COVID-19 updates: 345 children currently hospitalized with coronavirus in Texas

That number was up from 282 on Thursday.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Morgan Winsor, Catherine Thorbecke, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: September 6, 2021, 4:23 AM EDT

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 61.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news was developing. All times Eastern.
Sep 01, 2021, 11:38 AM EDT

Booster shots start in France

Booster shots are beginning in France on Wednesday.

Eligible recipients include people over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions. They must be at least six months out
from their second Pfizer or Moderna shot.

Those who received the single-dose J&J vaccine are also eligible to receive an mRNA booster if at least four weeks have passed since they were vaccinated. 

As of Tuesday, 65.6% of France's total population was fully vaccinated.

A patient receives a dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the Covid-19 in Bordeaux, France, Aug. 31, 2021.
Mehdi Fedouach/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud

Sep 01, 2021, 10:42 AM EDT

Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it'll help with mild COVID symptoms

Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.

The first participant has now been dosed in this "pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial," Pfizer said.

Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.  

If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

Sep 01, 2021, 9:52 AM EDT

Virginia Tech disenrolls 134 students who didn't meet vaccination policy

Virginia Tech says 134 students have been disenrolled after they didn't comply with COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

The university's roughly 37,000 students were required to submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption, Virginia Tech said.

"The university does not know whether any of these [134] students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement," Virginia Tech said.

-ABC News' Chad Murray

Sep 01, 2021, 9:19 AM EDT

TSA screens lowest number of travelers since May

Just 1,345,064 travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Tuesday, the lowest since May 18 when 1,408,017 were screened, the TSA said.

United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday he thinks holiday travel will return to normal.

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney

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