April 6 coronavirus news

Just over half of parents – 52% – said they are likely to get their children vaccinated against Covid-19 when a vaccine becomes available for their age group, according to results of a new Axios-Ipsos poll, released Tuesday.

Republicans are most resistant to having their child be vaccinated, according to the poll, which was conducted April 2 through April 5, and was made up of a nationally representative sample of 979 general population Americans age 18 and older.

This comes as nearly half – 47% – of respondents reported having gotten at least one vaccine dose, with 64% of respondents saying they were fully vaccinated and 36% saying they were partially vaccinated.

Nine in ten respondents reported knowing someone who had gotten the vaccine, and 47% knew someone who had trouble getting an appointment – a number that is essentially unchanged since March.

Twenty-four percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very likely to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them.

The number of Americans saying that they are not at all likely to get the vaccine – 19% – has barely moved since the beginning of 2021.

The groups that are most resistant to the vaccine are Republicans (31%) and those with a high school education or less (28%).

The European Union's data protection bodies strongly advised against extending the use of vaccine passports beyond the current pandemic, warning they could pose “risks to the fundamental rights of EU citizens.”

The agencies also raised concerns over the prospect of a “de facto requirement” for people to present a vaccine passport to enter shops, restaurants, clubs, places of worship and gyms, as “has already been suggested.”

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published their joint opinion Tuesday to the European Commission – the executive arm of the EU– in relation to the proposed “Digital Green Certificate,” designed to unlock free movement between member states. 

The certificate “should only be limited to Covid-19, including its variants,” the bodies said.

“Any such further use of the Digital Green Certificate and its associated framework under a national legal basis should not legally or factually lead to discrimination based on having been (or not) vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19,” it said. 

Some background: The European Commission unveiled its proposed “Digital Green Certificate” in March. No exact end date was given for the certificates, with the Commission saying they will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the international public health emergency caused by Covid-19. 

The proposed certificate will confirm that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received a negative test result or has recovered from Covid-19. The plan is that the certificate can be used across all EU Member States.

But the scheme “must not lead to the creation of any sort of personal data central database at EU level,” the EDPB and EDPS said.

Norwegian Cruise Line wants to start US cruises again on July 4, and it's willing to require all passengers and staff to be vaccinated before it sets sail.

Norwegian, which despite its name is a US-based company, sent a letter Monday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, notifying it of its proposal. It's the first major American cruise line to lay out plans for a resumption of US sailings. 

No industry has been decimated quite like the US cruise ship industry, which hasn't been able to sail to or from a US port in more than a year. Other industries, even in travel and hospitality, are showing signs of a rebound. Rising vaccination rates are raising hopes of a return to normalcy. But the US cruise industry is still stuck in limbo with no clear sign when it'll be back in business. 

So on Monday, Norwegian essentially said: Enough. The company said it plans to require vaccinations for everyone on a ship at least two weeks before sailing.

The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in the UK has now been reported in every state in the US, and experts are concerned spreading variants could send cases surging.

Here's what you need to know:

About the variant

What officials and health experts are saying

The role of vaccines

President Biden plans to announce Tuesday that he is moving up his deadline for states to make all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks.

With all states having opened eligibility to the public or at least having announced when they plan to do so, Biden will announce that every adult in the country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, according to an administration official, instead of Biden's original deadline of May 1.

Biden announced last week that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, as well as have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. Biden said the number of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy vaccination program was increasing from the current 17,000 locations to 40,000.

The President is scheduled to visit a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia, and then give remarks at 3:45 p.m. ET on the state of vaccinations from the White House.

That's when he is expected to say that 150 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered within his first 75 days in office, in line with a stated goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office.

Some more context: CNN has previously reported that all 50 states have announced when they plan to open vaccinations to everyone who is eligible, if they haven't done so already. Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii and New Jersey all currently plan to open eligibility by May 1, so it remains to be seen how Biden's announcement changes those states' plans. Biden is expected to credit the governors' effort to meet his May 1 deadline for this change.

Read more about Biden's announcement here.

Australia has fallen dramatically short of its initial vaccine targets due to difficulties in importing stock, including a 3.1 million dose shortfall in imports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged Tuesday.

In January, the Morrison government set a target to administer 4 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccines to vulnerable Australians and frontline workers by the beginning of April. On Tuesday Morrison acknowledged that just 854,983 doses have been administered as of April 5.

The Morrison government has since revised its vaccine target, now hoping to give a first dose to every Australian that wants one by the end of October.

 “There was over 3 million doses from overseas that were contracted that never came. And that's obviously resulted in an inability to get 3 million other doses out and distributed through the network,” Morrison said.

The 3.1 million doses are all of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd in a Tuesday interview with CNN affiliate Sky News Australia.

The Australian government has not said where the 3.1 million AstraZeneca doses were to be imported from, or why they were not delivered. However, Morrison told reporters Tuesday “we all are aware of the situation in Europe and other places that has frustrated that supply.”

Some more background: In March Italy acknowledged that it had invoked EU powers to prevent AstraZeneca from exporting 250,000 doses to Australia.

As of February, the Australian government had negotiated deals with Pfizer for 10 million doses, AstraZeneca for 53.8 million doses and Novavax for 51 million doses, all to be delivered by the end of 2021.

Australia hopes to make up any shortfall in imported doses with locally produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which it says it has 2.5 million waiting for batch approval by drug regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked on "Good Morning America" Tuesday about the fact that coronavirus variants are now infecting younger people – as well as what that means for parents and what they should do about school, sports and extracurricular activities.

“When you go back and take a look and try and track where these clusters of cases are coming from in the school, it’s just that," he continued.

Some more background: The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in the UK has now been reported in every state in the US, and experts are concerned spreading variants could send cases surging.

More than 15,000 cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which also appears to be more deadly, have been reported in the US. While the US races to get Americans vaccinated in time, many experts are asking the public to hold onto precautions for just a little while longer.

CNN's Madeline Holcombe contributed reporting to this post.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on "Good Morning America” Tuesday that he hopes people who go on cruises take the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations and get vaccinated against Covid-19. 

“The CDC a couple of days ago, or yesterday, I think, came out with a recommendation saying they strongly recommend it, but they don’t require it,” Fauci said of vaccinations for cruise ship passengers.

The CDC released further technical guidance for cruise ship operators Friday, a news release on the updated guidance included a recommendation that all eligible passengers and crew get a Covid-19 vaccine when one is available to them. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday that the packed Texas Rangers baseball stadium is "concerning" and "risky."

On Monday, the Texas Rangers played their home opener with 100% capacity at the ballpark. No other MLB teams are allowing more than 50% capacity attendance.