California will set aside vaccine doses for educators, staff

"I can't support something that's going to delay the safe reopening of schools for our youngest kids," he said.

It also comes as the state faces delayed vaccine shipments affecting about 702,000 doses — more than half of its typical weekly allotment — due to winter storms in the eastern half of the country. The delays have prompted health officials around the state to shutter some vaccine centers and delay appointments.

In Los Angeles, city officials postponed vaccine appointments Friday for about 12,500 people due to shipment delays, while in nearby Orange County officials temporarily closed a vaccination site at Disneyland.

Aside from the weather delays, Newsom said the state expects more consistent vaccine shipments and that its allotment from the federal government to start rising. That consistency gives the state the confidence to set aside a baseline of 75,000 first doses of vaccine each week for teachers, school staff and childcare workers.

California has been ramping up vaccine efforts, giving 6.9 million shots to date by opening large-scale vaccination centers at places such as Disneyland and Dodger Stadium and running mobile clinics to vaccinate farmworkers and other vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations. Health officials have repeatedly said they are ready to provide far more doses but are limited by vaccine supplies.

California's virus cases, infection rates and hospitalizations have dropped precipitously after reaching record highs in early January. Only 3.1% of people tested in the last week were positive, while cases have fallen to 6,700 per day from a peak of more than 40,000. Hospitalizations are a third of what they were six weeks ago.

The drop allowed California on Friday to announce a more rapid return to the athletic playing fields for youth sports. Newsom also said earlier this week that residents can expect in the near future that many more counties will be able to reopen and expand customer volume for various businesses.

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Taxin reported from Orange County.