Protests against mandated COVID-19 vaccines pop up across US

Pushback is happening over vaccine requirements and mask mandates.

ByEmily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Erin Schumaker, and Marlene Lenthang
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 07, 2021, 10:51 AM EDT

Florida reports over 134,000 new COVID-19 cases in past week

Florida’s COVID-19 cases have continued to soar week after week, with 134,506 new virus cases reported over the past week, according to the state Department of Health. 

Medical personnel conduct Covid-19 testing at a "drive-through" site in Miami, on August 3, 2021.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

That beats last week’s weekly record of 110,420 new infections. 

Now the weekly case positivity rate in the state stands at 18.9%. There were also 175 virus deaths reported over the past week. 

-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos

Aug 06, 2021, 11:49 PM EDT

409 positive cases at Tokyo Olympics

As of Saturday, there are 409 positive COVID-19 cases at the Olympics, According to Tokyo 2020's coronavirus case list.

That is an increase of 22 cases since Friday.

All of the people who tested positive are either Games-concerned personnel, Tokyo 2020 contractors, media or volunteers. One Games-concerned employee was in the Olympic Village at the time of their positive test.

Aug 06, 2021, 10:06 PM EDT

Amazon mandates warehouse workers wear masks

Amazon said Friday it was mandating all 900,000 of its warehouse workers wear masks, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.

The company had previously only required unvaccinated workers to wear masks. It blamed the change on the increasing risk presented by the delta variant.

A worker in a face mask walks by trucks parked at an Amazon facility as the global coronavirus outbreak continued in Bethpage on Long Island in New York, March 17, 2020.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters, FILE

"In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status," Amazon said in a statement. "We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams."

Many companies have taken the added step of requiring vaccinations, including fellow tech giants Google and Facebook.

Aug 06, 2021, 6:27 PM EDT

US records highest single-day COVID case total in 6 months

The U.S. has recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 case total in exactly six months with more than 120,000 new cases reported, according to newly updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The country is now averaging more than 96,000 new cases a day.

Additionally, every single state in the country is reporting "high" (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or "substantial" (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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