good morning, america. breaking overnight. getting the go ahead. the fda issues emergency use authorization for pfizer's covid-19 vaccine clearing the way for it to be shipped across the country. >> today our nation has achieved a medical miracle. >> the giant distribution efforts keeping it at ultra cold temperatures, where it's going and who will get it first. we have team coverage on this monumental moment. vaccine questions. >> how much of the people who are doing the trials of the vaccine are african-american? >> we're answering your pressing concerns. a doctor on the fda advisory committee who voted for it as well as our own dr. jen ashton here this morning. white house threats? sources say chief of staff mark meadows suggested fda head

stephen hahn could be fired if the vaccine wasn't approved soon. the fda's response, plus, the supreme court deals what could be the final blow to president trump's legal effort to overturn the 2020 election. toy trouble? the concerns this morning over what's under the tree. some holiday gifts may not have received the normal checks this year. what you need to know before heading to the store. and stormy weekend. the midwest slammed with snow. driving dangerous. up to a foot of snow expected in some spots, plus the wintry weather from the west to the plains. hey, good morning, everybody. the final hurdle for the use of the first coronavirus vaccine in america came overnight as the food and drug administration issued an emergency use authorization for the pfizer/biontech vaccine.

this makes the u.s. the fifth country to release this vaccine. >> you are looking at a live picture right now of pfizer headquarters in michigan. now it's just a matter of getting the vaccine to health care providers, and here's how the process will happen. the government alerts pfizer to start shipping. fedex headquartered in memphis saying operations are in motion to begin the shipping process, along with u.p.s., and then hospitals like rush hospital in chicago will start preparing and administering the vaccine early next week. >> now the vaccine news happening as we close out a week marking painful records in the u.s.. new cases, hospitalizations and deaths all reaching new highs. we have team coverage on this story. but first, the latest now on the massive operation to get the vaccine moving, let's go to abc's alex perez at pfizer's plant in michigan. alex perez, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, whit.

pfizer has been anticipating this moment for months. now begins the process of getting the vaccine out of its facility and into the arms of those who need it most. overnight, a monumental breakthrough, the fda issuing an emergency use authorization for the vaccine for people 16 and older, saying the vaccine's known and potential benefits clearly outweigh its known and potential risks. >> science and data guided the fda's decision. we worked quickly based on the urgency of this pandemic, not because of any other external pressure. >> reporter: pfizer's clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be 95% effective with no severe side effects. >> today our nation has achieved a medical miracle. >> reporter: but the president who pressured the fda to authorize it before election day, switching gears, now touting its review process. >> the dedicated and independent experts at the fda meticulously

studied the results of the trials and it has now passed the gold standard of safety. >> reporter: pfizer employees working around the clock to get the first batch of nearly 3 million doses out the door within 24 hours, telling me this is the moment they've been waiting for. >> it's us doing our part to help our community and now the community isn't around kalamazoo is now worldwide. >> reporter: issuing guidance on how the vaccine will be allocated, expressed concerns about the lack of data on the vaccine's safety in teenagers and pregnant women. >> we need something to look at. this is a new vaccine platform. we have women that need this. we want to make sure it's safe and we want to make sure that we do no harm. >> reporter: also sparking concern this weekend, those two health care workers in the uk who had serious allergic reactions after takings thing vaccine. both have a history of severe allergies, but dr. anthony fauci

says that could be monitored and shouldn't stop americans from being vaccinated. >> you stay alert for it and you keep a situation so that if it happens again, the people are in a facility that can take care of them. i will get vaccinated and get vaccinated publicly. >> reporter: and with pfizer now authorized the government has announced they've agreed to purchase an additional 100 million doses from moderna, developing for delivery in the spring. eva. >> alex, press, thank you. now the shipping challenge, the pfizer vaccine needing to be kept at minus 94 degrees fahrenheit. victor oquendo with more on how they'll keep it that cold while on the move. good morning, victor. >> reporter: things will start ramping up here very quickly. fedex responded saying in part operations are in motion to transport its first shipments of covid-19 vaccine.

u.p.s. following suit saying they're ready and this is the moment of truth they've been waiting for at u.p.s. the longterm competitors turned teammates. through "operation warp speed," here's how this is going to work. they're splitting the country in half. vaccine shipments will be given the highest priority and they'll be monitored with multilayered tracking devices. u.p.s. trackers will not only be able to determine the precise location but sense for movement or for rising temperatures. that's key. that pfizer vaccine we know has to be kept at subzero temps. here at the fedex hub, we know they have freezers capable of storing the pfizer vaccine. but the whole idea is to get it mo moving quickly. in the air, the faa saying air traffic controllers will be

aware of any planes carrying vaccines and on the ground they definitely want to keep these trucks safe if they're carrying vaccine. in many cases, they will have security escorts and because this is going to be a massive undertaking, both companies collectively, hiring 170,000 seasonal workers, all happening in the middle of the holiday shopping boom. >> one x factor. victor oquendo for us, thank you so much. one member of the advisory committee who voted for emergency use authorization of the pfizer vaccine is dr. ofer levy. director of the precision vaccine program at boston children's hospital. dr. levy, thanks for your time. i want to dive right in here, because you voted in favor of the eua for use in at least 16 years of age. there was debate about making 18 the minimum age. how important is it, do you think, to vaccinate minors on some level to stop the widespread transmission? >> there was some discussion about the exact age cutoff.

there were individuals who were 16-year-old and 17-year-olds. there were participants in the study in that age range. somewhat fewer than the other age ranges, but they were there in the study and there was no particular safety signal from them -- from that teenage group, the 16-year-old, 17-year-olds that was different from anybody else. so the majority of the committee voted in favor for 16 years of age and up. these young teens are, you know, in the community. they're working, they're out there. they're at risk for infection and we believe the vaccine will be effective in preventing covid in those 16-year-old and 17-year-olds as well if they receive the vaccine. to be clear, we still don't know -- we know the vaccine is excellent at protecting people against covid disease, right, but we don't know if it reduces transmission between individuals. those studies are very important and still need to happen. so we'll learn more about that particular aspect. >> and i had a follow-up on that part of it. because in reality, young people wouldn't be part of this first group of vaccinations anyway,

but i'm a parent. i want to be able to protect my kids just like other parents out there. are we doing enough to study this vaccine on children and when will we know if it is safe for them to get it? >> thank you for that. so we do need to do more studies. safety comes first with vaccines, and despite the record speed with which the vaccine has moved forward, no corners were cut on safety. i've looked over the data. the pfizer, the sponsor looked over it. the fda has independently analyzed it. there was rigorous safety monitoring for the study. we do need pediatric studies in younger age groups. younger kids are not at very high risk of severe covid but we do see infection in children as you know and it's possible that they could also spread the infection within the community, although we need to determine if the vaccine prevents spread, so those studies as you point out are important and i believe those studies now will move forward in younger ages groups. another angle in the long term to think about is that vaccine

programs have been best developed in a pediatric sphere so, of course, need to ensure vaccine is safe in the age group we give it and we have to determine how good the vaccine is at reducing spread. but theoretically in the future, if there's good safety data in pediatrics and the vaccine can reduce spread, then down the line that might also be a very important part of the immunization campaign. >> we heard dr. fauci address this in our earlier report, but i wanted to ask you as well. there are also concerns about allergic reactions to the vaccine. what do americans with serious allergies need to know? >> what these americans need to know is that, first of all, as has been reported there were two cases in the united kingdom. to my understanding, women in their 40s who received the vaccine and apparently had some sort of acute allergic reaction possibly an anaphylaxis. my understanding is they were treated and doing fine now. the vaccine needs to be given in

a health care facility where there's the possibility to pay attention to somebody and observe them in case they do develop an allergic reaction. that's not going to be a common event. but if it does happen, they should be able to take care of you at the facility. that's what dr. fauci was pointing out. the vaccine emergency use authorization documents that just came out last night, i just reviewed them early this morning, point out that the vaccine has to be given in a facility that can monitor and take care if something unusual occurs and also points out that, of course, if anybody is known to have allergy to the components of this pfizer vaccine, then they shouldn't get it. >> dr. levy, thank you for your work and for your time this morning. we do appreciate it. >> thank you. >> dan, over to you. >> thank you, whit. as we have said, this vaccine news is playing out against the backdrop of a pandemic that's only get worse.

johns hopkins university reports that friday shatters wednesday's previous single-day record death toll. with more than 3300 deaths. in the past seven days, the u.s. has reported more than 1.4 million new cases and deaths overall have passed the 292,000 mark, that's more than the number of americans who died in battle in world war ii. trevor ault has more on this report. >> reporter: good morning, dan. this vaccine authorization is certainly good news, but it's far from immediate relief and with this virus now flooding through huge portions of country, so many americans are drowning every day. the cdc director warns over the 60 and 90 days we'll lose more americans per day than we lost on 9/11. enduring the deadliest week of the pandemic so far and shattering record highs for cases and hospitalizations. >> this very much feels like

this is war. but we're the only ones fighting it. it's demoralizing to see that people can't be bothered to wear mask, to help us out. >> reporter: california reporting a staggering 35,000 new infections friday, a positive test every four seconds. los angeles county, in the midst of a stay-at-home order, reporting more new cases itself by itself any other state. >> should this be followed by another surge, the number of hospitalizations and patients in the icu could become catastrophic. >> reporter: and this holiday season, the virus already sweeping through entire families. nancy grace reportedly testing positive, along with her husband, their twins and her mother. cancer survivor zana cooper contracted it after having thanksgiving with her son's girlfriend's family and not

knowing a person traveled from florida and was sick. >> i had cancer twice, i'm 60 years old and how irresponsible for somebody to do that to me. >> reporter: more mobile morgues are moving into central texas. at least one county in the state seeing severe un transmission, while in alabama pediatric doctors say they're heartbroken watching children battle the virus. >> they're gasping, trying to get more oxygen into their bodies so that they can feed their organs, feed their brain. >> reporter: and more restrictions now rolling back out to stem the spread. new york once again suspending indoor dining despite governor cuomo saying restaurants are causing barely 1% of the spread. >> if we don't slow the spread and we overwhelm the hospital system, then every restaurant goes to zero indoor, outdoor, zero. that's the worst case scenario. >> reporter: just yesterday, a dozen states hit new record highs for hospitalizations as

now nationwide we are averaging 205,000 new cases a day. that is three times as high as the peak we saw during the summer. dan. >> trevor, thank you. we're just reminded of how much pain there is out there. i do want to give you one quick program note, though. we have a special edition of "20/20," it's called "the shot: the race for the vaccine" and it will take a closer look at the timing of the vaccine airing monday 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. eva, to you. to politics now, the politics of the vaccine rollout and the election, both in the headlines again this morning. abc's rachel scott joins us from washington, d.c., with more, good morning to you, rachel. >> reporter: eva, good morning. for the second time this week, the supreme court rejecting a case tied to the president's failed fight to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. the president lashing out at the high court but also blasting the fda too accusing them of moving too slow when it came to authorizing that vaccine.

overnight, president trump celebrated the news americans had been waiting for. >> we have delivered a safe and effective vaccine in just nine months. >> reporter: the green light from the fda came hours after the president blasted the agency for not moving faster calling it one "big, old, slow turtle" and urging commissioner stephen hahn to "stop playing games and start saving lives." in a phone call earlier friday, sources say white house chief of staff mark meadows even suggested hahn could be fired if that vaccine wasn't approved soon, a conversation the fda disputes. meanwhile, president-elect joe biden told americans to ignore the politics and put their trust in the vaccine. >> i want to make it clear to the public, you should have confidence in this. there's no political influence. these are first rate scientists taking their time, looking at all of the elements that need to be looked at. >> reporter: as biden builds out his administration, president trump now facing what could be the final blow to his failed legal effort to overturn the

2020 election. the supreme court rejecting a last-ditch texas lawsuit, which sought to throw out millions of legal votes. the president lashing out on twitter saying, the supreme court really let us down. no wisdom, no courage. the suit challenged four battleground states -- michigan, georgia, wisconsin and pennsylvania -- seeking to prevent those electoral votes from being cast for joe biden. the president's attorney rudy giuliani furious. >> with a court that didn't have the courage to take it up. >> reporter: the high court including the three justices the president appointed saying the lawsuit lacked legal standing. more than 120 house republicans rallied behind the president to support it. one of them claiming overnight the fight is not over until inauguration day. >> come january 20th -- >> you don't have any -- >> he has his hand on the bible and then we'll accept it at that point. >> reporter: the reality is president trump lost this election by more than 7 million votes. his legal team has yet to

present any credible evidence of widespread voter fraud. at this point they have now lost nearly 50 cases in court and the electoral college meets monday fully expected to formally elect joe biden as the next president. whit. >> rachel scott in washington for us, thank you. we do want to shift gears here and focus on the weather. winter storms are hitting several parts of the country right now. rob marciano is in with more on that. good morning. >> hello, whit. we do have a very active weather pattern that's shaping up. you mentioned the winter weather. this coming out of omaha, nebraska, where they saw several inches of snow overnight and the wind blowing as well. the interstate is a little slick there and in des moines, iowa, which saw almost five inches in about six hours, so coming down pretty heavily here. winter weather advisories up for that and northern parts of michigan, could see another 2 to 5 inches. this low gets into canada and kind of falls apart so that's

good news for the east coast. won't see a whole lot of rain over the next couple of days, sprinkles and drizzle but the main headline will be very warm temperatures, near 60 or above 60 over the next two days, but then we start to cool down and east coast has not one, not two, good saturday morning, i'm abc meteorologist frances dinglasan, off to a set start but the rain is tarting to taper off. here the your day planner today, temperatures in the 50s over the next couple hours with light rain still possible, but by lunchtime we'll be drying out, mostly cloudy this afternoon, temperatures near 60 degrees. and then, although it will be dry throughout the evening, increasing clouds for another wave of rain heading our way late tonight to tomorrow. this may be the one time of year people sort of kind of root for snow. we've got chances. we'll talk more about it with whit. >> rob, the guys who are like rooting for your beard.

there are some beard envy happening in the studio. >> just a little bit. >> i wouldn't call it envy. zwl right, exactly. >> stop. >> there's some sympathy. some charity work. thanks, guys. >> thanks, rob. now to the nba as preseason games get going under new coronavirus restrictions. janai norman has more on the challenges ahead and how they're being handled. >> here we go! >> reporter: basketball is back. >> lakers have it. with the slam. >> reporter: the nba preseason tipping off with five games overnight. >> there is john wall exploding to the rim. >> reporter: despite the overwhelming success of last season's experiment playing all their games at walt disney world in orlando, players are now hitting the hardwood without a bubble as the pandemic reaches new records. >> we're optimistic that we're going to be able to do a modified version of that here. only essential personnel will be allowed anywhere near the court. where i'm standing now. >> reporter: commissioner adam silver saying the league has been rigorous about this season's covid protocols. >> we feel comfortable that the protocols we'll have in place in

our practice facilities and arenas will keep our players safe. >> reporter: one key, daily testing. >> not only will players be tested but all of our security, everybody, coaches, everybody who comes into this building is going to be tested. >> reporter: each team will also be split into three tiers and those tiers will have as little physical contact as possible. and they'll have new faces on staff as well like an infectious disease specialist and face mask enforcement officer to name a few. on the road teams can only dine outside their hotel if the restaurant meets guidelines and has been formally approved. the league has 72 games on the schedule. no sport has attempted that many since the pandemic began. and right now only five teams will see fans in the arena. >> i certainly think leaguewide that it will be a little bit of sloppiness the first few weeks of the season for sure. >> reporter: so, if you feel like the nba season just wrapped up, you're right. october 11th, the lakers won the championship. fast forward two months they're back out on the hardwood

and the league is also in talks to lay out a covid-19 vaccine distribution policy. could become the first league to carry that out, guys. >> thank you. sflmplt coming up, this video went viral, showing a coach apparently hitting a young football coach. plus, why the pandemic may affect toy safety of some of those toys around the christmas tree. we'll be right back. "good morning america" is sponsored by chick-fil-a mac and cheese. always baked with a tasty blend of premium cheeses. ith a tasty blend of premium cheeses. with your friends. you can sharm they taste fresh, they're crispy, you can taste that every single one is unique. the top tier, best chicken nuggets ever. you guys should put that in the commercial. hi, my name is brayan and a little thing i love about the chick-fil-a mac and cheese is you can taste the different types of cheeses and the blends that they use, and everything just comes together. it's like a delicate dance, they're like perfection in every bite.

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building a better bay area, for a safe and secure future, this is abc 7 news. good morning, everybody, i'm liz kreutz, a covid-19 outbreak in santa clara county tied to a private youth basketball program that traveled that tournament in plaster county last month, 77 cases, including 39 players, three coaches and 35 additional contacts. the investigation has also

revealed 17 more cases in other counties. officials say the program was in violation of local and state health orders, and has been cited. let's get a check of the weather with frances dinglasan. hey, frances. >> hi, liz, we're dealing with a few lingering morning spotty showers but after that a mostly dry day ahead. here's a look at live doppler 7, you can still see some returns through parts of the south bay as we look outside, though, it is just gorgeous, from san francisco over the bay area and over the next few hours you'll notice that the rain starts to notice that the rain starts to move south, and mainly ( ♪ ) ready to juvéderm it? correct age-related volume loss in cheeks with juvéderm voluma xc, add fullness to lips with juvéderm ultra xc and smooth moderate to severe lines around the nose and mouth with juvéderm xc. tell your doctor if you have a history of scarring

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this the best part. eat the cookie. >> mm-mm. >> you know, me actually have cookie here too. it chocolate chippy. >> there you go. >> we had a blast there with mr. cookie monster. welcome back to "gma" on this saturday morning. coming up in our second hour, my daughters and i get a cookie lesson from the master himself, cookie monster shares his recipe for making the best sugar cookies as we count down to christmas with our 12 days of cookies series. >> just a slight disagreement there. he said the best part was eating the cookie. i think the best part is seeing you in that sweater. >> you like that sweater? >> you knew you were on television, right? >> yes, i did. >> you wore it on purpose. >> i have many christmas sweaters. that's my professional dress

christmas sweater. >> you wear it well. >> the casual version is more fun. >> i expect to see that christmas eve. >> perhaps. some of the other big stories we're following. happening right now, overnight the fda issue issued emergency use authorization for the covid-19 vaccine clearing the way for it to be shipped across the country, trucks and ships are standing by for this rollout. now, this comes as the u.s. sees the deadliest week of the pandemic so far, shattering record highs for cases and hospitalizations nationwide. also happening right now, look at this. a youth football coach in georgia is facing child abuse charges after video emerged of him hitting a young player during a game in florida. the coach identified as gerald williams is seen taking aim at the child on his helmet twice. williams is now banned from play and he's been fired from his job at a sheriff's office in georgia. and some scary moments for tourists visiting a natural reserve in kenya. one of the giraffes there obviously not happy with the

intrusion, charging towards their jeep getting just inches away from them. fortunately everyone was able to get away unharmed and the giraffe went right back to roaming after that. we are going to start here this half hour with one of the major hurdles facing the vaccine, getting people to take it. this issue of trust is especially deep in the black and latino communities, even though they are being hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic, mistrust of the government and of the medical community may make some people reluctant to trust the safety of the vaccine. abc's zachary kiesch has more. >> reporter: overcoming systemic racism and collective trauma will be key components in the effort to vaccinate. now there's a full-fledged pr campaign on to remedy the situation. president obama and several other past presidents have pledged to publicly take the vaccine in an attempt to temper fears. >> absolutely i'm going to take it. >> reporter: and dr. anthony fauci, the country's most revered infectious disease expert has made his own pitch. >> so the first thing you might want to say to my

african-american brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you're going to be taking was developed by an african-american woman. and that is just a fact. >> reporter: early evidence suggests it won't be that easy. >> i'm a little bit skeptical because i want to know how is it going to affect my immune system versus anybody else's, so i am a little bit leery. >> reporter: while the virus continues to batter these communities at disproportionate rates, just 14% of black adults and 34% of latinos said they trust vaccine safety. there's a painful history of brutality against people of color. from the tuskegee syphilis experiments where scientists deliberately infected men and withheld treatments, to this young black mother of five in 1951 unknowingly had cells taken from her and led to breakthrough cancer treatment.

>> it's logical reaction to a health care system that continues to treat them in unethical and frankly dangerous ways. >> reporter: harriet washington, the author of "medical apartheid and a terrible thing to waste" says a lot of experiments were done to feed curiosities. >> a doctor could do whatever he deemed fit with a slave, including conducting research, and in fact doctors put ads in newspapers saying i'm looking for slaves. >> reporter: anthony williams, a cancer biologist at the university of chicago, aware of the skepticism sought to break the cycle of distrust and received his first shot of an experimental covid-19 vaccine in october. >> i eventually arrived at the conclusion that i wanted to join the trial because it's so important for especially us, our community, black people to enlist in this effort. >> reporter: in communities like washington heights here in new york city medical professionals are juggling the dark chapters of american medical history with

current misinformation campaigns. they say it's all about trust. >> my patients will come to me because they trust me. >> reporter: a group of more than 2500 health care providers focusing on the most vulnerable communities are working with governor cuomo to develop a plan to ensure that black and latinx new yorkers have access to the covid-19 vaccine. >> we speak the same language. this is why they come to us. >> reporter: the black and latinx communities are two to four times more likely to both get and die from coronavirus. it's often referred to as the social determinant of health. eva. >> zachary kiesch with that very important report. thank you. let's get more insight from dr. ashton, our chief medical correspondent. so, dr. ashton, we just heard from zachary that a significant

amount of black and latino-americans are not planning to take this vaccine. but they're also in communities that are disproportionately affected by this virus. so what do you say to those that are concerned about this vaccine? >> well, eva, i think first of all, concern, questions, those are all normal and they are actually appropriate in medicine and science and public health and as the saying goes, sometimes the messenger is as important as the message. so who is conveying this information and who is explaining how to help people evaluate risk and i think what's really important is to help people understand that when you ask about the risk of this new vaccine, we have two months of short-term data in order for the fda to give it authorization. you have to put those known risks up against the risks of getting severe covid-19 disease or dying from covid-19 disease.

and you have to put those two numbers head-to-head. it's not the risk of an unknown that we can use in medicine and science. we have to go by facts and not fear and evidence and not emotion, and if that information is conveyed clearly, then people can make the best decision. >> and another concern that's come up as the vaccine is beginning to roll out is the fact that pregnant women have not been a part of the vaccine trials. so the question remains, should they get the vaccine? >> not at this point, eva. i've spoken to dr. anthony fauci about this. i've spoken to dr. stephen hahn, the fda commissioner about this. trials, formal clinical trials, they'll be probably bridging trials will start in that very special group of pregnant women very soon, january, february, as early as possible. so right now, they are not included in people who are indicated to get this vaccine. of course, in the clinical

trials there were some women who became unexpectedly pregnant during the trial but, remember, in obstetrics we're talking about two lives at stake so they have to be studied separately. >> dr. jen ashton, some good information and good reminders for all of us this morning. thank you. all right, let's turn now and get a check of the weather again and, rob, for some people dreaming of a white christmas might be getting an early christmas gift in some places. >> if it sticks around. good morning. very active pattern shaping up. if you can't follow the snow, they're making snow in aspen. right there in the colorado rockies, a fresh dusting which these reindeer are enjoying. these are elk in lovely colorado. reindeer, similar, a little bit smaller and they can fly. snow coming in in denver, one to two, maybe three inches of snow with this system dropping into the plains and some will get light snow as we go into tomorrow night into monday

morning. northern arkansas might see a little bit of a dusting of wet snow and a lot of these areas have winter weather advisories up and then this system is coming into the pacific northwest probably a little bit stronger and that one goes coast good saturday morning, i'm abc 7 meteorologist frances dinglasan, we're waking up to to a wet start but things are drying out today and then here's the accuweather seven-day forecast, tomorrow we'll see steadier rain in the morning, drying out >> this weather report sponsored >> this weather report sponsored by cadillac. and i think it may be snowing in cadillac, michigan, this morning. nothing says class than doing doughnuts in the snow-covered cadillac. snow-covered parking lot maybe? yeah. >> sure. >> yeah. that's how you learn how to drive in the snow, in the parking lot. >> if there are any children watching i'd like to encourage you to disregard everything that rob has said outside of the weather forecast. >> you got to learn sometime. >> you can send him your christmas list directly. >> exactly.

robert, thank you very much. here's what's coming up on "gma." how safe are the toys under the tree? what parents need to know about gifts for the kids this holiday season. keep it right here. keep it right here. season. keep it right here. we all have our own journey ahead of us. our own hopes and dreams. we'll pass many milestones. moments that define you. and drive you. to achieve even more. so, celebrate every one. because success isn't just about where you want to get to. it's also about how you get there the all new 2021 cadillac escalade. never stop arriving. a nivea breathable experiment. now they do. moisturizes deeply with no sticky feel. the game changing nivea breathable.

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we're back now with a look at the concerns over the safety of the toys our children will be unwrapping this holiday season. because of the pandemic those toys might not have undergone the usual safety checks. abc's deirdre bolton is here with a look at all of this. deirdre, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, dan. many gifts enter the u.s. by ship but the problem this year is that inspectors are more than a dozen states and puerto rico were off the job due to covid. so this means that potentially dangerous toys may have already been distributed to retail stores, places where americans shop for gifts. we reached out to the consumer product safety commission. this is the group that is supposed to be the watchdog and a spokesperson confirmed to us that inspectors were sent home a few months due to covid. here's from the statement. the cpsc like everyone had to deal with the life-threatening threat of covid-19.

the cpsc implemented creative and effective workarounds to continue to provide consumer protection in spite of physical displacement of the port staff. so this group normally screens for lead in toy, chemicals, choking hazards, and it basically is supposed to intercept bad destroys and other flawed household products before they reach americans' homes, so here's some tips. to avoid counterfeits, scrutinize the product, the label, the packaging, look for the certification mark from an independent testing organization and if the price seems too good to be true, it could be a sign that the product is counterfeit and the last and really important tip, whether you're shopping in person or online just go to retailers that you know and trust. whit. >> good information, deirdre bolton, thank you so much. we appreciate it. coming up here, the advice on how to handle burnout.

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welcome back to "gma." 2020 may well go down as the most stressful year ever and many people are right on the edge of burnout if they're not already there. i recently spoke to emily and amelia nagoski, the authors of "beating burnout: the secret to breaking the stress cycle." emily and amelia, good morning to you both. thanks for joining us. emily, i want to start with you here. how do you actually define burnout and know if this is what you are amy experiencing? >> we define burnout as the feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted by everything you're doing but still worrying you're not doing enough. the key feature is emotional exhaustion. emotional exhaustion happens when we get stuck in the middle of an emotional response.

>> so, amelia, how do we prepare ourselves to unwind and begin reducing that mental stress? >> when you want to get rid of the stress you need to complete the stress response cycle which is a bodily response to stress. so any kind of physical activity is going to tell your body that it's safe. things like affection and a good cry and a big old belly laugh and a good night's sleep can all tell your body that it is safe. >> many of us are physically cult off from our loved ones, friends, family, why is it so important to still find a way to connect? >> we can get the experience of connection without necessarily being physically present with each other. being able to see each other's faces and hear each other's voices, sharing meals, that sensory connection helps actually our brains respond with a matching neurological response, even across thousands of miles. i think the most important thing is the process of dealing with your stress is separate from the process of dealing with the causes of your stressor. we don't have to wait until the causes of our stress are gone before we begin to address the

causes. >> what are some of the biggest mistakes you think people are making right now that's only adding to the stress? >> i think the most common mistake is the belief that the cure for burnout is self-care. self-care is the thing you do because it's your job to protect yourself. imagine when you come out of fallout shelter, what is the world like? for one group of people is not going to do it. we need to care for each other. >> very helpful information. emily and amelia, thank you both for your time this morning. >> thank you. we'll be right back with our "play of the day." >> we'll be right back with our "play of the day." 'm relentless . and having more days is possible with verzenio, proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. verzenio + fulvestrant is for women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an anti-diarrheal, and drink fluids.

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it's time now for our "play of the day" and the guy doing a little bonding with his dog. take a look at these two suited up for quite the road trip. oh, yeah, the pooch in a pack with matching shades ready for the action. oh, yeah, the dog obviously enjoying the wind in his hair. that dog is almost as big as the man. >> yeah, is that comfortable for anybody? >> he has a fawzi the bear doll on his back. >> hugging his back. >> hey, guys, we'll be right back with much more "gma." two hours on saturday. keep it here. back with much more "gma." two hours on saturday. keep it here. good morning, everybody, i'm liz kreutz. the bay area could begin vaccinating health care workers as early as next week, bay area counties like marin are receiving vaccines from state stockpiles on a per capita, marin is receiving nearly 2,000 doses of the pfizer vaccine.

kaiser permanente has applied to be a provider in every market where it operates and will offer it to those who meet the criteria in each phase of the process. 2 hus00 underserved third graders will get a special holiday shopping spree, part of the 13th annual shop with a cop event. this is video from a previous event. each child receives a $125 gift card from target to spend on gifts and themselves. parents will also be given a gift card to purchase groceries. and safari west in santa rosa may be closed but today they will host a virtual fundraiser to celebrate the launch of its new live program. today's fundraiser is called romp with the beasts, and they are raising money to expand their new program, the event starts at 5:00 tonight on the safari west website. let's get a check of the weather and the rain we're tracking with meteorologist frances dinglasan. >> hi, liz, good morning,

everyone. yeah, gray, wet, foggy start this morning and we're going to be dealing with a few lingering showers over the next few hours. here's live doppler 7. but the shower chances a quickly diminishing. we'll have a mostly dry day today. in fact, you can see a peek through the cloud right now, for the live view frft exploratorium, temperatures are mainly in the 50s. and we'll be warming up to the 60s. but you notice that over the next few hours it will be drying out. so you can get out and do your thing.

building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc 7 news. we can begin to turn millions of americans' hopes into reality. a sigh of relief for so many americans, a vaccine is on the way. the fda has cleared the way for pfizer's covid-19 vaccine, distribution of the doses could start today. among those first to get the shot will be health care workers and those in long term care facilities. good morning, everybody, it's saturday, december 12th, i'm liz kreutz. we are joining you now instead of "good morning america" because we are bringing you college football on abc at 9:00 a.m. it is a busy morning, lots of news to get to. pfizer says it expects to have a vaccine rolling out of the kalamazoo facility tomorrow morning. a couple of hours ago the fda tried to