Nearly 600 patients wait for hospital beds in Houston following surge in COVID cases

According to the CDC, 46% of Texans have been fully vaccinated.

ByEmily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: August 16, 2021, 12:25 AM EDT

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

More than 620,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 59.1% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 13, 2021, 3:29 PM EDT

Kids must get caught up on routine vaccinations, officials say

Federal health officials said Friday it is now more critical than ever for parents to get their kids' routine vaccinations.

"There are a lot of vaccine doubters," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, "in part because we have been so successful with vaccination." People no longer know what the havoc that diseases like polio, measles or smallpox can cause, because we no longer have them around, and thus, "we're in some ways, victims of our own success," he said.

Dr. Anne Edwards of the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that pediatricians are seeing a large number of respiratory illnesses now, and not all are COVID-19. She said that underscores the importance of having their routine vaccinations.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Aug 13, 2021, 3:03 PM EDT

Canada to require plane passengers get vaccinated

 The Canadian government will soon mandate vaccinations for commercial plane travelers, cruise ship passengers and people on trains between provinces, according to The Associated Press.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said this will go into effect “as soon as possible in the fall and no later than the end of October," according to the AP.

Aug 13, 2021, 2:57 PM EDT

Louisiana hospitalizations at highest point of pandemic

Hard-hit Louisiana has 2,907 COVID-19 patients in hospitals -- more than any point of the pandemic so far, the state's Department of Health said Friday.

Medical professionals prepare to enter a room where a patients are being treated for COVID-19 at the Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson Parish, La, Aug. 10, 2021.
Kathleen Flynn/Reuters

Louisiana's Ochsner Health said they have 1,063 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in their system, exceeding all previous surges. Of those patients, 88.99% are unvaccinated, officials said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said 399 patients in the state are on ventilators.

Fifty-seven people died of COVID-19 in Louisiana in the last 24 hours, the health department said.

The governor warned Friday that Louisiana isn't near the peak of this surge and hospital leaders are more alarmed now than at any point in the pandemic.

"We are really close to the breaking point," Edwards said.

Aug 13, 2021, 1:46 PM EDT

Feds send 'fatality management trailers' to Texas

Federal officials are deploying extra resources to COVID-19 hot spots, including sending five "fatality management trailers" to Texas, according to a federal planning document obtained by ABC News.

Oklahoma was set to receive 100 ventilators on Thursday, according to the planning document, while Mississippi has requested enough medical personnel to staff more than 1,000 beds.