COVID-19 updates: No unemployment benefits for vaccine refusal in this state

The state just announced new COVID emergency plans.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Morgan Winsor, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: September 27, 2021, 8:51 AM EDT

The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 686,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The average number of daily deaths in the U.S. has risen about 20% in the last week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. is continuing to sink on the list of global vaccination rates, currently ranking No. 46, according to data compiled by The Financial Times. Just 64.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Sep 22, 2021, 12:32 PM EDT

Biden announces 500 million Pfizer vaccine global donation

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. is donating another 500 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to low- and middle- income countries around the globe.

"For every one shot we've administered to date in America, we have now committed to do three shots to the rest of the world," Biden said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual COVID-19 summit during the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Sept. 22, 2021, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP

Biden also announced the creation of a new U.S.-EU partnership focused on expanding global vaccination. He noted that the U.S. is working to ramp up manufacturing around the world.

"For example, our quad partnership with India, Japan and Australia is on track to help produce at least 1 billion vaccine doses in India to boost the global supply by the end of 2022. And we're providing financing and helping to strengthen manufacturing in South Africa and produce more than 500 million doses of J&J in Africa, for Africa, next year," Biden said.

Biden announced an initial 500-million-dose commitment in June. The U.S. has so far sent more than 160 million doses to 100 other countries, Biden said.

The latest announcement comes as the World Health Organization has criticized the U.S. for pushing booster doses while much of the world has yet to receive a single shot.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

Sep 22, 2021, 11:41 AM EDT

NYC cracking down on masks on subway

In New York City, officials say they'll be cracking down on mask enforcement on the subway, buses and commuter trains.

Commuters in the New York City subway during the morning rush in New York City, Sept. 2, 2021.
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

Compliance was near-universal earlier in the pandemic when ridership was way down. Now, subway compliance is at about 87%, according to MTA chief safety officer Patrick Warren.

"We want to move up to 100%," Warren said at a Wednesday news conference. 

In recent months the MTA has issued only 41 summonses for noncompliance with mask requirements. 

"We’re going to start handing out summonses more frequently," Warren said. 

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Sep 22, 2021, 10:16 AM EDT

States with low vaccination rates have much higher new death tolls

With more than 1,500 coronavirus-related deaths reported each day, the U.S. is now averaging the highest number of daily deaths in nearly seven months. 

States with the lowest vaccination numbers are experiencing weekly death rates nearly four times higher than the most vaccinated states, according to an ABC News analysis of federal data.

Cars wait in line at a COVID-19 drive-through testing and vaccination site in Marietta, Ga., Aug. 30, 2021.
Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

PHOTO: Aimee Fletcher and her daughter, of Spring Hill, Tenn., protest outside the Williamson County School Board during a meeting to discuss COVID protocols, Aug. 26, 2021, as 485 students and 95 staff were in isolation with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Aimee Fletcher and her daughter Sara, of Spring Hill, Tenn., protest outside the Williamson County School Board during a meeting to discuss COVID protocols, Aug. 26, 2021, as 485 students and 95 staff were in isolation with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Ray Di Pietro/Shutterstock

The 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates, where under 45% of residents are fully vaccinated, averaged more than 7.39 deaths per capita each day. The 10 states with the highest vaccination rates, where more than 62% of residents are vaccinated, averaged about 1.89 deaths per capita.

The lowest vaccination rates are in West Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas.

A COVID-19 testing sign is seen in front of Tiger Stadium before the game between Central Michigan and LSU. Sept. 18, 2021, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The highest vaccination rates are in Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Washington and New Mexico.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Sep 22, 2021, 8:34 AM EDT

In hard-hit Alabama patients are 'dying at an alarming rate'

Alabama is experiencing a near record-breaking surge in COVID-19 deaths.

“We are seeing a decrease in the number of patients that are in the hospital, but unfortunately, it's not because all of them are getting better and going home to their families... these patients are dying,” Dr. Kierstin Kennedy, chief of hospital medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, told ABC News Tuesday.

In July, there were only six COVID-19 patients in the UAB hospital, but within four weeks, the number skyrocketed over 100, according to Kennedy.

This latest wave of patients is much younger, primarily consisting of unvaccinated patients, Kennedy said.

“These patients are as sick if not sicker than elderly patients. They're staying in the hospital longer, and they're dying at an alarming rate,” Kennedy said. “It's unlike anything that I've seen.”

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday, "2020 is going to be the first year that we know of in the history of our state where we actually had more deaths than births -- our state literally shrunk in 2020."

Across Alabama, more than 97% of ICU beds are in use, according to federal data.

Just 41.6% of the state's total population is fully vaccinated.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos