Pfizer announced Saturday that tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and works — just days before regulators debate whether to offer Americans updated booster shots this fall.The vaccines currently used in the U.S. still offer strong protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death -- especially if people have gotten a booster dose. But those vaccines target the original coronavirus strain and their effectiveness against any infection dropped markedly when the super-contagious omicron mutant emerged.Now with omicron's even more transmissible relatives spreading widely, the Food and Drug Administration is considering ordering a recipe change for the vaccines made by both Pfizer and rival Moderna in hopes that modified boosters could better protect against another COVID-19 surge expected this fall and winter.Pfizer and its partner BioNTech studied two different ways of updating their shots -- targeting just omicron, or a combination booster that adds omicron protection to the original vaccine. They also tested whether to keep today's standard dosage -- 30 micrograms -- or to double the shots' strength.In a study of more than 1,200 middle-aged and older adults who'd already had three vaccine doses, Pfizer said both booster approaches spurred a substantial jump in omicron-fighting antibodies."Based on these data, we believe we have two very strong omicron-adapted candidates," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. Pfizer's omicron-only booster sparked the strongest immune response against that variant. But many experts say combination shots may be the best approach because they would retain the proven benefits of the original COVID-19 vaccine while adding new protection against omicron. And Pfizer said a month after people received its combo shot, they had a 9 to 11-fold increase in omicron-fighting antibodies. That's more than 1.5 times better than another dose of the original vaccine. And importantly, preliminary lab studies show the tweaked shots also produce antibodies capable of fighting omicron's genetically distinct relatives named BA.4 and BA.5, although those levels weren't nearly as high.Moderna recently announced similar results from tests of its combination shot, what scientists call a "bivalent" vaccine.The studies weren't designed to track how well updated boosters prevented COVID-19 cases. Nor is it clear how long any added protection would last. But the FDA's scientific advisers will publicly debate the data on Tuesday, as they grapple with whether to recommend a change to the vaccines' recipes -- ahead of similar decisions by other countries.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The nation's leading health officials said Wednesday that the U.S. is moving closer to the point that COVID-19 is no longer a "constant crisis" as more cities, businesses and sports venues began lifting pandemic restrictions around the country.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing that the government is contemplating a change to its mask guidance in the coming weeks. Noting recent declines in COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths, she acknowledged "people are so eager" for health officials to ease masking rules and other measures designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus."We all share the same goal – to get to a point where COVID-19 is no longer disrupting our daily lives, a time when it won't be a constant crisis – rather something we can prevent, protect against, and treat," Walensky said. With the omicron variant waning and Americans eager to move beyond the virus, government and business leaders have been out ahead of the CDC in ending virus measures in the last week, including ordering workers back to offices, eliminating mask mandates and no longer requiring proof of vaccine to get into restaurants, bars and sports and entertainment arenas. The efforts have been gaining more steam each day.Philadelphia officials on Wednesday said the city's vaccine mandate for restaurants was immediately lifted, though indoor mask mandates remain in place for now. At Disney World, vaccinated guests will no longer have to wear masks at the Florida theme park starting Thursday. Professional sports teams including the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards and Capitols have stopped requiring proof of vaccine for fans. Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said Philadelphia's average daily case count had dropped to 189 cases per day in the city of more than 1.5 million people. Bettigole said the plunge in infections has been steeper in Philadelphia than elsewhere in the state or the country, making it easier to lift the vaccine mandate for restaurants and other businesses announced in mid-December and that just fully went into effect this month."Our goal has always been to the least restrictive as possible while ensuring safety," she said.Tracking COVID-19:The US is lagging on booster shots compared to other western countries COVID-19 daily case rates decrease, but thousands are still dying from virus every dayCompanies revert to more normal operations as COVID-19 cases waneGetting vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy can help protect baby, new CDC study suggestsIn Provincetown, Massachusetts, a seaside town that became a COVID hot spot with an early outbreak of the delta variant last summer, officials on Tuesday lifted a mask mandate and vaccine requirement for indoor spaces like restaurants and bars. Town Manager Alex Morse said the community of about 3,000 recorded zero active cases last week among Provincetown residents — something that hasn't happened since the surge following last year's July 4 celebrations. "We are learning to live with, and mitigate, the impact of the virus on our community," Morse said.COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have fallen sharply in the U.S., with the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases dropping from about 453,000 two weeks ago to about 136,000 as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations are at levels similar to September, when the U.S. was emerging from the delta variant surge. Almost 65% of Americans are fully vaccinated."As a result of all this progress and the tools we now have, we are moving to a time where COVID isn't a crisis but is something we can protect against and treat," said Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.Walensky said the CDC "will soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals." She suggested any changes will take into account measures of community transmission, as well as hospitalization rates or other gauges of whether infected people are becoming severely ill. They also would consider available bed space in hospitals.Video above: Top US doctor on future of masks, mental healthSeveral states with indoor mask mandates announced last week they would be lifted in coming weeks, also citing promising numbers. Two music festivals that draw thousands of people to the California desert town of Indio in April and May, Coachella and Stagecoach, also said this week there will be no vaccination, masking or testing mandates in accordance with local guidelines. Coachella also noted that could change along with COVID conditions.In Philadelphia, Bettigole said the vaccine mandate helped spur "a very large" increase in pediatric vaccinations, pushing the city way ahead of the national average for first doses among kids ages 5 to 11. More than 53% of Philadelphia residents in that age group have received a first dose, compared to closer to 30% nationally, she said.Not all businesses plan to immediately change course. Philadelphia Irish sports bar and restaurant O'Neals will keep asking to see customers' vaccination cards for now, said managing partner Greg "Spoonie" Rand, even though the city is lifting its vaccine mandate. "Guests are more compliant and employees are more happy for us to continue doing vaccine cards inside," he said. He thinks vaccinated people will be wary of coming in if the pub stops checking cards.Walensky said the CDC wants to "give people a break from things like mask-wearing" when circumstances improve, though be able to mask up again if things worsen. She also said there will be instances where people should continue to wear masks even if prevention measures ease. Examples include when individuals have symptoms of COVID-19 or are within 10 days after being diagnosed with it.___Associated Press reporters Mike Stobbe and Tali Arbel in New York, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.

Vaccine advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously, 11-0, Friday to recommend booster doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for all adults in the United States — everyone 18 and older — six months after they finish their first two doses.Video above: Doctor on why healthy people should get COVID-19 booster shot nowMembers of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also voted on a second question, strengthening the recommendation to say that people 50 and older should get a booster dose of vaccine.The votes follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision earlier Friday to authorize boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for all adults.Previously, boosters had been authorized for anyone 65 and older who was vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago and for certain adults at high risk of infection or of severe disease."Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA has worked to make timely public health decisions as the pandemic evolves. COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be the best and highly effective defense against COVID-19. Authorizing the use of a single booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older helps to provide continued protection against COVID-19, including the serious consequences that can occur, such as hospitalization and death," Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement.Recent real-world studies suggested that immunity from COVID-19 vaccines begins to wane and protection against milder and asymptomatic disease, in particular, may drop. Studies have shown that booster doses restore that immunity.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also told CNN this week that recent data from Israel show that, among people age 60 and older, those who received a booster were less likely to become severely ill than vaccinated people who had not received a booster. Rates of severe disease remained highest among those who weren't vaccinated.Boosters can officially be administered to all adults after CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off on a recommendation.However, the majority of adults are already eligible to receive boosters, and several states officially opened up boosters to all adults already.'Everyone is eligible' Expanding booster eligibility to all adults in the United States may not change the logistics around getting shots into arms.The vaccine supply for boosters is already in place in many places. There are no "extra steps" on the administration side of the booster rollout that need to happen, Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told CNN."Looking national, we have enough vaccine. There are lots of places that have appointments. Obviously, that varies a little bit depending upon where you live geographically because there's more demand in some areas than others," Casalotti told CNN."But that being said, I think the main preparation is on the communication side," Casalotti added. "The communication for the local health care providers and public health departments is that now you don't have to worry about eligibility if someone asks if they need to get a booster. This is the information — everyone is eligible after six months."More than 32 million people in the United States — about 16% of those who are fully vaccinated — have received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data.About 18 million seniors have received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data, accounting for more than half of all booster doses administered and increasing the immune response for more than a third of fully vaccinated seniors.The future of boostersThe U.S. is now averaging 94,943 new COVID-19 cases each day, according to Johns Hopkins University — a 31% increase over last week and back to levels last seen more than a month ago. Midwestern states account for more than a third (38%) of new cases.There's concern that winter weather that drives people indoors and holiday gatherings could lead to even more cases."We certainly want people to be as well protected as they could possibly be going into the season," said Dr. Marci Drees, chief infection prevention officer and hospital epidemiologist for Delaware-based ChristianaCare.Drees is a Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America liaison to the CDC's vaccine advisory committee."I think we're at the point now where for lots of people who were vaccinated last winter and spring, now would be the time that their protection is waning," she said.Once people do receive their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, it's not clear when they might need another vaccine dose — if ever."That certainly is the million-dollar question. We know that the boosters boost people's immunity back up to that 90% to 95% range in the short term. We don't know how long that will last," Drees said."In some ways, we're forging a new path — and a lot of it is driven by can we get enough immunity in the population so that we can really shut down further transmission," Drees said. "We know that boosters are not going to end the pandemic. They will help and prevent people from getting sick, but we really still need to push on getting first and second doses into people as well."

The rollout of COVID-19 shots for elementary-age children has exposed another blind spot in the nation's efforts to address pandemic inequalities: Health systems have released little data on the racial breakdown of youth vaccinations, and community leaders fear that Black and Latino kids are falling behind.Only a handful of states have made public data on COVID-19 vaccinations by race and age, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not compile racial breakdowns either.Despite the lack of hard data, public health officials and medical professionals are mindful of disparities and have been reaching out to communities of color to overcome vaccine hesitancy. That includes going into schools, messaging in other languages, deploying mobile vaccine units and emphasizing to skeptical parents that the shots are safe and powerfully effective.Public health leaders believe racial gaps are driven by work and transportation barriers, as well as lingering reluctance and information gaps. Parents who do not have transportation will have a harder time getting their children to and from appointments. Those who do not have flexible work schedules or paid family leave may delay vaccinating their kids because they will not be able to stay home if the children have to miss school with minor side effects.In the few places that do report child COVID-19 vaccines by race, the breakdowns vary.In Michigan, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., white children got vaccinated at much higher rates than their Black counterparts. But in New York City, white children between 13 and 17 are vaccinated at lower rates than Black, Latino and Asian kids.In Connecticut, vaccination rates for 12- to 17-year-olds in many wealthy, predominantly white towns exceed 80%.In Hartford, 39% of children between 12 and 17 are fully vaccinated. Across the city line in the suburb of West Hartford, 88% of children the same age are fully vaccinated, according to state data updated in November.Hartford's school system is 80% Black and Latino. West Hartford's schools are 73% white.On Monday morning, parents who dropped off their children at a diverse Hartford elementary school provided a glimpse into the various opinions around child COVID-19 vaccinations. The school's enrollment is more than 75% Latino, Black and Asian.Some expressed mistrust of the vaccines and had no plans to get their children vaccinated. Others were completely on board. One father was skeptical at first, but said communications from the school persuaded him of the benefits of vaccinations for students, including an end to the disruptions to in-person learning.Ed Brown said his 9-year-old son will be vaccinated because the boy's mother feels strongly about it, even though he still has some reservations. One result of the shot becoming available for his son, Brown said, is that he will get vaccinated himself. "I will not give my son something I don't know is safe," said Brown, who is Black.Another parent, Zachary Colon, said she was determined not to have her children vaccinated."I'm not vaccinating my son," she said. "I read it got FDA approval really quickly. I'm afraid they don't know enough about it."Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, the superintendent of Hartford schools, said the low vaccination rate among her students means more of them end up missing school.If vaccinated students are exposed to infected people, they can come to school as long as they are not showing symptoms. Unvaccinated students have to test negative in order to return immediately."That can become another barrier for some of our families. Some of our families, for a variety of reasons, they don't get the test, and so they have to wait out the seven to 10 days. And so absolutely, it has kept students home," she said.In Washington, lingering reluctance in the Black community has been mirrored in low vaccination rates among Black adolescents. The most recent numbers provided by the District of Columbia Department of Health show that the rate of full vaccination among Black children between 12 and 15 is just over half that of their white counterparts: 29% compared with 54%.During a recent event to promote the start of vaccinations for children as young as age 5, Health Department Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt acknowledged that reluctance has been difficult to overcome despite months of public campaigning in the nation's capital."People have to want to be vaccinated," she said. "It's not always an access issue. It's a choice issue."In Seattle, the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic began hosting mobile clinics, offering in-home vaccinations and providing information in an array of languages to reach families who might otherwise not have gotten a shot for their kids. About 40% of the clinic's patients are Black and 30% speak a language other than English, while 70% are on Medicaid.Chicago's public health department planned to expand its in-home vaccination program to ages 5 and up starting this week. Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago and the Loyola Medicine center west of Chicago both planned to send mobile pediatric vaccination units into underserved communities in the coming days.The White House has made health equity a top priority, and its coronavirus task force said last week that the country has closed the racial gap among the overall population of 194 million people who are fully vaccinated. The Biden administration also said it is spending nearly $800 million to support organizations that seek to broaden vaccine confidence among communities of color and low-income Americans.But federal, state and local systems for tracking public health data are still limited and underfunded, including tracking data for racial disparities in child vaccines, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association."We've not invested in the data system that we absolutely need to have for public health," Benjamin said. "That is the fundamental failure of this system."Without widespread numbers on who is getting the shot, it's difficult to know what disparities may exist, said Samantha Artiga, director of the racial equity and health policy program at the Kaiser Family Foundation."Data are key for getting a complete picture and understanding where disparities are present," Artiga said. "They can be used to focus efforts and resources and then measure progress to addressing them over time." ___Associated Press data journalist Angel Kastanis and writer Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.

The U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 stands on the verge of a major new phase: Government advisers on Thursday recommended booster doses of Pfizer's vaccine for millions of Americans. This, despite concern among some experts that the extra shots will do little to slow the pandemic.The advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the extra doses for people 65 and older, nursing home residents, and people who are 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions. It also said boosters can be offered to people 18 to 49 with underlying conditions.The shots would be given at least six months after the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

One desperate California school district is sending flyers home in students' lunchboxes, telling parents it's "now hiring." Elsewhere, principals are filling in as crossing guards, teachers are being offered signing bonuses and schools are moving back to online learning.Now that schools have welcomed students back to classrooms, they face a new challenge: a shortage of teachers and staff — the likes of which some districts say they have never seen.Public schools have struggled for years with teacher shortages, particularly in math, science, special education and languages. But the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem. The stress of teaching in the COVID-19 era has triggered a spike in retirements and resignations. Schools also need to hire staffers like tutors and special aides to make up for learning losses and more teachers to run online school for those not ready to return. Teacher shortages and difficulties filling openings have been reported in Tennessee, New Jersey and South Dakota, where one district started the school year with 120 teacher vacancies. Across Texas, the main districts in Houston, Waco and elsewhere reported hundreds of teaching vacancies at the start of the year.Several schools nationwide have had to shut classrooms because of a lack of teachers.In Michigan, Eastpointe Community Schools abruptly moved its middle school back to remote learning this week because it doesn't have enough teachers. The small district north of Detroit has 43 positions vacant — a quarter of its teaching staff. When several middle school teachers resigned without notice last week, the district shifted to online classes to avoid sending in unqualified substitutes, spokeswoman Caitlyn Kienitz said."You don't want just an adult who can pass a background check, you want a teacher in front of your kids," Kienitz said. "This is obviously not ideal, but we're able to make sure they're getting each subject area from a teacher certified to teach it." According to a June survey of 2,690 members of the National Education Association, 32% said the pandemic drove them to plan to leave the profession earlier than expected. Another survey by the RAND Corp. said the pandemic exacerbated attrition, burnout and stress on teachers, who were almost twice as likely as other employed adults to feel frequent job-related stress and almost three times more likely to experience depression.The lack of teachers is "really a nationwide issue and definitely a statewide issue," said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California's State Board of Education. A school district in California's West Contra Costa County is considering hiring out-of-state math educators to teach online while a substitute monitors students in person. "This is the most acute shortage of labor we have ever had," associate superintendent Tony Wold said. "We opened this year with 50 — that's five-zero — teaching positions open. That means students are going to 50 classrooms that do not have a permanent teacher."There are an additional 100 openings for non-credentialed but critical staff like instructional aides — who help English learners and special needs students — custodians, cafeteria workers and others, Wold said.California's largest district, Los Angeles Unified with 600,000 students, has more than 500 teacher vacancies, a fivefold increase from previous years, spokeswoman Shannon Haber said.Schools try to fill in with substitutes, but they're in short supply, too. Only about a quarter of the pool of 1,000 qualified substitutes is willing to work in Fresno Unified, said Nikki Henry, a spokeswoman for the central California district with 70,000 students and 12,000 staffers.At Berkeley High School, a shortage of substitutes means teachers are asked to fill in during their prep periods, leading to exhaustion and burnout typically not felt at the start of a school year."We are absolutely strained. This has been an incredibly stressful start to the year," said Hasmig Minassian, a ninth-grade teacher who describes physical and mental exhaustion as she tries to juggle staffing needs and the emotional needs of students who are showing signs of more mental fragility and learning loss."It doesn't feel like there are enough adults on these campuses to keep kids really safe. We feel short-staffed in a way we've never felt before," she said. "You know the early videos of nurses crying in their cars? I kind of expect those to come out about teachers."The California shortages range from dire to less severe in places that planned ahead and beat the competition, but those are the minority, said Darling-Hammond of the board of education. Money is not the problem. School districts have the funds to hire staff, thanks to billions in federal and state pandemic relief funding."We're all competing for a shrinking piece of the pie," said Mike Ghelber, assistant superintendent at the Morongo Unified School District in the Mojave Desert, which has more than 200 openings for special education aides, custodians, cafeteria workers and others. "I don't know if everybody is getting snatched up, or if they don't want to teach in the COVID era, but it's like the well has dried up."The district of 8,000 students has ads in newspapers, radio and social media. Teachers are packing "now hiring" flyers into kids' lunchboxes, with a long list of openings so families can spread the word. In the meantime, everyone is pitching in. "Principals and administrators are out being crossing guards. Secretaries are directing traffic because we're short on supervisors," Ghelber said. The shortages raise concerns that schools will hire underqualified teachers, particularly in low-income communities where it's already harder to fill positions, Darling-Hammond said. Class sizes are also expanding.Mount Diablo Unified School District, which serves 28,000 students east of San Francisco, has had to fill several elementary school classrooms at the maximum capacity of 32 students. It's not ideal for social distancing, but frees up teachers for online school. About 150 kids initially signed up for distance learning, but with spiking infections blamed on the highly contagious delta variant, the number ballooned to 600 when school reopened. The same happened in Fresno, where enrollment in remote learning exploded to 3,800 from 450.Superintendent Adam Clark said the Mount Diablo district is offering $5,000 signing bonuses for speech pathologists and $1,500 for paraeducators who help students with learning needs. San Francisco Unified is offering a similar starting bonus for 100 paraeducator jobs. Nearby West Contra Costa County Unified has set $6,000 signing bonuses for teachers, with a third paid out after the first month and rest when the teacher enters year three.Districts in Oklahoma, North Carolina, New Jersey and elsewhere are offering a range of cash incentives for new teachers, particularly in low-income and low-performing schools.Of a dozen officials interviewed in California districts, only one said it was facing no shortages.Long Beach Unified, the state's fourth-largest district with over 70,000 students, anticipated the need last spring for a hiring spree of about 400 jobs."We went full aggressive," assistant superintendent David Zaid said, including beefing up human resources for a 24-hour turnaround on contract offers. A virtual interview team worked through the summer. Recruitment events drew hundreds of applicants, and as HR employees met hiring benchmarks, they got rewards like catered breakfasts and an ice cream truck."We probably would have experienced the same shortages as others," Zaid said. "But we became much more assertive, and as a result, we are not in the same position."

So few people came for COVID-19 vaccinations in one county in North Carolina that hospitals there now allow anyone 16 or older to get a shot, regardless of where they live. Get a shot, get a free doughnut, the governor said.Alabama, which has the nation's lowest vaccination rate and a county where only 7% of residents are fully vaccinated, launched a campaign to convince people the shots are safe. Doctors and pastors joined the effort.On the national level, the Biden administration this week launched a "We Can Do This" campaign to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated against the virus that has claimed over 550,000 lives in the U.S.The race is on to vaccinate as many people as possible, but a significant number of Americans are so far reluctant to get the shots, even in places where they are plentiful. Twenty-five percent of Americans say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.They are leery about possible side effects. They tend to be Republican, and they are usually younger and less susceptible to becoming critically ill or dying if they catch COVID-19.There's been a slight shift, though, since the first weeks of the nation's largest-ever vaccination campaign, which began in mid-December. An AP-NORC poll conducted in late January showed that 67% of adult Americans were willing to get vaccinated or had already received at least one shot. Now that figure has climbed to 75%.That, experts say, moves the nation closer to herd immunity, which occurs when enough people have immunity, either from vaccination or past infection, to stop uncontrolled spread of a disease.Anywhere from 75% to 85% of the total population — including children, who are not currently getting the shots — should be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, said Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health.A little over three months after the first doses were given, 100 million Americans, or about 30% of the population, have received at least one dose.Andrea Richmond, a 26-year-old freelance web coder in Atlanta, is among those whose reluctance is easing. A few weeks ago, Richmond was leaning toward not getting the shot. Possible long-term effects worried her. She knew that an H1N1 vaccine used years ago in Europe increased risk of narcolepsy.Then her sister got vaccinated with no ill effects. Richmond's friends' opinions also changed."They went from, 'I'm not trusting this' to 'I'm all vaxxed up, let's go out!'"Her mother, a cancer survivor, whom Richmond lives with, is so keen for her daughter to get vaccinated that she signed her up online for a jab."I'll probably end up taking it," Richmond said. "I guess it's my civic duty."But some remain steadfastly opposed."I think I only had the flu once," said Lori Mansour, 67, who lives near Rockford, Illinois. "So I think I'll take my chances."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In the latest poll, Republicans remained more likely than Democrats to say they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated, 36% compared with 12%. But somewhat fewer Republicans today are reluctant. Back in January, 44% said they would shy away from a vaccine.The hesitance can be seen in Alabama's rural Winston County, which is 96% white and where more than 90% of voters backed then-President Donald Trump last year. Only 6.9% of the county's roughly 24,000 residents are fully vaccinated, the lowest level in Alabama.Elsewhere in Alabama, health officials tried to counter problems that include reluctance in heavily Black areas where distrust of government medical initiatives runs deep. They targeted a few counties with a pro-vaccine message, especially in the old plantation region where a large percentage of the population is Black and many are poor.The campaign enlisted doctors and pastors and used virtual meetings and the radio to spread the word.Dr. Karen Landers, assistant state health officer, said the effort had positive results. For example, in Perry County, where 68% of the population of about 9,300 is Black, more than 16% of the population is fully vaccinated, among the highest levels. Officials likely will make similar efforts for other parts of the state, she said.Nationwide, 24% of Black Americans and 22% of Hispanic Americans say they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated, down from 41% and 34% in January, respectively. Among white Americans, 26% now say they will not get vaccinated. In January, that number was 31%.The Biden administration's campaign features TV and social media ads. Celebrities and community and religious figures are joining the effort.Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, is trying to win over the one-third of adult Iowans who will not commit to getting a vaccine by emphasizing that the shots will help return life to normal.In North Carolina's Cumberland County, fewer than 1 in 6 residents have gotten at least one shot.Amid worries there would be an unused surplus of vaccines, Cape Fear Valley Health hospital systems opened up the shots last week to everyone 16 or older."Rather than have doses go unused, we want to give more people the chance to get their vaccine," said Chris Tart, a Cape Fear Valley Health vice president. "We hope this will encourage more people to roll up their sleeve."On Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, tweeted a video of him getting a free doughnut from the Krispy Kreme chain. Customers who show their vaccine card can get a free doughnut every day for the rest of the year."Do it today, guys!" Cooper encouraged viewers. Nearly 36% of North Carolina adults have been at least partially vaccinated, state data show. Younger people are more likely to forgo a shot. Of those under 45, 31% say they will probably or definitely forgo a shot. Only 12% of those aged 60 and older say they will not get vaccinated.Ronni Peck, a 40-year-old mother of three from Los Angeles, is one of those who plans to avoid getting vaccinated, at least for now. She's concerned that vaccines have not been studied for long-term health effects. She senses that some friends disapprove of her stance."But I've stopped caring about whether or not I feel ostracized and instead have learned to spend more time caring about if I'm doing the right thing for myself and my kids," Peck said.Deborah Fuller, a professor with the University of Washington School of Medicine, said if the herd immunity level cannot be reached soon, a more realistic target could be vaccinating at least 50% of the population by this summer, with a higher vaccination rate among the most vulnerable to reduce severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths."In this scenario, the virus would persist in the population but cease being a major health threat that overburdens our health care systems," Fuller said. ___The AP-NORC poll of 1,166 adults was conducted March 26-29 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Related video above: Get the Facts on the Vax: Why are two doses needed?New coronavirus cases across the United States have tumbled to rates not seen in more than 11 months, sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus.As cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily dropped this week, pre-pandemic life in America has largely resumed. Hugs and unmasked crowds returned to the White House, a Mardi Gras-style parade marched through Alabama's port city of Mobile, and even states that have stuck to pandemic-related restrictions readied to drop them. However, health experts also cautioned that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus, leaving the potential for new variants that could extend the pandemic.As the seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out cases have not been this low since June 18, 2020. The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552 — a rate not seen since July last year. It's a dramatic drop since the pandemic hit a devastating crescendo in January."As each week passes and as we continue to see progress, these data give me hope," Walensky said Friday at a news conference.Health experts credit an efficient rollout of vaccines for the turnaround. More than 60% of people over 18 have received at least one shot, and almost half are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. But demand for vaccines has dropped across much of the country. President Joe Biden's administration is trying to convince other Americans to sign up for shots, using an upbeat message that vaccines offer a return to normal life. White House health officials on Friday even waded into offering dating advice. They are teaming up with dating apps to offer a new reason to "swipe right" by featuring vaccination badges on profiles and in-app bonuses for people who have gotten their shots. Ohio, New York, Oregon and other states are enticing people to get vaccinated through lottery prizes of up to $5 million.Across the country, venues and events reopened after shuttering for much of the last year.On Saturday, Karen Stetz readied to welcome what she hoped would be a good crowd to the Grosse Pointe Art Fair on Michigan's Lake St. Clair.With natural ventilation from the lake and mask and capacity restrictions easing, Stetz was optimistic that artists who make their living traveling a show circuit that ground to a halt last year would begin to bounce back. The event usually draws from 5,000 to 10,000 people."I feel like most people are ready to get out," Stetz said by phone shortly before opening the fair. "It seems like people are eager, but it's hard to know still. I'm sure there's a percentage of people that are going to wait until they're comfortable."In Mobile, thousands of joyful revelers, many without masks, competed for plastic beads and trinkets tossed from floats Friday night as Alabama's port city threw a Mardi Gras-style parade. But only about a quarter of the county's population is fully vaccinated. Many went without masks, though health officials had urged personal responsibility.Alabama's vaccination rate — 34% of people have received at least one dose — is one of the lowest in the country. It's part of a swath of Southern states where vaccine uptake has been slow. Health experts worry that areas with low vaccination rates could give rise to new virus variants that are more resistant to vaccinations."My biggest concern is new strains of the virus and the need to remain vigilant in the months ahead," said Boston College public health expert Dr. Philip J. Landrigan.A medical center in Louisiana reported Friday it has identified the state's first two cases of a COVID-19 variant that has spread widely since being identified in India. The COVID-19 variant has been classified as a "variant of concern" by Britain and the World Health Organization, meaning there is some evidence that it spreads more easily between people, causes more severe disease, or might be less responsive to treatments and vaccines. The variant has also been reported in several other states, including Tennessee, Nebraska and Nevada.Though Landrigan said the big drop in cases nationwide was "the best news we've had on the pandemic" and showed that vaccines are working, he warned that people should remain vigilant for local flare-ups of new cases.Many states have largely dropped orders to wear masks and stay distanced from other people. Meanwhile, even places such as California — the first state to issue a statewide shutdown as the virus emerged in March 2020 — prepared to remove restrictions on social distancing and business capacity next month.State health director Dr. Mark Ghaly said Friday the decision was based on dramatically lower virus cases and increased vaccinations.But in Vermont — the state with the highest percentage of people who have received one shot — Gov. Phil Scott has tied the lifting of restrictions to the vaccination rate. He offered to lift all remaining restrictions before a July 4 deadline if 80% of those eligible get vaccinated.Landrigan said 85% of the population vaccinated would ensure there are no further spikes in cases. But for now, the steep drop in cases gave him hope that pandemic-level infection rates will soon be a thing of the past."It is getting to the point to where by the 4th of July we might be able to declare this thing over," he said.