♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> from the bay area's news station. you're watching kron. 4 news at >> it's realistic to think that we'll be getting the shot into the arms of these this age group before school starts in the fall. >> how about that potential new breakthrough in the battle against the pandemic. pfizer saying today its vaccine is safe and 100% effective for kids aged 16 down to age 12, thank you for joining us on kron 4 news at 5 everybody.

i'm grant lodes vicki liviakis an infectious disease expert says if all goes well, that means the tweens and more teens could be lining up to get their shots before school starts in the fall. >> our first maureen kelly reports. >> pfizer says none of the 12 to 15 year olds who got the shots in their clinical study contracted the virus and the kids side effects to the 2 doses were similar to those felt by young adults 14 year-old granddaughter so if you're excited to see that u c berkeley infectious disease expert doctor john swartzberg says, well, this is a small study of less than 2300 kids and it has not yet been vetted by other scientists at the data holds up. it could mean adolescents from 12 to 15 could join the rest of the 16 plus crowd already okay to get the shots before school starts in the fall and getting more of the population inoculated against the virus helps us in the battle against the pandemic because everyone that susceptible to the virus is

also a potential variant factory. we're not only protecting those children that were protecting society as a whole. >> from the transmission of the virus. to people are more susceptible to it in the it. but we're also protecting society from. factories. it is the development of new variants that could really throw a monkey wrench into are claims of getting back to normal one santa clara parent i talked to is thrilled by the news from pfizer. i'm a teacher. so i've already been fully vaccinated and my coworkers and i are so relieved to have. that is just such a sense of comfort. >> and so sending my kids off to school knowing that they've been vaccinated real, of course, just be. a great feeling, but another san francisco mom of a soon to be 12 year-old who plans to get vaccinated herself says she's going to need more data before her son does. honestly. i'm not doubting the efficacy of. >> this vaccine. i'm doubting the long-term effects that we don't know. and there's no way

of knowing until the long-term gets here. the drug maker says they plan to get their study in front of the fda as soon as possible. it's unclear how quickly the fda could move on. approving it for emergency use. >> for this age group. it's taken them 3 to 4 weeks to green light the vaccines for adults. maureen kelly kron 4 news. >> as we've been telling you, being eligible for a vaccine and actually scheduling an appointment or 2 very different things. the latter being oftentimes much more difficult that it isn't. well more vaccine supply has been promised the expansion of eligibility could make scheduling even tougher. >> crime or is that money joins us live with some options for searching for an appointment and got some tips stand. >> well, that's right. there's not just a one stop shop. the state created a website as a one-stop shop to schedule appointments. but there are several other options for people. and what we found from

those who have been successful is you just have to stick with it. you have to try and multiple options. getting the covid-19 vaccine is often quick. once you have an appointment. >> but getting that appointment can be difficult. there are several ways to look first. check your county's febsite. sometimes they make their own appointments like in contra, costa county. if not visit. the states might turn page here. you can find appointments if available. if not, you can sign up to be notified the many of complaint notifications are unreliable. if that's the case, twitter users can follow bay area vaccine bought. it's about the checks might turn every 5 minutes for available appointments and tweets when it finds them users just need to turn on alerts to be notified. you can also visit pharmacy sites like cvs walgreens rite aid and safe way to look for appointments. if no look there, you can try the web sites of major medical providers like sutter dignity, ucsf and kaiser. and if you're

still having no luck checkout vaccine finder. dot org. this web site operated by boston children's hospital and supported by the centers for disease control. we'll show you locations that have available vaccine and link you to those sites. now some of these sites have the option of how many miles from your home do you want to look for vaccine the farther away. you go the better chance it is that you might find something. >> live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news, thank you, dan. now the contra costa health services has opened up eligibility for the vaccine to anybody. 16 and older for people who live or work in that county. there has been a rush to get appointments. as forcefully chagall shows us how to actually do that. >> in order to set a covid-19 vaccination appointment in contra, costa county. your best bet is to either use a computer or mobile device to

access the public health department's website cc health dot org under the novel coronavirus banner. click covid vaccine inside the covid-19 vaccine appointments banner on the next page. click contra, costa health services. this will take you to a where you will answer 20 questions. this will only take a few minutes once completed, the site says to be on the lookout in the coming days for an e-mail from health services with instructions on how to schedule an appointment. once you received the e-mail, follow the embedded link, which will take you to my chart. that's the system. the county is using to schedule appointments. you can sign up through the web browser by creating a user name and password or download the my chart app and complete your registration and booking there. just make sure to click add organization and choose contra. costa health services be patient once you sign up appointment, time, slots may not pop up right away. you may

need to hit refresh a few times because a lot of people are trying to do the same thing. you are eventually you will get through. choose your preferred location date and time and my chart will provide instructions for the day of your appointment. the county has provided a phone number to call for setting an appointment for those without access to the internet. that's 844-729-8410. but the phone system was so overwhelmed. wednesday, the outgoing message stated the system had reached its call capacity, telling callers to try again. thursday. so it seems the web is the best way to in contra, costa county we could all kron 4 >> a new drive-thru vaccine site has opened in contra, costa county. it's in the parking lot of 6 flags. hurricane harbor in concord and as you can see, it's been pretty popular so far on average shifts taking 30 to 45 minutes or so for folks to move through the process so you can just stay in your car.

all 3 available vaccines are being given at this site. but they say mostly pfizer and johnson and johnson currently officials are hoping to do about 1500 to 2000 vaccinations per day and eventually when supply allows they want to ramp up to 15,000 doses given every day. >> california's 2 senators asking fema to stop its plan to close the federally run mass vaccination sites in oakland, in l a in a letter to the acting fema administrator senators padilla and feinstein asked the federal government to give alameda and los angeles county set funding and support to take control of the site. the 2 federally-run sites have reportedly distributed more than 500,000 doses mainly to underserved communities. >> and shipments of the johnson and johnson vaccine have been stopped after 15 million doses. >> where ruined due to human error. the fda is investigating the situation that happened at a plant in

baltimore. >> according to the new york times employees mixed up ingredients. jj released a statement saying a batch of the vaccine did not meet quality standards. the vaccine doses that have already been shipped or not impacted. they say by the error. however, future shipments have been stopped. johnson and johnson says they still plan on safely delivering an additional 24 million single shot vaccine doses through april. and as we race to vaccinate people. it's just not happening fast enough covid cases across the country have increased every day for the past week. the white house covid response team says cases were up 9% this week and hospitalizations were up 2%. brown university's dean of public health said today that as predicted the more contagious uk variant is now the dominant covid strain in the u.s. more than 4 or more than 548,000 people in this country have already died of covid since the pandemic started. now a sobering

statistic covid was the 3rd leading cause of death in the u.s. last year after heart disease and cancer. that's according to the cdc, researchers at the national center for health statistics analyzed death certificate data among us residents between january and december of 2020 life expectancy in the u.s. also dropped a full year in the 1st half of 2022 nearly 78 years old. the big story tonight, the trial of derek chauvin is now in its 3rd day. and so far jurors have heard from 10 people who witnessed george floyd's death. >> and today the cashier who took a counterfeit $20 bill from floyd that day testified about his demeanor just minutes before the fatal encounter. reporter kareen wynter brings us the latest in the case. >> this teenage cashier, the prosecution's lead witness for most of the morning testified about taking a fake $20 bill from george floyd and trying to get him back into the store

to resolve the issue. the prosecution played surveillance video from inside cup foods and outside the business as a teen christopher martin repeatedly tried to get floyd back into the stores. he sat in this black suv. >> inside the store. security footage captured floyd laughing and displaying behavior consistent with someone under the influence. according to martin who described floyd speech has delayed and slurred as he struggled to form his words speak on took him. >> a little long to get to what you're trying to say. so would appear that he was high mine told the court he immediately noticed a counterfeit bill which had a blue pigment and that it was this incident that led to the police call word your children and other officers responded to the scene. winds of the store's policy was to dhaka workers pay for the cost of accepting fake bills. >> martin testified that he offered to pay the $20 to cover the purchase. but that is manager instructed him to go outside the store with other co-workers to confront. floyd said he felt guilt and disbelief as he watched in shock as floyd was transported away from the scene in an

ambulance and expressed feelings of regret that if he hadn't accepted floyd's money, this could have been avoided. this witness also testified for the prosecution christopher bell friend who was sitting inside a car and witnessed floyd being taken into custody. he recorded the encounter and testified he saw officers draw their guns as they approached floyd's you can see floyd struggling with officers as they try to remove him from the suv. where else are >> i had a guy. on the door and pointed a gun at whoever was in the dryer. see the defense throughout the morning focused on floyd's behavior inside the store trying to paint him as someone who was acting a radically before being detained. >> as well as his attempts to use a counterfeit bill to purchase items children has been charged with murder and manslaughter in the 46 year. old's death. >> his legal team is part of their strategy is working to deflate the testimony from the prosecution's witnesses and to portray bystanders as an angry

mob that further added to the chaos during those tense moments of floyd's arrest. >> and that was kareen wynter reporting for us tonight. hearing witnesses testifying dissect second by second account of the circumstances surrounding george floyd's death can really be tough. so. here are some resources that may help you can contact any of the organizations on your screen. they offer coping mechanisms to deal with stress depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. we have a full list of these resources on our website at kron 4 dot com. >> and some breaking news right now. firefighters are on the scene of this vegetation fire, about 3 acres, maybe as many as 5 acres, according to cal fire. is in the santa cruz mountains, boulder creek area. good news is no structures are threatened. it's burning along highway 9 in the area of greenvale road. if you're familiar with that part of boulder creek and certainly

folks who live there and work their travel through there all too familiar because of the czu complex fire which devastated so much of the santa cruz mountains. fire started last august that killed a person destroyed more than 7500 buildings. fortunately, it doesn't look this again is threatening any however, it is a hot day 4 late march, although large just said the winds are not a big issue. and you can see the smoke is just kind of wafting up pg and e. the courtesy here on this image and we will keep an eye on this. no doubt as it has been a hot march day again, fire burning right now in the santa cruz mountains in the boulder creek area along highway 9. we're going to take a quick break to

the south bay where a new battle plan is taking shape to try to crack down on these things. illegal sideshows in san jose. yeah. but it's not just sideshows illegal street racing is also on the rise there on first. >> fladeboe has more on what's being planned now live from san jose. rob. >> let's right. vicki and grant the san jose city council now considering out a new get tough ordinance that ago after the organizers are promoters of these sideshows in addition to the participants and spectators. let's take a look at how it's going to work.

>> was a leader. so illegal sideshows like this one are getting bigger all the time. and more 7 people have died in connection with side shows any illegal street racing since last month there reports of gunfire at a sideshow in a residential neighborhood off lee avenue left behind more than a 100 showcases traffic snarled for hours. enough is enough says city council member maya esparza. >> so for example, last year it was maybe one or 200 cars, which is in and of itself a problem. but now they are 500 cars up until now. enforcement efforts have targeted participants their vehicles and spectators. >> as far is leading the effort to pass a new city ordinance that would go after the promoters of the side shows this would go after promoters on social media in real life and at the scene and following up afterwards because side shows off and pull police away from regular patrol duties. it's been suggested a full-time

enforcement effort should be funded. the police have already started work on one of the things that we propose, which was county wide task force that includes the chp. it includes the sheriff includes all the law enforcement agencies in our county. >> aside from a new tougher ordinance barriers another detours will be erected in areas where the sideshows and racing is occurring to say nothing of the burn rubber visible across the city despite numerous are all city impounded vehicles. the situation is out of control, says as far who points out that many of the sideshow participants and organizers are from out of town. people from stockton, livermore and los angeles. >> so we don't want people coming to san jose to race their cars. >> now this new so-called promoter or does not only seeks to fine people up to a $1000 and sentenced them to up to 6 months in jail. it will also attempt to hold them responsible for police overtime and other costs

associated with enforcement associated with enforcement live in san jose. rob fladeboe >> all right. taking another look at that fire burning in boulder creek in the santa cruz mountains. great news just within the cal fire down there battling it say that they have stopped the forward progress on this fire in the santa cruz mountains. they're calling it the fossil fire about 5 acres along highway 9 in boulder creek fortunately the winds are whipping today because it's so warm. yeah. it's not officially fire season. but, you know, you always got to keep your eye from 4 chief meteorologist lawrence karnow here talk about this. >> warm weather. yeah. still a little green. the mountains, too. that's something to watch out for. of course, couple of dry years in a row last 20 years have not been friendly rain wise to much of california in the western half the united yeah. we're gonna fuel fires again. looks like the summer. right now, though. hey, what a day. we had. what a gorgeous they want to grab your eyes t go for a walk out there on the beach in half

moon. bay is a gorgeous evening fog free right now. enjoy it. that fog likely be back by tomorrow, at least in the evening over san francisco. we've got nice clear skies to those offshore winds bringing with it. the clear skies and the warm temperatures. look at these numbers right now. it's 82 degrees in san jose 72 of the beach of the picture we just showed you in half moon, bay 76 the pacifica 80 over the hill in san mateo 78 degrees in san francisco 81 in oakland right now. 82 in berkeley 79 in san anselmo, 79 in petaluma and 81 degrees in the napa valley. certainly some spectacular numbers around the bay area. looks like we're going to see that warm weather maybe in some parts for one more day and then what a big change we have coming our way. we'll talk more about that. guys in a few minutes. all right, lawrence, coming up, the a's are welcoming fans back to the coliseum tomorrow for opening day. kron 4 sports reporter kylen mills has everything you need to know. >> about scope restrictions a big matchup against the

houston astros. >> and so many people getting out there enjoying the beautiful weather. but if you're going to be doing so at the east bay. there are some changes. we'll tell you about. and some exciting news to share with you. the kron 4 is expanding our weekend news coverage with a new 06:00pm newscast. >> join justine waldman and jonathan mccall for the latest local news weather and sports coverage every saturday and su so you just scored amazing savings at ross? mmm-hmm. on brands that take you from me time...

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>> it's beautiful out right this weekend in forsman of rules and regulations. we'll be returning to a popular lake in the east versus the committee and tells us what you can expect if you're headed to oakland's lake merritt. >> you are looking at video of what a typical weekend looks like at lake merritt in oakland, a combination of lake lovers, food trucks and street and the lake merritt being the most popular park in oakland is just seeing crowds like it's never seen think of an outdoor music festival happening every week at the scene continuing as it is, has become untenable situation. >> now the city of oakland's directive into departmental operations. joe de vries explains. what is going to be different this weekend. but we're not going allow people to be sending out all or or some other regulated and that's that's a safety issue. we are loans that when the

trucks that have their license and that we know that it approved by the by the health but any. but it just sets up a table start selling approach and they're playing degrees and the lawn things like that. not going to allow. in fact, starting friday. folks at the lake will see the return of parking enforcement municipal code enforcement and traffic control. >> this this this lady right here wants to sit here and call the police on them for having a barbecue at the lake. >> the huge crowds at the lake started showing up back in 2019 in protest to the now infamous bbq. becky incident involving a white woman calling oakland police on a black family setting up a barbecue grill in a non permanent location. it's a little time or going around the park 2 years later, the situation has become unbearable for some oakland residents who called in to this recent city council meeting. >> i remain concerned that is the focus is only on enforcement that will be

disproportionate to black people. i'm a black woman in my apartment. overlooking the i love our diverse community. i love seeing people who look like and experiencing joy. and it's unlikely >> and until recently i was excited explore potentially buying a home here. >> living here is now an unsafe nightmare haaziq madyun kron 4 news. >> talk vaccines of yet pfizer first he stick to that right. does one was moderna. so is dose too well, maybe not. would new date is revealing tonight about like mixing and matching may be the way to go in special circumstances. plus, the a's, they're welcoming fans back to the coliseum for the first time since 2019 from 4 sports reporter kylen mills has details well, changes at the ballpark in the opening day matchup against the astros and the latest poll data is out in the recall effort for governor newsome. how many voters said they would like to keep him

i'm greg, i'm 68 years old.

i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. 5.30, a new poll shows most voters would. >> keep governor newson in office if a recall election happened today. so after hearing that we wanted to check in with the folks who want to see newsome kicked out of for his ashley zavala has an update for us now on the effort to remove governor newsome from office. >> polls really don't matter. the only poll that matters is what's going to be taking place on election da