COVID-19 updates: American Airlines to require employee vaccinations

The airline's CEO and president informed employees in a letter Friday.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Kiara Alfonseca, Meredith Deliso, and Morgan Winsor
Last Updated: October 4, 2021, 6:54 AM EDT

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

More than 700,000 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.

Just 65% 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 28, 2021, 1:21 PM EDT

Vaccine mandates work, NYC mayor says

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there's been a 45% increase in the daily vaccination rate since vaccine mandates were launched in July.

All city-run and private hospitals appear to be operating normally after health workers faced a midnight deadline to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. About 500 nurses for NYC Health + Hospitals are not at work.

NYC Health + Hospitals now has a 91% vaccination rate, up from 90% on Monday. City officials said about 5,000 employees were unvaccinated in the hospital system, down from more than 8,000 a week ago.

Northwell, New York state’s largest private hospital system, said it fired about two dozen "unvaccinated leaders," management level or above, for not getting vaccinated. 

“We are now beginning the process to exit the rest of our unvaccinated staff," Northwell said in a statement.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Sep 28, 2021, 1:00 PM EDT

3rd Pfizer dose has similar side effects to 2nd dose: Preliminary CDC data

A new preliminary CDC report of 306 people who received a third Pfizer dose found that side effects were similar to the second dose.

A nurse reaches for a vial of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccine clinic in the Arleta neighborhood of Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 2021.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

The most common side effects are fatigue, headache and a sore arm. These symptoms usually last one or two days.

The CDC will continue monitoring third doses for any potential new side effects or safety issues but says so far no "unexpected" patterns have been identified. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

Sep 28, 2021, 8:55 AM EDT

Pfizer submits initial child vaccine data to FDA

Pfizer on Tuesday submitted data for the Phase 2/3 vaccine trial for 5- to 11-year-olds to the FDA.

Co-teachers at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 Marisa Wiezel, left, and Caitlin Kenny give a lesson to their masked students in their classroom on Sept. 27, 2021, in New York City.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Pfizer will make a formal request for authorization in the coming weeks.

The FDA will review the data and make a decision, possibly by the end of October. The timeline for authorization is not set in stone. 

-ABC News' Eric Strauss

Sep 27, 2021, 8:00 PM EDT

Judge upholds NYC school staff vaccine mandate

A three-judge panel from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dissolved a temporary injunction that halted New York City's vaccine mandate for school staff.

The panel offered no explanation and cleared the way for the city to enforcement the public school vaccine mandate.

"Vaccinations are our strongest tool in the fight against COVID-19 – this ruling is on the right side of the law and will protect our students and staff," New York City's Department of Education said in a statement.

Melissa Wong, a teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 gives a lesson to her masked students in their classroom, Sept. 27, 2021, in New York.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

As of Monday night, 87% of DOE employees, including 91% of teachers and 97% of principals, have at least one shot, according to the DOE.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said public school employees will have until the end of day Friday to get at least one dose of vaccine.

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, released a statement Monday night saying, "We will be working with our members to ensure, as far as possible, that our schools can open safely as the vaccine mandate is enforced."

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

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