Congressman Jim Costa visits COVID vaccine clinic in northeast Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One after another.

Fresno Unified employees drove through the Hoover High School parking lot Saturday morning to get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Congressman Jim Costa was present at the clinic put on by United Health Centers, as 1,000 educators and staff got the shot.

At the moment, Fresno Unified is looking at a return to in-person learning beginning on April 6.

They'll start with TK through second grade on that date.

Middle and High School students can also return, but only 25% will be allowed back on a hybrid schedule.

Two weeks later, they'll bring back third and fourth grade, and then fifth and sixth graders the following month.

"We want to open our schools up, but we want to open them up safely to protect all of our educators and the students," Costa said.

Costa says vaccination efforts as a whole are picking up in Fresno County.

At the moment, more than 40,000 doses are being allocated on a weekly basis.

Costa says the county still needs more to reach the goal of vaccinating every American by May.

"If they can get another 10,000 vaccines a week, they have the capacity here in Fresno County to provide 50,000 vaccines plus," Costa said. "We are working to make that happen."

Costa says Johnson & Johnson's vaccine will help meet this need, along with the governors efforts to allocate more doses to the hardest hit areas of the state.

He adds if congress passes the American Rescue Plan, more vaccines would also become available.