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 22, 2021, 4:07 PM 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, 4:07 PM EDT

Booster shots appear safe from preliminary data

At the ongoing CDC advisory committee meeting, Dr. Anne Hause presented preliminary data showing a low rate of serious adverse events among the over 2 million people who have already received booster doses.

Nearly all adverse events reported were not serious (95%) for both Pfizer and Moderna third doses, according to data collected from the national reporting system, which is not a formal, controlled study.

Joans Petty waits with her husband Eduardo in the observation area after receiving his booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination clinic at the Southfield Pavilion on Aug. 24, 2021, in Southfield, Mich.
Emily Elconin/Getty Images, FILE

Dr. Sara Oliver of the CDC called booster effectiveness and safety data “reassuring," adding, "but many unknowns remain.

Committee member Dr. Sarah Long urged her colleagues to stay focused on how well vaccines specifically prevent hospitalizations and severe illness.

“I would just encourage us not to lump infection and hospitalization,” Long said. “I don’t think there’s any hope that vaccines such as the ones we have will prevent infection, after the first maybe couple weeks that you have those extraordinary immediate responses."

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

Sep 22, 2021, 3:40 PM EDT

Nevada county declares health misinformation a public health crisis

Nevada's Clark County, home to Las Vegas, is declaring health misinformation a public health crisis following a 5-2 vote from the Clark County Commission.

This follows the same move in the California counties of San Diego, Sacramento and Monterey in an effort to tackle misinformation.

When the proposal was introduced in Clark County, 83.7% of cases and 96.7% of hospitalizations were among people who were not fully vaccinated.

Sep 22, 2021, 3:16 PM EDT

71M eligible Americans still haven't gotten a shot, White House estimates

About 71 million Americans who are eligible for the vaccine have still not gotten a shot, said White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar.

People sit after receiving an injection of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, in Jackson, Miss., across the street from Jackson State University, Sept. 21, 2021.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP

About one month ago, the White House said about 82 million eligible Americans didn't have the shot.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

Sep 22, 2021, 2:17 PM EDT

Jesse Jackson back home after COVID battle

Rev. Jesse Jackson was released from rehab Wednesday after a battle against COVID-19.

The civil rights leader, who has Parkinson’s Disease, and his wife, Jacqueline Jackson, were both hospitalized with COVID-19 on Aug. 21.

Jacqueline Jackson was discharged on Sept. 4 and Jesse Jackson was transferred to a rehab facility for physical therapy for Parkinson’s.

"Our father continues to stress the importance of being vaccinated, wearing masks and obeying the COVID-19 protocols including social distancing and the washing of the hands," their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement.