US reports highest weekly COVID-19 vaccinations since July 4

Over 2,000 Kaiser Permanente employees are on unpaid leave following the health care system's COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline, the company said Tuesday.

Kaiser Permanente's 240,000 employees had until Sept. 30 to respond to the requirement. As of Monday, 2,200 people -- about 1% of the company's workforce -- had been placed on unpaid leave for not complying, the company said.

That number has more than halved in the days since the deadline. On the morning of Oct. 1, roughly 5,000 employees were on unpaid leave.

Those on unpaid leave have until Dec. 1 to get the vaccine or secure a qualified medical or religious exemption, at which point they may return to work. If they do neither, they may be eligible for termination, Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Marc Brown told ABC News. 

"We hope none of our employees will choose to leave their jobs rather than be vaccinated, but we won't know with certainty until then," Brown said. "We will continue to work with this group of employees to allay concerns and educate them about the vaccines, their benefits, and risks." 

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

The Food and Drug Administration could issue an emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 soon after Oct. 26, when the agency's advisory committee plans to discuss Pfizer's data, the FDA's vaccine chief said Tuesday.

Dr. Peter Marks couldn't give an exact day, but said the FDA has "a track record of trying to move relatively swiftly" after these committee meetings and feels the weight of the world -- and then some -- to get this done.

"When we did the adult approval, we felt the weight of the world," Marks told ABC News during the Q&A portion of a town hall hosted by the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project. "Here, we feel like the weight of the world, plus the weight of Mars on top of us, or some other planet as well."

"This is clearly one of the most important issues to get done so we're not going to be wasting any time," he added.  

Marks said he's confident that the FDA will would have all necessary data from Pfizer in time for the meeting.

Last month, Pfizer said data shows its vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging caution this holiday season, particularly if people remain unvaccinated.

On ABC News Live’s “The Breakdown” Tuesday, when pressed on mixing unvaccinated kids with adults during Thanksgiving and Christmas, Fauci said it’s safe to be with your "core" family but "not to mix with people who you don't know what their status is."

The CDC is expected to release more detailed guidance on the holidays “soon.”

Fauci said fatalities will likely start falling soon as cases and hospitalizations decreases. However, Fauci, said, "in order to avoid any subsequent surges, it would be very important to get a lot more people vaccinated."

Fauci added that he predicts more vaccine mandates at the local level.

"I don't think you're going to see a total central mandate from the federal government to everyone but you're going to see -- I'll almost guarantee it -- that the local enterprises, local organizations, local universities and colleges are going to continue to expand this whole process of mandating," Fauci said.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

More Americans are now receiving booster shots every day than first doses, according to federal data. About 418,000 Americans receive their third dose on average each day versus nearly 263,000 who get their first dose.

Alaska currently has the country's highest COVID-19 case rate, followed by North Dakota, West Virginia, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, according to federal data.

Hospitalizations are falling. About 70,000 COVID-19 patients are currently in hospitals across the country, a massive drop from late August when there were more than 104,000 patients.

But four states -- Alabama, Georgia, Idaho and Texas -- still have ICU capacities of about 10% or less, according to the data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos