mark strassmann reports. >> reporter: new graduates at centennial high include jordan barbas and evanayers and scholar athletes with a jackpot for college to prove it. >> i was like, it's real? >> reporter: would you have been an a student without it? come on. >> no. >> reporter: money talks. >> definitely money talks. money can change the way you view life. >> reporter: a scholarship to motivate the school's black football players in class created three years ago by an anonymous donor. >> his goal was $1 million in year one. $1 million? >> he said if the kids earn it, he wants to give it. >> reporter: a game changer. >> it's a life changer. >> reporter: you can be the worst player on the team, but if you're a stud off the field in the classroom, every semester of high school with a straight-a average is worth $25,000. ask these centennial alums now in college. how much did you get? >> $200,000. >> $150,000. >> $200,000. >> reporter: players get reminders to hit the books hard. from coaches and parents. were they riding you? you got to get the scholarship. >> every day. >> reporter: e

>> dickerson: mark strassmann, thank you.lobally, the number of new cases and deaths are also going down, with europe leading the way with the largest decline last week. but the world health organization warns that the pandemic is far from over. senior foreign correspondent elizabeth palmer has more from london. >> reporter: good morning. let's start with some good news: fewer people are now dying in the covid global hotspots, which include india and brazil. and more than 1.8 billion vaccine doses have been given worldwide. the funeral fires in india are still burning 24/7, but the country's infection is declining. it reported the slowest rise last week in a month and a half. in brazil, as president bolsonaro was mobbed by supporters during a motorcycle convoy through rio, medical centers were battling with variants, including one that may be killing pregnant women at a higher rate, as well as their babies. did the virus come from animals? either in nature or in one of china's so-called wet markets or from wuhan's institute o

cbs' mark strassmann reports. ♪ ♪ ♪ (pomp and circumstance plays) ♪ ♪ ♪ centennial high include jordans at centennial high include jordan barbas and evan walker, football players and scholar athletes with a jackpot for college to prove it. >> i was like, it's real? >> reporter: would you have been an "a" student without it? come on? >> no. >> reporter: money talks. >> money talks. money can really change things. >> reporter: a scholarship to motivate the school's black football players in class, created three years ago by an anonymous donor. >> his goal was a million dollarsin year one. >> reporter: a million dollars. >> and he said if the kids earn it, he wants to give it. >> reporter: it's a game changer. >> it's a life changer. >> reporter: you can be the worse player on the team, but if you're a stud off the field in the classroom, every semester in high school, with a straight "a" average is worth $25,000. ask these centennial alums now in college. how much did you get? >> $200,000. >> $150,000. >> $200,000. >> reporter: players get reminders to hit the books hard from coaches and

and georgia is one of those states, and cbs' mark strassmann is there. >> reporter: at david and katy's store, masks are recommended, not required. the ice cream's popular here, unlike the covid vaccine. >> your choice is your choice. my choice is that i'm not going to get it, and i don't want it. >> reporter: nearly 90% of voters in rural banks county voted trump. its vaccination rate? 4%, among georgia's lowest. >> we have the vaccine available. we have the facilities. we're just not getting as many people coming. >> reporter: this pandemic is going to be with us indefinitely. >> i'm saying it could be. >> reporter: this facility could vaccinate 2,000 people a day. it averages less than half that. governor brian kemp. >> and a lot of that is dealing with white republicans, quite honestly. >> reporter: we could be headed for another tale of two americas-- one with herd immunity and one without. those areas, mostly rural, and at continuing risk of many epidemics. >> the death rate for rural counties has been more than twice that of atlanta metro since the start of the pandemic. >> repor

mark strassmann has more from atlanta.america is eager for moments of magic. disneyland obliged. welcome back home 13 months after viral dread sidelined mickey and minnie, the california park has reopened, though changed, like all of us. >> you have to have the ears and the mask, too. >> reporter: to pandemic officials, the real pixie dust is injected, not sprinkled and needs more believers. >> if you go to the hospital, or worse you die, all because you chose to not get vaccinated, that would really be a tragedy. >> reporter: more than one in four americans has been fully vaccinated. as a daily average, 2.6 million more people got a shot over the last week. that is down sharply. the shortfall is demand, not supply. in the northwest, a plea for young people to get the shot as cases start to spike again. take oregon, hospitalizations have nearly doubled in the past week. >> covid-19 is now knocking more younger people off their feet. >> reporter: millions of americans refuse to give the vaccine a shot. some are not never va

rapidly declining rate of new hospitalizations as a consequence of that fact. >> dickerson: as mark strassmann put together a tool kit to navigate that post-pandemic stage. what should individuals be keeping in mind that might be different from the last year and a half? >> doctor: i think it is an environment right now on publiceto mandates. we'll have to protect ourselves based on our you're u, you're at higher risk. if you have a pre-existing medical condition that could put you at higher risk, because of medicine you might be on or you have a risk factor like heart disease or lung disease, you'll be at higher risk. i think people need to make individual assessments of their risk. like wearing a mask in an indoor setting, and also judging the setting. if it is a sort of crowded setting with a very mixed population, you don't know a lot of the people, that is different than getting together in a household where you know a lot of people are vaccinated. and we need to make a judgment about what our comfort is. a lot of people have spent a year wearing masks and taking precautions, so it will ta

. >> reporter: for "cbs this morning," mark strassmann at the kennedy space center. >> i love that, honeyl -- >> i love all the thought he put into every single aspect of this mission. >> they all match their stories, too. >> circle. >> the hope, the prosperity, the generosity, leadership, wow. >> a special thing. that little capsule on top of the giant rocket. mostly just rocket fuel. >> i was literally getting chills in the middle of that story. >> would either either of you g? >> i would do it. for sure. i'm sure fifind your rhrhythm. your h happy placece. fifind your brbreaking poio. then brereak it. evevery emergegen-c gives s a potent blend of nutrtrients soso you can e emerge yoururt with ememergen- . not t everybody y wants ththe same thihing. that's s why i go w with liliberty mututual — thehey customizize my carar insurancece so i onlnly pay forr what i i need. ''cause i i do thingss a littttle differerently. hey, i''ll takee one, p please! waitit, this isnsn't a hot-dog g stand? no, , can't yoyou see the e s? wewet. teddy. . bears. get ya' wet teddddy bears! onone-hundred d per