The governor's briefing comes a day after the state administered its first COVID-19 vaccine dose in Los Angeles County, and thousands of doses are being rolled out across the state. Twenty-four locations expected doses to arrive on Tuesday and 33 hospitals should have the vaccine by Wednesday, officials said.

\"PHOTO:
Jae C. Hong/Pool via Reuters
PHOTO: Gov. Gavin Newsom watches as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is prepared by Director of Inpatient Pharmacy David Cheng at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 14, 2020.
>

\"There is light at the end of the tunnel,\" Newsom said. \"But we are still in the tunnel, going through the most challenging and difficult surge we've experienced since the beginning of this pandemic.\"

Newsom has received pushback to the state's COVID-19 response, especially around restrictions. A recall effort has collected more than half of the nearly 1.5 million petition signatures needed by mid-March to get it on the ballot.

Organizers told The Associated Press this week that the effort gained steam after the Democratic leader dined with friends last month at a restaurant while urging constituents to stay home. Newsom has since apologized for attending the event.

ABC News' Alex Stone and Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.

This report was featured in the Wednesday, Dec.16, 2020, episode of “Start Here,” ABC News’ daily news podcast.

\"Start Here\" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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