By the numbers: As of Saturday, 67% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- That's not 70%, which was Biden's July 4 goal. But do you know how many adults were vaccinated last July 4? Zero.
- When you count Americans 12 and older — including the 12-to-15-year-olds who are now eligible for the vaccine — 64.1% have gotten at least one shot.
- As of Saturday, the U.S. averaged about 12,500 new COVID cases per dayover the past week, according to CDC — down from a weekly average of nearly 49,000 last July 4.
And Americans are ready to move on. Compare the polling from our Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index, now and a year ago, on whether people would consider it a risk to return to their pre-coronavirus lives:
June 26-29, 2020:
- Large to moderate risk: 70%
- Small to no risk: 29%
June 25-28, 2021:
- Large to moderate risk: 28%
- Small to no risk: 72%
They're going back to work, with 850,000 jobs added in June — better than expected — and average hourly earnings on the rise, per Axios' Courtenay Brown and Felix Salmon.
And they're hitting the roads again. July 4 travel is almost back to its pre-pandemic levels, with overall travel projected to be just 2.5% lower than in 2019, according to AAA.
- Car travel alone is expected to set a new record, with 43.6 million Americans hitting the roads, 5% more than the previous record, set in 2019. (It had dropped to 32.5 million during last year's July 4 weekend.)
- Air travel hasn't quite bounced back: 3.5 million Americans are expected to fly during the holidays, down about 10% from 2019. (Just 1.3 million Americans flew at this time last year.)
- Airbnb says searches for its U.S. beachfront rentals over the July 4 weekend increased by 127 percent in the last month.
Americans' July 4 cookout costs should be about the same as last year or even a little lower, with the average cost of a cookout for 10 people dropping by 16 cents since last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
- Strawberries have gotten more expensive since last year (the price has jumped 22%). But you know what has gotten a little cheaper? Ground beef (the price has dropped 8%).
- And there could be more fireworks this year: Fireworks imports were up 51% over last year in the three months leading up to May 31, according to Panjiva, the supply chain research unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Go deeper:
Axios-Ipsos poll: Vaccine puts the sparks back in July 4
