jobina fortson has the results of a "gma" investigation. >> thank you. officials say they're a good safety precaution but only stop the bread to degree. this animation shows how the virus can spread in indoor spaces. the red represents air particles carrying the virus. since that air would be warm, it will likely rise higher and then spread further. >> the plexiglass dividers stop the large particles and the smaller ones may escape over the top or around the side and find their way into a healthy person's nose. >> "gma" also went inside a princeton university lab. you can see while air can't penetrate glass itself, that air slowly makes its way up and around dividers. with or without plexiglass barriers, experts continue to warn about the risk of indoor dining. they stress that wearing a mask could help stop any spread. >> all right. thank you very much. >>> the dmv is allowing people who are 70 and up the option to renew their driver's license online. licenses that have expired since march 1st are eligible. that includes real i.d. licenses. most drivers

that was jobina fortson reporting. >>> the state of california is taking legal steps to get amazon to information about its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 7 on your side's michael finney join us now with the action today from the state's attorney general. michael, what is this all about? >> dion, here is the question. is amazon following the state coronavirus guidelines to protect its warehouse workers? california attorney general xavier becerra says he doesn't know because amazon is not handing over information that could answer that question. so today the attorney general filed a petition asking a judge to order amazon to comply with the state's ongoing investigation. becerra says the slow drip of information from the retailing giant is insufficient. >> if amazon can't next day deliver an 80-inch tv, it should be able to deliver to the department of justice the straightforward information we officially requested of them nearly four months ago. >> the ag wants to know which amazon facilities have the highest covid rates and if amazon has applied to any other investigations or

thanks for believing. >>> good morning, everyone, i'm jobina fortson. we're starting this half hour with a look at the weather. here is meteorologist lisa argen, good morning, lisa. >> good morning, jobina. and down at the beach in santa cruz it's pretty nice with 48 degrees. low to mid-50s today. look at the sun there. the skies will cloud up towards about noontime, and maybe a quarter inch of rain is on the way tonight. 48 in san francisco. 50 in mountain view. it is in the mid-40s down in morgan hill and closer to home, our east bay hills camera with mostly cloudy skies. upper 30s santa rosa to mid-40s by the delta and 46 in concord. we're bringing in our storm impact scale tonight. we're expecting scattered showers. the highest totals will be in the south bay. the winds will be breezy, out of the south. we've got a dry day today, 9:00, still in the 40s. by 2:00 we've got some sun. upper 50s to near 60. then the clouds take over later on tonight. we're dry at 6:00. but look what happens as we get closer to 7:00, 8:00. the rain is along the coastal hil

jobina fortson. >> we'll be bringing you in-depth coverage on the vaccine with our team of reporters you'll hear about side effects of the vaccine from trial participants. you'll find all of our stories online at abc7news.com/vaccine. >>> on to politics, and it is official. joe biden has secured victory over president trump with the electoral college vote today. abc7 news reporter marci gonzalez explains how biden's win is now starting to get more republican recognition. >> reporter: now it is official. the electoral college voting affirming joe biden as the president-elect of the united states. >> and the will of the people prevail. >> reporter: that will upheld at state capitals across the country from georgia. >> joseph r. biden has received 16 votes for president of the united states. >> reporter: to florida. >> congratulations, electors. you have done it. >> reporter: to california. >> ayes 55. no's, 0. >>. >> reporter: which put biden beyond the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency. biden getting a total of 306 electoral votes, the same number president trump won

jobina fortson. >> we'll be bringing you in-depth coverage on the vaccine with our team of reportersrrow you'll hear about side effects of the vaccine from trial participants. you'll find all of our stories online at abc7news.com/vaccine. >>> on to politics, and it is official. joe biden has secured victory over president trump with the electoral college vote today. abc7 news reporter marci gonzalez explains how biden's win is now starting to get more republican recognition. >> reporter: now it is official. the electoral college voting affirming joe biden as the president-elect of the united states. >> and the will of the people prevail. >> reporter: that will upheld at state capitals across the country from georgia. >> joseph r. biden has received 16 votes for president of the united states. >> reporter: to florida. >> congratulations, electors. you have done it. >> reporter: to california. >> ayes 55. no's, 0. >>. >> reporter: which put biden beyond the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency. biden getting a total of 306 electoral votes, the same number president trump

it's saturday, december 26th, i'm jobina fortson. we will have much more to get to on the covid relief bill, but first we'll start with weather and lisa argen tracking rain for us. >> reporter: hi, jobina. good morning to you. yes, we still have the level one system for the next few hours and as we look at live doppler 7 you can see the snow and the sierra nevada and some activity to the north of us, but to the bay area, maybe just a few isolated, light sprifrpg else out there and we'll keep our level one system with us with the slick roads and some breezy winds and here's the way it's going to play out as we get through 7:00, 8:00, notice that not only do the clouds begin to diminish, we'll see increasing sunshine. upper level winds, they are breezy to gusty out there, and as we look at our temperatures, they are mild from the low to mid 50s on the east bay shoreline and 56 in novato and that is 10 to 12 degrees warmer from the east bay valleys and nine degrees warmer for portions of the east bay. the showers will be ending towards t

i'm jobina fortson. we'll have much more to get to on that relief bill in a moment but first we're going to begin with weather and meteorologist lisa argen who is tracking some rain. >> good morning to you. we may have driven through a few rain drops this morning but as we look at live doppler 7, there is scattered cloud cover and we're clearing out. numbers are in the 50s for the most part. a roof camera, the winds sich arou switch around to a drier component today. that's pretty mild for novato, 54. 51 in napa. for the next several hours, we are looking at maybe a shower here or there but otherwise the clouds will decrease. the sunshine is with us and we'll call it partly cloudy throughout the afternoon. mid-50s to upper 50s today. we've got a dry rest of the day, a dry evening. sunday starting out dry. we'll see the clouds increase and the rain arrives towards the evening hours. it's a level one system. we'll track it for you and it looks like it's going to last through your monday. >>> developing new

i'm jobina fortson.ef bill in a moment but first we're going to begin with weather and meteorologist lisa argen who is tracking some rain. >> good morning to you. we may have driven through a few rain drops this morning but as we look at live doppler 7, there is scattered cloud cover and we're clearing out. numbers ar

it's saturday, december 26th, i'm jobina fortson. will have much more to get to on the covid relief bill, but first we'll start with weather and lisa argen tracking rain for us. >> reporter: hi, jobina. good morning to you. yes, we still have the level one system for the next few hours and as we look at live doppler 7 you can see the snow and the sierra nevada and some activity to the north of us, but to the bay

jobina fortson at the live desk tracking that and what local leaders think is the best way to accomplish the goal. >> thank you, reggie. governor newsom launched the newly branded campaign with fairness and equity at the heart of it. santa clara county leaders who serve communities hardest hit from covid-19 learned a lot from setting up testing sites. we asked those leaders about their ideas on how to deliver on the governor's promise. >> consider people who are forced to go out every day for different circumstances to be some of the first people in line to receive the vaccination. >> we have to make sure, same thing, that we figure out where is the density of folks that we're trying to serve. and we have to be able to set up shop right then and there. >> some ideas being tossed around include flexible vaccination hours serving workers in fields and door knocking hard to reach families. they hope the governor will listen to their advice in order to understand what is happening in these hard hit communities, reggie. >> thank you. >>> all this week, we'll bring you in depth coverage on the

jobina fortson is here with the details on that. jobina? >> reporter: good morning.ted airlines says 1 million doses can actually fit in the belly of a 777 passenger jet. what we're also hearing this morning is the challenge will be keeping the vaccine cold enough. we got a tour of a cold storage facility in chicago. united will be using the facility to sort the vaccines. they'll be transported in refrigerated shipping containers at up to minus 94 degrees fahrenheit. when the vaccines are in the belly of the plane, no passengers will be on board. united says they transport pharmaceuticals a ultra cold temperatures all the time. the difference will be the scale with millions of vaccine being transported. you can see geo has this entire report on "gma" at 7:00 hereere after our news this morning. >>> they could get covid-19 vaccines by december 17. high-risk health care workers are the top priority. the state has split them into three tiers. tier one is workers in acute care facilities and dialysis facilities. tier two, intermediate health care facilities, in-home work

i'm jobina fortson.early as february. >> distance learning will stale remain an option for parents and students. there's a lot of trepidation, a lot of anxiety, we realize that, about going back into the classroom. >> the plan includes $2 billion in funding. young elementary students and students with special needs would come back first. the plan calls for increased covid testing and students and staff would be required to wear masks. >>> the sun has been up for about an hour but you can see there are slicks spots out there. that's my main concern for rest of the commute. for the rest of the day, high clouds, sunshine, temperatures nearing 60. we'll be back into the low 40s by midnight. dress warmly if you're going to be outside. there's no organized activities. >>> a series of storms starts friday night into saturday morning, again sunday, monday. we get a break tuesday. >>> i'm looking out for you. i'm protecting you. it's my duty. >> and what is my duty? you have no idea what it is to be a woman, what

jobina fortson is following that at the live desk. >> thank you. so a state advisory committee will try to answer the question that is at the top of many minds right now, which is who will be next in line for the covid-19 vaccine. it could be firefighters, police officers, or other essential front line workers that come into close contact with the public. the u.s. government brokers a deal with pfizer announced today to supply an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine to the u.s. they are expected to be delivered by the end of july. that will not help the crisis we're seeing in california. now the epicenter of the nation's outbreak. hospitals in southern california are pushed tho theo their break point. uc irvine is building a field hospital and a marking lot. >> what we saw after thanksgiving we're probably going to see worse after christmas. >> california is in a crisis mode in it's health systems. we're breaking records we do not want to break. >> the state could see 100,000 hospitalizations of covid-19 patients in december alone. this mont

jobina fortson is tracking that at the live desk. >> thank you. good morning.he united kingdom reported more than 53,000 new cases on tuesday alone. that is a new record for them. the surge could be because of a new mutation of covid-19 which appears to be more infectious. that strain was first seen in the uk but has now been identified in one person in colorado. this morning an infectious disease expert is on "gma" explaining about what it means for us. >> it does look like the virus binds more tightly to itself, and it is consistent with the fact this might be more contagious. i think that hasn't been formally proven yet, but it appears to be. i'm not sure what difference that should make for us. the current virus seems to be contagious enough. we have 20 million people infected and almost 350,000 people who have died from this. it shouldn't change our behavior. >> dr. paul oppet says we should continue to wear masks and social distance and wash our hands more frequently. >>> the new strain of covid-19 comes as astrazeneca's vaccine receives emergency use aut

jobina fortson has more from the live desk on this. >> thank you. this is the same federal panel that gave the green light for a similar request from pfizer last week. people have started to receive that vaccine. pfizer began shipping it once it was given that government approval. moderna's vaccine is 94% effective in all age groups fighting covid-19. that compares to 95% for pfizer's vaccine. the similarities were talked about between the two drugs on "good morning america." n >> from an efficacy point of view, they're about the same once they get into your arm. >> moderna says they will begin shipping the vaccine once it gains approval. moderna says they will be ready to ship 5.9 million doses of the vaccine. >>> in the south bay, silicon valley social media giants are promising to crack down on vaccine misinformation amid the rollout. as matt boone explains, some activists are saying this is too late. >> reporter: twitter is the latest social media company to announce new measures to combat vaccine misinformation. according to a blog post they'll

jobina fortson has reaction from republicans and democrats today. >> thank you.after six months of negotiations and gridlock, lawmakers finally came to an agreement on another round of help for americans that have been hit very hard financially by the pandemic. the roughly 9$900 billion packae is expected to include 300 billion in aid to businesses, $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits, and $600 in direct stimulus payments to millions of americans. lawmakers acknowledge the long wait for many americans. democrats say this is just the first step towards more relief. >> 9$900 billion is packed with targeted policies that help struggling americans who have already waited entirely too long. >> our support for state and local governments, while significant in this legislation requires more to be done. so we consider this a first step and, again, more needs to be done. >> speaker pelosi went on to say more will be done with the incoming biden/harris administration to provide relief for those local and state governments. president trump is expected to sign the b

jobina fortson is at the live desk with more hopeful news about another vaccine poised to get federalrization. jobina? >> thank you. so, vice president pence's on-camera live vaccination is part of a broader campaign by the white house to get the message across that the covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective. so what we're learning here this morning, the vice president is among the first in the trump administration to be vaccinated with pfizer's covid-19 vaccine, which was authorized under emergency use authorization by the fda last week. karen pence and jerome adams also were vaccinated this morning. president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris will receive their vaccinations sometime next week. alex azar announced authorization for moderna's vaccine is imminent. >> like last friday when i told you about pfizer, this morning i can tell you and your viewers that the fda communicated to moderna that we expect to grant their emergency use authorization. that could come as soon as today. more good friday vaccine news. i think we should set up a regular date for you an

jobina fortson at the live desk with more on what local leaders think is the best way to accomplish that goal. jobina? >> launched a newly branded campaign with fairness and equity at the heart of it. serve communities hardest hit by covid-19 say they've learned a lot from setting up covid-19 testing sites. we asked those leaders about their ideas on how to deliver on the governor's promise. >> consider people who are forced to go out every day for different circumstances to be some of the first people in line to receive the vaccination. >> we have to make sure, same thing, that we figure out where is the density of folks that we're trying to serve. and we have to be able to set up shop right then and there. >> some ideas being tossed around include flexible vaccination hours serving workers in fields and door knocking. hard to reach families as they hope the governor will listen to their advice and understand what is happening in these hard hp hit communities. reggie? >> thank you. >>> all this week in-depth coverage with our team of reporters and medical experts. if you have questions,

here is jobina fortson with more. >> thank you. the u.s. government will shut down at midnight eastern time unless senate leaders fix last-minute differences on a short-term spending bill. the spending bill is part of a defense bill being delayed by kentucky republican rand paul. he wants to delay consideration of the defense bill over an amendment he leabelieves will lt the president from withdrawing troops from war zone. the fight is putting a covid-19 relief package in jeopardy as well. senate sources tell abc news a compromise is not looking good. >> people are in lines begging for food, you know, looking for food for each meal for their children, and the renters are absolutely terrified that they're going to be evicted. >> we need to pass covid relief before the end of the year. i hope members of the democratic leadership will decide they're willing to move forward to meet the covid priorities. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell signaled through staff he is not in favor of a 9$908 billion bipartisan proposal. mcconnell is saying

anthony fauci will get his first dose of the covid-19 vaccine this morning and jobina fortson is at the live desk with his timeline and when he thinks all of us might be able to get it. jobina. >> thank you, reggie. dr. anthony fauci is on "gma" this morning and he says most americans will get vaccinated by the spring, but it may take a while before everyone is included. >> we likely will be able to start vaccinating people who are in the broader category, somewhere around the end of march, the beginning of april. how long it takes to get everyone who needs to be vaccinated vaccinated is really varies. it depends on the efficiency of the process. >> he added the timeline can fluctuate by two or three months. dr. fauci will receive his first dose around 7:00 this morning. he will get the newly authorized moderna vaccine. >> i'm doing it because i want to symbolize to people the importance that everyone gets vaccinated who can get vaccinated. but also it's a good feeling of accomplishment because this originated in laboratories in my institute. >> ahead of the christmas holiday, dr. fauci

abc7 news anchor jobina fortson highlights one she supports. >> so many wonderful organizations thatp people in the bay area that also need help right now. for giving tuesday, i'm supporting junior achievement of northern california. empowering students k through 12 across our region and their teachers. ja is a nonprofit dedicated to teaching students financial literally, work readiness through methods that aren't taught inside the classroom. i have been volunteering with ja for the last year and a half hosting their financial literacy town hall where experts gave students one-on-one advice on how to plan their futures. that start of the pan pandemic, raised thousands of dollars and i am one of the organization's newest board members. prepandemic, students had the opportunity to visit job sites and interact with corporate sponsors and mentors from companies like google and the san francisco giants. in march, ja made the virtual pivot forming online internship opportunities and free virtual programming for teachers. everything ja offers is free. but it budget has been reduced by 30% d

jobina fortson is at the live desk with details on this massive distribution process going on right now. >> thank you. good morning. 145 hospitals nationwide this morning are preparing to receive the first doses of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine. in total 2.9 million doses will be shipped to all 50 states this week. the initial supply will go to front line health care workers, those in long-term care facilities and staff. u.s. marshals are traveling with each shipment and the fda has given priority -- or the faa has given priority to flights carrying the vaccines. u.p.s. says they're working fast and diligently. >> this morning they will be offloading those jets and those docks, they'll be delivering with our traditional brown trucks this morning to their vaccine locations. i think there's a race out there right now. as soon as the trucks pull out from their hubs around the country, they'll try to get to those locations as fast as they can. >> the covid tracking project reports the u.s. is averaging 300 more deaths per day than at the peak in the spring. a record more 108,000 americans are c

jobina fortson has more on the issues they're facing. >> thank you.n ossoff stood next to an empty podium. david perdue refused to participate. in the other race, reverend rafael warnock debated kelly loeffler and she refused to acknowledge that president trump lost the election. she asked if she agreed with the president's unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud. >> president trump has every right to use every legal recourse available. in our own state we've seen time and again that we have investigations that need to be completed. in fact, we've run two audits, those audits discovered thousands of ballots across several counties in georgia that were not counted. >> if democrats win both runoffs, the party will have control of the chamber because vice president-elect kamala harris would break any ties. in republicans win one of those two races they will maintain control. reggie? >> thank you. >>> new details involving the months leading up to the mysterious death of zappos founder tony tsu. according to police he was locked inside a storage a

jobina fortson has more. >> good morning. so, vice president mike pence's on-camera live vaccination was part of a broader campaign from the white house to promote the messaging here that the covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective. what we're also learning is the vice president is among the first in the trump administration to be vaccinated with pfizer's covid-19 vaccine which was authorized under emergency use authorization by the fda last week. also vaccinated at walter reed this morning was karen pence and jerome adams. president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris will receive their vaccinations sometime next week. alex azar announced authorization for moderna's vaccine is imminent. >> like last friday when i told you about pfizer, this morning i can tell you and your viewers that the fda communicated to moderna that we expect to grant their emergency use authorization. that could come as soon as today. more good friday vaccine news. i think we should set up a regular date for you and me to talk every f

jobina fortson has more on what you need to know. good morning. >> good morning. thank you. so white house coronavirus task force member brett juwar says the problem is mixing your bubble with another bubble once you get to your destination. >> travel increases risk. we have to be concerned about that. it's just vitally important that people follow all those rules, avoid indoor gatherings, wear a mask, wash your hands, particularly in airports. that's where your handrails touch places where other people touched those. >> he talked about vaccine distribution. the goal was to vaccinate 20 million americans by the end of the year. but right now only 2 million have received the shot. he says another 4.7 million doses will be distributed this week. >> so 20 million doses will be distributed to the states by the first week in january. probably another 30 million doses in january. another 50 million doses in february. that seems to be a very good estimate given what we know right now. >> he says the end of the pandemic is in sight but there's still a lot of work that needs to happe

jobina fortson has more on the distribution process getting under way. >> we are finally here. 145 hospitals nationwide this morning are preparing to receive the first doses of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine. in total 2.9 million doses will be shipped to all 50 states this week. the initial supply will go to front line health care workers, those in long-term care facilities and staff. u.s. marshals are traveling with each shipment and the fda has given priority -- or the faa has given priority to flights carrying the vaccines. u.p.s. says they're working fast and diligently. >> this morning they will be offloading those jets and those docks, they'll be delivering with our traditional brown trucks this morning to their vaccine locations. i think there's a race out there right now. as soon as the trucks pull out from their hubs around the country, they'll try to get to those locations as fast as they can. >> the covid tracking project reports the u.s. is averaging 300 more deaths per day than at the peak in the spring. a record more 108,000 americans are currently hospitalized with covid-19. in a f

jobina fortson is following that at the live desk. >> thank you.o a state advisory committee will try to answer the question that is at the top of many minds right now, which is who will be next in line for the covid-19 vaccine. it could be firefighters, police officers, or other essential workers that come into close contact with the public. the u.s. government brokered a deal with pfizer announced today to supply an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine to the u.s. they are expected to be delivered by the end of july. that will not help the crisis we're seeing in california. now the epicenter of the nation's outbreak. hospitals in southern california are pushed to their breaking point. uc irvine is building a field hospital and a parking lot. >> what we saw after thanksgiving we're probably going to see worse after christmas. >> california is in a crisis mode in it's health systems. we're breaking records we do not want to break. >> the state could see 100,000 hospitalizations of covid-19 patients in december alone. this month has proven to