Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared more upbeat and optimistic as he held a news conference Wednesday in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum, which will soon open its doors to the public as a mass vaccination site.
Newsom said all of the pandemic numbers are moving in the right direction. The state’s 7-day test positivity rate has dropped down almost to 6% and the amount of new cases each day is just one-sixth of what the state was seeing a few weeks ago.
“We see the light at the end of the tunnel with these vaccines, with these case rates declining, we see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “In order to get our businesses open, in order to get our schools open – which we are committed to getting our schools open for in-person instruction – to do that more efficiently, more expeditiously, we need to continue the good work we have done in this state.”
The state has now worked its way through some of the vaccine backlog, having now administered nearly two-thirds of the vaccine doses that have been delivered to California. That has also moved the state’s administration rate up from dead last in the country to 30th place.
“We are making progress and when you look at where we are in terms of large states, we’re in the top tier this morning compared to other large states. And we’re just getting started,” said Newsom.
FEMA is partnering with the state to run two new mass vaccination sites at the Coliseum and CSU Los Angeles.
Newsom was flanked by many Democratic leaders during his appearance at the Coliseum, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who praised his pandemic leadership and said the state of California is lucky to have Newsom steering the ship.
The effusive praise comes as Newsom faces a growing threat of a recall election.
Newsom also reiterated his view that public school districts should reopen without waiting for teachers to get vaccinated, but he declined to comment on San Francisco’s decision to sue its own school district over the delayed reopening.
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