Protests against mandated COVID-19 vaccines pop up across US

Pushback is happening over vaccine requirements and mask mandates.

Last Updated: August 8, 2021, 11:56 PM EDT

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

More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission -- vaccinated or not -- wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 05, 2021, 10:06 AM EDT

Arkansas governor reverses course on masks in schools

In Arkansas, one of the states hit hardest by the delta variant, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has reversed course, asking the legislature to meet for a special session to lift a previously signed ban on mask mandates.

Hutchinson told "Good Morning America" Thursday that masks are not needed in schools if students are vaccinated but he's "particularly concerned" about kids under 12 who are too young to get the shot.

In those cases, he said, schools should have the option to enforce masks.

A child gets his temperature checked by a school nurse before entering Stephens Elementary School in Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 24, 2020.
Tommy Metthe/AP, FILE

The governor added that he's pushing vaccine efforts with high school students and "making sure the faculty is vaccinated."

Aug 05, 2021, 8:45 AM EDT

Moderna vaccine 93% effective against symptomatic disease after 6 months

Moderna says its vaccine is 93% effective against symptomatic illness after six months (though this data collection ended before delta emerged in the U.S.). 

A patient receives her first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccine clinic at the Jewish Community Center, April 16, 2021, in Staten Island, New York.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Moderna said its booster candidates also demonstrate robust antibody responses to variants of concern, including delta.

Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge told "Good Morning America" Thursday that the Moderna vaccine offers protection from delta right after receiving it, but it's not known yet if that'll hold up through the winter. He called winter "the biggest test of that vaccine which is why we need to be vigilant and careful."

Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, appears on "Good Morning America." Aug. 5, 2021.
ABC News

Hoge said he thinks booster shots will be needed and that the company is "preparing options," but he added that that'll be for public health officials, not the company, to decide.

He also noted that Moderna's goal is to be vaccinating kids under 12 by the end of the year. Moderna isn’t authorized for kids ages 12 to 17 yet, but Hoge hopes authorization could come “any day.”

Aug 05, 2021, 8:28 AM EDT

US 'may sooner or later get another variant' if spread not controlled: Fauci

Without control over the community spread of the delta variant, the virus has "ample opportunity to mutate," so "you may sooner or later get another variant," Dr. Anthony Fauci told "Good Morning America."

Fauci warned that it's possible a new "variant might be in some respects worse than the already very difficult variant we're dealing with now, which is a major reason why you want to completely suppress the circulation of the virus in the community."

There are still about 93 million eligible Americans who have not gotten vaccinated.

Fauci added, "People who say, 'I don't want to get vaccinated because it's me and I'll worry about me, I'm not having any impact on anybody else,' that's just not the case." 

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Aug 05, 2021, 4:33 AM EDT

Tokyo sees 5,042 positive cases -- a new record

There are 5,042 new positive COVID-19 cases in Tokyo as of Thursday, according to the city's coronavirus information website.

Of those cases, 135 are severe and one has resulted in death.

It's a new record for Tokyo and a 178% increase since last Thursday, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.

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