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Governor Newsom’s plan for California’s vaccine shipment delay

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Published  February 19, 2021 11:33pm PST
Joe Biden
KTVU FOX 2

Governor Newsom’s plan for California’s vaccine shipment delay

As President Biden visited a Pfizer plant in Michigan, Gov. Newsom has devised a plan for when the delayed COVID vaccine arrives in California.

SAN FRANCISCO - Governor Gavin Newsom took a tour of a vaccination site in Alameda County Friday that was giving shots to educators in Alameda County. It was the county's first mobile vaccine site in partnership with FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services.

The governor also announced a new plan, starting March 1st, to reserve 10% of first vaccines doses for teachers, school staff and childcare providers.

"Beginning with a baseline of 75,000 dose every single week, that will be made available to set aside for those educators and childcare workers," said Gov. Newsom.

The goal is to help California schools reopen for in-person learning and get students back in classes by April 15th.

Gov. Newsom says 6.9 million vaccine doses have been administered, and the state has the capacity to administer more than one million doses per week if they get the supplies.

"The only constraint now is manufactured supply, said Gov. Newsom.

President Biden and his White House Covid-19 Response Team say some 6 million vaccines were delayed due to weather but the deliveries to states are expected to arrive early next week. White House officials called on state vaccine distributors to work overtime to make up for the delays.

Arriving in Kalamazoo, Michigan Friday, President Biden took a tour of the nearby Pfizer coronavirus vaccine production facility. Walking through the warehouse full of 350 ultra-cold freezers, workers showed the President pallets, each full of more than 350,000 Pfizer COVID vaccine doses. New data indicates the vaccine can be stored safely for two weeks without the extremely cold temperatures.

"Please, for yourself, your family, for your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and available," said President Biden.

"If we all work together from the factory all the way to the vaccinators, we will make up for it in the coming week," said Andy Slavitt, a White House Covid-19 Senior Adviser.

Federal officials said 1.4 million doses were in transit to states Friday, with FedEx and UPS planning Saturday deliveries. President Biden says his aim is to deliver 600 million vaccine shots by the end of July

A vaccine candidate by Johnson and Johnson is expected to be considered for emergency use next Friday by the FDA.