The latest President Biden noted in a speech on Friday the United States has administered 300 million coronavirus vaccine shots in 150 days — but he acknowledged the country is still falling behind his goal of at least partially vaccinating 70 percent of adults by July 4. The president made a plea to the unvaccinated: "The best way to protect yourself against these variants are to get fully vaccinated. So please, please, if you have one shot, get the second shot as soon as you can." Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to scramble the economy. April marked the highest level of U.S. resignations since in 2000, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking this number — in April alone, 4 million people quit their jobs. Six people explained their motivation behind quitting to The Post. Some retired. Others changed careers or launched their own companies. As Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University, told The Post, the pandemic has been a professional "wake-up call" for many Americans. Republicans are attempting to limit those who qualify for food assistance, which had been expanded to help more Americans during the pandemic. The effort to reduce the federal safety net is underway in several states, including Arkansas, Missouri and Ohio; there, for instance, Republicans added criteria to the state budget that could prevent people who own a car worth more than $4,650 or who have $2,250 in a bank account from receiving SNAP benefits. As the economy climbs out of last year's pandemic crater, the wealthiest are already off to the races: An avalanche of luxury spending has begun. Club memberships, hotel stays and amusement park trips are among the spending categories where the rise has accelerated the most. Just ask the travel agent who's booking $20,000 cruise trips to the Bahamas. White evangelicals remain under-vaccinated compared with the greater American population, and pastors and health experts struggle to convince church congregations to get immunized. Appeals include faith-based approaches, such as pleas to get vaccinated that come from the pulpit. In the Zip code that surrounds Langley Park, Md., about 12 percent of people have been infected with the coronavirus. Here's how one Catholic priest, the first Latin American man to be ordained from among Langley Park residents, spreads hope through his community. Other important news CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said she expects the delta variant to become the dominant strain in the U.S. this summer. She emphasized full vaccination would protect against it. Israel officials offered 1 million nearly expired doses of coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority, under the expectation Israel would be repaid an equivalent amount of fresh vaccine in the future. Palestinians canceled the deal because the doses were so close to expiration.
Fredericksburg in Northern Virginia and Schwetzingen in western Germany are sister cities. One woman in each city, both mothers, described to The Post what life in the pandemic has been like: different paths with universal worries, adaptations and resilience. The European Union recommended that member countries begin lifting restrictions to permit nonessential travel from the U.S. A man who promised to sell millions of masks to the Department of Veterans Affairs — but who had no ability to procure them — was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The Netherlands is trying to entice people to get vaccinated with an offer of free pickled herring. |
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