COVID-19 updates: Pfizer vaccine highly effective in children 5-11

About 64.3 million Americans ages 12 and older are completely unvaccinated.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 20, 2021, 8:23 AM EDT

More than 731,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.9 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 66.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 AM EDT

FDA could authorize Moderna, J&J booster shots Wednesday

The FDA could authorize Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shots for some populations as soon as Wednesday. 

A medical staff member prepares a syringe with a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccine clinic at the Jewish Community Center in the Staten Island, N.Y., April 16, 2021.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Meanwhile, the CDC independent advisory committee is meeting Wednesday to discuss vaccines in general. The committee is expected to debate Moderna and Johnson & Johnson on Thursday, discussing who boosters should be recommended for and if mixing and matching vaccines should be permitted.

A non-binding vote is expected at the end of Thursday.

The CDC director is expected to make the final recommendations shortly after the vote, which could come as soon as Thursday night or Friday morning.

-ABC News' Eric M. Strauss

Oct 20, 2021, 8:08 AM EDT

NYC to mandate vaccine for municipal workers

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all municipal workers.

The mandate is expected to include all employees from sanitation workers to office workers and will require some 161,000 workers to have their first dose by Oct. 29.

Municipal employees who do not get vaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave, and their future employment will be resolved in negotiations with individual labor unions.

Correction officers will face a later deadline of Dec. 1.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Oct 19, 2021, 2:56 PM EDT

Secretary Mayorkas tests positive for COVID-19

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has tested positive for COVID-19, a DHS spokeswoman confirmed to ABC News. 

Mayorkas, who is fully vaccinated, "is experiencing only mild congestion," a statement said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas looks on during a conference at SRE Building, Oct. 8, 2021, in Mexico City, Mexico.
Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Mayorkas will work from home, the statement said. Contact tracing is underway.

There were no major White House officials deemed to be close contacts. "No White House principal has been determined to be a close contact of Secretary Mayorkas, given that the most recent contact was at the outdoor National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, which took place outside of the 48-hour close contact window,” the White House said in a statement.

-ABC News' Luke Barr

Oct 19, 2021, 1:00 PM EDT

Pfizer vaccine 93% effective against hospitalizations for 12-18 age group

A new CDC study found that the Pfizer vaccine was 93% effective against hospitalizations for adolescents ages 12 to 18 from July to September.

The researchers also found that nearly all (97%) of adolescents ages 12 to 18 who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

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