Alabama county faces uphill vaccination effort

HALEYVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Statistics show that Winston County ranks last in terms of people who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in Alabama, which has the country’s lowest inoculation rate. To many in the overwhelmingly white and Republican county, the pandemic isn’t much of a concern. Businesses are open and relatively few people wear masks, even though Alabama’s rule requiring them to be worn in public isn’t scheduled to end until Friday. Health officials say Winston County is a prime example of a problem they’ll have to overcome to end the pandemic: persuading white conservatives to get vaccinated.