COVID-19 updates: White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive

Psaki said she has mild symptoms and is working from home.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 27, 2021, 6:43 PM EDT

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 744,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 67.7% 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 developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 27, 2021, 6:43 PM EDT

New York City braces for possible mandate-related reduction in fire, EMS service

New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Wednesday he's preparing to make major operational changes next week as significant portion of the city's firefighters and EMS personnel haven't complied with the city's vaccine mandate.

"We will use all means at our disposal, including mandatory overtime, mutual aid from other EMS providers, and significant changes to the schedules of our members," he said in a statement.

The mandate for all New York City public employees will go into effect at the end of day Friday. The FDNY said that 65% of its members were vaccinated as of Wednesday.

PHOTO:City workers, including FDNY, hold a protest march and rally over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to voice their opposition to a city mandate to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or lose their jobs in Brooklyn area of New York, Oct. 25, 2021.
New York City workers, including thousands of firemen, hold a protest march and rally over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to voice their opposition to a city mandate to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or lose their jobs in Brooklyn area of New York, Oct. 25, 2021.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

An FDNY official told ABC News that by Monday fire and ambulance services could be reduced by as much as 20%.

FDNY leadership has held virtual meetings with uniformed staff explaining the vaccine mandate and imploring them to comply, and will continue doing so throughout the week, the official said.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Oct 27, 2021, 3:29 PM EDT

CDC advisers to vote Nov. 2 on pediatric vaccines

The CDC's independent advisors plan to discuss and hold a non-binding vote on the recommendations for the pediatric vaccine on Nov. 2.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will likely endorse those recommendations for 5 to 11-year-olds following the vote that day.

PHOTO: Students sit in a Normont Elementary classroom in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2021.
Students sit in a Normont Elementary classroom in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2021. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted, Oct. 26, 2021, to recommend a pediatric dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11.
Allison Zaucha/The New York Times via Redux

Vaccinations can start as soon as Walensky sends out final recommendations.

Meanwhile, the FDA's decision to authorize the pediatric vaccine is expected in the coming days.

A nurse practitioner in the PICU talks with the parent of a pediatric COVID patient at University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 6, 2021.
Jessica Koscielniak/USA Today

-ABC News' Eric M. Strauss

Oct 27, 2021, 10:22 AM EDT

Nearly two-thirds of Americans have had at least 1 vaccine dose

Nearly two-thirds of all Americans -- 220 million people -- have had at least one vaccine dose, according to federal data.

A medical staff member prepares a syringe with a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccine clinic at the Jewish Community Center in Staten Island, New York.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

But 111 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated, including about 48 million children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible to get the shot.

National metrics continue to fall, according to federal data. About 51,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 104,000 patients at the end of August

Deaths are are trending down, though numbers remain quite high at over 1,100 fatalities each day.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Oct 27, 2021, 9:25 AM EDT

Weekly death totals likely to continue falling in coming weeks, CDC says

While more than 1,100 Americans are still dying from COVID-19 each day, the U.S. daily death rate has been slowly falling in recent weeks.

And now, forecast models used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are predicting that weekly death totals will likely continue to fall in the weeks to come, though thousands of Americans are still expected to die from the virus.

The model expects 18,000 more virus-related deaths to occur in the next two weeks, with a total of around 767,800 deaths recorded in the U.S. by Nov. 20.

The model also estimates that 14 states and territories have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths in the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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