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 29, 2021, 6:28 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 29, 2021, 6:28 PM EDT

Federal court lifts pause on New York vaccine mandate for health care workers

A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction on New York's statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers seeking a religious exemption.

The court Friday returned the case to the district court for further proceedings. But for now, the state can once again enforce the mandate despite religious objections.

Seventeen people had sued the state after it ordered health care staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get at least one dose by Sept. 27, saying the mandate violated their constitutional rights because it disallowed religious objections.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Oct 29, 2021, 3:24 PM EDT

FDA authorizes pediatric vaccine

The FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday.

An initial 15 million doses are expected to start shipping out of Pfizer’s manufacturing plant within 24 hours.

No vaccinations will start until the CDC director signs off. The director is likely to sign off on Nov. 2, with vaccinations likely beginning Nov. 3.

Oct 29, 2021, 1:04 PM EDT

Being vaccinated offers better protection than being infected: CDC study

A new study from the CDC finds that people with "natural" immunity through infection were more than five times more likely to become infected with COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated. 

A Chester County, Pa., Health Department worker fills a syringe with Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before administering it at the Chester County Government Services Center in West Chester, Pa., Dec. 29, 2020.
Matt Slocum/AP, FILE

The study reviewed more than 7,000 people across nine states, measuring infections and hospitalization rates three to six months after either vaccination or initial infection. The study -- published in the CDC's weekly journal, the MMWR -- reaffirms prior research indicating that vaccines offer superior protection than natural immunity. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

Oct 29, 2021, 12:46 PM EDT

FDA expected to authorize vaccine for kids within hours

ABC News expects the FDA to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday, according to people familiar with the agency’s planning.

The exact timing of the announcement is not yet known.

Bridgette Melo, 5, holds the hand of her father, Jim Melo, during her inoculation of one of two reduced doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a trial at Duke University in Durham, N.C., Sept. 28, 2021.
Shawn Rocco/Duke University via Reuters

But no vaccinations will start until the CDC director signs off. A hearing with the CDC’s independent advisory board is set for Nov. 2; the director is likely to sign off on the panel's recommendations that evening, with vaccinations likely beginning Nov. 3.

-ABC News' Eric M. Strauss

Related Topics