The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 628,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 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 59.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 18, 2021, 5:16 PM EDT
Biden to announce nursing homes must require employee vaccination to get federal funding
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to require nursing homes participating in Medicare or Medicaid to have all workers be vaccinated for COVID-19, a Biden administration official confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.
The new rule, which will impact more than 15,000 nursing homes and 1.3 million workers, will go into effect in late September. Nursing homes that don't comply could lose federal funding.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 18, 2021, 2:33 PM EDT
NYC restaurant owners sue city over indoor vaccine mandate
A group small businesses in New York City is suing the city on the grounds that its new indoor vaccine mandate will severely impact their "business, life savings, and livelihood," according to a lawsuit filed in Richmond County Supreme Court Tuesday.
The plaintiffs also took issue with the fact the the mandate does not permit medical or religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccination.
New York City's first-in-the-nation mandate, which went into effect Tuesday, applies to everyone 12 and older and includes nearly every public indoor activity, from gyms to bowling alleys to movie theaters to concert venues and more, according to the city.
The plaintiffs include Deluca’s Italian Restaurant in Staten Island, Pasticceria Rocco in Brooklyn and Staten Island Judo Jujitsu.
Aug 18, 2021, 12:36 PM EDT
All but 2 states reporting high community transmission
All but two states -- New Hampshire and Vermont -- are reporting high community transmission, according to federal data.
U.S. hospitalizations are now at the highest point in over six months, with more than 91,000 COVID-19 patients currently in hospitals, according to federal data. More than 11,200 patients are being admitted to the hospital each day, the most since January.
Pediatric COVID-19 related admissions per capita have climbed to the highest point of the pandemic and are now nearly six times higher than on July 4.
Wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, elementary school student line up to enter school for the first day of classes in Richardson, Texas, Aug. 17, 2021.
Lm Otero/AP
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 18, 2021, 11:53 AM EDT
Delta likely contributed to vaccine's waning protection: Murthy
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced at Wednesday's White House briefing, "Having reviewed the most current data, it is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now."
A pharmacist prepares a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Emerald Court senior living community in Anaheim, Calif., Jan. 8, 2021.
Orange County Register via Getty Images, FILE
Murthy said protection against mild disease has decreased, likely a combination of waning vaccine protection over time and the strength of the delta variant, and that the administration is "concerned" that protection could continue to erode.
"Even though this new data affirms that vaccine protection remains high against the worst outcomes of COVID, we are concerned that this pattern of decline we're seeing will continue in the months ahead, which could lead to reduced protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death," Murthy said.
"That is why, today, we are announcing our plan to stay ahead of this virus by being prepared to offer COVID-19 booster shots to fully vaccinated adults 18 years and older," Murthy said. "They would be eligible for their booster shot eight months after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer or Modern mRNA vaccines."
The boosters are set to begin Sept. 20, but Murthy emphasized that this is pending FDA authorization and also reiterated that does not yet apply to J&J recipients.
