Liberty: Lots of travelers expected on freer Fourth of July

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Americans enjoying newfound liberty are expected to travel and gather for cookouts, fireworks and family reunions over the Fourth of July weekend in numbers not seen since pre-pandemic days.

Yet lingering restrictions, worker shortages and still significant numbers of unvaccinated people mean some may not be as free as they would like to be.

And there are fears that the mixing of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans at a time when the highly contagious delta variant is spreading rapidly in the U.S. could undo some of the progress made against the scourge.

Airlines are expecting a banner holiday and have struggled to get enough staffing to fly their planes and keep up with the millions of travelers passing through airports. Pools and beaches have been experiencing a shortage of lifeguards, and restaurants and bars in tourist destinations have had to scale back hours because of a lack of help.

President Joe Biden has welcomed the July 4 holiday as a historic moment in the nation's recovery from a crisis that has killed over 600,000 Americans and led to months of restrictions that are now almost gone. He plans to host more than 1,000 people at the White House — first responders, essential workers and troops — for a cookout and fireworks to celebrate what the administration is calling a “summer of freedom.”

The moment comes at an awkward time in the pandemic. The nation is averaging about 12,000 new cases and 250 deaths a day thanks to vaccines that have been administered to two-thirds of the nation's adults. But that is short of the goal of 70% by July 4 that Biden set.

Vaccine hesitancy remains stubborn, especially in the Deep South and West, allowing the delta variant to spread throughout the country.

AAA forecasts that more than...