COVID-19 updates: American Airlines to require employee vaccinations

The White House COVID-19 team told ABC News that they are aiming to double the number of rapid tests available at market within the next two months.  

“You’re right that the at-home rapid test is under a lot of demand,” said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients. “The manufacturing is scaling up significantly, doubling across the next couple of months, and we're just going to keep at it to encourage those manufacturers to increase capacity and to drive down the cost of those tests.”

Zients added: “Overall, we'll continue to pull every level we can to further expand the manufacturing and the production of these tests in order to make them more widely available, and to drive down the cost per test." He did not offer further specifics. 

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also said that the shots for children ages 5 to 11 are "on the horizon." Murthy deferred to the FDA and CDC's  “rigorous review process” and independent advisory panels to determine further absolutes.  

The White House team urges Americans not to let their guard down even though the latest surge of COVID-19 may be subsiding. White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it is not an excuse for unvaccinated Americans to remain unvaccinated.

“I think that the people who are unvaccinated, when they see the curve starting to come down, that is not a reason to remain unvaccinated, because if you want to ensure that we get down to a very low level and that we don't re-surge again," Fauci said. "We still gotta get a very large proportion of those 70 million people who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not been vaccinated, we’ve got to get them vaccinated."

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

California will be the first state to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students, faculty and staff in public and private schools. Gov. Gavin Newsom says that the COVID-19 vaccine will be one of 11 vaccines required to attend schools in California.

The vaccine will be required at the start of the upcoming school term following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the vaccines. Terms begin in January and July.

The government has only fully approved the COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and over.

School staff will be required to be vaccinated on the same timeline as grades 7-12, the earliest group to see full FDA approval.

There are exemptions for medical reasons and for personal and religious beliefs.

Read the full story here.

-ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman

The CDC reports that 77% of adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose. 

Vaccinations have gone up since August, and a study by health policy research organization Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that gaps by race and ethnicity are almost eliminated -- 73% of Hispanics, 71% of white people and 70% of Black people are said to be vaccinated.

However, vaccine gaps persist across party lines -- KFF found that 90% of Democrats say they’ve gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, compared with 68% of independents and 58% of Republicans.

However, unvaccinated people continue to express doubts concerning the vaccines’ effectiveness and resistance to vaccine mandates in the workplace. 

In a poll by the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index, 71% of unvaccinated Americans believe that the vaccine booster shots and breakthrough infections are signs that vaccines are not as effective as they are said to be. 

Only about 29% of unvaccinated workers say they would get a shot if their employer mandates it, according to the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Merck Thursday morning announced the results of an ongoing Phase 3 study of an antiviral pill that may slash the risk of being hospitalized or dying of the virus by 50%.

The study's results are so compelling that an independent monitoring board recommended, in consultation with the FDA, ending the trial early so the companies can swiftly seek authorization.

Read the full story here.

-ABC News' Sony Salzman