Gov. Kevin Newsom traveled to Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center on Monday to see California’s first corona virus vaccine being given to health workers.
“This is a big day,” Newsom said. “It simply came to our notice then. But again, these are the days when we need to be mindful of the challenges we face. ”
The first of the region’s 83,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday. Overall, California expects to receive 327,600 doses in the first batch, the governor told a news conference following the vaccination event.
“We’ve been going around the clock for the past nine months,” said Kim Taylor, Kaiser’s emergency room nurse, who was one of the first five people to receive the first dose of the corona virus vaccine. “Help is coming. Today is the first step.”
Developed by Pfizer and the German company Bioendech, the vaccine is highly recommended for health workers to administer in two doses given at 21-day intervals.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Corsetti said on the show: “The sight of the vaccines we saw brought tears to my eyes.” It shows human ingenuity. It shows the stubbornness that humans have. We want to survive. We want to prosper. We want to do this. “
Live Now: California Pfizer is starting to get vaccinated, which is a key moment in the fight against # COVID-19, And health workers receive the first dose at a hospital in LA.
https://t.co/9s2yIlUqE2 pic.twitter.com/tAqsb5gqVi
– Governor’s Office of California (oGovernor) December 14, 2020
Addressing the assembled health workers, he said, “I know the hours you work. I know the stress you saw. I know the pain you have experienced and the loss you have seen. ”
A total of 33,150 doses of the vaccine were received Monday at four different locations in California, including San Francisco General Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka and a facility in San Diego.
Newsom reported that 24 additional locations will be available for export on Tuesday and Wednesday for five more locations.
He said the government hopes that Moderna will receive an additional 672,600 vaccine doses from the pharmaceutical company, “within a week or so” after receiving emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
“Whenever someone in my condition gets this, I expect him to wait until he is vaccinated,” Newsom said.
He reiterated that health workers would give priority to vaccinations against the corona virus.
“I didn’t lower the fort,” Newsom said. “I’m not going to get in the way of any important worker I see in front of me.”
More than 59,000 California health workers have been infected with COVID-19, and 228 have died as of Sunday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Despite the arrival of the vaccine, officials stressed the need for restrained confidence, reminding people that the state is at a critical stage of the epidemic and that it is still necessary to follow masks, social distance and other safety regulations.
“Today, we received multiple quantities in the state of California because there were new cases in the state of California,” Newsom said.
On Monday, 33,000 new confirmed corona virus cases were registered, bringing the 7-day average to 31,000. The average daily death rate during the same period was 159, while the positive rate rose to 10.6%.
Los Angeles County set a new record for COVID-19 hospitals over the weekend, while San Francisco County announced its highest number of corona virus cases since the outbreak.
A critical care nurse at Long Island Hospital became one of the first Americans to receive Pfizer’s corona virus vaccine Monday morning, a day after the company began shipping supplies from its Michigan factory.
California officials expect vaccinations to arrive by Dec. 21 from federal agencies designated for staff and residents in efficient nursing facilities and long-term care facilities under the guidance of the state Department of Public Health.
The third ship will arrive by the end of this year, Newsom said.
“Hope is the reason to be optimistic today, but we will remember where we really are in terms of this epidemic,” Newsom said. “Excuse me for saying this, but I’m very cautious at the moment we are.”
Edin Waziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]