right now at 4:30, reprioritizing the rollout. the big switch the state might make as millions of californians anxiously await their covid vaccines. could it change your place in line? plus, years later, the heartbreak will never fade for families of those killed in the deadly warehouse fire in oakland. the plea deal, the founder of the ghost ship warehouse is expected to take in just a few hours. and a live look outside on the bay bridge, where the roads are soggy for this friday morning. spot the showers across the bay area. meteorologist kari hall tracking

how long this wet weather will linger this weekend, as "today in the bay" friday morning edition starts right now. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm scott mcgrew in for marcus washington. yep, that rain is coming. i got everything ready for it and i suppose it's just a cozy weekend at home, kari. >> absolutely. it's going to be much cooler. it's not the outdoor weekend that we had last weekend. we are going to see off and on showers and a big drop in temperatures, and we're already getting some of that rain rolling in right now, as it continues to slide down the coast. we're already seeing some rain as you get ready to head out the door, as welso covering much of contra costa talk about what's n our weekend bay

bridge. first because it's a live shot, look at the rain o you could see those flags flapping by chp slippery. they look at the map on the span incline a crash and in san francisco another crash getting down off the despite the activity the sensors are at grieb level at speed around the bay. use caution down the peninsula and east bay toward 9 2 we have rain as well. essential versus age, a possible change that could come to the state's covid vaccine rollout. >> california is considering switching up the order of who gets the vaccine next. "today in the bay's" ian cull

has more. >> reporter: the state is strongly considering going slowlily to an age-based distribution starting with 65 and older. people who thought they were also up next, grocery store and farm workers, teachers would be pushed back months. the state vaccine advisory committee discussed it in a meeting. >> this is it what we're struggling this, this small amount of vaccine, trying to look at who is, again, who is filling our hospitals, who is the most, who is dying and what can we prevent as soon as possible. >> reporter: dr. erica pan says california gets around 500,000 vaccines a week. some disappeared with the proposed change. >> from our perspective if we wait until may to get a lot of other populations a lot of people with disabilities under 65 are going to die unnecessarily. >> reporter: florida took the same step nearly a month ago. dr. peter chin hong supports

going to age-based tiers. >> it's easy to enforce. you have a driver's license. nobody worries who is more essential than who. >> reporter: he points out others are waiting for approval like the one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine. >> it may not be months. the estimates of what's coming in the pipeline are more robust than people believe. >> reporter: right now the key factor from the state, people 61 and older account for 65% of icu admissions and 83% of deaths. ian cull, "today in the bay." more details now, we're getting our first look at how many people have been actually vaccinated in the bay area. three counties are counting how many doses administered. in san francisco over 31,000 doses given. in santa clara county, nearly 100,000. in contra costa county, county giving us more detailed look, it

says 54,000 people received one of the two doses of the vaccine. 10,000 people have received both doses, that means they're fully vaccinated. that may seem like a decent start, but it's only 1.2% of the entire county population. you may be surprised to hear, many police officers still haven't been vaccinated. law enforcement officers in the east bay worry they could be exposed to virus at any time. they're frustrated. they don't know when they'll get a vaccine. oakland police along with alameda county sheriff's deputies say their members are testing positive at an alarming rate, worried about their health. >> we are spending every day on the streets of oakland on the streets across the county protecting our community and there's no sign of us getting the covid vaccine. j on a day to day basis we're short 20 people because they're

sick or under quarantine because they had directed exposure to urgent letter expressing those same concerns. out of 1500 officers, they say 148 tested positive. two have been hospital i-ed, close to 200 filed covid-19 workers comp. claims. a live look in l.a., where more than one-fourth ever the county's 14,000 plus covid deaths have occurred since new year's day. health leaders are revealing new data saying deaths among those hospital i-ed for covid doubled in recent months. ""l.a. times"" reports it was one in eight last fall. since november it's been a one in four but experts point out the difference may be due to overcrowded hospitals, where only the sickest patients are now beingbeing admitted. for updates on cayces and the vaccine rollout head to nbcbayarea.com. derek almena will be

sentenced today in connection with the ghost ship warehouse fire that killed 36 people in 2016. he's expected to plead guilty. the deal would avoid a second trial after jurors could not reach a verdict the first time. he's going to have nine years, given time already in jail. a look at the radar in oakland as well, i'm no meteorologist but i think the green stuff is rain. meteorologist kari hall, timing it all out for us. hi, kari. >> hey. we're so happy to see some rain finally moving into the bay area. it's been so dry, so warm, but we're going to finally have some weather like we should have in the middle of january, right? so we're looking at some rain off and on moving up and down the peninsula, into the east bay

and south bay we'll see off and on showers and much cooler temperatures so time to dig out the coats and umbrella. we're looking at off and on showers and isolated thunderstorm popping up especially this afternoon. you'll see more energy as we go into today with the chance that we could also see some breaks in the rain going into this afternoon. so we'll be timing it out, taking a closer look at this coming up. mike, what's going on as folks get ready to head out the door? >> well, equally qualified as scott, i am also not a meteorologist but i believe the rain on this live shot we have is rain on the live shot we have for san jose. that means wet roads there as well. the map shows you the green sensors not a problem. the green highlighting is where you will have even slicker roadways than the ones we took a look at, mostly north of 29 but the san mateo bridge getting hit as well. on the bay bridge westbound the incline looks lik saw some flas earlier. they have cleared from the span i believe, and in san francisco,

101 at hospital curve, there's another crash. we'll talk about caesar chavez coming up. back to you, laura. >> sounds good, mike, thanks. this morning, a new surge in jobless claims across the state. still ahead on "today in the bay," the growing concerns now being raised from the already problem-packed edd and the growing number of bogus claims it's already trying to sort through. plus a consumer alert, the watching "today in the bay."

colgate optic white renewal removes ten years of yellow stains. that's like all the way back to 2010. they're jeans. they're leggings. they're jeggings! whoa. remove ten years of yellow stains with colgate optic white renewal.

i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. and i only need to take it once a week. plus, it lowers the risk of cardiovascular events. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopa. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, belly pain, and decreased appetite, which lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. i have it within me to lower my a1c. ask your doctor about trulicity.

right now at 4:41, we are seeing the rain finally arriving in the bay area and we're going to see off and on showers throughout the weekend as well as into next week. we've got several days of rain in the forecast, and i'll time it all out for you, coming up in a few minutes. >> but in the now, here over my shoulder there's that rain kari is talking about, highlighted in green and on the live shot of the san mateo bridge you see it on the roadway there. a smooth drive across 92 but look at that sheen on the road. it will be slick in many spots. we're also watching a couple of crashes on the bay bridge. see what rahel i'm rahel solomon from cnbc. wall street looks set to open in the red this morning, dow futures are off about 255 points following a mixed session yesterday. the dow slipping fractionally but the s&p 500 and nasdaq did close at record highs, those big

tech stocks such as apple, facebook and microsoft really powering nasdaq's gains ahead of their earnings reports next week. investors are also tracking early discussions in washington on president biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief bill and also in focus today a report on existing home sales which are expected to have dropped for st former fed chair janet yellen as treasury secretary. ford is recalling 3 million vehicles to replace those takada air bags that could explode in a crash. the defect plemented the largest recall of more than 67 million vehicles. they recalled the driver's side air bags which the company resisted for the last few years. rangers, fusion, edge, and lincoln mkz. airlines operating at a fraction of their pre-pandemic service adding up to a lot of booze not served on board. american airlines hoping to sell

the excess beverage, letting customers buy through a bottle for $the 9 a month. prices for single bottles range from $13 to $40 and a subscription plan gives customers access to discounts, a monthly shipment of three bottles of wine and two advantage miles for every $1 spent. scott and laura, back to you. i think that might be the selling point you get those miles. you can get wine from anywhere. >> that's true. now frequent flying. rahel, thank you so much. >> it's a win/win on a friday. want to get away? 4:44 right now. security is coming at a cost. next on "today in the bay," the bill taxpayers are now footing for the show of force at the state capitol on inauguration day. we'll tell you all about it. we'll be right back.

welcome back, everyone. taking a live look across the area and bay bridge and richmond bridge as well in case you can't make it out there. kari was talking about the rain coming, change coming. well, here it is. what a difference from last weekend, kari, it was like spring. >> absolutely. now we're back to winter. take a look at what we have for our high temperatures today. only reaching into the low 50s. this is going to be such a big difference compared to

yesterday, and i want to make sure that you're not walking out the door wearing short sleeves today. we're also seeing that rain. you want to have the umbrella close by. notice all the rain we're seeing off the coast farther to the coast. this is the center of the low pressure and when it gets here, it's going to have a little bit more energy and could also produce a few thunderstorms's specially by late morning into the afternoon. right now out ahead of that we're just seeing some light rain, now clearing san rafael, but moving into south city and we're also seeing some of the off and on light showers moving into parts of the east bay so as you head out the door, you may have to turn on windshield wipers and make sure they're working well. it's been a while since we've had to use them. as we look at what's going on once again we're seeing the rain just getting going, so we're starting out this morning with some wet weather that will become off and on as we go into today. as we go through the time line by late morning still some

lighter showers that will be moving through there be hit or miss,he afternoon once again where we start to see a little bit more energy, and a potential of some thunderstorms that could be packing some small hail, along with some brief, heavy downpours. most of it clears out by early tomorrow morning for a brief break so we're going to see this rainfall bring us over the next several days the potential of getting a couple of inches of rain. i mean, this is so desperately needed as well as all of the snow that we're expecting in the sierra. take a look at while i go through the next week, up to 69 inches of snow in kingvale, so that's going to be pretty amazing considering that right now they're about 40% of their normal amount of snow in the sierra. we're going to have some winter-like weather off and on through the next few days. if you're planning on getting outside tomorrow, there will be a break. we'll get sunshine and highs only reaching into the mid-50s. mike, getting out the door this morning, driving to work, the roads may be a little bit

slick. >> yes, kari, that's the word of caution for folks like you said. it's been a while but do use caution and folk are slowing t now the speed sensors show green all around the bay. the green highlights on top of the green is en sensors, confust the wetter roadways, in san jose we saw that on the roads. into san francisco we've tracked a number of crashes. they've all just cleared, i believe south 101 at hospital curve, another at cesar chavez affecting the on-ramp cleared into san francisco off the bay bridge and across that span. a live look shows you we had flashing lights on the incline westbound out of oakland and cleared those flashing lights are gone but you can't really see it from this dark shot, scott, but it is rainy there.we. . back to you.out from the capitol hill chaos. the senate ethics committee will investigate senator interests interests and josh hawley, they

led the senate objections to president biden's victory even though it was it a bun dantly clear it would fail and against them. yesterday a letter was sent to launch the probe to fully understand their roles and whether there was misconduct. the senators have not yet commented. some details this morning on the cost to protect the state capitol in the days between the d.c. insurrection and the inauguration. the totals this morning approaching $20 million. the high security in sacramento worked, they encountered one dump protester during inauguration. as all new strains of covid pop up over the globe, uc irvine scientists are creating a vaccine that would attack all strains of covid-19 including ones that haven't emerged yet. some new strains are indicating the vaccines we have may not be

as effective. uc irvine scientists want the new vaccine to be transmitted with a patch similar to a nicotine patch. clinical trials will start early next year. southern california port leaders are leaders to vaccinate dockworkers. port executives say cargo is coming in at the l.a. and long beach ports and they' trying to prevent a slowdown from everything coming in. from the start of the pandemic to now, nearly 700 dockworkers have gotten covid-19. california's latest surge in jobless claims raising concerns about a new effort to bilk the system. the state is already investigating what now appears to be massive fraud tied to pandemic related jobless benefits. some estimates this week have grown to perhaps $9 billion plus paid to bogus claims. the state this week reported a surge of 77,000 contractor related claims, nearly one-fourth the total

claims nationally. some call the spike suspicious, the edd says it expected an increase after congress extended benefits countdown is on to the olympics. we're now just six months away. ahead on "today in the bay," the reason the u.s. national artistic swimming team says a postponement is a blessing in disguise. but first, happening now there's a huge fire at a potato processing plant at washington state that led to widespread evacuations. officials say it was caused by a nearby residents because an ammonia tank could blow up. so far no, injuries have been reported from that fire. we'll be right back.

ready to take your immune support to the next level? nature's bounty is here for you. the number one herbal supplement brand at sylvania, we want to demonstrate just how much visibility your car's headlight bulbs itc,

welcome back. it's 4:55. tokyo today marking six months until the start of the summer olympics, with little fanfare. it's hard to build things up when right now the nation is in the depths of this covis. the massive undertaking o leavi many people in doubt. >> olympic and government leaders insist it is all systems go even if the games have to be played without fans. the head of the tokyo games believes a successful vaccine rollout will make the difference. it's still too early to tell. one recent poll found eight in ten japanese people now want the games to be canceled or postponed for a second time. the postponement of the 2020 olympics changed lives of many olympic hopefuls but there's a group of athletes who train right here in the bay area who say there was actually one benefit to it all. the u.s. national artistic swimming team, used to be called synchronized swimming practice swimming at high school in mara

dwa. the pandemic and wildfires forced them to train over zoom in backyard pools, even in living rooms, prepared them for the world stage. stronger faster. when you have the mentality of nothing will stop me, i don't care what it is, no? >> the national team has yet to qualify for the tokyo games. coming up tonight at 5:00 on nbc bay area, hear from a member of the team from the bay area who was able to pursue her olympic dream only because of the pandemic. isn't that fascinating scott in they had to practice on zoom. that's my kind of synchronized swimming. >> i can't imagine practicing swimming over zoom. that is extraordinary. we'll watch that team carefully. best of luck to them. facing this pandemic next on "today in the bay," a live report from washington on the actions joe biden is going to take in just a few hours to help struggling american families.

plus the increasing number of californians that could soon be left without a place to stay if no action is taken. we'll tell you about it. we'll be right back. 4:57.

colgate optic white renewal removes ten years of yellow stains. that's like all the way back to 2010. they're jeans. they're leggings. they're jeggings! whoa. remove ten years of yellow stains with colgate optic white renewal. this point, help is on the way. >> right now at 5:00, facing the pandemic head on. with cases rising, vaccines in short supply, a closer look at the biden administration's new plan to combat the pandemic.

reprioritizing the rollout. a possible big switch brewing in california with millions of essential workers awaiting covid vaccine. could it change your place in line? our radar lit up as rain moves across the bay area. meteorologist kari hall is timing out the forecast, and whether you can get your friday workout in outside. "today in the bay" continues right now. >> good friday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm scott mcgrew in for marcus washington and kari, just to be safe, i will skip today's workout. >> me, too. >> okay, well, you know what? we're doing what we can and it's going to be much cooler today so if you are working out outside, you might need to run just a little bit faster to stay warm and also to outrun some of this rain that's moving in. we'll see some of these scattered showers moving in, already seeing some of that rain now, so the pavement may be wet as you're driving to work or headed