♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, summer interrupted. with covid moving out, fun was back. and then came delta. the unsuspecting vaccinated getting sick. >> we were partying like it's 2019, pretending the pandemic never happened. >> but those who still haven't gotten the shot hit the hardest. >> i'm putting people that are my age and my parents' age in body bags. it is my worst fear for it to be one of them. plus beirut revisited. one year after the horfiplosion thousands homeless, a bride remembers that day. >> our life was about to end. instead of starting a new life.

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the pandemic that everyone hoped would be fading is once again ruining summer plans. infections soaring. mandates looming. dr. anthony fauci today warning new cases could double in the next few weeks. many hospitals in the south are at the brink again. the highly contagious delta variant spreading among the unvaccinated. here's abc's trevor ault. >> reporter: this summer was supposed to be, well, normal. people who were fully vaccinated were told it was safe to ditch their masks, take vacations, and see their friends and family. pent-up demand from a year-plus of pandemic regulations, flights quickly sold out, beaches were crowded, and it seemed everyone was toasting getting back to, well, normal. and then this picturesque cape cod downturned all that optimism upside down, becoming a national case study showing just how unpredictable the new strain of

the virus is. >> the health experts are now encouraging people who have been here the last week or so to get tested. >> the state and local governments on the cape are taking steps to stem the tide to try to minimize the spread of covid-19. >> reporter: more than 900 new covid cases of the aggressive delta variant have been linked to fourth of july weekend in provincetown, massachusetts. 74% of the people who tested positive, fully vaccinated. >> if you look at provincetown, you can consider two elements. the way the virus is behaving and the way human beings are behaving. and the way human beings were behaving, they were in crowded areas, indoors, masks off, for prolonged period of time. the virus showed us in provincetown just how transmissible and contagious it is. >> the fact that it was passing amongst vaccinated folks was very alarming to us. >> reporter: 33-year-old johnny

shaginone from vermont, fully vaccinated, hoping for a fun weekend with friends. >> partying like it's 2019, pretending like the pandemic never happened. which a lot of us, we've been through a lot this past year and a half, so i think when you're on vacation, that's kind like what you want. you want normalcy. you don't want to be thinking about covid. >> reporter: on his way home, johnny started to feel sick. he got a positive test, then came down with classic covid symptoms. >> there were some places that were checking vaccination cards, but in retrospect, that wasn't really going to protect us. because covid was -- the delta variant was spreading amongst vaccinated people. >> reporter: the fact this outbreak happened in massachusetts, a state with one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, surprised health officials. >> many people, myself included, know someone or more than one person who has tested positive for covid-19 even after having been vaccinated. we need to expect that. that is not a surprise.

what it shows us is that this delta variant is that much more transmissible and that until we have the majority of the country and the majority of the world vaccinated, that we will continue to see infections. >> reporter: breakthrough covid cases may be unexpected, but the provincetown outbreak with just seven hospitalizations and no deaths shows the vaccines are saving lives, even when alex>> theas majority have mild or moderate symptoms. despite the fact that there are breakthrough infections, the vaccine is doing what it's supposed to be doing, preventing hospitalizations. cerainly preventing death. >> reporter: the delta variant is much more contagious than any other covid strain. according to an internal cdc document obtained by abc news, a person infected with the original covid-19 strain could easily infect an average of two to three people in close contact. for a person who's contracted the delta variant that average

could potentially jump to as many as nine people. >> the delta variant is behaving in a unique and different and distinctive manner than any other variant we've seen before. some infectious disease the delta variant as, it looks - like a completely different virus. >> reporter: to date, more than 70% of u.s. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine. according to a study from the yale school of public health, the country's vaccination program has prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths and more than a million hospitalizations. but more than 100 million remain unvaccinated. and now we're in the next covid crisis. the daily case average has now surged to more than 84,000 infections, up more than 45% in the last week and 635% since mid-june. take louisiana, where only 37% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated. it's now reporting one of the

highest infection rates in the country. my colleague marcus moore spent the day inside a covid ward at willis knighton medical center in shreveport. six weeks ago, only four patients. today, 88. >> it's exploding? >> absolutely sky rocketing through the roof. >> reporter: this surge is taking its toll on battered health care workers. >> i'm putting people that are my age and my parents' age in body bags. it is my worst fear for it to be one of them. to be on this -- i'll probably cry. i cry most days at work. i cry when i go home. it feels like there's never going to be an end. >> reporter: in the united states, almost 98% of those now hospitalized with covid are unvaccinated. 75-year-old kurtis cannon has been struggling to breathe with chest pains. he was skeptical about the vaccine, but not anymore. >> there's a lot of people out there who are reluctant to get vaccinated, and they don't believe it will help them.

what do you tell those people? >> i tell them, they need to get vaccinated because this isn't fun. >> reporter: in missouri, 31-year-old darrell barker refused to get vaccinated. he's now in the icu fighting for his life. his wife and 6-year-old son separated by glass. >> i was strongly against getting the vaccine. just because we're a strong conservative family. but that little boy out there is a reason to have the vaccine. >> these are preventible deaths. these are preventible hospitalizations in the vast majority of cases. a seat belt doesn't guarantee you won't be killed in a car accident, but it's better than nothing, and these vaccines are better than a seat belt. they make it extremely unlikely that someone will die of covid-19 or be hospitalized or placed in an icu from covid-19.

>> reporter: back in provincetown, where summer tourism is the lifeblood of the economy, now no one is taking any chances with the delta variant. >> we just implemented an indoor mask mandate until we get this under control. i think the worst numbers are behind us. i think we're going to emerge stronger and safer because of this. >> reporter: businesses like pilgrim house are now enforcing strict rules. you have to prove you're vaccinated with the original paperwork just to get in the door. most of the people infected in this outbreak are vaccinated. you're still now requiring vaccines to enter your restaurant? >> that's right. >> how come? >> i've got a large team to protect. i have a great number of people that visit this property, one of our multiple venues. they expect me to do what i need to do to protect them. >> reporter: ken has owned pin grill house since between 14. >> we need to make enough money to survive for the year.

one bad day can make or break a business. so this virus, this outbreak, we take very, very seriously. we ask that you take that step and get vaccinated before you come and enjoy all that provincetown has to offer. >> even though people are testing positive, we're not seeing a lot of seerness illness, myself included. i do feel thankful for that. >> reporter: back home in vermont, johnny is almost completely recovered, urging others to get vaccinated. >> i know it's not perfect, it never was touted as being the perfect vaccine. but it's something in defense of covid. and i think that we all need to take advantage of that. >> our thanks to trevor. up next, searching for hope in the devastation in beirut. one year later. ever since i got this little guy, i felt like i was just constantly cleaning up his hair. then, i got my paws on the swiffer sweeper. it's a game changer. these heavy-duty dry cloths pick up a crazy amount of hair. this is all you. we stopped cleaning and started swiffering!

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♪ it has been one elosion hbe lebanon. the victims were remembered this morning in a mass. at least 200 died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless when the blast shook the city. here's abc's senior foreign correspondent ian pannell. >> reporter: it should have been the happiest day of isra's life. no one could have imagined how it would end. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the ground erupted. the skies split apart.

an explosion of unimaginable force. >> oh my god! >> reporter: more than 2,500 tons of ammonium nitrate had been left to rot in beirut's port. when it detonated, it took just seconds to lay waste to much of this vibrant, ancient city. it was one of the largest nonnuclear explosions in history. the blast killing more than 200, injuring thousands, leaving nearly 300,000 beirutis homeless. and many in shock. one year on, dr. d, ahmed, have returned to the same spot. >> yes had ourselves there.

>> reporter: their anniversary remembered by most for the wrong reasons. >> i don't remember anything of that night. other than death. i remember death. our life was about to end. instead of starting a new life. >> reporter: although still under investigation, a recent report by human rights watch concluded some officials were warned at least two weeks prior to the blast that chemicals were being stored unsafely and residents blame the government for their inaction. >> translator: they killed us. in the beirut port blast, they killed us. they killed people and made all of us live in terror. >> reporter: little is being victimo bring justice to the and lebanon's now mired in an economic crisis among the worst the world's seen. and each day it's getting worse. inflation skyrocketed.

power outages go on for hours. and fuel has become a luxury item. >> all of these people, they are waiting in the line to get fuel for their cars. from half an hour to three hours. >> more. >> or more. it's difficult to live like this, this life, you know? >> reporter: but this turmoil predates the explosion. in 1975, a 15-year civil war broke out in lebanon, nearly destroying beirut, once called "the paris of the middle east." the peace deal led to decades of mismanagement and corruption. >> most of the leadership that's in place today is actually the people who fought in lebanon's civil war. they tried to turn state institutions into extensions of their own fiefdom. today we're in a situation where i wouldn't describe it as a vacuum, i'd describe it as

complete political deadlock between the leadership, or the mafia that is actually ruling the country. >> reporter: economic depression followed. the currency slumped. people's bank accounts became worthless or inaccessible. everyday goods have become rare and unaffordable to many. residents struggling to make ends meet, to even get basics like medicine and food. >> so one year later, fast forward, we still have no -- nothing. there's no sense of accountability, there's no sense of justice, and they continue holding the country hostage to their narrow interests. >> reporter: 61-year-old george jebour has never seen things this bad, telling us they're now experiencing up to 20 hours of electrical cuts each day. >> translator: i and all the lebanese people have never experienced such a difficult economic situation. no medicine, no electricity.

>> reporter: his son ilid just graduated from university last year and has spent months searching for a job. >> out of around 100 students in my civil engineering, my age from american university, i think maybe one or two got jobs, and the rest are looking for either master's or they are still unemployed. >> reporter: over 30% of the lebanese workforce is now out of a job, and between the power outages and the cost of living, elie says many of his friends and family believe life in beirut is becoming unbearable. >> they are trying to fight with whatever is remaining. they are losing money by the day. there's no middle class anymore. the middle class has become poor. and i think they lost hope in this country. >> reporter: for dr. seblani,

she's seeing the same challenges at work in the hospital. >> the power cuts in lebanon, of course in the hospital as well, so there is a power generator, power generators. once the power cuts, the generators work. but sometimes it takes time to turn on. because -- this is critical, because some patients are in the icu, they are critical cases, they need the ventilator, they need the oxygen, they need the monitors. >> reporter: she moved back from michigan to be with a husband who still hasn't been granted a visa to live in the u.s. >> it's not easy to be in a new system in my life. it's not easy to, let's say maybe lower the standards. i was working in one of the best hospitals in the usa. so now i came here, i'm working with a governmental hospital in lebanon. >> reporter: as lebanon struggles to dig its way out of this death spiral, dr. seblani, like so many lebanese, has one

overwhelming thought. >> many nights i think about to quit here in lebanon and go back to usa. but -- i don't know. >> reporter: after a year full of trauma, on her wedding anniversary, she's certain of one thing. >> i want to feel safe. with my husband. so i found this is the only way for now. to be with him and to be together. >> our thanks to ian. up next, the pop superstar working her way to banking a billion. ♪ work work work work work work ♪ did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula

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♪ finally tonight, superstar rihanna proving once again she's more than just a pop star. she's worked her way to being in a very elite club.

rihanna is now worth $1.7 billion according to "forbes," making her the wealthiest female musician in the world, second to oprah as the richest entertainer. beside hits like "we found love" -- ♪ we found love ♪ >> and big-budget films like "ocean's 8" -- >> it's blowing up. >> rihanna has made big bucks with her cosmetics and clothing lines. truly a self-made female entrepreneur. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back you know when you're at ross and all those brands have her like... yes! ...and all those prices have you like... yes! that's yes for less! you've got this school year, and we've got you with the best bargains ever at ross. get your yes for less at our new store in east san mateo.