get lifted? changed? rescinded? >> reporter: they did not expect the county to change its position. >> we have many who have chosen not to be vaccinated at this point, and they will have to make decisions as to what they're going to do. >> reporter: the union says they don't know how many if any unvaccinated firefighter also change their minds. >> we've always felt that's an individual's choice for those firefighters. that if they choose not to get vaccinated, that's their choice, and we've respected that. >> reporter: now, at this hour, county officials have been meeting with department heads and unions to talk about this policy. and they say that many of these agencies or divisions will be asking for a waiver from this public health order because of staffing problems. and i've been told county officials say they will evaluate those on a case by case basis. live in san jose, robert handa, nbc bay area news. >> robert, thanks very much. it's not just santa clara county workers, though with the vta could be fired unless they have a religious or medical exemption. they want the agency to consider a testing option for employees. the union anticipates they will lose between 2% and 5% of employees who will be fired or quit over the mandate. >> for vta to say losing 2% to 5% of employees who've been here for 30 years in some cases, it's just, actually, it's the public getting to see the tip of the iceberg of what we've been talking about all the way along. there is no real culture change here. >> as of last week, 61% of their employees are vaccinated, 71% have received one dose. the county is allowing people to sign up, take home up to four tests. the first 15,000 appointments released friday were booked up. so the county added more appointments today, you can register at sccfreetest.org. you can choose your location, and these are only for people who live, work or go to school in santa clara county. dr. fauci says we could finally be starting to peak. new covid cases in the u.s. are dropping. the case rates and hospitalization rates are above levels in previous surges. the u.s. added 690,000 new cases, a 2% increase. the hospitalizations are on the rise with over 157,000 people hospitalized, a 18% increase. while we seem to be rounding the corner on the omicron surge, a new sub variant is emerging, labeled as b.a.2. it's a variant under investigation. that's what they're calling it. about 400 cases detected in the country so far. we'll check in with our infectious disease expert about what it means for the bay area. talks continue, but no solution as teachers in oakland prepare to go on strike. they're demanding better safety measures. the union says more than 100 staff members tested positive for covid last week, and the remaining staff is stretched thin. as you have questions, we have answers for you. go to our website, nbcbayarea.com and click on the covid faq link. and we have information on where you can get tested. san jose appears poised to be the first in the nation to require gun owners to carry liability insurance. with the funds going to domestic violence and suicide prevention programs aimed at reducing gun violence. >> more than 200 san josens every single year suffer death or serious injury as a result of firearms, and we must to everything we can within our power to prevent another family from another devastating loss. >> it they will not some gun violence. >> the city council is to vote. and groups said they will fire lawsuits. a firefighter fell off a second story. the firefighter was not seriously hurt and is expected to be released from the hospital. tonight paramedics, she's going to be released from the hospital tonight. paramedics rushed her to the hospital when it happened this morning. >> fortunately, the pitch of the roof is such that the edge of it was at the level of about the first storey which would normally be a first-storey roof edge, and the firefighter fell off of that, did hit a bit of a wall coming down, but we were fortunate that it wasn't from the full height of the second storey. the firefighter was able o get up and walk. so we're grateful that the injuries were not life threatening. >> it appears that the fire started with an electrical ish ah in the attic. the cause of the fall will be investigated as well. four days in, and crews are still battling a fire between carmel and big sur. it forced roughly 500 people out of their homes. evacuation orders remain in place. all this going on in the middle of winter. the last update from cal fire says it's 35% contained and 700 acres have burned. the number was revised last night. the monterey county health department is telling people to boil their tap water or use bottled water for drinking or cooking. there's concern over water system damage from that fire. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking this fire. how could the fire spark in mid january? we had rain, they had rain, it was a few weeks ago we were getting a lot of rain. >> we get a look at the data, it will make a lot more since. we've been undergoing something called precipitation whiplash. in october we had record-setting rain. we also got some rain in november, but overall it did trend drier, then december came in strong. and most recently in january we've been extremely dry. we've had extended periods of drying. now that, coupled along with the drought, and those are the main underlying causes we're dealing with right now. even though we've made headway m the drought you can see the state remains in this drought condition. we've had all three factors met in the fire weather triangle. we had the weather, strong winds, 20-40 miles per hour. topography, very hilly terrain near the coast and there was a lot out there to burn. with our changing climate, as long as we're getting warming temperatures and more frequent droughts, wildfires are possible possible any time of the year. our meteorologists are tracking all things climate. go to nbcbayarea.com/climate in crisis. can you find climate hotspots around the bay area and tips and tricks you can incorporate into your life to reduce your carbon footprint. the alameda county sheriff's recruit who was shot earlier this month was laid to rest today. families and friends gathered for david nguyen. his killer is still on the loose. >> he's one of the strongest individuals i know, and i know he's looking down on us and smiling. >> reporter: david nguyen should be sitting alongside these men and women in blue. the alameda county sheriff's office, all on the cusp of graduation. >> an excellent recruit, everything you could want in a future law enforcement officer. >> reporter: but instead of saying congratulations, his loved ones gathered here at the cornerstone fellowship church in livermore to say good-bye. >> he had so much life left in him. >> reporter: he was heading to his home in san francisco after a day of training in dublin when authorities say he was struck by a single bullet as he was driving through the macarthur maze in oakland. we checked if there had been any updates and there weren't any at this time. nguyen's sister spoke on behalf of his family. she shared an inside joke. and instructions on how to continue her brother's legacy. >> be kind, compassionate. take care of your loved ones. take care of the community. i know that's what david would want. but don't disappoint him. >> reporter: as nguyen's fellow recruits escorted the casket to the hearse that would take his body to the final resting place, his parents trailed behind. a mother's heartbreak echoed throughout the church. david nguyen's academy class will be back here at this church in livermore on february 4th when they're set to officially graduate and become members of the alameda county sheriff's office. david nguyen will be named in honor. >> so heartbreaking. thank you, melissa. the search for david nguyen's killer is still ongoing, and it's not the only unsolved shooting case. jasper wu was killed on 880, riding in the back seat of the car driven by his mother. amani morris was also killed. her two kids were in the back seat. no suspects have been arrested in any of these cases. still ahead, explaining the new omicron variant. our infectious disease expert breaks down if it will make its way to the bay area and the symptoms people are experiencing. the groundbreaking hollywood access you'll soon see on a coin. and we are tracking fog coming back for tomorrow morning. also cold temperatures and even more wind. i've got it all coming up in about six minutes. an arrest in connection with a spray painting of two santa clara county court houses. authorities say he vandalized the courthouses earlier this month and is believed to be responsible for graffiti on the probation department building, the san jose police department and s.a.p. center. back to the new coronavirus variant. it is under investigation. at least 400 cases have been detected in the united kingdom. some experts believe it may be more contagious than the original omicron variant. we are bringing in our infectious disease expert, dr. peter chin hong. thank you for being on this program. >> my pleasure, terry. >> all right, so there's not a lot of information out there, but whatever it is, i have a feeling you know it. tell us about this new variant. what symptoms are people in the uk experiencing when they get b.a. 2? >> it's about the same as omicron. people don't think that it's anything different. so far in terms of symptoms. so very much like a cold, very mild for many people. some people are getting more severe, going to the hospital. the concerning thing about b.a. 2 is that it's overtaking omicron, the regular strain of omicron, which is called b.a. 1, more rapidly, and for example in denmark, it went from about maybe 20% in december to more than half the cases now a very short order of time. as you said, 400 cases so far in the uk. maybe 200 in the u.s. identified. they're in about 40 countries so far. so it's kind of like the new omicron so to speak. >> the new omicron. we're just getting over the old omicron. do you see this sub variant making its way to the bay area? >> it probably is already here. the problem with b.a. 2 sub variant is that it's not as easily identified. you still tell that it's code or sars covid 2, but to figure out it's b.a. 2, you have to to a more laborious, entire jen onlyic sequencing. that's why people think it is more common than is meeting the eye, but the silver lining is so far we don't think it's necessarily causing more severe disease. the governmental agency from denmark was really overtaken the regular omicron didn't really find any difference in the hospitalization rates between b.a. 1, regular omicron and b.a. 2, the new sort of like souped-up omicron. >> the vaccines are working against b.a. 2 as well? we know that yet? >> we don't know for sure that it's more transmissible. i mean, that's certainly a question that people have. but, in terms of protecting against serious disease, hospitalization and death, our vaccines and boosters really don't care, generally, what variant you have, because they adapt to the variant, that's why hospitalizations in general, you know, are not really a big issue in omicron, given the vast number of people. in other words, if we had so many people infected, we would have seen much sicker people, and it's really the vaccinations that are keeping people from being as sick with omicron. we think the same effect is going to be seen with b.a. 2, sub lineage of omicron. >> a couple silver linings, dr. peter chin hong, thank you for taking the time again today. >> my pleasure, terry, thank you. violating air quality regulations, a refinery is in trouble. the benicia refinery was inspected. they cut emissions, but the problem was never fully fixed. let's check in and see if we've got rain coming. we've heard so much about it. we have seen so much of it and it went away. >> nothing big this week. maybe next week we could be getting in on some chances. february's still looking up for the potential of rain to return. i know. as you said, terry, we want more of that to come our way. tonight, more beautiful sunsets coming our way. i don't see any problems in the forecast have you have anything to do this evening. i want to move it into our top weather stories. we still have this area of high pressure, that's what's been producing the dry weather, pushing the storm track off to the north. that stays in place really all week. at the same time, we're going to see fog develop tomorrow morning and really cold temperatures, down in the 30s for parts of the bay area. and we're also going to get a small system dropping down the backside of that high pressure to create wind. this does not look nearly as gusty as it was friday among but definitely in the forecast. tomorrow morning you can see some of the wind starting to pop, 20-40 miles per hour. lower elevations, not that bad. 10-15 miles per hour. then as we head through the afternoon, that area expands, keeping with 20-40 miles per hour gusts. we'll be around 20-25 here in the mountains. so really, tomorrow afternoon we get in on some isolated mountain wind. then that would gradually start to calm down tomorrow night, also into wednesday. now, besides that, we're also going to be dealing with fog as we roll through tomorrow morning. on your commute, watch out for that. we have widespread cloud cover, and patchy areas of fog for the east bay. we're going to get sunshine moving back in. what about the temperatures? look at this, going down to a chilly 36 in the tri valley, peninsula 31. east bay, 38. 42 in san francisco and the north bay dropping down to 37. so we start off cold, but, again, the drier wind direction is going to help temperatures rebound pretty quickly. that will bring us to 64 in cupertino. for the east bay, we're also looking at mid-60s returning into antioch and concord. peninsula, you get sun for the afternoon and 60 in redwood city, san francisco, got you at 58 in the mission. let's move it off to marin, 68 in ukiah and napa coming in, in the mid-60s. san francisco, just subtle, day to day differences here, upper 50s, low 60s. across the inland valleys, keep that heavier jacket out. lots of 60s for highs. no rain next seven days, but mid next week we could be looking at shower chances. we'll have more as we get closer of course. >> sounds good, jeff, thank you. coming up, a new rule that changes who is allowed to vote in the san francisco school board recall. we'll explain, next. your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on inside. it's true, with diabetic retinopathy, excess sugar can damage blood vessels, causing vision loss or even blindness. so, remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is important to your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments from a retina specialist that may help protect against vision loss. visit noweyesee.com and take charge of your sight. a task force of asian-american parents are rallying hundreds to vote in san francisco's school board recall. they have organized close to 400 asian voters, including 89 newspaper-citizens. they reaffirmed chu. they argue that the board failed to address concerns of asian-american parents. the election, february 15th. a california native will appear on u.s. money this year. anna may wong is one of five u.s. women to honored with their likeness on a quarter. she was a groundbreaking hollywood actress and first asian-american movie star. she was frustrated at stereotype roles. she appeared in more than 60 movies. other women include social activist maya angelou and saly ride. 38 years ago today history was made in silicon valley as steve jobs introduced the macintosh computer. >> the audience was thrilled to see it and hear it. >> i introduce a man who's been like a father to me, steve jobs. >> all right evidence of steve jobs showmanship. the macintosh seems so primitive, but back in 1984, this was huge stuff. it was about $6400 in today's money. it was marketed to engineers and professionals and architects. >> i remember that so well. it seems like we've had computers forever. a political analyst larry gersten breaks down where all this is headed. >> plus, cautiously optimistic. dr. anthony fauci with promising news about omicron. and condemning the hate. new