Masks will be required in all Pennsylvania schools and child care programs effective Sept. 7, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.

"My office has received an outpouring of messages from parents asking us to protect children by requiring masks in schools," Wolf tweeted. "I preferred for local school boards to make this decision. But an aggressive nationwide campaign is pressuring school districts to adopt unsafe policies."

Mississippi has the country's highest COVID-19 case rate, followed by Florida, Kentucky and Louisiana, according to federal data.

With more than 101,000 Americans now hospitalized with COVID-19, the U.S. is steadily approaching its hospitalization peak from early January, when more than 125,000 patients were hospitalized at one time, according to federal data.

A little over two months ago, less than 12,000 patients were in U.S. hospitals, according to federal data.

But there has been improvement when it comes to vaccinations.

One week after the FDA fully approved the Pfizer vaccine, initial data from an ABC News analysis indicates that the U.S. has seen a slight uptick in the average number of Americans going out to get their first vaccine dose.

In the week prior to the full approval, an average of about 404,000 Americans were initiating vaccination each day. Now, about 473,000 Americans are getting their first shot each day -- a 17% increase.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Fifteen people were charged Tuesday in what the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office called a fake vaccine card conspiracy.

Among those charged is a woman who allegedly sold 250 fake cards on Instagram, believed to be among the first alleged seller of phony vaccine cards charged in
the country.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement, "We need companies like Facebook to take action to prevent the fraud happening on their platforms."

"Making, selling, and purchasing forged vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious public safety consequences. This investigation is ongoing," Vance continued. "If you are aware of anyone selling fake vaccination cards, please call my Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau at .”

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that unvaccinated public and charter school employees must undergo weekly testing.

"I think that's a compromise,” she said.

Hochul is also working to establish vaccine requirements for all staff at state-regulated facilities and congregate settings. New York officials announced last week that all health care facility staff must be vaccinated.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

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