COVID-19 updates: American Airlines to require employee vaccinations

American Airlines told employees Friday that all U.S.-based employees and certain international crew members must be vaccinated in light of the federal vaccine mandate.

"While we are still working through the details of the federal requirements, it is clear that team members who choose to remain unvaccinated will not be able to work at American Airlines," CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom wrote in a letter obtained by ABC News. 

Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons "can request an accommodation," they continued. 

No deadline was set.

Reuters reported Friday that the White House has pressed U.S. airline CEOs to mandate vaccines for staff by early December.

Delta Air Lines said in a statement Friday that 84% of its employees were vaccinated and the airline continues "to evaluate the administration’s plan." 

Southwest Airlines said it "continues to strongly encourage employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine."

United Airlines has already put in place a vaccine mandate; 99.5% of its U.S.-based employees are vaccinated.

-ABC News' Mina Kaji

"Aladdin" is canceling additional Broadway performances after more COVID-19 cases were detected among the company, the show announced Friday.

The musical returned Tuesday for the first time since Broadway closed for the pandemic, though Wednesday night's performance was canceled after breakthrough COVID-19 cases among the company were confirmed. 

"Aladdin" was back Thursday night, though now all performances through Oct. 10 will be canceled after more breakthrough cases were detected Friday, the show said.

"We apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience this causes ticket holders, but we trust that audiences will agree that safety must be at the forefront of our return to Broadway," the show said in a statement on its website.

Members undergo PCR tests six times a week and are required to be vaccinated.

The deadline for New York City public school employees has passed: At least 90% of public school employees are vaccinated, including 93% of teachers and 98% of principals, according to the Department of Education. 

About 500 employees have been granted an exemption, representing .03% of the workforce.

Employees who did not provide proof of vaccination by 5 p.m. on Friday will be moved to Leave Without Pay status. Employees who get vaccinated this weekend and provide proof of vaccination on Monday may report to work as usual.

The DOE said 9,000 vaccinated substitute teachers are on standby.

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