Im terry mcsweeney. Im anousha rasta. Another pivotal hurdle has been cleared. Today the cdc is recommending the use of the pfizer vaccine. Governor newsom tweeted that a medical safety group formed by several western states was meeting today to set up plans. The group met as a check on the federal review process and is expected to green light the distribution as well. Thousands of the doses will head here to the bay area. This all happens as cases in the bay area are at an all time high. Today San Francisco reported a record 2300 new cases. Chris pollone has the latest on the race to get the vaccine to the front line. The fda authorized for emergency use the pfizer bioen tech vaccine. Right now, boxes are being packed and loaded with vaccine with emphasis on quality control. Reporter the first shipments will be arriving at medical centers monday morning. I wont probably live in my career to see another day like this. Thats how monumental it is. Reporter doctors on the front lines happy to see light at the end of a very dark tunnel. This is the first step to make a major dent into this pandemic. This is the way the pandemic will be ended, controlled. Reporter it comes as the covid19 crises deepens. The nation topping 16,000 new cases. Health care workers are pushed to the brink. This virus is so, its so serious, and people dont see it that way. Reporter in a series of saturday morning tweets, President Trump made no mention of the Health Crisis nor its victims. The president , instead, attacking the election, the Supreme Court and joe biden before flying to west point, new york to attend the armynavy Football Game. Chris pollone, nbc news. We mentioned the cdc clearing the vaccine for distribution. Cdcs Robert Redfield has to approve the recommendation, which he is expected to do and quickly. Take a look at some of the agencys recommendations. It is cleared for people 16 and older. Pregnant women can be vaccinated if they choose, though there is no data on vaccine efficacy in pregnant well. People who have had the virus should still get vaccinated. And those with allergies to injectable medication should not get the shot. Bay area hospitals could see their first doses within days. Ucfs should see the first doses on tuesday. Each box has 975 doses in it. Sanford expects a delivery by wednesday. They start to plan vaccinations on friday. The first doses will go to highrisk, Front Line Health Care workers. San francisco general is also on the list to get some of the first doses of the vaccine. We have reached out for details but have yet to hear back from hospital leaders. For the second day in a row, the case reported 35,000 new cases and 225 deaths. Thats the most ever in one day. Our Positivity Rates are also soaring. Its now at 10. 2 , the highest level since the pandemic began. Just for perspective, the Positivity Rate was just shy of 4 , exactly one month ago today. Icu beds to be in short supply. Right now there are no available icu beds in the san joaquin region. Look at los angeles, Southern California in general, just over 5 of intention self care beds available. In the bay area, availability is improving. Up slightly from last nights 16 to now just over 17 . Right now, san mateo and santa clara counties not doing that well. San mateo, 8 , santa clara, 12 . Contra costa, solano, marin, more than 20 still available. And Sonoma County, they have no number there. Theyve temporarily stopped reporting icu availability. Tonight, Sonoma County is officially under a stayathome order. It joins five others in the bay area in implementing strict new rules aimed at slowing bt spread of the virus. Other businesses say theyre feeling the effect, too. Heres Christy Smith with that story. So were surrounded by wineries and restaurants. Its a huge part of what draws people to sonoma. Reporter at jack w, the store is open for business, but theres a big difference this saturday. Our foot traffic is much smaller and lighter than it would be on a typical saturday. Its really impacting the general visibility, especially around the holidays. It should be our busiest time. The outside would be our alfresco tasting patio, as it were. Reporter cathy harsh burger is with just cone sellers. They were allowed to have tasting in the breezeway, but thats changed. We are no longer able to serve customers outside. So theres no more wine tasting. Normally, you would see hightop tables out here and people enjoying wine. Reporter Sonoma County issued an stayathome order after recent spikes in cases. There is no outdoor wine tasting or dining. Theres a sense of a little bit of panic, like what do you do . What do you do to offset this order . Or how do you get creative . Reporter theyre still open to shop or have curbside pickup. Theyve been work being to try to meet the challenges this year and customers needs with special offers and more. The biggest thing for us was to really lean into ecommerce and it reach out to our club members and fans that live all over the country and just let them know whats going on, because we had covid. Then we had the wildfires. And then weve had, you know, bigger, more serious surge right now. Reporter restrictions are expected through early january and many here are hopeful 2021 will be brighter. In sonoma, christie smith, nbc bay area news. A followup to the new app that alerts californians when they may have been exposed to a covid case. Its called ca notify. The state department of Public Health says so far 4 million californians may already be using that. Now there are 40 Million People in the state. One out of ten people are already doing it. The app rolled out on thursday. The numbers suggest as many as 10 of californians have signed up for alerts. Experts say the more people who use the app the better it can help curb the spread of the coronavirus. For more on the vaccine and new cases in the bay area, head to nbcbayarea. Com coronavirus. Lets take a live look now out at storm ranger on top of san bruno mountain. Is there more rain on the way . Whats about to happen . Well, right now weve seen that rain sort of taper off with the reminder of our saturday. Thats what were expecting for the rest of the evening, then things will change. Right now, beautiful skies, 54 degrees. Check out this beautiful shot of san jose. 53 degrees. We were nice and cool. The first storm that passed by was more of a warm front and Doppler Radar showing you whats ahead. Out in the pacific, can you see the surge of moisture. We are now tracking a cold front expected to make its arrival late late tonight into Early Morning, we do have our very own storm ranger up and scanning and ready to go. This is the radar. This is a sneak peek of what were monitoring. More rain overnight. And then those rain chances turn to showers by late sunday night. But now were also looking at king tides and the threat of coastal flooding. We have a coastal advise any effect as well as a highsurf advisory. Ill send it back to you. Another freiggreat way to k track of the weather. Download our nbc app. French president Emmanuel Macron is praising president elect joe biden for his plan to rejoin the paris climate accord. During the Virtual Summit on Climate Change today, macron said welcome back and welcome home to his american friends. It was a landmark deal between almost 200 states and kucountri. President trump with drew from that in 2017. Tim cook highlighted his companys commitment to Climate Change. Next up, how budget concerns could soon trickle down to students. Also, tesla temporarily halting part of production at its fremont plant. The interesting reason for the shutdown and what the companys telling workers to do during that time. Ahead for us, all of your Covid Vaccine questions answered. Who gets it, how, and when. And we start candid conversations with High School Students about what learning during the pandemic has really been like. The pandemic forcing another Football Game to be canceled. This time its cal against washington state. It was scheduled for earlier today. The pac12 said cal did not have enough players that were on scholarship to play that game. It comes after one player tested positive and Contact Tracing forced others into quarantine. The pandemic may force uc campuses to increase tuition. Chancellors at five of the nine schools, including berkley, are calling on a tuition increase for the 2022 school year as many schools are experiencing a drop in revenue, forcing them to enforce hiring cuts and borrow money. One cut its entire athletic program. Any raise would not take effect again until 2022. Last time tuition was raised was 2017. New at 5 00, some production lines at tesla are shutting down over the holidays. The company informed employees at its Fremont Company yesterday that its model s and model x production lines will close from december 24 to january 11. It suggests demand for those models is slowing. Employees were offered a full week of pay because of the shutdown and paid holidays. They also have the option to find work in another area of the factory on unpaid days. They can volunteer to make electric vehicle deliveries to customers during the shutdown. Getting into the holiday spirit looks a little different this year. Merry christmas. Thank you so much how sweet. This is the 37th year of san joses give away program. Usually it consistens of big parties. Well, its just driveby style this year. Theres still a lot of excitement. Parents drove up and children got special gifts from santa and mrs. Claus, a 50 target gift card. About 340 kids were able to get in on the early holiday cheer. Joining us now is a safe and warm and dry, and i guess if you go outside tomorrow its not going to be quite that way. Depends on where you are. You might get a little bit of the rain or a lot of it. But hey, we need the rain, so its a welcome sight. Appreciated your video reporting of the rain when you saw it. Lets talk about the timing of all of this. Beautiful views over san jose, we had a cool, cloudy afternoon, it was comfortable. But the rain tapered off quite nicely this afternoon. You can see out ahead we still have plenty of moisture on the way. This is going to arrive in the form of a cold front. As we head into later tonight into the overnight hours, its going to push southward into the Early Morning hours on saturday, which is why we have our radar doppler up and ready to scan as the next system makes its way in. Lets look at the hour by hour outlook. We have more rain again overnight. By about 5 00, 6 00 a. M. , were going to get widespread, again, another round of light to moderate, could at times briefly see heavier downpours. But higher rain totals are expected for the north bay. Weve seen a about a half inch. By sunday evening, look what happens. You see the rain taper off. And base dpl and basically into monday we start to dry out. Aside from the rain, the rains not going to be a huge impact tomorrow. Were monitoring a highsurf advisory. The gravitational pulls from the sun and moon are going to bring us king tides. Highsurf advisory will be in effect from noon until 7 00 p. M. , northnorthwest facing beaches. And the dangerous sneaker waves speaking of king tides, theyre expected to make their return along with the highsurf advisory starting at 7 00 a. M. Tomorrow. This could bring localized flooding near high tide time remaining in effect through at least tuesday. Were going to get amazing footage of this, but hopefully from the pros. Safety first. South lake tahoe, a winter storm wa warning is in effect through monday. We could see a couple more inches of snow with the possibility of seeing some whiteout conditions. Check,0 those travel conditions first. We can see we stay dry for monday and tuesday. And wednesday, it looks like another system will make its arrival Late Wednesday night into thursday bringing back the return of shower chances. Of course we appreciate the rain anytime we can get it. Everybody please be safe out there. Nice seeing you, terry and anoushah, back to you. All right, thanks so much. Gearing up for phase two. Still ahead, less than a week after getting the first doses of pfizers vaccine, britain is ramping up for the next stage of its rollout. The uk is about to start rolling out the next phase of its vaccination program. Y you may remember, the uk was the first to approve the vaccine and they were give ton n to 50 hosp across the country. Now its going to be available at local doctors offices. Theyll be monitored for 15 minutes to make sure theyre not having any allergic reaction. A second des wiose will be give three weeks later. More people than ever are talking about the vaccine. Some are skeptical. One has to do with the way its made, using mrna instead of live virus and whether it will change your dna. Scientists say thats impossible. Will mrna change your dna . No, it wont ever get into the nucleus. Will a Covid Vaccine cause you to test positive on a test . The answer is this is just part of an interview on our new platform called nbc lx. Check it out, 1115 over the air, channel 185 on xfinity cable or anytime on lx. Com. Weve also created a special race for a vaccine sex ction. Why virgin fl ladies. Check it out. So strong. So. Not ripped. Whatre we talkin about. Thats the hefty ultra strong bag hefty hefty hefty whispers gimme. confused give me the bag . Get hefty ultra strong at a low price a hundred dollars, no questions asked for people looking to get rid of a gun today several teaming up with police for the buyback. The goal is simple. Get guns off the streets. It has operated since 2014. Over that time, theyve clefkted more than 2,000 guns. A step back for Virgin Galactic particular todafter an problem. It happened in new mexico this morning. These are pictures of the launch cut short when the engine failed to ignite. The company says it will check out the problem and be back in flight soon. Virg Virgin Galactic is looking into commercial flights to space. And saturday night live is back tonight. Teaming up with timothee chal may a may chalamay. Chalama this year, xfinity internet gives you more options than a holiday dinner table. Pick the speed thats right for you, with options faster than gig. And get reliable internet with topnotch 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, santa claus doesnt just deliver gifts on land. Hes also showing some cheer underwater. You can see hem here dressed in his red suit in rio de janeiro. Hes feeding a shark, swimming with the stingrays. Visitors are able to watch santa dive down every day until christmas. Thats how they stay in shape after eating all those milk and cookies. He can swim with the fishes and still be around for christmas day. Its amazing what the man can do. Thanks for watching. Breaking news tonight. The moment we have been waiting for the fda authorizes emergency use of a Covid Vaccine, calling it safe and effective. Dday was the beginning of the end, and thats where we are today. Now the Unprecedented National Effort to produce, ship, and administer the vaccine as the death toll hits a new oneday record the first vaccinations now set for monday were on the ground with u. P. S. And fedex as they begin this massive challenge, delivering the most important packages in history. This is a monumental event it may be our finest ho