- [Paul] The good news, the White House

COVID response team says the pace

of 3 million vaccinationsa day is picking up.

And so is the percentageof Americans vaccinated.

- Over the weekend, therewere more than 4 million

recorded vaccinations in asingle day for the first time.

As of today, nearly one in three Americans

and over 40% of adultshave at least one shot.

- [Paul] 18.5% of the population

is now fully vaccinated.

The death rate is slowly going down,

averaging around 800 a day.

Still, infections are upabout 7% the past week,

with hospitalizations increasing 3%.

CDC director, Dr. RochelleWalensky says more young adults

are getting the virus,mostly due to variants,

the latest being a double mutant variant

first found in the San Francisco Bay area,

possibly originating in India.

(plane engine whirring)

With more than 6 million people flying

over the Easter holiday,could these mutations

and variants spread more widely?

Some flyers aren't scared.

- Wore my mask the entire trip,

followed all the guidelinesthat they told me to do,

and I feel pretty safe.

- But if flying does spread the virus,

things could get worse.

As one United pilot told me,

United airlines is lettingall its pilots know

to expect nothing but jammedflights in the weeks ahead.

- If you have unvaccinatedpeople mingling,

I do worry about another surge.

That's what we've seenafter every holiday.

- [Paul] If you do flyand need a rental car,

you may find price gougingor nothing available.

- The car rental companiessold off their inventories

when a year ago, no onewas leaving their homes.

And now that demand is coming back,

they simply just can'tget cars quick enough.

- [Paul] Leading to thingslike charges of up to $1,000

a day in Hawaii, but wewon't call that a crisis,

given we still are fighting a pandemic.

The worst thing we could do right now

would be to mistake progress for victory.

If we let our guard down now

we will see more of our fellow Americans

get sick and die unnecessarily.

- I understand that people aretired and that they are ready

for this pandemic to be over, as am I.

Please continue to hang in there

and to continue to dothe things that we know

prevent the spread of the virus.

- [Paul] Paul Strand,CBN News, Washington.