right now at 11:00, a pivotal and monumental moment. tonight pfizer's covid-19 vaccine gets the green light from the fda. >> this is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history. it will save millions of lives and soon end the pandemic once and for all. >> so what now? the wheels are in motion so vaccinations can begin as early

as tomorrow. also a troubling outbreak in the south bay. the youth sports program connected to more than 70 cases of covid. and an urgent call for help from the governor as hospitals are running out of beds and staff. >> an east bay college has a training program to help medical professionals during this deadly pandemic. >> and another reason to stay home this weekend and inside. you're looking at it. the green on the radar. rain that's been rolling in through the night, so how much more is on the way? you don't want to miss jeff's forecast. thanks for being with us on this friday night. the fda's emergency approval is indeed warp speed. what so many of us hoped for and prayed for is happening. the first doses could arrive in the bay area tomorrow. injections soon after. nbc bay area sergio quintaina is at the va hospital in palo alto, one of the few facilities that will be receiving the doses. >> reporter: this is one of 37

va hospitals across the country that's going to be getting some of those first batches of the pfizer vaccine. health care workers and veterans in long-term care are going to be getting some of those first shots. within minutes of news that the fda approved the emergency use authorization of the vaccine president donald trump tweeted out a three-minute long video followed minutes later from a message by california's governor gavin newsom. >> through our partnership with fedex and urps we've already begun shipping the vaccine to every state and zip code in the country. the first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours. >> which means there are 327,600 doses of the vaccine on the way to the state of california. >> reporter: the centers for disease control will also be issuing its own approval this weekend which prioritizes who gets the vaccine first. at the front of the line medical workers as well as residents and workers in long-term care

facilities like those here at the va palo alto center. >> the sense of the weight lifting and life starting a new. >> reporter: that's how daniel describes his immune system is now producing antibodies to fight off covid-19 after his rounds of shots. he participated in clinical trials. he says he did get light-headed and some body aches after the second dose, but he says it's worth it and looking forward to people getting the shots so life can return to normal. what's the one thing that you're looking forward to in some sort of return to normality? >> i want to go fly to see my parents and have my children and my wife come with me. and i want all of us to hug my 90-year-old parents. >> reporter: it will take several months for a widespread rollout of this and the other vaccines when they get approved. the fda is scheduled to consider approval of moderna's vaccine

thursday. >> the goal now is to get freezing co freezing cold. fedex is giving us an inside look at its cold center in memphis. that's where it'll be essential in ensuring the company can ship the vaccine which has to be stored at negative 4 degrees fahrenheit. the government paid for the vaccine so it's free, but how easy will it be to get it, to get to it? nbc news looked at how close the average american lives to a distribution site. the areas in plunow take a look at the map of the states. the areas in more where more than 90% of the people live within 5 miles of a pharmacy like walgreens or cvs or a doctors office. but look at the areas in red where people live more than 50 miles from a vaccination site, rural areas, the pid west, new mexico, arizona, up towards nevada and utah.

zoom in now on the bay area. mostly in blue. that's good news. 99% of people who live in santa clara county, for example, live within 5 miles of a pharmacy or doctors office. remember blue is good. contra costa county, alameda county, sonoma county. but look at napa county the only area not in blue, only 54% of people live within 5 miles of a distribution site. what happens after you get vaccinated? take a look. how do you show your employer, for example, if it's required you got your shots? governor newsom tweeted this photo today. everyone will get one of these after their first dose. despite all of our technology state leaders say these cards are the simplest way to keep track of who got both shots. we've created a special race for a vaccine section on our website. it's a great resource here. we're posting all of our stories in one spot. just go to

nbcbayarea.com/vaccine. all right, let's get to the rain. it's a beautiful thing, a wet and cozy start to the weekend. look at thismism our live cameras showing rain falling across the bay area. our lens pretty fogged up and wet actually. jeff, grab a good book, play some chess or watch some football. perfect december weather here. >> yeah, it really is. i can hear my gutters outside right now going pretty good here in the east bay as we've had some heavier downpours for a lot of the bay area. for most of tonight it's been some light to moderate rainfall. we'll take a look at storm ranger doppler radar and we can show you the heavier pockets that just moved over where i'm at and is now moving off towards the south. you can see this rain over concord and danville. and this will continue down into livermore as we head into the next 30 to 40 minutes. and off to the south tracking some rain over the peninsula and even san jose getting wet with some rainfall expected to continue as we head through the

next 30 to 40 minutes as well. so far at this point we've done pretty good. and a little bit less for san jose but at least we're on the boorld. i'll talk about a second round of rain full for the weekend so you can plan around that back here in about 11 minutes. >> we'll see you shortly. thanks, jeff. new at 11:00 a covid outbreak stemming from a youth basketball tournament near sacramento. bay area teams were there, some from the south bay. they're dealing with dozens of cases. santa clara health leaders say 77 people have now been tied to the outbreak. 39 youth players, three coaches and 35 additional contacts. there are also 17 cases in other counties. this is video from the tournament in rockland which is just outside of sacramento. health investigators say the santa clara county teams traveled there for this indoor tournament in early november. county health officials say that was one of violation orders

there, and an investigation is under way. we spoke to one coach from brentwood who was at the tournament. he says he was under the impression the teams were following the rules based on the public guidelines. >> you know at the time the tournament was being held we were all in the orange tier, right? so it was my understanding that being in the orange tier according to the covid guidelines it was safe as long as as the safety protocols were being followed. >> the coach told us the tournament had temperature checks and required masks being worn by the players except when they're on the court. but he adds since the outbreak he's decided to stop entering his team into the competition, any competition until infection rates come down. santa clara county's assistant public health officer said this. public health orders, directives and guidance around contact sports and sporting events are in place for a reason. the risk of transmission in these settings can easily result in community spread that

threatens the most vulnerable among us. well, california's numbers are getting even higher. today the state reported 35,000 new cases. that tops yesterday's record by more than 4,000. today also brought the highest death toll yet, 220. as for the state's positivity rate, it's the highest rate since april. 9.7%. you can see the spike there on the graph. we've tripled in the past few weeks. all of this means hospitals are filling up. the bay area is getting closer to that 15% threshold that could trigger a regional stay at home order not just selected counties. the bay area region now has 16% of icu beds available. a desperate plea now from the governor this evening. we have a critical nursing and nursing assistants shortage. governor newsom is willing to use state money to do so. here's nbc bay area's cheryl hurd. >> reporter: governor gavin

newsom sending out the urgent tweet stating that the icu capacity statewide is less than 10%. on top of that he says staffing remains the number one issue. a critical nursing shortage is a fact in california. and the covid crisis is making it worse. >> we're still understaffed. the nurses are burnt out. they're fatigued. so with the pandemic it's just made a bad situation worse. >> reporter: genevieve is the director of the nursing program at the college of alameda. she says with hospitals at or nearing capacity here in the bay area the pandemic is creating unprecedented challenges for nurses. >> nurses are working 30, 40 days in a row just to try to, you know, stay -- help people basically. >> reporter: the governor is looking for help, too. the second part of this tweet put out a call for medical

professionals to come back during this crisis. he says the state will pay for time and fees to renew licenses. the college of alameda is answering the call for help during this pandemic. they're offering a nursing assistance program. the tuition is very low, and the students take the courses for no credit. >> there are about 5,000 jobs a year that cannot be filled because there aren't enough certified nursing assistants. and that's one of the reasons why we started the program. >> reporter: nurses on the front line need nursing assistants now more than ever as health care workers scramble to save lives during this covid crisis. cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >> well, cracking the code. tonight a message from the zodiac killer. has it been solved? we'll tell you what was

deciphered after more than 50 years. and the change restaurant owners in san francisco are asking the city to make asap as they struggle to make ends meet. i'm tracking the rain moving through right now on storm ranger. i'll show you when the next round of rain gets here for the weekend so you can plan around it. i'll be back in about 6 minutes.

another blow to president trump though it's unlikely to phase him. the supreme court rejected the texas effort to overturn election results in joe biden's battleground state. tonight the president responding on twitter the supreme court really let us down, no wisdom, no courage. his supporters saw the lawsuit as their best hope and maybe their last hope to derail biden's victory before the electoral college confirms the election result next monday. well, here's a fascinating and eerie development.

new insights into the notorious local serial killer who's never been caught. the zodiac terrorized the bay area in the late '60s and early '70s. after nearly half a century a coded message sent by the zodiac has finally been cracked. >> reporter: the zodiac taunted the police and the press. investigators attribute four encoded messages to the killer. crack the code, he told police, and they will catch him. responsible for at least five murders in northern california in the late '60s the notorious serial killer was never caught, and only one message was decoded until this weekend. three private citizens including a code breaking experts revealed a message called the 340 cipher. it reads i hope you're having lots of fun trying to catch me. that wasn't me on the tv show. he says the zodiac is responding to this famous moment on live tv.

>> i want to kill those kids. >> reporter: the decoded message goes on. i'm not afraid of the gas changer because i now have enough slaves to work for me. in a statement the fbi confirmed the accuracy of his work adding that the cold case is still open. the murders both sinister and confounding inspired a movie. the first of four ciphers were cracked quickly. the next one took 51 years to solve. >> splitting it up into three parts and including multiple transpositions made deciphering difficult. >> reporter: in the end the message revealed nothing who the zodiac actually is, but there are still two more to go. it's been one year since the city of wuhan reported the first case of covid-19. at the original epicenter of the pandemic take a look life pretty back to normal.

streets are busy, restaurants filled and all the kids are back at school. the only real visible sign the virus is still there, well, people wearing masks. and the same questions still linger how and where did this all start, the virus? the w.h.o. says it hopes to get its team there in wuhan early in the new year to work with chinese scientists and begin the hunt for answers. back here at home it's been nine months since the pandemic changed everything and restaurant owners again say they're being left out in the cold. tonight some took action. here's nbc bay area's jean elle. >> reporter: outdoor dining here in san francisco is no longer allowed. parklettes are sitting empty and that means restaurant workers are out of work. tonight they went to city hall demanding help. wanting to work bar and restaurant owners along with employees say outdoor dining on the deck is a lifeline during the pandemic. >> it was enough to keep the lights on. >> things worked a little bit

when we were outside dining. it worked enough. >> reporter: but with covid-19 cases increasing san francisco is in the state's purple tier, closing the outdoor option. a shutdown many say makes it impossible to make ends meet with just takeout. >> i haven't made any money since march of 2020, and we're almost through our savings am. so it's a challenge. >> reporter: he says without more help from the government people need to be allowed to work. >> the really difficult part right now all my team, all my employees and being closed for as long as we are without much support from our local, our state or federal government. >> it's been tough. >> reporter: baker says he's canceled his health insurance and can't cover expenses. >> pretty terrible. at this point in time unemployment doesn't even cover my rent. >> reporter: workers here say outdoor dining would give them a chance to make some much needed money. >> we want our outdoor dining back for the holidays. open up the decks.

>> reporter: and get through the pandemic. jean elle, nbc bay area news. >> you can see and hear the frustration. well, the clock is ticking. at midnight about 45 minutes from now sonoma county will begin its stay at home order. today business owners were making last minute adjustments like we've seen with so many other counties. they're anticipating more online orders and curbside pickup. some restaurants even building outdoor dining space hoping it'll be put to good use next month. >> we'll get through this. and i think it's going to be a while. and june is very optimistic. >> we will have to still be patient. other people we spoke with say even though they're a little ticked off, they don't like the rules they are ready to hunker down and do their part. jeff ranieri back with us as we talk about this rain. i love it, jeff. went out into the parking lot and said what is this? we haven't seen it in so long. >> i know.

and when we did get it, it was really so far and few between so far this season. it's just been really slow going. we had that extended fire season, so i think everybody is right along with you, raj. kind of walking outside tonight and getting wet a little bit. as we bring you into that microclimate forecast the storm moving in comes in two different parts. so we're not expecting wet weather all weekend long. the warm front is moving in right now. so over the next 12 hours that's going to provide some spotty areas of rain. then as we roll into sunday then we'll see our second shot at rainfall with a cold front, and that would bring more widespread rain and also increase those totals. let's bring yowl into storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar, the only one in the bay area. it's got to scan closer to the ground to get a better and more accurate view what's happening. you can see some rain over the north bay, east bay, south bay, and peninsula. it's moving off toward the south and east, so this moderate rain

over santa rosa will continue through napa as we head just after midnight down to the south. we have that heavier rain over alamo and danville. and as i told you it's now curre currently over livermore and passing over tracy. and we heard from our weather watcher in south fremont 0.33, so it is beginning to add up. san jose a bit of a dry pocket, but you definitely have had some wet weather tonight. and morgan hill you can see activity is more moderate in nature. so as we bring you over to the peninsula, also some areas of moderate rainfall right now, and that's also going to be tracking off towards the south i think into sunniville just after midnight. and you'll see as we roll through tomorrow morning this system begins to break up, but we'll have that cloud cover with us at 7:00 in the morning. and really tomorrow is a break from any kind of consistent rainfall. then as we head into sunday's

forecast there's that kekd round of rainfall that will get here for the morning. and by the afternoon we'll see that scoot on out. totals for this on average about a half to 0.3 for the north and east bay. south bay right around a third of an inch, close to half for some of you. south bay watch out traveling to the summit. totals are expect today be over 1 foot. dry out monday, tuesday, wednesday with more shower chances as we head into friday, saturday with plenty of 50s, 60s for highs. again more chances coming our way. so this is definitely some good news as i've been saying for that fire danger. >> did you make that pot of chili for dinner tonight? >> yes, and a lot of it's gone. >> good for you. thank you, jeff. have a good weekend, by the way. remember that south bay teenager, he painted that portrait of kamala harris, well

his résume just got even more impressive. we'll explain. and happening now a bummer for a lot of teenagers. the dmv is once again suspending behind the wheel driving tests for at least two weeks. the agency says the tests which require a tester to be in the car with the driver are just too risky at a time when covid rates are so high. we're back in a moment. make your holidays happen... at ross! surprise! ahhh! yes! i love it! you don't have to spend a lot to give a lot to the ones who mean the most. you've got the holidays, and we've got you, with the best bargains ever... ...at ross. yes for less!

yep! get the gifts you love... yesss! ... for everyone on your list. you've got the holidays, and we've got you... with all the gift for less. at ross. yes for less! san francisco setting aside millions of dollars to help its most vulnerable communities. mayor breed announcing the city is awarding more than $5 million in grants to 10 organizationings. one of them the latino task

force which has setup dozens of sites which you see here. it has been pivotal in supporting neighborhoods hit hardest by the virus. the money will go toward things like mobile covid testing, contact tracing and wellness programs. we love this story. the kid is big time. the national pot slight is once again shining on a san jose teenager whose artwork is now on the cover of "time" magazine. that's lebron james right there. he's "times" athlete of the year and the editor commissioned 14-year-old tyler gordon of san jose for the portrait. gordon, you might remember this got a lot of attention just last month with this time lapse video of him painting vice president elect kamala harris went viral. he invited us to his home studio in the south bay and showed us how art helped him cope with his partial deafness. from one good story to another one, san jose state football. we'll show you what they just

did tonight. pretty amazing. stay with us. jordan knows he shouldn't eat this entire bowl of nachos. but tonight, he's earned that right. because a few hours ago, in the middle of happy hour, he recognized a sign. not from the gods or a bolt of lightning, but from a double-heart, a kissy face, and a fourth ha in "hahaha." that's when jordan knew he was buzzed. so, when it was time to go, he got a ride home instead of driving. be a legend like jordan. recognize your buzzed warning signs and get a ride home.

all right, this is it. it's got to be the bay area's best sports story, the resurgence of san jose state football. we've never said this. the spartans finish the regular

season undefeated. how about that? tonight in las vegas technically this was a home game for san jose state, but you know the deal. santa clara county essentially kicking them out of town. spartans against nevada, third quarter what a comeback by the spartans. nick starkal to derek, jr. a 21-20 san jose state on the top. and tyler nevens busts through for a 60-yard td run. san jose state beats nevada 30-20. the spartans are 6-0. they advance to the mountain west title game. congratulatio congratulations. they've been practicing in oregon for the past few days getting ready for tomorrow's game at oregon state. cal is at washington state tomorrow as well. and we're looking forward to seeing the warriors take the court tomorrow night, the

preseason opener at chase center against the nuggets. steph curry ready to go after breaking his hand last year. remember no draymond or top pick james wiseman as they're both recovering from covid. we're back in a moment. this year, xfinity internet gives you more options than a holiday dinner table. pick the speed that's right for you, with options faster than gig. and get reliable internet with top-notch coverage. plus, help keep your data safe and private with security included. no antlers on the table. how come you get to eat first? get started with this great offer, or ask about our fastest speed, 2 gig up and down. switch today.

finally tonight, nice to end with a smile. it's beginning to look a lot like christmas at the state capitol. beautiful, the tree lit up. the 89th tree lighting ceremony was virtual, of course. the ceremony featured interfaith traditions and musical performances from across the state. well-done. that's going to do it for us at 11:00. from everyone thanks for joining us. we hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay healthy. ♪ [ cheers and applause