it was emotional. dr. sara cody took a 20-second pause before saying this. >> we have lost 553 people in our county. covid, in fact, is on track to be the among the five leading causes of death here in our county. so our pandemic locally is out of control. >> as we ride and go through this dark tunnel, there is some more hope on the horizon. another vaccine appears to be on the way. today an fda report said moderna's covid vaccine is safe and 94.5% effective. the agency is expected to grant the vaccine emergency use authrisatiaut authorization of this week. san francisco, the first vaccine aegzs took place this morning. lili tan. >> reporter: today a momentary

sign ref leave for health care workers who have seen families suffer for the last 12 months. the first of millions of shots to end this pandemic are now in the arms of bay area residents. it was the shot the bay area has waited ten very long months to see. [ applause ] >> today marks a milestone in our efforts. >> san francisco general administered the first covid-19 vaccines to frontline healthcare workers today. the first shot going to dr. antonio gomez, who has treated some of the city's most critically ill covid-19 patients. >> we have seen patients who have had to go true this process alone, and that is a very difficult thing to deal with when you're on the front lines. >> he says he's convinced pfizer's vaccine is safe and highly effective. >> i wouldn't have administered

it on myself if i didn't think it was safe. >> covid cases across the state and country, a surge that this vaccine won't be able to slow for months. >> to be clear, this is hope, but we don't even have enough doses to cover all of our health care professionals. >> still, the excitement among front line workers is clear. >> we're ready. we're really ready. it's -- it's exciting living history right now. >> dr. desi codis is responsible for vaccine distribution at ucsf which is set to start its vaccination program tomorrow. >> we are not just vaccinating doctors and nurses. we are vaccinating those who transport patients and those in environmental services and keep our areas clean, our uc police that are first responders. anybody that's on the team. >> reporter: ucsf expects to administer 4,000 to 5,000 doses of the covid vaccine in the next two weeks and hope the next

vaccine from moderna will be approved later this week. in san francisco, lili tan, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, lili. >> as we've been telling you, california's coronavirus surge continues to escalate. statewide we saw more than 32,000 new cases. that's a near record. it is also nearly triple the number we saw on our worst days during the summer surge. sadly, the state also saw 142 new deaths linked to covid. the bay area is getting dangerously close to more restrictions. that's because if you look at it, as a whole, the nine bay area counties, the icu availability is creeping closer to the 15% threshold. let's show you where things stand county by county. santa clara and marin county are in the red and less than 15% of icu beds are open. if you look at san mateo and solano counties, they are right on the edge and they continue

right here to be in the orange tier, okay? so -- but let's look at alameda and napa counties. those are the ones that are actually doing in the yellow and doing much better than the other ones because they're above 30% when it comes to ecu beds. janelle? >> thanks, jessica. a sobering statement from governor newsom. he's activated the state's so-called mass fatality program. that means he's bringing in temporary morgues and ordering thousands new body bags as the icu fills up and the biggest issue isn't beds. it's finding the staff to care for the people in them. >> reporter: here at regional medical center of san jose, right now they have 90 covid patients and they had to bring in additional staff to handle the surge. >> governor gavin newsom says california is in the worst covid surge since the beginning of the pandemic with an average of 163 people dying every day during

the past week. so many deaths the state has now activated its mass fatality program. >> we just had to order 5,000 additional body bags we just purchased for the state. in the bay area hospital icu beds are filling up fast. as of this morning there were just 35 icu beds left in all of santa clara county, but it's the staffing shortage that is the biggest concern. today governor newsom outlined what the state is doing to address the problem. >> we are actually looking overseas, interestingly, to potentially recruit some staffing. >> he says the state has already added 80 additional paramedics and emts, 50 national guard members and asked the department of defense to provide an additional 200 healthcare workers. the state is also making changes to get quarantined nurses and doctors back to work sooner. >> during our critical staffing shortages, we now are up to seven, not a ten-day quarantine

for health care workers and emergency response workers and social service workers that have been exposed and as long as they test negative on day five or later. >> reporter: in the bay area, special centers are preparing to handle patients who were not acutely ill including here at the craneway pavilion in richmond which is preparing 250 beds. the good news is today the governor said that the state has plenty of ventilators and personal protective equipment. in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, marianne. the spike has led to a shortage of icu beds in the state capital. it's been activated as a patient overflow site. several patients are being treated at the arena. the staff is preparing for patients as early as tonight. they're one of the 11 sites in california. in total 1800 beds are being

made ready for an overflow of patients across the state. >> governor newsom said the state of early supply vaccines are being distributed among 3 million frontline workers and skilled nursing facilities first. so who's next? the next phase con sisters of 8 million people, that is teach e farm workers and grocery store employees and the so-called community advisory committee will ultimately decide who goes next. it is holding an open forum tomorrow where you can give your input. >> with so many people lobbying to be considered high priority this opens up a new concern. will there be a black market for the covid vaccine? raj joins us now with people trying to jump that line, raj? >> this will be a global problem, jessica. we are talking about vips, the wealthy, athlete, you name it. many people will try to jump that line. among the initial concerns right now is fraud. people posing as grocery store workers or teachers and getting

that priority status or simply a knockoff vaccine. this is all unfolding in real time. we chatted today with one of the country's biomedical physicists. >> that is something we have to be considered about and the message to get out very clearly is that people should not try to jump the cue by buying things in that way. that's a good way to get something that's not approved and something that's not a real vaccine. there's going to be people trying to take advantage of people's fears and concerns and given the importance of being able to maintain trust in the population about the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. it's going to be critically important that people get their vaccines from their physicians, from pharmacies and reputable sources where those things are being distributed in a fair manner where you know what you're getting through the cdc and through the chain of distribution. >> good insight from the professor. we talk about the grocery store

workers and teachers and here are other priority groups according to the professor. electrical and water supply employees, meat packers, as well and people coming into hospitals. what characteristics do they share and if they're sharing a lot of characteristics, perhaps that sub group, whatever that is will be one of the high-priority groups. he noted the way we're doing testing right now is a total disaster. athletes and vips getting tested regularly. he says the vaccine will be different because it's coming from those official sources and not from independent contractors. jessica, janelle? >> thanks so much, raj. former presidential candidate pete buttigieg has a new job. he's joining the biden cabinet as secretary of transportation, a key post in biden's plan to revitalize infrastructure. the president elect was in georgia rallying for democrats locked in two senate runoff elections. on january 5th john ossoff and

rafael warnock, lessening mitch mcconnell's grip on the senate who acknowledged biden's victory today. >> the electoral college has spoken. so today i want to congratulate president elect joe biden. >> i called him to thank him for the congratulations and told him while we disagree on a lot of things there are things we can work together on. >> and a new pledge today from mcconnell that congress will not leave for the holidays until a covid relief bill is passed. he's expected to score a bipartisan bill released this week. >> i am chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking much-needed rain and show you which cities could reach over a half and close to three-quarters of an inch. i'm back with that in about eight minutes. kids are eager to play sport again, and new guidelines about which ones can start first and when. >> as soon as i saw it, light

bulb. a set designer finds a new purpose during the pandemic. how he's putting his carpentry skills to work to help dozens of students in need. it's part of the bay area proud series. when we welcome our west coast viewers we'll take you to ground zero of child hunger in this country, and the forces making the problems worse and how you're able to help in communities of color and that's all ahead on "nightly news."

new state guidance tonight for youth and recreational sports during the pandemic. outdoor physical conditioning, practice and skill training are allowed across the state even in

counties with stay at home orders, but the types of sports that you can do really depend on your county's tier. in the most restrictive tier which is the purple, you're allowed to do track, cross country, tennis, swimming and golf. in the red tier it's baseball, softball, cheerleading and field hockey. those are okay. outdoor basketball, football, volleyball, outdoor volleyball and soccer, that's if you're in the orange tier, and in the least restrictive tier which is the yellow tier, you can do indoor basketball, boxing, indoor ice hockey and wrestling. organized youth sports competitions will not resume, though until at least january 25th and after that, that could change, as well. the supervisor says she's receiving deaths threats for proposing a big increase in fines for businesses violating stay at home orders. the contra costa board of supervisors voted against the idea of steeper fines during its meeting today. before the vote the supervisor who proposed the hike talked

about her frustrations saying she's out of options to get businesses to comply to help businesses to help flatten the curve. >> we don't have the money to backfill the lost business. i wish we did. believe me, it would be the front and lesht of what my colleagues and i talked about. >> for now, fines will stay at $250 for the first violation. $500 for the second and $1,000 for a third. >> did they wake you up? two earthquakes shook up the south bay about a minute apart before they just both hit before 7:00 this morning. both were centered northeast of morgan hill. earthquake was 3.7 followed quickly by a 3.6. no reports of any damage, just some rattled news. the show must go on. you've heard that expression a thousand times referring to the theater, but what happens when the show actually can't go on? >> for one man in the south bay he's making sure his creative talents are being put to good use. garvin thomas shares his story in tonight's bay area proud.

>> so much has changed these past nine months. it's always a bit of a shock to stumble across a spot where nothing has changed since march. >> well, this is the set that has yet to be used. >> the stage at west valley college theater is one of those places. >> basically the show was about to start. >> the sets that andrew bright designed and built back then still sits unacted upon. >> painted and ready for a show that's never happened. >> it's been a trying time for all who work in the theater including andrew. he is a professional artist who taught in the past, but not until he walked backstage at west valley five years ago did it all come together for him. >> i saw drawing, painting, it was engineering and working with students and it was just this perfect confluence of everything i like. >> but while time may have stood still in the theater, andrew has

not in the shop. he's been making simple desks to be given free to remote learners needing a space to learn. andrew got the idea after seeing a video of a father making desks for his kids. >> as soon as i saw it, light bulb. i was, like, this is something that i can do to tangibly help right away. >> you can set it right here. andrew got to work with donations like places like the local home depot and volunteers from the school and community. they have already constructed 80 desks with enough materials for 80 more. >> andrew has been delivering them to the campbell union school district who have had no problem finding takers among their students. >> we've heard it makes a difference. the kids are able to focus. they're not working at a dining room table surrounded by family, by dogs, noise, distractions. they can find an area of their own and the parents are saying it makes a difference.

>> making a difference by making sure that in this theater, good things went on during the pandemic, even if the show couldn't. >> garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> that's talent. >> absolutely. all right. let's bring in jeff -- >> that's great. >> jeff has a talent of tellinging us when the rain is coming. >> you've got that right, and look, most of tomorrow will stay dry then as we roll through late, late tomorrow night into early thursday, when a lot of us are sleeping and that's when we'll see the next round of rainfall. let's go ahead and get the microclimate forecast started and we'll get you a big, wide, expansive view and i like to always do this when we have a storm headed our way and set your bearings on where things are at the current moment, and you can see in the wide view here, i've depicted where the cold front is and that's where the best chance of rain will come from. it's still about 900 miles away

and some time before it gets here and we do still have that rain coming to the bay area. a close-up view here of stormranger and the only one in the bay area and just one of six in the country and you can see that it is dry here across the entire bay area. even through tomorrow morning i don't expect any rainfall chances, as i mentioned and the biggest thing here would be the increase in cloud cover and temperatures not quite as cold instead of 30s, we'll have upper 40s and low 50s and that's because the cloud cover will act like a little bit of a blanket and insulate us somewhat here. 48 for the east bay, and san francisco to 51 and we'll be hard pressed to get warming tomorrow with the approaching storm system and clouds increasing through the day, so we'll be at 59 here in san jose. 58 in concord. 57 in martinez and then right up here to santa rosa and napa just slightly cooler as you'll be closer to that storm front with 55 in santa rosa, 56 in napa. so let's get to the rainfall

chances and what you're going to see here is the time bar in the top right hand of the screen, and then any green that shows up, that of course, is the rain. you can see the key there at the top, as well above the time bar. so by 1:30 in the afternoon spotty showers around kernville. then as we hit late tomorrow night, you can see the storm front, yellow and orange indicating heavier pockets with the cold front and really the bulk of this rain moves over by 2:00 in the morning. it's going to be widespread rainfall here from santa rosa down to oakland and right into san jose. so some heavier rain overnight and then once we hit thursday morning when a lot of us are waking up, that storm has passed through. >> totals for this look pretty impressive to the north bay and we are good for about another half inch and close to three-quarters of an inch and the same thing for the east bay and higher elevations and for the lower elevations of the east bay and the south bay will be right around a tenth to a third of an inch.

rain here means snow for the sierra, as well. we'll talk about that in a second, but i do want to show you on the extended forecast. we'll dry out friday, saturday, sunday and also on monday. drying as well for those inland valleys as we head into the upcoming weekend and we have more of the mornings coming on in. the snowfall totals up across this year. they're under covid operation, but if you have to travel and going over the passes we're going over a foot and you do need to prepare for winter conditions. if we can manage one storm system a week that will definitely help our rain down and so far, janelle and jessica, it looks good to get some storm systems as well for early january at this point. >> okay. >> we need to catch up. thanks, jeff. coming up, amazon investing in san francisco. the real estate the company just snapped up and what it plans to do there. ♪

we have the power to harness california's abundant solar and wind energy, but it's not available all day long. use less energy from 4 to 9 pm for a cleaner california.

a big buy for amazon. the company just snapped up a $200 million site in san francisco where it plans to build a new delivery station. the site is at 907th street near mission bay. it bought it from a waste recycling company. it's six acres mostly parking lots and waste management buildings. amazon is one of the largest real estate deals this year as many tech companies have sub-leased their office space ore moved their headquarters out of the bay area entirely. the trump administration will not offer protection to the monarch butterfly. california is heavily invested in the butterfly's welfare. this is the key migrating destination for the monarch. the fish and wild life service declined to add it to the endanger endangered species list and that made a lot of environmentalists

angry. the monarch's status will be reviewed again next year. a day to be grateful for families in the east bay. the salvation army gave food to more than 500 families and toys to more than 1500 kids today. the salvation arm hez been hosting this holiday giveaway for years and due to the pandemic, the event is drive-through now. the pandemic has hit families so hard. >> a lot of these families are coming to us with quite a lot of them as first-time folks who have never come to us for help before due to the loss of jobs and income. >> the giveaway runs through tomorrow, 8:00 to 4:00 with an hour lunch break. families must sign up online. a treasure trove of an cece adams just sold for millions of dollars. we'll show you next. 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. to your friends... your family... to your teachers. in that spirit of giving, chevy's proud to give our employee discount to everyone. the chevy price you pay, ...is what we pay. not a cent more. because giving, ...and giving back, is what the holidays are all about. use the chevy employee discount for everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado. get the chevy employee discount for everyone today.

four hundred dollars satchel paige was still dominating batters at 59.at 52 celia cruz was still winning grammys at 77 john wheeler illuminated our ideas of the universe at 70 and roger crouch was 56 when he first went into space your best is yet to come no one sees you need help. no one knows you're not okay. so when someone recognizes the importance of mental health and offers a hand, it means everything. my illness may be invisible. but thanks to covered california, i'm not. all covered california health insurance plans are comprehensive - with mental health coverage, and financial help for people who need it. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 15th.

coming up tonight at 6:00, the lines to get a vaccine is forming, but where do teachers fall in it? we'll talk to east bay schools for their plan to get teachers vaccinated. >> the weapon against covid you can use at home. no prescription needed. what it is and how soon it will be available. lester holt will join us in about 90 seconds. photos made by famed

photographer ansel adams sold for $6 million at auction. >> it's sdreedescribed as the h grail of the collection. he bought a half dome over the merced river for $685,000. >> wow! >> it had little-known bay area scenes including this orchard in san jose which he photographed in 1945 and he photographed saratoga's paul mason winery in 1957. it was part of a winemaking series and a breathtaking view of the winter sunrise from inyo county. it is sold for $400,000. >> those photographs just continue to be timeless. they are really, really beautiful. >> that's going to do it for us. "nightly news" with lester holt is next. we'll see you soon. thank you for joining us.

tonight, new hope in the pandemic battle as more vaccines arrive and are given to frontline health workers. a second vaccine now expected to win emergency fda approval as soon as friday. how does it compare and when will the vaccines reach hard-hit communities of color plus the new home test just approved no prescription needed results almost instantly. all of it as the cdc issues a grim prediction tonight as the death toll climbs and new cases and hospitalizations soar the massive winter storm taking aim tonight. tens of millions under threat major cities in the path some areas facing two