Vaccinations in US on the rise

The White House said Tuesday that vaccinations in the US have almost doubled since mid-July, and the number of first shots also is increasing dramatically, apparently spurred by surging COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant and the Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the Pfizer shot.

The US is averaging 900,000 vaccinations per day, up from 500,000 per day in mid-July, Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said in a news conference Tuesday.

The pace of first shots is also is accelerating. The US administered more than 14 million first shots in August — almost 4 million more first shots than in July, he said.

A new poll suggests opposition to the vaccines is also dropping.

The latest Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index, released Tuesday, finds only 1 in 5 Americans say they aren't likely to get vaccinated, the lowest level since the start of the index. The percentage of Americans who stand in firm opposition to getting the vaccine also has dropped to its lowest reported level at 14 percent of US adults, according to the poll.

In Brussels, the European Union on Monday recommended that its 27 member countries reinstate restrictions on American travelers, a change that would primarily affect unvaccinated people. The recommendation isn't legally binding, and it is up to individual members to decide whether to implement it.

EU officials removed the US from the bloc's "safe list" of countries whose residents shouldn't face travel restrictions because soaring rates of new coronavirus infections have made it a global pandemic hot spot.

Meanwhile, in Florida, the Broward County public school district said it will continue its mask mandate for students for the time being despite the state education commissioner cutting salaries for its school board members.

The state education department has begun withholding money from the Broward and Alachua school districts, which went against Governor Ron DeSantis' ban on masks. On Aug 27, a state judge ruled that the DeSantis administration lacked authority to punish schools for implementing mask mandates.

But on Monday, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced that the monthly school board member salaries in Alachua and Broward County would be withheld as directed by the State Board of Education. "The withholding of funds will continue monthly until each school board complies with state law and rule,'' he wrote.

In Alachua County, school board members make about $40,000 a year, and in Broward County, about $46,000, according to the State Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

Vickie Cartwright, the interim superintendent of Broward County public schools — the state's second largest with 266,000 students — said Monday night that the district won't waver in its decision to continue its mask requirements for students and staff, and that the policy would be reviewed after Labor Day and modified if needed.

DeSantis, a Republican, issued a ban on masks in school in July and had been threatening to impose financial penalties on school boards for weeks.

Florida is experiencing the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the nation. Over the last seven days, more than 16,000 people on average have been hospitalized each day, more than during any other period in the pandemic, The New York Times reported.

In Portland, Oregon, city employees must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or obtain a medical or religious exemption by the middle of October or they will be fired, city commissioners announced Monday.

The policy will affect approximately 6,800 city employees. Those who fail to meet the deadline "will be put on a list for separation from employment," the commissioners said.

Portland becomes the latest major city requiring public workers to be vaccinated.

San Francisco, Chicago and New York City are among those that have already announced mandates.

Statewide, the death toll from COVID-19 in Oregon is climbing so rapidly that last week two counties — Tillamook and Josephine — requested refrigerator trucks to hold bodies, The Associated Press reported. Tillamook County said that its sole funeral home "is now consistently at or exceeding their capacity" of nine bodies.

Oregon's health authority reported Monday that 5,545 new coronavirus cases were identified over the weekend, along with 40 additional deaths. Hospitalizations also hit a new high in the state over the weekend.