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, 1:04 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, 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

Oct 29, 2021, 11:12 AM EDT

NYPD 80% vaccinated after administering over 1,000 shots Thursday

New York City's police department is 80% vaccinated after administering more than 1,000 shots on Thursday.

Nearly all municipal employees, including police officers, sanitation workers and firefighters, have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit proof of receiving at least one dose of vaccine. Those who don't get vaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave, starting Monday, for at least 30 days, and their future employment will be resolved in negotiations with individual labor unions.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called reports of nearly half unvaccinated precincts  “certainly outdated” and said he's more concerned about filling “individual shifts” than staffing precincts.

"We will move resources around. We have had significant increase in people getting vaccinated in the past three days, and that’s the good news," Shea said on Channel 5. "New Yorkers should not, should not, be worried about this."

The FDNY's vaccination rate stands at 71%. The city's firefighters' unions organized an anti-vaccine mandate rally on Thursday.

New York City Fire Department union members, municipal workers and others demonstrate during a protest against the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandates in New York City, Oct. 28, 2021.
Mike Segar/Reuters

-ABC News' Mark Crudele, Aaron Katersky, Meredith Ferrell

Oct 29, 2021, 10:18 AM EDT

Montana, Idaho leading nation in death rates

In recent weeks, cases have been creeping up in Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont and Washington, according to federal data.

Joyce Johnson-Albert receives an antibody infusion while lying on a bed in a trauma room at the Upper Tanana Health Center, after testing positive for COVID-19, Sept. 22, 2021, in Tok, Alaska.
Rick Bowmer/AP

The nation's daily death average has dropped by about 36.3% in the last month, but it remains persistently high, around 1,150 new deaths reported each day.

Montana currently has the country's highest death rate, followed by Idaho and West Virginia, according to federal data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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