Nearly 74% of eligible Americans have at least 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose

In 13 states, over 80% of the population has at least one dose, CDC data shows.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: September 7, 2021, 3:30 PM EDT

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 655,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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 62.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Sep 07, 2021, 3:30 PM EDT

Oregon hospitals 'scrambling' with cases, hospitalizations 'hovering at or near pandemic highs'

Hospitals in Oregon are "scrambling" to stay afloat with cases and hospitalizations "hovering at or near pandemic highs," the state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said at COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.

Nurses at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center work in the Critical Care Unit in Grants Pass, Ore., Aug. 19, 2021.
Mike Zacchino/KDRV via AP

Oregon saw 16,252 new cases in its most recent weekly report – which is 13 times higher than the reported cases for the week ending July 4, Sidelinger said.

Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are "alarmingly high" and hospitals are at a "saturation point" where they aren't "able to provide care to everyone arriving at their door," Sidelinger warned.

Sep 07, 2021, 3:08 PM EDT

Former NBA player on 10th day in ICU

Former Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers player Cedric Ceballos, 52, tweeted that he's on his 10th day in the ICU battling COVID-19.

Sep 07, 2021, 2:03 PM EDT

Military medical personnel head to Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama

About 60 military medical personnel are heading in three, 20-person teams to Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho to help treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients following a request from FEMA, the U.S. Army North said.

The personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, were sent to hospitals in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Ozark, Alabama; and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Six teams had previously been dispatched to six other hospitals: three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Dothan, Alabama.

Sep 07, 2021, 1:43 PM EDT

Crisis Standards of Care enacted as 'last resort' at 10 Idaho hospital systems

A Crisis Standards of Care plan has been enacted at 10 hospital systems in Idaho, which is only done as a "last resort," Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday.

Army Capt. Shane Blanch, a critical care nurse assigned to the 627th Hospital Center, shadows local hospital staff during the COVID-19 response operations at Kootenai Health regional medical center in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, Sept. 6, 2021.
Sgt. Kaden Pitt/US Army

The hospitals were chosen due to their "severe" shortages in beds and staffing as a result of a "massive increase" in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state officials said.

Crisis Standards of Care "means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect," Jeppesen said. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid."

"When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect," state officials said. "For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available."

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