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 23, 2021, 5:29 PM EDT

CDC panel votes to recommend Pfizer boosters for for people 65 and older

An independent advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted on Thursday to recommend a booster shot of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for seniors and other medically vulnerable Americans, six months after their second dose.

The panel voted to allow a third dose for people aged 65 and older, along with long-term care facility residents and people as young as 18, if they have an underlying medical condition. People younger than 49, however, should only get that booster shot if the benefits outweigh the risks, the panel said -- a personal consideration to discuss with their doctor.

PHOTO: Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines await administration at a senior living facility in Worcester, Pa., Aug. 25, 2021.
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines await administration at a senior living facility in Worcester, Pa., Aug. 25, 2021. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE are seeking full U.S. approval for a Covid-19 booster shot for people 16 and older, asking regulators to sign off on athird dose to quell a rise in infections among vaccinated people.
Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE

The panel voted "no" for a booster for those in an occupational or institutional setting where "the burden of COVID-19 infection and risk of transmission are high," such as nurses and teachers. Some panelists said that without further data, they weren't comfortable with automatically including younger people because of their jobs.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik, Anne Flaherty, Sony Salzman and Arielle Mitropoulos

Sep 23, 2021, 3:21 PM EDT

More than 26 million Americans potentially eligible for booster next week

Pending the CDC panel's recommendations and the CDC director's sign-off, more than 26 million Americans could soon be eligible for a third Pfizer dose. This includes 13.6 million adults 65 and older and 12.8 million adults ages 18 to 64 who completed their primary series at least six months ago. Of those 18 to 64, anyone who is considered “high risk” could be eligible for an additional dose.

To date, more than 220 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S.  

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik, Sony Salzman, Arielle Mitropoulos

Sep 23, 2021, 12:48 PM EDT

CDC advisory panel expected to vote on Pfizer booster within hours

The CDC’s independent advisory panel is set to vote around 3 p.m. ET on which Americans are eligible now for a Pfizer booster.

A medical professional preparers a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine vial at a mobile vaccine clinic held at Roosevelt Park on May 14, 2021 in Los Angeles.
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE

After the vote, CDC director Rochelle Walensky is expected to weigh in with her official endorsement. The CDC is not bound by the panel's recommendations but usually follows it. State officials may also implement their own criteria.

In this Sept. 14, 2021 file photo, a syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa.
Matt Rourke/AP, FILE

he FDA granted authorization Wednesday to the following groups: Anyone 65 or older as well as people as young as 18 if they have a medical condition that puts them at risk of severe COVID-19 or if they work a frontline job that makes it more likely that they would get infected. After authorization Wednesday night, the FDA's acting commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said some of the groups that could be classified as front-line workers are health care employees, teachers and grocery store staffers, as well as people in prisons and homeless shelters.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

Sep 23, 2021, 10:49 AM EDT

West Virginia, Montana case rates doubled in last month as Alaska sees record highs

Alaska currently has the country's highest case rate, followed by West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky, Montana and South Carolina, according to federal data.

A visitor walks past artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg's "In America: Remember," a temporary art installation made up of white flags to commemorate Americans who have died of COVID-19, on the National Mall in Washington, Sept. 22, 2021.
Patrick Semansky/AP

West Virginia and Montana have seen their case rates double over the last month. In Alaska, case metrics are at record highs, according to federal data.

Hospital admissions are down by about 12.5% in the last week, with improvements in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, according to federal data.

A nurse tends to a 2-month-old on a ventilator for respiratory failure because of COVID-19 at Children's Hospital New Orleans, Aug. 18, 2021.
New York Times via Redux, FILE

Seven states, however, have less than 10% ICU availability: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.

Even highly vaccinated states are experiencing shortages. One central Massachusetts health system, UMass Memorial Health, is running low on critical care beds following the admission of an influx of COVID-19 patients in recent weeks.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos