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: November 1, 2021, 1:22 AM 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, 6:44 PM EDT

SCOTUS rejects bid to block Maine vaccine mandate for health care workers

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request for an emergency injunction against Maine's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care staff. 

A Maine physician and several others had sued the state over the mandate, which required that all health care workers be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, because it disallows religious exemptions.

With three justices dissenting, the high court rejected the application Friday, though it could still grant the case on the merits and take it up for further consideration.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

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

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