The availability of H1N1 vaccine is still less than what manufacturers had predicted and what federal health officials had wanted. Still, the 38 million doses currently ready for states to order is 11 million more than what was available a week ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The pace of our progress is picking up,” said Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Schuchat stopped short of predicting when the supply of vaccine would be enough to become readily available to the general public.

States, and in some cases municipalities, are responsible for determining how best to distribute limited supplies. In most areas, vaccinations are directed toward those at highest risk of spreading the disease or suffering the worst consequences.

Children remain among the groups most vulnerable. The virus is now blamed for 129 pediatric deaths in the U.S. Approximately two-thirds of these children had underlying neurological or respiratory conditions, Schuchat said.

According to the CDC, influenza activity is “widespread” in 48 states, with 7.7 percent of doctor’s office visits from patients reporting flu-like symptoms. That’s down slightly from last week’s figure of 8 percent. However, federal health officials say it’s too early to say whether H1N1 activity has peaked.

“Flu season can last until May,” Schuchat sait. “So, we really don’t know what trajectory we’ll see with this virus or with the flu season in general.”

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Atlanta prides itself on being “the city too busy to hate.” Indeed, race relations here are cordial and the city provides economic and social opportunities for people of many different racial, ethnic and social backgrounds.

Yet in the “cradle of the Civil Rights Movement,” social issues and politics are viewed through a racial prism. Such is the case with this year’s mayoral campaign.

For the first time since 1973, Atlanta may elect a white mayor. A poll from last week, commissioned by local TV station WXIA 11Alive and radio station V103, suggests Atlanta City Concilwoman Mary Norwood is leading a six-way race for mayor with 46 percent of the vote. Her closest contender, Georgia State Senator Kasim Reed, trails at 26 percent.

Although the candidates have kept the focus of their campaigns on crime, taxes and city services, two African-American professors released the racial genie back in August when they wrote an open letter, urging black voters to unite behind Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders “in order to defeat a Norwood (white) mayoral candidacy.”

Both Norwood and Reed were quick to distance themselves from the letter. “It was wrong minded,” Reed told FOX News. “It represents the worst of Atlanta in my mind.”

Despite Norwood’s considerable lead in the polls, she will likely face Reed in a runoff. Election rules require the winner of the Atlanta mayoral race to receive a 50 percent plus one vote majority.

“The conventional wisdom has always been that a white candidate could get in a runoff in a citywide election, but that that white candidate was doomed in the runoff when all the black voters consolidated behind a black candidate,” said Dick Williams, a longtime Georgia publisher and political commentator.

But much has changed since current Mayor Shirley Franklin was elected to the first of her two terms eight years ago. Atlanta’s African-American majority, which once accounted for two out of three voters — now hovers just above 50 percent.

Williams said the closing of Atlanta’s large public housing projects has removed a loyal minority voting bloc. “Those were reliable foot soldiers for the mayoral candidates who could arrange the money and the transportation to the polls,” he said.

The gentrification of many inner-city neighborhoods has attracted many white and black professionals, who may be less likely to see race as a key issue in a political contest.

While many Atlantans still hold painful memories of the days of segregation, younger citizens have grown up in a city with many prominent African-American politicians and entrepreneurs. Race has become an issue not so much for division, but discussion.

No doubt, that discussion will continue through the November 3rd election. Watch my video report here.

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“We are getting to the level where it will become significantly easier to find vaccine,” said Thomas Frieden, MD.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as of today, 22.4 million doses of H1N1 vaccine are available for shipment to providers. While that figure is not as high as public health officials would like, it represents an 8 million dose increase over the amount of vaccine available last week.

“Eventually there will be enough vaccine for all who want to get vaccinated to get vaccinated,” Frieden said.

Frieden said H1N1 activity is actually beginning to decrease in some parts of the country, including Georgia — where the spread of H1N1 got off to a rapid start (likely because of the early beginning of the school year in that state).

And while that may be good news for your Atlanta-based correspondent, the threat of H1N1 is far from over. Cases continue to increase in other parts of the country.

“H1N1 influenza remains widespread throughout the United States,” Frieden said.

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The H1N1 vaccine came out sooner than expected, but in smaller amounts. So vaccination efforts continue to focus on high risk groups.

Just 20 blocks from our FOX News Atlanta Bureau (where I’m writing this blog), Emory University Hospital Midtown is vaccinating pregnant women. And in New York City, public schools are sending students home with parental consent forms for a pediatric vaccine campaign to begin next week.

Most of us outside the high risk groups, however, will likely have to wait well into November before we can get the shots.

In the meantime — many hospitals, local governments and other entities are taking precautions to slow the spread of H1N1, or at least prevent the virus from disrupting operations.

In Minneapolis, Hennepin County Court officials are issuing 20 percent more jury summons than normal. They’re also doubling the number of alternate jurors assigned to trials.

That way, even if some members of the jury pool get sick with H1N1, the trials are likely to proceed on schedule.

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Making biodiesel in a high school lab.

What if school buses could run on fuel made by students? It’s happening on a small scale at East Burke High School in Connelly Springs, NC.

Science teacher Bob Smith is showing students how to turn used cooking oil from a local restaurant into biodiesel fuel for use in school buses. In the process, his students learn about chemistry, environmental science and even public speaking (the school’s biodiesel program, after all, is attracting local and national media attention).

“We wanted to do something hands on in the lab that would utilize classroom lessons with a real world problem,” Smith said. The instuctor also hopes the biodiesel project will encourage some of his students to pursue careers in science and engineering.

“We’re using chemistry in everyday life,” said Nou Yang, a high school senior who is considering a career pediatric medicine. “Cooking is chemistry. We’re just not baking a cake, it’s about molecules reacting to each other.”

The same goes for driving.

The process of refining vegetable oil into an odorless fuel takes about 6 to 7 hours of work in the lab followed by an overnight waiting period to allow the product to settle.

At the conclusion, students load the fuel into a school bus and watch their work in action. Click here to see the live demonstration they did for FOX News Channel.

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