COVID-19 updates: Austria orders nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated residents

Pfizer is asking the FDA to amend its booster authorization to include all adults 18 and older.

In September, the FDA and CDC authorized Pfizer booster shots after six months for anyone older than 65 and younger adults with a high risk of developing COVID-19. But the agencies stopped short of recommending a Pfizer booster for all adults, saying data was insufficient to recommend boosters for everyone.

Since then, Pfizer published new data from its Phase 3 trial showing that a booster shot raises vaccine efficacy against symptomatic infections to 96% -- regardless of the person’s age. Now, the company is asking the FDA to broaden its authorization so that everyone over the age of 18 would be eligible for a booster shot. The FDA still needs to review this request.

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he takes full responsibility for anyone who felt misled by his comments about his vaccination status.

“I do realize I am a role model," Rodgers said on "The Pat McAfee Show" Tuesday. "I made some comments that people might have felt were misleading. And to anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments."

Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week and is not vaccinated, said Friday that he wasn't hiding his vaccination status, even though he told reporters in August, "I've been immunized."

Rodgers also said Friday that he's allergic to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines.

He added, "I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body."

Rodgers said Tuesday that he's heard from the team and coaching staff and that he hopes to join meetings via Zoom ahead of Sunday's game. Rodgers added that there is a "small possibility" he doesn't play on Sunday.

Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News in September that severe allergies to the vaccines are extremely uncommon and are experienced by less than one in 1 million people, according to health data.

The CDC said: "If you have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction -- even if it was not severe -- to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get either of the currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. ... If you aren’t able to get one type of COVID-19 vaccine because you are allergic to an ingredient in that vaccine, ask your doctor if you should get a different type of COVID-19 vaccine."

Dr. Jeff Linder, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News in September that research so far shows that severe allergic reactions are likely triggered by polyethylene glycol, or PEG, a component of the vaccines.

"An allergy to that is pretty rare," Linder added. "It would have to be documented, as a moderate or severe allergy, before I would consider giving a medical exemption."

Unvaccinated Texans were about 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to test positive in September than those fully vaccinated, according to a study released by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The risk of death was 55 times higher for unvaccinated people in their 40s and 23 times higher for Texans in their 30s compared with vaccinated people in the same age groups, according to the Department of State Health Services.

Singapore announced Monday that, beginning next month, it will no longer pay for COVID-19 treatment for people who are "unvaccinated by choice," as the island nation faces a surge in cases.

"The Government is currently footing the full COVID-19 medical bills of all Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and Long-Term Pass Holders ... other than for those who tested positive soon after returning from overseas travel," Singapore's Ministry of Health said in a statement. "For the majority who are vaccinated, this special approach for COVID-19 bills will continue until the COVID-19 situation is more stable."

"Currently, unvaccinated persons make up a sizeable majority of those who require intensive inpatient care, and disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources," the ministry noted.

The new policy will apply to all unvaccinated COVID-19 patients who are admitted to Singaporean hospitals or COVID-19 treatment facilities on or after Dec. 8, according to the ministry.

Singapore has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world, with 85% of its 5.5 million people fully inoculated. But the country's health care system is under strain as it grapples with its worst wave of COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.