Governor Charlie Baker, pushing back against political critics and a mountain of negative media reports, said Tuesday that the Massachusetts vaccine efforts — while undeniably flawed — are producing results that match or exceed states of a similar size.

"We’re number one in the country in first doses per capita among our peer states that have more than five million people. That's 24 states that are basically our size or bigger. And we've been a top 10 player for the past two or three weeks," Baker said at a State House press conference Tuesday.

On Monday, 30,000 doses of vaccine were administered, Baker said. The governor also mentioned a Bloomberg report that found Massachusetts to be the second best performing state for vaccinating Black residents.

Baker wants to bring elementary school students back for in-person learning five days a week this spring, since positive test rates are the lowest they've been since October.

"With COVID cases and hospitalizations continuing to decline and vaccines well underway, it's time to set our sights on eliminating remote learning by April and starting with elementary schools," Baker said.

To accelerate the resumption of in-person learning, Elementary and Secondary Commissioner Jeff Riley said he will request that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education grant him the authority to stop counting hybrid and remote learning time towards students' total learning time. Riley said his eventual goal will be to bring elementary school students back to classrooms five days a week in April.

Under the proposal, parents could opt out and keep children home and districts could apply for waivers to allow some remote hours to be counted.

Baker pushed back on criticism from teachers' unions who say educators and staff should be vaccinated before they return to classrooms.

"The science is pretty clear on this one. There are now dozens of reports from all over the world that it's safe to be in school. Doctors and public health experts, including Dr. Fauci, all agree that getting kids back in school needs to be a top priority," Baker said.

Teachers are next in line for vaccines once those 65 and older and those with two serious health conditions — or comorbidities — are taken care of.