Gov. Newsom: California ‘NOT Going Back to Normal’ Until We Have a Vaccine

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Gov. Newsom says California will not go back to normal until a vaccine to treat coronavirus is developed

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday warned that the state is “not going back to normal” until there is a coronavirus vaccine.

Newsom announced this week that California will move into the next phase of reopening its economy by Friday, May 8, allowing select businesses – like clothing stores, bookstores and flower shops – to reopen with certain modifications.

According to Gov. Newsom, offices and dine-in restaurants “will be part of a later Stage 2 opening.”

Per his statement:

The announcement for Friday does not include offices, seated dining at restaurants, shopping malls or schools. As the Governor noted last week, the state is working with school districts and the California education community to determine how best and safely to reopen. That continues to be the case – this May 8 announcement does not move up this timeline.

Newsom noted that individual counties “can choose to continue more restrictive measures in place based on their local conditions.”

Despite the move to return to normal, Newsom warned Californians that the state will not fully return to normal until “we get to immunity and a vaccine.”

“We’re not going back to normal. It’s a new normal with adaptations and modifications, until we get to immunity and a vaccine,” the California governor said during Tuesday’s press briefing.

Breitbart.com reports: While researchers are working on a vaccine for COVID-19 specifically, no vaccine for other forms of coronavirus have ever been approved, casting doubt on the efforts.

Christopher Whitty, the U.K.’s Chief Medical Officer, told a parliamentary committee last month that there are no guarantees in the development of a vaccine.

We need “to be careful that we don’t assume that we are going to have a vaccine for this disease as we have had for, let’s say measles, which once you have it you’re protected for life,” he said, according to Business Insider, adding, “We cannot guarantee success.”

President Trump, meanwhile, remains hopeful, telling reporters over the weekend that America will likely have a vaccine by the end of the year.