 Let's stand behind. I mean, let's not look lonely at the time. He says we stand behind, so we can stay socially distanced behind. Let's see if we all want to sneak out and do our job. Good afternoon, everyone. Joe Prado, representing Fresno County Department of Public Health. I'm also leading the vaccine response for Fresno County. I want to thank you all for being here today. And I want to thank Cargings-Mancosta, Governor Newsom, Senator Hortado, Assembly Arambula, also Supervisor Pacheco, thank you, and Mayor Dyer as well. I appreciate them coming here today and really what a great time for us to talk about the vaccine response here in Fresno County. And during this time, this historic time, we really need to think about how can our nation, our state, and our county get through this pandemic. And the only way we can get through this pandemic is through bold leadership. Bold leadership at all levels is necessary to get through this pandemic together. So as we think about Fresno County and the Central Valley, we have seen significant health inequities in these areas here. Well, we have appreciated, and it started at the federal level, the focus on equity. We've seen this through the federal policies, and then Governor Newsom definitely has put an exclamation point on equity throughout this entire response. And that is something that the Central Valley and Fresno County has appreciated. And that is something that we need to continue to push forward. So post-COVID, when that happens, equity cannot go away. These equity principles must stay intact because it will be a key part of public health moving forward. Fresno County so far has administered 94,000 doses. This was done through partnerships and collaboration. Yeah, great, thank you. The partnership and collaboration was very key and important, and this was done through our cities, our community-based organizations, our local businesses, our schools, our medical providers, and our media partners. We cannot be here today with 94,000 doses without each and every one of you. And moving forward, all of you will be a key component in ensuring that we can continue to make our communities safe and this public health infrastructure that we are building today. Everyone that I just mentioned, this cannot go away. We cannot forget COVID. We must remember it and continue to build our public health infrastructure outside of government walls and within our community. So I want to just thank you, and I really appreciate you having me today. And now I'm going to pass it off to one of our bold leaders, Supervisor Pacheco. Thank you. I'm proud to welcome the honorable Governor Gavin Newsom to Fresno County and the big Fresno fairgrounds. Joining me today are my colleagues, Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes. This is the home of Fresno County's main vaccination center. The Governor is here to witness firsthand the success of Fresno County rolling out its vaccination program. And hopefully today, the Governor will bring exciting news of an increase in Fresno County's allocation of COVID-19 vaccinations. No pressure, Governor. I would also like to thank the Governor for allowing Fresno County to pilot a pilot program for our essential farm workers. I am pleased to report the program was a resounding success with 85 to 90 percent of our essential farm workers accepting the vaccinations. Fresno County has led the effort in vaccinating our most essential farm workers more than any other county in the state of California. And Governor, with your help, we can do even more. Next is Mayor Jerry Dyer. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Appreciate it. And also with me, I have Council Member Soria from the Fresno City Council. I want to personally thank the Governor for being here today in our community. It means a lot when the leaders of this state come to your community and get to see and learn firsthand what the issues are and what the process is in place. You know, one of the unifying messages I believe across this country is the fact that we need more vaccines. We all agree with that. We all have vulnerable populations. We all have people within our communities that are suffering, people who have ended up in the ICU units, people who have died. Unfortunately, we all have that. And there is a unified message from from mayors across the United States asking for more vaccines to be disseminated in their local jurisdiction. And so we need that. Those vaccines are the lifeline, the lifeline to opening up schools, the lifeline to opening up our economy. And so we all agree we need more vaccines in our community. I'm looking forward to the message that the Governor gives us today in terms of that increase here in Fresno County. The other thing that I have found that we need just as much as vaccines is unity. You know, in time of crisis, I spent 40 years in the Police Department. One of the things that I saw in time of crisis, that people either stand shoulder to shoulder and they encourage one another and support one another. Or they become divided and they begin to blame one another and point fingers at one another. And unfortunately, we've seen far too much of that in terms of the pandemic and the distribution of vaccines. And so, yes, we need vaccines, but we also need to stand together as Americans and support each other and encourage each other and know that we're doing the very best that we can at all levels to get these vaccines into the arms of as many people as we possibly can. So we can reopen our schools, our economy and ultimately save lives. Next, I'd like to introduce Assemblymember Joaquina Ramble, if you would please come forward. I'd like to begin by grounding myself in a Native American proverb. No single raindrop believes itself responsible for the flood. I'd like to focus on three parts of that proverb. First, the single raindrop, second, responsibility and finally the flood. I am but a single raindrop in this process of advocating for our communities, our communities of color, our poor, our immigrants. And I'm so pleased to be standing here today with so many other raindrops as we are excited for what is to come. I come with a sense of responsibility. Responsibility I learned from working in an emergency room where you take care of every single person who walks through your doors. A similar responsibility I must imagine our governor feels for the great state of California and all Californians as he is providing resources and taking care of us as well. But it is with justice, with gratitude, with appreciation and hope that I am also standing here. Because we are in this together, all together. But I want to highlight, if I can, some of the choices that our governor has made that have put us on solid footing and pointed us in the right direction towards equity. We were the first state in the nation to declare a state of emergency. That was a bold decision and one which we need to appreciate and be thankful for our governor. Similarly, similarly, our governor allocated a strike team for the Central Valley to make sure that we were having our resources during the surge that we had this summer. Similarly, he issued a stay at home order during our holidays which helped to save thousands of people's lives. He also is helping to bring resources here with equity in mind. And so with that gratitude, with appreciation for all those who are working on the front lines right now, it is hope that I want to share the most with you. Because this announcement will give hope to our people that progress is being made to eradicate this brutal virus. It will give hope to us that we can safely reopen our economy and it will give hope that we can return to the lives that we knew. I am so pleased to play a small role here today and so grateful that so many are helping us to deliver for our communities. With that, I would now like to invite Senator Hurtado to the microphone. Thank you Assemblymember Arambula. I really want to take this opportunity to thank all the community members, the Fresno County Department of Public Health, our governor who has been a great listener and just a great advocate for the Central Valley. You know, the Central Valley Fresno County were the top agricultural region in the nation. We feed the state, we feed the nation and really we feed the world and our agriculture employees have been extremely important to our food supply chain. And a lot of us have been really emphasizing that importance. To me, it's a little bit personal because my parents both work in poultry plants. And I think about all the families and the children of the parents that are working at the poultry plants and the meat plants all across this nation. The same fears that I had back when I was a child are even greater today for the children of those parents. And it's important to get them vaccinated because of the pathogens that they come across in the nature of the work that they do. So we've got to start really thinking about addressing COVID today, but also preventing the COVIDs of the future because the COVIDs of the future are happening and occurring as we speak. And there's a lot of work for us to do and unity is so important. As the mayor mentioned, we need to be united because there's plenty of work for all of us to do, but we can only do it if we are united. So I want to once again thank the governor for all of his work and just caring for the Central Valley and providing the resources that we need. You know, an investment in the Central Valley is an investment in California and an investment in the nation. So thank you, Governor. And I would like to invite Congressman Cost at this moment. Thank you, Senator Hurtado for all the good work you do. And I thank all of my colleagues here for joining with us to welcome our governor here, the governor of the great state of California, who is always welcome in our valley. And we appreciate all the focus and attention you are giving to this most difficult crisis that we are facing in California. I think it's important, though, that we thank those who deserve the most thanks. And that's our health care workers, whether we're talking about our physicians, our nurses, whether we're talking about our efforts with regards to those who work in our health care centers or hospitals or clinics. These people every day are trying to protect our health and they are putting themselves at risk and their families at risk. And so let's give a shout out for all those health care workers, not only here in Fresno County, but throughout the state of California and throughout our nation. In addition to that, I want to, it's a fitting and appropriate that we're at the big Fresno Fair, as Melissa indicated. The number one agricultural state in the nation and the number one agricultural county in the state. And this is the center for so much activity and Fresno County is to be committed for the vaccination center that they have provided here. As is said, 94,000 vaccines so far and we're just beginning, almost 10% of the county's population, which is on track where we're out right now in terms of California. But let's understand where we are. We have a vaccine shortage here in our country today and we have vaccine disparities. But I tell you, I am confident with the governor's efforts and with the president's efforts that it's going to get better in the next two weeks. It's going to get better in the next month and it's going to get better in the next two months. Why? The president 10 days ago ordered 200 million more vaccine doses that are going to be provided between now and this summer for a total of 600 million vaccine doses that will allow for two shots both in the visor and the Modena vaccine. On February 24th, Johnson and Johnson will come before the approval of the CDC and the FDA for a new one shot vaccine that will begin in production in March. Pfizer also indicated that they think they can double production before the end of the year and they've been able to shorten their vaccine development time from 110 days for a vaccine to 60 days. It's going to get better. It's going to get better in the next two weeks and in the next month and in the next two months. And that's why efforts like here in Fresno County, it's so important and all of our Valley Counties and the entire state to build up that capacity to ensure that we can address the needs of this state and of this nation. Let me just say that the governor has been at the forefront as mentioned and making tough decisions that are unpopular. Dr. Vorhaw and others have stood up when, you know, it's not easy to shut down businesses and restaurants. I mean, we want to go out. We all got cabin fever, right? And this is a great state. But we've had to take incredible actions to knock down this pandemic when we have not had a vaccine available. We now have vaccines available and it's making a difference. And by the middle of this summer, we will reach the president's goal to have over 70% of Americans vaccinated along with other efforts. Now, a lot of my colleagues say, well, what can you do to help out? I'll tell you what you can do to help out. Support our efforts on a COVID relief package that we hope to produce before the middle of March. It will provide additional support for state, for local government, for more testing, for ramp up of trying to provide protection for our schools so that we can get them open again because we must get our schools open again and to get our economy open again to get our restaurants going. But this is all part of a plan that the president unveiled almost two weeks ago, a national plan with cooperation with our states and local government. And that's why if you want to be helpful, if you want to be supportive, we're all in this together. Blaming and pointing fingers doesn't solve any problems. It doesn't produce one more vaccine. But working together, supporting the governor's efforts, supporting the efforts with the Congress in this very important legislation that we hope to pass by March 14th, we will provide the basis of support that our country needs. We know people are hurting. We know there's frustration. In some cases that frustration turns to anger. And there's fear. There's fear. A lot of people, pre-existing conditions. But Fresno County has demonstrated that we can do a great deal if we have the support for our farm workers. Essential workers, we had to treat them as their essential workers, to ensure that our packing sheds and to ensure that our food processing facilities, like the effort Fresno County did with Foster Farms last week, 1079 vaccines in four days, 91% of the workforce. We want to replicate that throughout the valley. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm welcome to a dear friend of mine, a person in the first week as he was sworn in to governor as governor, did not go to San Francisco, did not go to Los Angeles, but went to a small valley farm community. And he said, the San Joaquin Valley is a critical part of California's character, its ability, and its tenacious desire to do better. And our farm communities throughout here reflect that. And if they don't have adequate water, if they don't have adequate housing, he says they're not going to succeed, and he's right. And he's dedicated his administration to addressing these needs here in the valley, and he's never forgotten us. And he's made tough decisions that aren't popular right now, as you can tell from some folks. But he is tenacious, and he is steadfast, and working together, we're going to get through this. Americans get through crises when we work together. And Governor Gavin Newsom is giving us the leadership and the direction to ensure that we come together and that we fight this pandemic so that we have the outcomes that we want by the middle of this summer and into this fall. Give a warm Fresno County welcome to Governor Gavin Newsom. Thank you for being here, Governor. Thank you, Congressman. Thank you, all of you, Ms. Mayer. Thank you, Assemblymember, Senator. Thank you to Councilwoman and, of course, members of the County Board of Supervisors. Joe, thank you for assembling all of us here today. And it's an honor to be back with all of you. I just wanted to quickly update you on where we are in this pandemic and where we're going. I want to level set in terms of the progress that's being made in this state, the progress that we're also making on behalf of each and every one of you here in the Central Valley, and in particular here in Fresno County. First, let's just begin with the top line numbers. A month ago today, we had 13.9% positivity rate here in the state of California. Today, we're down to 4.8%. 13.9%. 30 days later, 4.8%. 30 days ago, we reported just shy of 50,000 cases of COVID in the state of California. Today, 8,400. We're seeing progress in every category, including hospitalizations. Hospitalizations in the last two weeks are significantly down. 34% decline in hospitalizations over the last 14 days, 28% decline in the number of people in our ICUs. We're seeing testing continue across the state, and that testing is providing us a sense of the community spread that's also led us to a deeper and greater understanding of variants. The issue of mutations is top of mind, not only here in the state of California across this nation, but increasingly around the globe. Important to update you on what we know. We have 30 state genomics labs that are doing isolate testing. Over 12,000 isolates have been sequenced here in the state of California. We currently, as I speak to you, we have 159 identifiable cases of the UK variant in the state. We have 1,203 identifiable West Coast variants in the state. There are two types of West Coast variants. I said yesterday that we had not identified any Brazilian variants, and that's true. Yesterday, I also said we hadn't identified any South African variants that's no longer true. As of a few hours ago, we have the first reported cases of South African variants. Two cases have been reported through Stanford, one in Alameda County, and one in Santa Clara County. So two variants that we identify as South African variants now are in the state of California. So I say that to make the point. Tremendous progress. 50,000 cases down to 8,000 cases. 14% positivity now down below 5% positivity. Isolation issues related to ICUs and issues related to hospitalizations trending and moving in the right direction allowed us to lift that stay-at-home order in the state. And now we're continuing to progress people through these tiers. Yesterday, we announced more counties moving out of that purple tier, and we anticipate within a week or two even more counties moving as that will force or rather allow for the re-institution of opportunities for businesses to open with more capacity. And as the mayor rightfully said, to get our kids back in school. A top priority for all of us, particularly parents like myself with four young kids. Update briefly, on schools, we're working with the legislature on a $6.6 billion early action package. Progress is being made. As I said yesterday, I maintain confidence that we will announce a deal as early as Friday with the legislature that will allow our youngest cohorts to return safely to school starting with kindergarten to second grade and ultimately get cohorts up to sixth grade, at least in that first phase. We continue to make progress in terms of not only those negotiations on school reopening, but also on more small business relief. I noted just yesterday that we closed the door on the second round of applications for state grants that we're providing five to $25,000 for small businesses that was part of a half a billion dollar appropriation. We're looking to triple that and potentially even do more with the legislature. And we're hoping as early as next week to move early action in that space that will provide billions of dollars in direct grants and aid to not only our small businesses, but also provide support for nonprofits and cultural institutions here in the state. So a lot of activity, working with the legislature, a lot of energy, and most of that progress will manifest with early votes as early we hope is next Tuesday and later into the week, the end of next week. Now let me come back to Central Valley. Let's talk specifically about where we are. I just had the privilege of meeting an 85 year old former farm worker. She just received her second Pfizer shot. She's here with her husband as well. She represents now the fifth or rather five millionth person that's now been vaccinated here in the state of California. We have crossed the threshold of five million people being vaccinated. I want to put that in perspective. On Friday of last week, we announced 225,000 vaccinations over 24 hour reporting period that represented four million mark in less than a week. We've now reached five million. It took us about seven days to go from three to four million. You get a sense of the progress that is being made this flywheel in terms of the distribution, the application, the administration of the vaccine real progress is being made. We announced new vaccination sites just this week up and down the state of California. Last week, a partnership with FEMA and California Office of Emergency Service and the Biden administration. Two sites, one Cal State LA, one site in Northern California, Oakland Coliseum focused exclusively on the issue of equity geofencing the geographic areas in and around those sites to make sure that underserved and underrepresented communities are getting their access, fair access and distribution of these vaccines. Our commitment to equity is not rhetorical. It's real. But let me make this crystal clear. From all the reporting you've seen at the county level and the state will be putting out the aggregate of that county data later into this week as it relates to demographics, we are falling short of our goals of making sure that we truly are being equitable in the distribution administration of this vaccine. I am proud of Fresno County. I'm proud of the Mayor. I'm proud of the supervisors. I'm proud of the Assemblymember, Senator, and I'm proud of your congressmen for their commitment not passing interest to the issue of equity. It was noted a moment ago a pilot project three plus thousand farm workers that have had vaccine administered in a pilot that's now just concluded. We are committed to working with the Biden administration to land on a date because I know you want a date for when we have a mass vaccination site here in the valley and a location. When we have that information, I'll provide it. When you ask me, I'll repeat what I just said. When we have that information, we will provide it. Our commitment, our resolve to provide you that support is real. We've had very advanced conversations with the administration. That's why we're confident in socializing that effort. And we are making sure that we do it in a timely manner, but we're not waiting. Today, we're also announcing an effort to take our OptumServe sites. We have 20 of them throughout the state of California. They've been doing a lot of testing on the basis of equity and the first OptumServe site now for vaccinations will be at your city college in the next few days and again focused on equity. So this is the beginning of an effort to streamline, to focus, to re-energize this equity lens, working the farm worker community, working with small business, large business, thank you Foster Farms for their efforts to vaccinate over 1000 of their staff, which they did quite efficiently in this last week. But we have to do more. One of the areas where we're seeing progress is two. We're seeing now commitment from the Biden administration, not only on these larger mass vaccination sites, but a commitment to community clinics, which are the backbone of the healthcare delivery system here in the Valley. The administration yesterday announced upwards of 1 million directly allocated vaccines to community clinics. That will also help the Valley in terms of access and distribution in a culturally competent way to those most in need. They're starting around half a million next week and they'll get up to a million of which California received roughly 10% of that allocation. Accordingly, we are about to receive 10% of another 1 million dose allocation and that's directly to pharmacies here in the state of California. This does not come out of our broader allocation and supply. The partnership again, the Biden administration with some of our largest pharmacy chains here in the state of California, 100 pharmacies are part of that project as well. Again, focus on equity, focus on census tracks, underserved communities. We also last week announced 110 community-based organizations receiving tens of millions of dollars in grants in language, peer to peer, trusted messenger strategies to help deliver the message of the efficacy and safety of these vaccines. Many of those community-based organizations located not only here in Fresno proper but in the entire region and in the Valley and so that commitment will continue. This is just the beginning. This is not the end. There is no having made it when it comes to vaccines but I will make this note because it's important. A week ago you had 8,000 vaccines into this county. This week you have over 19,000 vaccines into this county. It's not enough. No one's denying that and I'll close by making the point that congressman just made. The issue of vaccinations is an issue of available supply nationwide. The issue of scarcity is real. While there's light at the end of the tunnel, that's demonstrable in the state's capacity to already administer over 5 million doses. The reality is at the end of the day we're only receiving a little over 1 million a week. The last seven days we've averaged 181,000 doses being administered every day. The last five days we've administered over a million doses. You get a sense of what I mean by scarcity. So when people say where's the state sending the vaccines? We're sending them everywhere. They're out. The state doesn't hold one vaccine. There's not a vial in any warehouse. The state of California does not have any vaccine. We are part of a distribution strategy that comes directly from Pfizer to providers and comes from a third party provider, McKesson, on behalf of Moderna and their vaccine to communities all up and down the state of California. We simply do not have the allocation that we need to get to the levels where we all need to go. 1.08 million last week we received 1.08 million. We anticipate receiving this week and a little over 1.2 million next week. We have more work to do to get more supplies up. And as Jim said, the good news is come March, April, May, we're going to start seeing more abundance. We're going to see more availability, not only of Pfizer and Moderna, but also, as the congressman said, J&J, the one-dose regimen and the emergency youth authorization. We hope as early as the end of this month and start to get those vaccinations into people's arms as early as next month. So light at the end of the tunnel, real progress across the spectrum, a commitment, not a passing interest in the issues of equity, a resolve to make sure every part of the state is included. And to be here today is indeed an honor, particularly with all these extraordinary elected officials that have one commitment. And that is to you, your public health, and to helping us revitalize this economy, not only here in this region, but in this state. And for that, I'm here with gratitude and appreciation to each and every one of them. With that, we're happy, of course, to answer any questions. Hi, this is Jocelyn with CBS 47. You mentioned the 19,000 doses a week we received this week. Can we continue to expect that in the coming weeks? And what about other counties such as Merced County, Madera County, other Valley counties? And there's just been this sense of the Central Valley being left behind. Given our vulnerable populations, ag workers, just many people who have underlying health conditions here, how much of a priority is the Central Valley? Top priority always has been. We've made that crystal clear. Equity is our guiding lights, our North Star, and we've been, we mean business about that. The pilot we've just done for the farm workers is a demonstrable proof point of that. The work we're doing being here today to help support the efforts that are already underway. This mass vaccination site, the announcement as it relates to how we're going to begin to convert these OptumServe sites in a strategic way is another example that our commitment to you to provide some clarity over the next few weeks. But again, with the reality that the state as a whole, a nation as a whole, is dealing with scarcity in terms of total number of available vaccines. We have a three-week window of visibility on vaccinations. That's what the Biden administration is providing this state. That's what we are in turn providing to the counties. Here's a caveat. Next week, we are going to formalize our partnership with Blue Shield and Kaiser, third-party administrators, in order to provide more clarity, more transparency, and more accountability as it relates to the distribution of vaccines. And that will allow all of us, in a granular way, not only look county by county here in the valley, but more granularly within those counties to see how we're performing and to see that we're getting our fair share of these vaccines. Governor Rich Rodriguez from Fox26 in Fresno. First question. There are a number of people who are waiting on their checks from EDD in Fresno County. What kind of hope can you give them if I can be so indulgent? This is a large sports community. People are back on the field, but they can't touch a football and they can't touch a baseball. When will that rule in? We're looking forward to making announcements. I've been working personally, directly, with advocates that include my wife and myself to get youth sports up and going again. Again, I'm a father of four young children, four to 11. So forgive the personalization of this, that deeply our desire is to see youth sports competition return. Now, that happened a few weeks ago for track and field and a number of other sports. We're looking forward to updating the guidelines as conditions approve for baseball. And yes, I am not naive. I know where I am. Know your audience. Also, I'm part of that fan base for football, which is more challenging, more complex, and we are in deep negotiations with advocates across the spectrum, including the let them play coalition that have been outstanding in terms of not only providing evidence, but providing support to update our guidelines. When I say we're working overtime on that, what I mean by that is I'm hoping in the next number of days to be able to more specifically answer that question because of our commitment to let these kids back out on the field of play. That said, on the issue of backlogs, we went through backlog through a strike team at Edd. We identified 1.65 million backlogged cases. We were able to get through all but 110 of those 110 from 1.6 plus million. And we've been able to close that backlog. And we're making real progress, but that backlog again is dynamic. That was the old backlog over the course last few weeks. We have cumulative examples, and I'm sure those are the ones you've cited as it relates to efficiently getting those checks out, but do not be naive that we have to do so in a way that addresses this rampant fraud we've seen all across the United States. So we want to do that with verification and we want to deal with the sophistication of understanding that we have since last October when we began the process of changing our protocols as it relates to the distribution of the same. Governor, you mentioned the City College, I believe. Do you mean Fresno City College will be the OptumServe site? And if so, where, how many will we get at that site? How many vaccinations daily? Yeah, we're starting at 420 on the first day. We're building up from that. So get a sense. Thousands a week want to do more than that. That's what we're starting. We'll get you the exact address and get you the exact date. My hope is to get it. I have a date. That's the 18th. I'm hoping to deliver before the 18th. In fact, I'm confident we will. If you want to socialize this, say the 18th, but I imagine the chances are substantially high that we'll get it done before the 18th, but that's when we contractually have demanded it. Can I ask if those doses come out of the county's allocation and will the county's allocation remain where it is for this coming week or will it potentially fall back down again? Everything's dynamic. It depends on what the state of California gets. Again, state doesn't have doses of vaccines. The federal government distributes those vaccines through their networks. Again, McKesson and Pfizer directly. And so based upon what we know, yes, we can anticipate a similar amount of vaccines based upon what the federal government has told us in terms of the visibility over the next few weeks. As it relates to new vaccines, the community clinic vaccines will be additive. The site we will announce with the Biden administration will be additive. The efforts at the pharmacies will be additive. As it relates to the OptumServe, it will come from existing allocations. Governor Jim Jacobs with GV Wire. I wanted to talk to you about the planning aspect of this. You mentioned we're getting 19,000 vaccines this week in Fresno County with 8,000 prior a couple weeks before that. The difficulty that our county health department has had is planning ahead. They say that they get the dump Thursday morning with how much vaccine we're getting the next week. Can you assure counties that they're going to get a three-week look ahead at how much vaccine they're going to be getting for a three-week period so they can plan more effectively for distribution? That's exactly our resolve. That's our commitment. And having just received that ourselves as a state, we're now providing that window the local level. Now, let me just say this. The purpose of the third-party administrator, the contract, by the way, will be made public this week. I know people are eager to see the contract provisions. Next week it goes into effect on the 15th. We'll provide much more transparency and much more accountability to these numbers and allocations in a stronger and more clear window as it relates to that three-week visibility. But based upon what we know, there should be similar allocations based upon this week's allocations based again on the assurances from the Biden administration. But this is dynamic. And as you know well, we've had fits and starts over the course of the last few months. There was a moment near the end of the last administration where we were promoting close to 50 million doses two weeks, two days later. Find out they didn't exist. And so on the basis of what we're told, we're able to communicate that to the counties. Third-party administrator will provide even more clarity with more specificity and detail than we've seen in the past. Hi, Governor Kerry Klein with Alley Public Radio. Thanks for being here. You've said that the Central Valley is a top priority for vaccinations. But by judging by the numbers of vaccine doses administered here in the region, we're falling short of most other regions in the state. Is it because we're not getting vaccines delivered here at the rate that other regions are in the state? At the end of the day, I think you're improving every single day. I'm really proud of the work the folks behind me have done. You're getting close to 100,000 vaccines. You're getting close to that 10% threshold, which is where we are as a state. And so I think these folks have done a really admirable job. We all need more clarity. We all need more vaccines that will provide swifter, more efficient administration of the vaccines. Sites like this, they've just been remarkably well managed. This has provided 20 plus thousand of those 94 plus thousand for the region. And these additional sites will provide even faster and more efficient throughput. Can you give us a little bit of an update on the lab in Valencia that seems to be falling short of the expectations from the state? Are you going to do an investigation on that? Is that going to skew the numbers that we have? We won't skew the numbers. We're not going to do an investigation. We are actively investigating. We sent a team down there a number of days ago. It's partnership with Perkin Elmer. By the way, all of us are very familiar with Perkin Elmer. Any of us have had kids very familiar with Perkin Elmer because they provide a lot of the genomics testing and testing for all newborns in the state of California. They're a world-class company, but peers that they're falling short in terms of the work at that lab. We're working through those issues. As soon as I have more clarity, I can assure you I'll provide you more clarity. Governor, thank you so much for taking our questions. David Tau with GVWire. When I talked to my barber, Mr. Garcia this morning, that I was coming to see you, that you'd be in town, he was very upset with you. He used a lot of words that begin with F and they weren't favorite. He was upset because he said he closed his business when other businesses were open, and he thinks that your appearance here today and the increase in vaccines are because you're facing a recall. So I'm wondering what would you say to people like Mr. Garcia and maybe to the protesters that are outside who are upset with you and there may be a recall pending? What's your reaction to that and what would you say to them? Every single day I'm focused on supporting small business. I'm a small business person myself. Started right out of college and grew up in politics. I had the privilege of a lifetime taking pen to paper, getting 13 investors, $7,500 each to open my first business with a part-time employee, Pat Kelly. Grew that business to over 20 businesses up and down the state of California, hundreds of employees. I don't say that to impress you or anybody, but to impress upon you, my passion, my respect, my reverence for small businesses. I was very proud to be part of a package in November, emergency appropriation with senator support and the assembly member's support to get half a billion dollars at grants for businesses just like his, to provide a pathway we provided in January in a new budget to waive fees, annual fees for business just like his, to provide a framework where we're working with the legislature where more than triple the allocation of grants to businesses just like his. This pandemic has put pressure on all of us. The state is weathering this pandemic as well or better than most other states in this nation. Look at a per capita basis where we compare to other large states across this country. It's been challenging and it's been trying, particularly for small businesses like his. So empathy, deep reverence, respect for the struggles and challenges he faces, but I want him to know that we're doing everything in our power to get this economy moving again safely. The fastest way to open businesses permanently is to eliminate and end this pandemic, this deadly disease. And as we make progress, not only of vaccinations, but through non-pharmaceutical interventions like mask wearing and physical distancing, we'll get there sooner than later and we'll provide supports for people like him and hundreds of thousands of other businesses throughout the state. And what's your argument against the recall? I'm focused every single day on getting businesses open, our schools reopen, increasing the rate of vaccinations more than tripled the daily vaccination rate. We're committed and resolved to doing that in every part of the state. I don't care if you're Democrat or Republican, I care that you're healthy and safe and you can live your lives out loud without fear of a pandemic and without fear of having to go back into the fits and starts. This pandemic has impacted in terms of communities all across the state. And so that's my focus. Hi, Governor. This is Maria Berreyes from Telemundo. They're telling me this is the last question. So this is in regards to farm workers. Every press conference, they have been said that farm workers are very important for the state and the whole country. But why is it that they're not considered essential workers like older farm line workers in the country? Well, our farm workers are essential workers from my perspective. Our food delivery system is foundational to the success not only of our economy but foundational in terms of our economic capacity. And so what I mean by that is from day one, we made sure that we are providing supports for farm workers and food workers across the spectrum as it relates to sick leave as it relates to workers comp as it relates to housing for harvest program now in 15 counties in the state as it relates to direct grants regardless of your immigration status. And I know some folks perhaps opposed by me didn't like that support directly to folks. But with so many people and mixed status families, I was very proud to support those workers and will continue to focus and resolve to help workers across the spectrum that have been there from day one that never took a day off and fed and took care of each and every one of us from the beginning of this pandemic to where we are today. So I value and respect those workers. I value and respect all of you. I'm honored to be here again today and thank you again to assembly member Romula. Thank you to Senator Hurtata. Thank you to Mayor Dreyer. Thank you to Congressman Jim Costa. Thank you to the county supervisors and this and the city council member. Really grateful to their incredible leadership. The county health team here job well done. We look forward to being back and I can assure you we will be back often over the course of the next few weeks and months. Thank you very, very much.