NEWARK, NJ (AP) – Americans enjoying their newfound freedom are expected to travel and gather around the weekend of July 4th for barbecues, fireworks, concerts, and beach getaways, in a number that has increased for days prior to the pandemic was no longer seen.
However, ongoing restrictions, labor shortages and significant numbers of unvaccinated people mean that some may not be as free as they would like.
And there are fears that mixing many vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans at a time when the highly contagious Delta variant is rapidly spreading could undo some of the progress made against the Scourge.
Nashville expects up to 400,000 people to flock to town to celebrate July 4th with country star Brad Paisley. In Massachusetts, the Boston Pops’ Independence Day concert is back, but the show, which typically draws hundreds of thousands to Boston’s Charles River Esplanade, will be held at Tanglewood Music Center 160 miles away.
Beaches and lakefronts are also expected to be crowded. In Southern California, Huntington Beach is planning one of the West Coast’s biggest celebrations, a three-day festival that could attract half a million people.
Elizabeth Driscoll plans to enjoy the Cheboygan, Michigan festivities, including a parade down Main Street, a trip to a farmers market, and a family celebration on a lake, all before the fireworks over the Strait of Mackinac. Last year the parade and fireworks were canceled.
“You can feel it all over the city, just an influx of people on the tourism side, and the people who live here are on the move,” she said. “There is good energy.”
At the same time, the airlines are trying to find enough crew members to fly their planes. Pools and beaches are affected by a shortage of lifeguards. And restaurants and bars in tourist destinations had to reduce their hours due to a lack of help.
President Joe Biden has hailed the holiday as a historic moment in the nation’s recovery from a crisis that killed over 600,000 Americans and resulted in months of restrictions that are now almost gone. He plans to house more than 1,000 people in the White House – first responders, key workers and troops – for a barbecue party and fireworks to celebrate what the government calls a “summer of freedom.”
“I’ll celebrate it,” Biden said on the Friday before the holiday. “Great things happen. … All over America people go to ball games and do good. ”But he also warned that people who don’t get vaccinated will“ lose lives ”.
The US has an average of about 12,000 new cases and 250 deaths per day thanks to vaccines given to two-thirds of the country’s adults. But that falls short of Biden’s target of 70% by July 4th. Vaccine hesitation remains persistent, particularly in the deep south and west, allowing the delta variant to spread across the country.
AAA predicts that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane in the US this weekend, a return to 2019 levels and 40% more than last year. This includes 3.5 million passengers.
At Newark Airport, New Jersey, travelers waited in long check-in lines on Wednesday and experienced flight delays that put their patience to the test. Some were just happy to get on a plane after vacation plans were interrupted by COVID-19 restrictions last year.
Rhetta Williams, a 54-year-old pharmaceutical company executive, traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for a family reunion with about 50 relatives that was postponed a year ago because of the virus.
“And we’re not going to practice social distancing,” she said with a laugh.
Zach Carothers, a 21-year-old computer science student, flew from South Carolina to Newark on the Jersey Shore for a weekend, where people flocked again.
“It’s nice to come back to it after such a long quarantine,” said Carothers, adding that he was looking forward to a vacation that “will definitely have festive beers.”
While masks have also been deposited indoors across the country, the Transportation Security Administration emphasizes that they are still required at airports and on airplanes – a restriction not everyone decently accepts. Airlines are increasingly reporting cases of disruptive passengers who refuse to wear masks.
Fireworks are likely to attract some of the largest crowds many communities have seen in months.
“Outdoor stuff remains pretty safe for unvaccinated or vaccinated people in my opinion,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University. “A full open air concert is probably not ideal, but otherwise outdoor activities are safe for people. It’s okay to see fireworks. “
Moving the party indoors is considered less safe at a time when fewer than half of their populations are fully vaccinated in some states.
“I’m worried about most of the country,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, Dean of the School of Public Health at George Washington University. “I think it is premature to declare it over, especially given what we are seeing in other parts of the world.”
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Associated Press Writer David Koenig in Dallas; Mae Anderson in Nashville, Tennessee; and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this. Murphy reported from Indianapolis.
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