, HOUSTON, AND, UH, BAYER.
WE BENCHMARK OURSELVES IN TERMS OF CASE STATUS.
WE BENCHMARK THAT, AND THEN WE ALSO
[02:10:01]
LOOK AT THE VACCINATION STATUS.UM, THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, WE ARE LAGGING BEHIND AUSTIN.
AUSTIN IS LEADING THE EFFORTS IN TERMS OF VACCINATION RATES.
AND I, I WAS CASE STUDIES PRIMARILY LOOKING AT THAT BECAUSE IF WE'RE LAGGING BEHIND OTHER TEXAS CITIES, WHAT ARE THEY DOING THAT WE'RE NOT DOING? HAVE WE CALLED, CALLED THESE OTHER CITIES TO SEE, GET OTHER IDEAS THAT WE COULD IMPLEMENT HERE IN SAN ANTONIO? I, I CAN TALK ABOUT CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD WITH MY COUNTERPARTS IN MOST OF, OF THE CITIES, AND WE, WE DO HAVE WEEKLY CALLS, MONTHLY CALLS, AND WE PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY'S DOING THE SAME THING, UM, ACROSS THE BOARD.
BUT AUSTIN SEEMS TO BE DOING GOOD IN TERMS OF VACCINATION STATUS.
SO VACCINATION COVERAGE, SORRY.
UM, SO THEY'RE NOT REALLY DIFFERENT.
NOT THAT, AT LEAST AT MY LEVEL, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING DIFFERENT.
YEAH, I, IF YOU COULD COME IN AND SHOW ME THAT, SHOW ME WHERE WE'RE BENCHMARKING AGAINST OTHER TEXAS CITIES, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
AND, UM, YEAH, IF THERE'S, SO WHEN YOU, ANYTHING DIFFERENT OUT THERE, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW THAT ON OTHER CITIES, ON WHAT THEY'RE DOING VERSUS WHAT WE'RE DOING.
JUST, UH, UM, WHEN YOU START TO SEE THOSE SITUATIONAL REPORTS THAT WE'LL EMAIL YOU, THERE'S A STANDARD TEMPLATE ON THERE WHERE WE, WHERE WE HAVE BEAR COUNTY WITH THOSE OTHER MAJOR COUNTIES, AND IT GIVES YOU THE INFECTION RATES, THE, THE GENERAL STATS, BUT, UH, TO, BUT TO YOUR POINT, IF THERE'S MORE DETAIL, WE CAN DO THAT.
BUT THAT AT LEAST GIVES YOU A GLIMPSE FROM A, FROM A HIGH LEVEL STANDPOINT IN TERMS OF INFECTIONS AND THE DEATHS AND THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ.
UM, SO I WANNA START OFF BY SAYING THAT, UH, YES, I, I HEARD THE 50, THE $50 MILLION AMOUNT.
UM, I UNDERSTAND WE CAN, WE CAN SET A BUDGET.
I THINK ABOUT, UH, MY TIME AS A COLLEGE STUDENT BECAUSE I FALL WITHIN THE 19 TO 29 YEAR OLD RANGE.
UM, AND I REMEMBER MY TIME, MY TIME IN COLLEGE WHEN, UM, THERE WOULD BE AN EVENT AND THEY'RE GIVING OUT $20 FOR SOMETHING.
AND IT'S SOMETHING SMALL TO ME NOW, BUT AT THE TIME WHEN YOU'RE STRUGGLING, WHEN YOU'RE IN CLASS AND YOU'RE WORKING AND YOU'RE OUT, YOU'RE RELYING ON HOURS, UM, THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
AND SO IF WE WANT TO GET YOUNG PEOPLE, I'M SAY, I'M LETTING YOU KNOW, MONEY IS A GOOD WAY TO DO THAT.
UM, MAN, AND OH, AND ALSO, UH, COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO HAD, UH, BROUGHT UP THE EVICTION MORATORIUM, AND I WANTED TO PUT ON RECORD MY REQUEST.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE, UH, DURING THAT TIME IN WHICH THERE WAS NO MORATORIUM, UH, HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD BEEN EVICTED.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING I DON'T EXPECT YOU TO HAVE NUMBERS FOR RIGHT NOW, BUT I WOULD LOVE THAT, UH, GOING FORWARD.
COUNCILMAN THAT, UH, FROM, I GUESS SATURDAY TO YESTERDAY? YES, SIR.
COUNCIL MEMBER MAKI RODRIGUEZ.
KIAN, LEMME CLOSE UP 'CAUSE WE DO HAVE ONE MORE ITEM TO GET TO, BUT JUST REEMPHASIZING OUR APPROACH AS A COMMUNITY.
WE HAVE BEEN, WE ARE, AND WE WILL BE GUIDED BY OUR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN OUR RESPONSE TO THIS PANDEMIC.
THE DELTA VARIANT IS NO DIFFERENT.
UH, WE ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE GUIDED BY THE VOICES OF THE DOCTORS IN THE ROOM, DR.
I'M PROBABLY MISSING OTHER FOLKS, BUT THO THEY ARE DRIVING THIS BUS.
AND SO WHAT OUR PUBLIC HEALTH FOLKS TELL US IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO TO SAVE THE LIVES AND THE HEALTH OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
THEY HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED TO TELL US, UH, IN CANDID TRUTH WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
SOME OF IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO HEAR.
AND, AND THAT IS MY CHARGE AS MAYORS, TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE FREE WITH THE FACTS AND THE INFORMATION TO GUIDE THE POLICY MAKERS, TO PUT OUR POS, OUR, OUR CITY, OUR COMMUNITY IN THE BEST POSITION POSSIBLE FOR THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF EVERYONE HERE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY'RE VACCINATED OR UNVACCINATED.
AND ULTIMATELY, I HOPE THEY ALL GET VACCINATED.
KIAN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, ERIC, LEMME GET BACK TO YOU FOR THE SECOND ITEM.
[2. Post-Solicitation Briefing on the Small Business Economic Development Advocacy (SBEDA) Disparity Study: Request for Proposal. [Alejandra Lopez, Assistant City Manager; Ana Bradshaw, Assistant Director, Economic Development Department] ]
UM, COUNCIL, WE HAVE THE SECOND ITEM IS A POST SOLICITATION BRIEFING ON OUR S SPTA DISPARITY STUDY REPORT.UM, JUST AS IN TERMS OF BACKGROUND, THERE ARE HIGH PROFILE CONTRACTS THAT COME THROUGH THE CITY, UM, ANNUALLY, UH, BI-ANNUALLY.
WE COME TO COUNCIL ON A B SESSION TO LAY OUT THE NEXT SIX MONTHS OF HIGH PROFILE CONTRACTS AND THOSE THAT ARE SELECTED BY THE COUNCIL, WE DO BOTH PRES SOLICITATION AND POSTS SOLICITATION BRIEFINGS HERE AT B SESSION.
SO TODAY IS, UH, PART TWO, THE POST SOLICITATION.
SO OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, WILL UPDATE YOU ON THE PROCESS TO IDENTIFY A CONSULTANT THAT
[02:15:01]
WILL, UH, COMPLETE OUR DISPARITY STUDY.UM, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT TO HELP US MEASURE AND POTENTIALLY IDENTIFY FUTURE AMENDMENTS TO OUR CITY'S, UH, SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SPEDA.
UM, DO, UM, THE STUDY COLLECTS AND ANALYZES THE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA TO DETERMINE IF DISPARITIES, UH, CONTINUE TO EXIST OR EXIST IN OUR LOCAL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.
UM, UH, THAT SPECIFICALLY DO WORK ON PERFORMING, UH, WORK FOR THE CITY.
IT ALSO HELP, UH, MEASURE, UM, INDEPENDENTLY THE SPED UP PROGRAMS IMPACT ON, UH, REMEDYING, UH, HISTORICAL CONTRACTING DISPARITIES.
AND THE CITY HAS MADE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF APPROVAL OVER THE LAST 15 OR 18 YEARS WITH OUR OWN SPTA ORDINANCE THAT IS PERIODICALLY UPDATED.
SO THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART TO HELP GUIDE AND INFORM THE COUNCIL ON ANY NECESSARY AMENDMENTS GOING FORWARD.
UM, I'M GONNA HAND IT OFF TO ANNA BRADSHAW.
ANNA BRADSHAW FOR, FOR THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
WE'LL, REMEMBER PREVIOUSLY WORKED IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE AND WAS OUR CARES ACT, UH, CZAR, UM, AND HIS, UH, UH, O FOR AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NOW.
SO ANNA WILL WALK THROUGH THE PRESENTATION, AND THEN, JUST BECAUSE IT'S HER FIRST TIME HERE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, I DID WANNA RECOGNIZE MANY OF YOU PROBABLY SAW THE NOTE I SENT, UM, DURING, UH, JULY, OUR NEW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, UH, BRENDA HICKS SORENSON, WHO'S HERE ON THE FRONT ROW, UM, AND HER FIRST TIME IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS.
AND WITH THAT, ANA, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO YOU.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MARIAN COUNCIL.
UM, AS ERIC SAID, MY NAME'S ANA BRADSHAW.
I'M ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UM, OVER OUR SMALL BUSINESS OFFICE.
SO TODAY I'M GONNA BE GIVING A VERY BRIEF POSTS SOLICITATION BRIEFING, UM, ON THE STATUS OF OUR DISPARITY CONTRACT.
SO, REALLY QUICKLY, THE PURPOSE OF THE C BETA PROGRAM IS TO PROMOTE THE USE OF LOCAL, SMALL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES TO ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE HISTORIC DISPARITIES THAT HAVE EXISTED THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, AS ERIC MENTIONED, THIS IS A SELECT HIGH PROFILE, UH, CONTRACT.
SO THIS IS WHY I AM UP HERE GIVING THE POST ELICITATION BRIEFING TODAY.
SO EVERYTHING WE DO IN THE CE BETA PROGRAM IS TO SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS A DISPARITY.
UM, AND, AND THE DISPARITY STUDY THAT WE'RE EMBARKING UPON IS VERY TAILORED TO SAN ANTONIO AND, AND THE TYPES OF PURCHASES WE DO AND, UM, OUR OPERATIONS HERE AT THE CITY.
SO IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE C BETA PROGRAM, UM, A BUSINESS MUST BE FIRST CERTIFIED THROUGH THE SOUTH TEXAS REGIONAL CERTIFICATION AGENCY AS A SMALL MINORITY OR WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.
SECONDLY, THEY MUST BE EITHER HEAD HEADQUARTERED IN THE SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA, OR HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PRESENCE HERE, WHICH MEANS FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR, THEY MUST HAVE, UH, 20% OF THEIR WORKFORCE HERE AND A PHYSICAL LOCATION WITHIN THE, UM, METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA.
SO, TO, UM, A LITTLE BIT ON HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS, AND I'M GONNA MOVE THROUGH THIS PRETTY QUICKLY IN THE INTEREST OF TIME.
HOWEVER, IF, IF YOUR OFFICES WOULD LIKE AN INDIVIDUAL BRIEFING ON THIS, WE'RE HAPPY TO PROVIDE THAT.
UM, BUT THE C BETA PROGRAM, UM, APPLIES TO ALL CITY SOLICIT SOLICITATIONS OVER $50,000, UM, AS WELL AS FUNDING AND DEVELOPER AGREEMENTS OVER $50,000.
AND ON THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE AN INDUSTRY BY INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN OF THOSE, UM, ITEMS THAT ARE REVIEWED BY THE S BETA PROGRAM.
SO IN TERMS OF THE TYPES OF CONTRACTS WE HEAR HAVE AT THE CITY WHERE BETA CAN APPLY, UM, THIS GRAPHIC WALKS YOU THROUGH THE TYPES OF CONTRACTS AND THE TOOLS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO UTILIZE, AGAIN, THAT ARE VERY CUSTOMIZED BASED ON THE AVAILABILITY, UM, THAT WE LOOK AT THROUGH OUR CENTRAL VEG, UH, VENDOR REGISTRY.
SO, UM, ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE OUR LOW BID CONTRACTS.
AND SO THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED IN THESE SOLICITATIONS IS PRICE.
SO THE S BETA TOOL THAT WE LOOK TO APPLY, AGAIN, BASED ON AVAILABILITY ARE SUBCONTRACTING GOALS.
WHEREAS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SLIDE, WE HAVE OUR, UH, DISCRETIONARY CONTRACTS.
SO THOSE ARE YOUR RFPS, RF, QS REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS OR REQUESTS FOR QUALIFICATIONS, UM, AND THOSE FACTOR IN EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS AS WELL AS PRICE.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OPPORTUNITY TO EXERCISE OUR BETA TOOLS USING PRIME EVALUATION POINTS AND OR SUBCONTRACTING GOALS.
SO, JUST A LITTLE BIT ON THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM.
UH, SO THERE WAS AN INITIAL STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE HISPANIC CHAMBER GOING BACK TO 1988, THAT SHOWED THAT ONLY 2% OF CONTRACTS WERE BEING AWARDED TO SMALL MINORITY OR WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.
UM, THAT LED TO THE 1992 DISPARITY STUDY, WHICH BUMPED US UP TO ABOUT 10%.
UM, HOWEVER, YOU'LL SEE OVER THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS, VERY LITTLE INCREASE, ONLY INCREASE OF 6%, AND IT REALLY WAS A 20, UM, SORRY, THE 2010 COSA DISPARITY STUDY THAT, UM, BROUGHT
[02:20:01]
ABOUT A LARGE AMOUNT OF CHANGE TO OURS.BETA ORDINANCE WAS A COMPLETE OVERHAUL OF THE ORDINANCE.
AND SINCE THAT POINT, YOU CAN SEE THE VERY LARGE GAINS.
NOW, I, I WILL DRAW THE RESULTS FROM OUR 2020 ANNUAL REPORT.
SO THIS IS NOT A DISPARITY STUDY, BUT IT IS A GOOD INDICATION OF THE PROGRESS WE CONTINUE TO MAKE.
AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THIS NEXT DISPARITY STUDY WILL HELP US LAND ON.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL UTILIZATION, UH, OF SMALL, MINORITY, AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES IN THE COM, UH, IN THE CITY.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF SOME OF THE AMENDMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE C BETA ORDINANCE.
AND AGAIN, THE DISPARITY STUDY IS PART ONE IN THE PROCESS.
UM, WE'LL WORK WITH, WITH THE SELECTED CONSULTANT TO COMPLETE THAT STUDY, AND THAT INFORMS THE TYPE OF POTENTIAL CHANGES THAT CAN BE RECOMMENDED TO OUR C BETA ORDINANCE.
AND THEN THE DEPARTMENT EMBARKS UPON, UM, A A LOT OF INFORMATION GATHERING, A VERY ROBUST PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN TO, TO REALLY WORK WITH THOSE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS TO UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS AND THEN BRING FORTH TO COUNCIL THOSE RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO THE C BETA ORDINANCE.
AND AT THIS POINT, WE, UM, ARE TARGETING BRINGING CHANGES BY 2020, BY THE END OF 2023, OR ELSE THIS, UM, THE CURRENT ORDINANCE REQUIRES THAT THE C BETA PORT, UH, PROGRAM BE SUNSET.
SO AGAIN, JUST A A AN IDEA OF THE CHANGES THAT WE'VE MADE OVER THE LAST TWO SETS OF AMENDMENTS.
UM, WANTED TO PROVIDE A QUICK COMPARISON, UM, ON THE CITY'S COMP, UH, THE CITY'S SUB BETA PROGRAM AS COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER COM UH, PROGRAMS IN THE AREA.
SO NO TWO ENTITIES OPERATE THEIR PROGRAM THE SAME.
UM, BUT AS YOU'LL SEE THE CITY, WE HAVE, UH, A VERY ROBUST PROGRAM AND THAT WE REALLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE TOOLS THAT WE CAN USE.
UM, IN PARTICULAR, I WANNA CALL IT THE RACE CONSCIOUS TOOLS, WHICH AGAIN, REQUIRE A DISPARITY STUDY TO COMPLETE IN ORDER TO USE THOSE TOOLS.
UH, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TOOLS THAT VARIOUS ENTITIES ACROSS THE REGION USE IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THESE SMALL, MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.
SO THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY, UM, IS TO REALLY COM COMPILE AND, AND EVALUATE THE EVIDENCE THAT, AGAIN, IS VERY SPECIFIC TO SAN ANTONIO.
UM, THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS MUST MEET A STRICT CONSTITUTIONAL SCRUTINY THAT'S DEFINED, UM, IN SOME SUPREME COURT CASES, PARTICULARLY RICHMOND VERSUS CROWSON.
AND SO THERE ARE THREE ELEMENTS THAT ARE PROVIDED ON THIS SLIDE THAT MUST BE MET, THAT MUST BE MET IN ORDER TO EMPLOY, UM, UH, RACE CONSCIOUS TOOLS IN, IN A PROGRAM.
FIRST, THE STATISTICAL EVIDENCE.
SO REALLY EXAMINING THE DATA SPECIFIC TO THE VENDORS THAT CAN WORK WITH THE CITY AND THE TYPES OF PURCHASES THAT WE MAKE.
UM, BUT THEN GOING BEYOND THAT DATA ANALYSIS AND LOOKING AT THE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE, MEETING WITH THEM AND UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS TO FULL AND FAIR INCLUSION.
UM, AND THEN DEVELOPING RE UH, REMEDIES THAT ARE VERY NARROWLY TABLE, UH, TAILORED TO THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE EVIDENCED THROUGHOUT THAT DATA, QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS.
AND SO THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IS TO COMPLETE THESE EVERY FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.
SO AGAIN, WE'RE WITHIN THAT TIMELINE, UH, TO COMPLETE THE NEXT DISPARITY STUDY.
SO MOVING INTO THE SOLICITATION, UH, TIMELINE.
SO ERIC HAD MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION THAT, UM, PREVIOUSLY WE HAD PRESENTED THE PRES SOLICITATION, UH, BRIEFING BACK IN JANUARY.
SO THIS CATCHES YOU UP TO WHERE WE ARE NOW.
SO, UM, IN THE TIME SINCE THEN, WE HAVE REVIEWED THE, UM, SUBMISSIONS AND SCORED THOSE, AND NOW WE'RE HERE FOR POST SOLICITATION BRIEFING.
AND THEN, UM, WE LOOK TO BRING FORWARD WITH A CONTRACT FOR THE ACTUAL STUDY ON THE AUGUST 19TH A SESSION.
AND AGAIN, THAT KICKS OFF THE STUDY, WHICH THEN WE'LL COMPLETE AND, AND BRING BACK TO COUNCIL UPON COMPLETION.
SO A LITTLE BIT ON THE SCOPE OF, OF THE, UH, DISPARITY STUDY CONTRACT.
SO AGAIN, THEY'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT DATA FROM 2014 THROUGH 2020.
SO THAT PICKS UP WHERE THE LAST DISPARITY STUDY LEFT OFF.
AND THEY EVALUATE BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR DATA AND, UH, TO REALLY RESEARCH DISPARITIES IN, IN THE GROUPS LISTED ON THIS SLIDE, AND THEN BREAK DOWN THAT DATA BASED ON THE INDUSTRY CATEGORIES THAT WE UTILIZE HERE WITHIN THE CITY.
AND SO THIS SLIDE PROVIDES THE DELIVERABLES, BUT THE KEY TAKEAWAY FROM THE SLIDE IS EVERYTHING IS VERY SPECIFIC TO SAN ANTONIO AND IN OUR PURCHASES AND OUR NEEDS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY, USING OUR DATA AND DATA FROM THE RELEVANT AREA, UM, IN ORDER TO RECOMMEND THE CHANGES TO OUR ORDINANCE, THEY'RE VERY, THAT MEET THAT STRICT SCRUTINY, UM, THAT IS REQUIRED BY THE COURTS IN ORDER TO HAVE THESE.
THE OTHER THING IS, IT DOES, IS IT COMPARES OUR PROGRAM TO POTENTIAL RE RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL.
SO IN THE ABSENCE OF OUR PROGRAM, IF WE DID RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL REMEDIES, WHAT IMPACT WOULD THAT HAVE SO THAT, UH, CAN GIVE US THAT EVIDENCE? AGAIN, THAT MEETS THE STRICT SCRUTINY STANDARD.
SO A LITTLE ON THE ACTUAL, UH, SOLICITATION.
[02:25:01]
FOR PROPOSALS, UM, AND IS, UM, VALUED AT A VALUE NOT TO EXCEED $800,000 WITH A PROPOSED TERM OF ONE YEAR WITH TWO ADDITIONAL ONE YEAR OPTIONS.BECAUSE IT IS SUCH A ROBUST STUDY, IT DOES TAKE, WE ANTICIPATE ABOUT 18 MONTHS TO COMPLETE.
SO WE WANNA BUILD IN THAT FLEXIBILITY WITHIN THE CONTRACT IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE CONSULTANT AS FAR AS THE EVALUATION CRITERIA.
SO IF YOU'LL SEE 55 POINTS WERE ALLOCATED BETWEEN EXPERIENCE BACK FOR ROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS AND THE PROPOSED PLAN.
SO THOSE WERE THE ITEMS THAT WERE EVALUATED BY THE EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UH, WHICH YOU'LL SEE, UM, AMONGST CITY STAFF.
WE ALS I WANNA DRAW ATTENTION TO JUANITA SVE CHAIR OF OUR S BETA COMMITTEE.
AND THIS IS A CITY COMMITTEE THAT HAS OVERSIGHT OF THE CE BETA ORDINANCE.
SO WE WANTED TO HAVE HER INVOLVEMENT.
UM, IN EVALUATING THE DISPARITY STUDY CONTRACT, UH, WE RECEIVED THREE RESPONSES.
UH, ONE WAS DEEMED NONRESPONSIVE FOR NOT MEETING THE SUBCONTRACTING GOAL.
UM, IN ADDITION, FINANCE AND AUDIT CONDUCT CONDUCTED THEIR DUE DILIGENCE.
I'M HAPPY TO REPORT EVERYTHING CAME OUT GREAT ON THE TWO RESPONDENTS.
UM, SO THERE WERE NO ISSUES WITH EITHER.
SO AS FAR AS THE SCORING MATRIX, SO THE TWO, UM, SUBMISSIONS WERE FROM COLETTE HOLT AND ASSOCIATES AND THE RAND CORPORATIONS.
SO YOU'LL SEE HERE THAT, UH, COLETTE HOLT AND ASSOCIATES RECEIVED 90 POINTS, WHEREAS THE RAND CORPORATION RECEIVED AROUND 49 POINTS.
SO VERY WIDE GAP IN THE SCORING.
UM, YOU'LL SEE IT'S ACROSS THE CATEGORIES, UM, THE CLOSEST WITH WITHIN THE PRICE CATEGORY.
SO, UM, WITH THIS GAP IN SCORING, WE DID NOT INTER INTERVIEW THE RESPONDENTS AND, AND ULTIMATELY CHOSE TO, TO RECOMMEND COLETTE HOLTON ASSOCIATES FOR THE STUDY.
SO A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON COLETTE AND HER TEAM.
UM, THEY HAVE CO-AUTHORED THE NATIONAL DISPARITY STUDY GUIDELINES.
SHE IS A FOREMOST AUTHORITY IN DISPARITY STUDIES WITH 37 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AND HAS WORKED WITH NUMEROUS ENTITIES, INCLUDING CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TXDOT, UM, AS WELL AS SAS.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, ENTHUSIASTIC TO WORK WITH COLT COLETTE AND LEARN FROM, FROM HER EXPERIENCE.
SO THE PATH MOVING FORWARD, AGAIN, WE'RE LOOKING TO BRING THIS TO COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL ON THE CONTRACT ON AUGUST 19TH.
FROM THERE, WE'LL LOOK TO INITIATE THAT STUDY VERY QUICKLY, UM, LEADING UP TO IT BEING ADOPTED IN JANUARY OF 2023.
IT SEEMS FAR OUT, BUT A LOT OF STEPS ALONG THE WAY AND A LOT OF, UM, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT HAPPENS WITH THE DISPARITY STUDY.
AND THEN UPON THAT, WE'LL TAKE THOSE FINDINGS, REVIEW THEM AND RECOMMEND CHANGES TO THIS BETA ORDINANCE.
AGAIN, DOING MORE ROBUST OUTREACH, UH, WITH THE COMMUNITY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
UM, THE TEAM AND I ARE HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UM, ANNA, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND, UM, AGAIN, WE, WE LOOK FORWARD TO THIS BECAUSE WE DO GET TO TRACK THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE SINCE THE SAB BETA PROGRAM BEGAN, AND IT'S SIGNIFICANT.
SO APPRECIATE THE WORK OF MICHAEL AND ALEX AND EVERYBODY IN THE DEPARTMENT TO MOVE THIS ALONG.
LET ME GO RIGHT TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS.
WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
MAYOR, I WITHDRAW MY QUESTIONS.
IT WAS ANSWERED IN THE PRESENTATION.
AND, UM, ANNA, I JUST WANNA SAY, I, I, IT'S QUICK.
AND THIS IS AN AWARD-WINNING PROGRAM, AS I UNDERSTAND, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE FOR THE BENEFIT OF MY NEW COLLEAGUES THAT THEY, UH, KNOW THAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE A, A STELLAR JOB IN, IN DO, IN DOING THIS AND PUTTING IT TOGETHER.
BUT ALSO WANTED TO THANK, UM, JUANITA SEPULVEDA BECAUSE SHE'S A DISTRICT FOUR APPOINTEE, AND SO SHE'S THE CHAIR, SO I DON'T THINK THAT SHE'S, UH, HERE, BUT, BUT WE REGULARLY CHECK IN WITH HER AND GET FEEDBACK ON SMALL BUSINESS.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHE GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER VIE GRANT.
I'M GONNA WANT AN INDIVIDUAL BRIEFING ON THIS, AND, UH, SO I'LL, I'LL SEE YOU AGAIN.
BUT ON SLIDE 12, WHEN IT TALKS ABOUT RECOMMENDED THE SUSPENSION CONTINUATION OR EXPANSION, WHAT WOULD SUSPEND THIS PROGRAM? IF, IF IT'S BEEN IDENTIFIED THAT THERE ARE NO LONGER DISPARITIES IN AN ISSUE, THEN AGAIN, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO MEET THAT STRICT SCRUTINY, WE WOULD HAVE TO SUSPEND THE PROGRAM IF THERE IS NO LONGER AN IDENTIFIED, UH, DISPARITY IN A SPECIFIC AREA.
I'M SURE THEY WON'T FIND THAT, BUT THANK YOU,
COUNCIL MEMBER GRA AND COUNCIL MEMBER POL.
UH, VERY QUICKLY, THIS PROGRAM WORKS.
[02:30:01]
BUSINESS PROGRAM.UH, ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO MAKE IT STRONGER, BETTER, MORE EFFECTIVE, AND, UM, HAVE ITS REACH, UH, IMPACT MORE SMALL BUSINESSES THAN NOT, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK ALL OF US ARE, ARE OBLIGATED TO SUPPORT.
UM, AND I, I'LL GIVE YOU, UH, YOU KNOW, AN EXAMPLE.
UH, THERE'S A, A WOMAN THAT WAS MENTIONED EARLIER TODAY AT A BREAKFAST MEETING, MARY, YOU TALKED ABOUT, UH, JULISA CARELLO, BUT, YOU KNOW, SHE IS A DIRECT BENEFICIARY OF PROGRAMS LIKE THIS.
AND, UM, WITH HER VERY, VERY SMALL FIRM, UM, SHE'S NOW BECOME A VERY BIG FIRM, UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE TOOK A CHANCE ON HER AND SHE DID EXCELLENT WORK.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, BENEFICIARIES LIKE THIS WOULD INCLUDE, UM, JANIE GONS OVER AT, UH, C P S AND WEB HEAD.
UM, THERE ARE LOTS OF FOLKS OUT THERE WHO HAVE BEEN, UH, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY THAT USED TO NOT EXIST, UM, PRIOR TO THIS PROGRAM.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE A GENTLEMAN WHO I RESPECT VERY MUCH ALWAYS REMINDS ME, YOU KNOW, WE'RE THE SEVENTH LARGEST CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND WE OUGHT TO START ACTING LIKE IT.
I THINK, UM, CONTINUING TO INVEST IN THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, ACCOMPLISHES EXACTLY THAT.
SO I, I, I SUPPORT THIS THANKS TO STAFF FOR WORKING HARD ON THIS.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION, ANNA.
AND, UH, WELCOME TO OUR NEW DIRECTOR.
I KNOW WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A MEETING TODAY THAT, UM,
DO WE HAVE S BETA REQUIREMENTS WHEN WE, UH, BRING ON MAYBE A SLATE OF CONTRACTORS OR A SLATE OF PEOPLE WHEN WE, WE DON'T NECESSARILY AWARD ONE CONTRACT, BUT WE HAVE, SAY, YOU KNOW, 10 PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO ABATE PROPERTIES? THAT'S A A GOOD QUESTION, COUNCILMAN.
SO IT, BASED ON THE TYPE OF SOLICITATION IT IS, WHETHER IT'S LOW BID OR A DISCRETIONARY CONTRACT, UM, WE'LL DETERMINE THE TYPE OF, UH, TOOL THAT WE CAN PROVIDE.
SO IN THAT CASE, IF IT'S A LOW BID, WE, WE MAY LOOK TO HAVE A SUBCONTRACTING GOAL ASSOCIATED WITH THE TYPE OF WORK, BUT WE, WE EVALUATE THE AVAILABILITY OF THE SPECIFIC CONTRACT AND EACH COMPONENT OF THE SCOPE.
SO IF IT'S A BUILDING AND THERE'S, UM, UH, FOUNDATION WORK AND ROOFING AND, UM, ELECTRICAL, THEN WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT EACH ONE OF THOSE COMPONENTS AND SEE THE AVAILABILITY TO DETERMINE WHICH GOAL WE CAN APPLY.
UM, OKAY, SO I THINK, UH, IN SOME CASES WE, IT'S NOT, UH, LOW BID.
SO FOR INSTANCE, FINANCIAL UNDERWRITING MM-HMM.
SO WE MIGHT, UH, REQUEST THAT GOAL.
AND, UH, I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH KEVIN, UH, THE, THE AUDITOR AND, UH, AND HOPEFULLY THE AUDIT COMMITTEE WILL AND THE COUNCIL WILL APPROVE.
THIS IS A REVIEW OF WHEN WE DO AWARD, UM, OR SORRY, SELECT A NUMBER OF VENDORS, WHICH ONES END UP ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK BE SO WHAT, WHAT I'M WONDERING, AND I, AND I APOLOGIZE, I'M TALKING IN CIRCLES HERE, BUT ARE WE GOING TO BE LOOK AT LOOKING AT THE MONEY THAT THEY WERE AWARDED IN THE CONTRACT, OR WHAT THEY ACTUALLY BILLED WHEN YOU DO THIS STUDY? SO ONCE A, I GUESS WE EVALUATE EACH, UM, POTENTIAL SOLICITATION FOR THE GOAL.
WE CAN APPLY ONCE, ONCE, UM, OUR GOAL SETTING COMMITTEE DECIDES ON A GOAL, AND, AND THEN THE CONTRACT IS AWARDED.
WE THEN HAVE A COMPLIANCE TEAM WHO FOLLOWS THAT THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
SO IF IT'S DETERMINED ON A CONTRACT THAT, UM, IT HAS A A 20%, UM, WOMAN OWNED BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING GOAL, THEN WE'RE GONNA FOLLOW UP THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS AND THE PRIME ACTUALLY HAS TO REPORT ON THAT.
UM, AND THEN IF THERE IS, UM, A DISCREPANCY IN THERE, THEN WE FOLLOW UP ON THAT WITH, WITH THE DEPARTMENT SO THAT THE GOALS THAT WERE AGREED TO IN THAT UTILIZATION PLAN, UM, ARE ACTUALLY WHAT'S DELIVERED.
AND, AND, UM, ONE OTHER, ONE OTHER COMMENT, AND I THINK IT'S SLIGHTLY BEYOND THE SCOPE OF, OF THIS STUDY, BUT THE DISPARITY STUDY THAT, THAT WE'LL SEE WILL TELL US ARE WE, ARE WE MEETING THE GOALS BASED ON WHAT THE MARK, NOT THE MARKET, BUT WHAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF THE MARKET, WHAT THE SUPPLIERS LOOK LIKE, RIGHT? OF, OF SERVICES.
SO IF, IF ONLY 20% OF ALL ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING FIRMS ARE MINORITY OWNED, OUR GOAL WILL BE BASED ON THAT 20%.
EVEN IF THE POPULATION, UH, OF MINORITY OWNED IS MUCH, MUCH LARGER, SORRY, OF MINORITY, THE MINORITY POPULATION IS MUCH, MUCH LARGER THAN THAT, RIGHT? IF WE MEET THAT GOAL AROUND THAT 20%, THEN WE SAY, OH, WE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND, AND THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
WHAT, WHAT I'D LIKE TO CONSIDER DOING
[02:35:01]
IS HAVING A TYPE OF, AND AGAIN, THIS IS SLIGHTLY BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS, HAVING SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT WHAT THE CITY CAN DO TO GROW THAT PERCENTAGE OF MINORITY OWNERSHIP.AND I THINK WE HAVE A NUMBER OF SMALL PROGRAMS THAT DO THAT MINORITY OR WOMEN OWNED THAT DO THAT.
DO WE HAVE A MEASURE OF HOW IMPACTFUL THOSE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN? OR IF WE DON'T, UM, CAN WE GET THAT AND CAN WE COME UP WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THIS COUNCIL TO CONSIDER IN, IN THE FUTURE, MAYBE FOLLOWING THE, THE COMPLETION OF THIS STUDY? BECAUSE, UH, I KNOW NOT TOO LONG AGO WE DROPPED THE ABETA PROGRAM FOR WOMEN OWNED ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING FIRMS BECAUSE THE GOALS HAD BEEN MET.
UM, THAT'S NOT TO SAY WE HAVE ENOUGH, UH, WOMEN-OWNED ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING FIRMS IN SAN ANTONIO.
UH, SO ANYWAY, I, I POSE THAT TO YOU.
I WOULD LOVE A FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATION AS THIS, AS THIS STUDY CONCLUDES.
AND I, AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO, TO PUT THAT OUT FOR CONSIDERATION FOR THE ECONOMIC AND AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE TO, UM, TO CHAIR AYA.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ANNA, FOR STANDING THERE SO GRACIOUSLY WHILE I'M RAMBLING ON HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, UH, PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD.
LOOK FORWARD TO THE PROCESS UNFOLD UNFOLDING.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, I THINK WE ARE DONE WITH OUR AGENDA.
UH, AS FAR AS BRIEFINGS GO, PLEASE NOTE WE DO HAVE A 5:00 PM PUBLIC HEARING AND OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED CITIZENS TO BE HEARD.
SO, UH, WE ARE GONNA MOVE THE EXECUTIVE SESSION TO TOMORROW.
THERE WILL BE NO EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY.
EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS THAT WERE POSTED FOR TODAY WILL BE CARRIED OVER UNTIL THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW, THURSDAY, AUGUST 5TH, AND MAY BE CONSIDERED AT ANY TIME DURING TOMORROW'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING.
AND THE TIME IS NOW 4:45 PM AND TODAY'S MEETING IS NOW IN RECESS AGAIN, ONCE, UH, UH, ONE MORE TIME.
UH, WE WILL BE BACK HERE IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING ON OUR HUD ACTION PLAN, AS WELL AS OUR CITIZENS TO BE HEARD.