'Steady increase' in vaccines in past month, White House says

The Food and Drug Administration is now permitting preventative use of the monoclonal antibody cocktail from Regeneron for certain people who have been exposed to COVID-19.

Until now, monoclonal antibodies had only been for patients who were already infected with COVID-19 and at high risk of getting very sick, to help prevent more severe illness.

This is the first preventative therapy for unvaccinated and immunocompromised people in high-risk settings, aimed at proactively warding off infection before a positive test.

This expanded use will be for people who meet several criteria: those who suspect they have been exposed to COVID-19, or are at high risk of an exposure; at high risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 due to health complications; or at high risk of getting sick due to not being fully vaccinated, or because of an inadequate response to the vaccine due to an immunocompromising condition.

With this preventative use, there will also be a new repeat dosing available for some people -- for those with "ongoing exposure" to COVID-19 for more than four weeks and who may not mount a strong immune response to the vaccine. These patients can get a slightly smaller monthly dose of the cocktail for "the duration of ongoing exposure" to help keep them protected from the virus.

This is the only COVID-19 antibody therapy available in the U.S. for both treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis. It has shown to hold up against the variants of concern, including delta. A Regeneron spokesperson told ABC News the company is continuing discussion with the FDA to evaluate even broader prevention use in immunocompromised people for “pre-exposure” situations.

-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik

Data shows that the delta variant leaves vaccinated and unvaccinated people with similarly high viral loads, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement Friday. 

"High viral loads suggest an increased risk of transmission and raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with Delta can transmit the virus," Walensky said. 

"This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation" this week, Walensky said. 

-ABC News’ Sony Salzman

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that parents in the state can decide if their children will wear masks in school, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation this week that students wear masks.

DeSantis called the CDC’s guidance a "callous disregard for the physical, emotional and academic well-being of our children."

DeSantis said, "Very soon I'll be signing an executive order which directs the Florida Department of Education and the Department of Health to issue emergency rules protecting the rights of parents to make this decision about wearing masks for their children."

The governor added that his children will not wear masks in school.

-ABC News’ Will McDuffie

Of the more than 857,000 vaccine doses administered in the U.S. on Thursday, 563,000 were newly vaccinated people -- the highest number since July 1, Cyrus Shahpar, the White House's COVID-19 data director, tweeted Friday.

Over 190 million Americans have now had at least one dose, accounting for 69.6% of adults, he tweeted.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky