COVID-19 updates: 345 children currently hospitalized with coronavirus in Texas
That number was up from 282 on Thursday.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.7% 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.
Latest headlines:
Hospitalizations at highest point in over 7 months
With nearly 104,000 hospitalized, U.S. hospitalizations are now at the highest point in more than seven months, according to federal data.
Alabama's ICUs remain 100% full while Georgia's ICUs are over 96% full, federal data show.
Nearly 1,000 COVID-19 deaths are now being reported in the U.S. each day, the highest average in more than five months.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Booster shots start in France
Booster shots are beginning in France on Wednesday.
Eligible recipients include people over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions. They must be at least six months out
from their second Pfizer or Moderna shot.
Those who received the single-dose J&J vaccine are also eligible to receive an mRNA booster if at least four weeks have passed since they were vaccinated.
As of Tuesday, 65.6% of France's total population was fully vaccinated.
-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud
Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it'll help with mild COVID symptoms
Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.
The first participant has now been dosed in this "pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial," Pfizer said.
Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.
If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization.
-ABC News' Sony Salzman
Virginia Tech disenrolls 134 students who didn't meet vaccination policy
Virginia Tech says 134 students have been disenrolled after they didn't comply with COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
The university's roughly 37,000 students were required to submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption, Virginia Tech said.
"The university does not know whether any of these [134] students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement," Virginia Tech said.
-ABC News' Chad Murray
Pediatric hospitalizations nearly 4 times higher in states with low vaccination: CDC
Two studies to be published Friday found fewer pediatric hospitalizations among children and communities with higher vaccination rates, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
In one study, national data from August showed that children were nearly four times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in the states with the lowest vaccination rates when compared to states with the highest rates -- proof that "cocooning" children with vaccinated people keeps them safe, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Thursday.
The second study, which looked at hospitalizations rates in 12- to 17-year-olds across 14 states during July, found that adolescents who were unvaccinated were 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than their fully vaccinated peers, Walensky said.
"Both studies, one thing is clear: cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations are much lower among children and communities with higher vaccination rates," Walensky said. "We must come together to ensure that our children, indeed, our future, remain safe and healthy during this time."
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett