It's been six months since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the U.S. and now almost 40% of the country's population is fully vaccinated.

After more than a year of lockdown measures and quarantines, people are ready to get back to some sense of normal. With their vaccination cards in hand, they're ready to start traveling, go on vacations and see friends and family.

But how long that normalcy will be sustained depends on how long the vaccines offer protection from the coronavirus, and if people will need to receive booster shots in the future.

Last month, Ford announced it would allow staff who have been working remotely to remain remote — at least some of the time — long after the pandemic is over.

"Must be nice for them," thought Marcie Pedraza, an electrician at a Ford plant in Chicago. Like many workers across the U.S., from factories to grocery stores, working from home has never been an option for her. And that presents a challenge for companies frantically rewriting their remote work policies: How do you make the change feel fair, when not all employees can benefit?

Cars begin lining up outside the Goodwill donation center in Seabrook, N.H., around 10 a.m. most mornings.

Well-intended patrons are here with truckloads full of treasures.

"We hope everyone brings great things that help our programs, but we know some people make some questionable judgments about what is good to donate," explains Heather Steeves, spokesperson for the 30 Goodwill locations in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

She holds up "a lampshade, which is stained and disgusting and literally falling apart."

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will be returned to federal prison after federal authorities denied him home confinement, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.