Covid roundup: Many rural health-care workers wary of vaccination; some states ban schools from requiring masks

Here's a roundup of recent news about the pandemic and immunization efforts:

A survey finds many rural health-care providers are hesitant about vaccination. Read more here.

According to a new survey, the two biggest factors that affect a person's willingness to get the coronavirus vaccination are the convenience of getting a shot and whether or not a vaccine will be required for everyday activities. Read more here.

A New York law firm closely tied to the anti-vaccine movement has bolstered local efforts across the nation to fight coronavirus immunization mandates. Read more here.

Moderna says clinical trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12. The company will submit the data to the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators early next month in an effort to obtain emergency authorization to administer its vaccine to 12-to-17-year-olds. Read more here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating many reports of youths who had mild heart problems after vaccination. It's unclear whether the vaccine(s) caused the heart problem, called myocarditis, which is mostly mild and tends to go away on its own. Read more here.

CDC data shows that only about 10,000 Americans were infected with the coronavirus after being fully vaccinated, and only 2% of those died. Over 130 Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Read more here.

Little-known illnesses are turning up in Covid-19 long-haulers. Read more here.

A rural church choir in Washington state tries to regroup more than a year after experiencing one of the pandemic's first super-spreader events. Read more here.

A package explores how local nonprofits tried to combat anti-vaccine conspiracies running rampant among farmworkers in northern California's wine country. Read more here.

Outer Cape Cod vaccination efforts focus on vulnerable groups and making the tourist season safer. Read more here.

A doctor from rural New York says he feels "tired but inspired" as the pandemic slows down, and also feels cautiously optimistic about the Biden administration's attention to rural needs. Read more here. 

Republicans in Michigan's Senate advanced a bill last week that would bar state or local health officials from requiring coronavirus vaccinations for children, though the officials say no such mandate is being considered. In recent months, Michigan has had some of the highest new rural coronavirus infection rates in the nation. Read more here.

Iowa and Texas have banned school districts from requiring students to wear masks on campus, and other states and communities are considering similar moves. Read more here.

The Daily Yonder looks back at Grant County, Washington, one of the first places in rural America to have a major encounter with the coronavirus. Read more here.

The Yonder also has a piece about a rural county at a far reach of Minnesota that has had no Covid-19 deaths as of May 24. Read more here.

Schools across the nation are trying tactics such as pep rallies and free prom tickets to get students vaccinated. Read more here.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced recently that it will allocate $4.8 billion for coronavirus testing for uninsured Americans. Read more here.