Nearly 74% of eligible Americans have at least 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose

In 13 states, over 80% of the population has at least one dose, CDC data shows.

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

More than 655,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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 62.7% 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.


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Texas breaks its daily death toll record

Texas has broken its daily death toll record with 408 new fatalities, according to state data.

The previous record was 387 daily deaths in January.

Texas currently has 321 children in the hospital with COVID-19.

-ABC News' Gina Sunseri


Biden's plan requires businesses with 100+ employees to require vaccine or weekly testing

In President Joe Biden's Thursday address he'll announce that all businesses with 100 or more employees must require vaccinations or weekly testing. Businesses that don't comply could be fined, according to a senior administration official.

“The new vaccination requirements in the president's plan cover about 100 million workers -- that's two-thirds of all workers in the United States,” a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters Thursday afternoon.

Biden's also looking to make testing more accessible and affordable. Walmart, Amazon and Kroger will sell at-home rapid tests at-cost for the next three months, meaning the price will drop about 35%.

The mask mandate for interstate travel and on federal property will stay in place through Jan. 18 2022, and the fine for violations will be doubled, the official said.

Biden will address the public at 5 p.m. ET.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky


6 states request ventilators from federal stockpile

In the last week, the federal government, according to a federal planning document, has received requests for 975 ventilators from six states: Georgia (500), South Carolina (160), New Mexico (115), Oregon (100), Oklahoma (50) and Alaska (four). Navajo Nation also requested 46 ventilators.

The U.S. military has deployed 23-person medical teams to hospitals in Alabama, Louisiana, Idaho and Mississippi, and will be sending a fifth team to Arkansas this weekend.

-ABC News' Brian Hartman


US hospitalizations more than 4 times higher than last year

The number of COVID-19 patients currently in U.S. hospitals stands at almost 102,000 -- more than four times higher than the number of patients one year ago (about 25,000), according to federal data.

More than 2,355 children are currently in U.S. hospitals with COVID-19, according to federal data.

Some hard-hit areas show signs of stabilization. Florida, for example, now has about 13,000 hospitalized patients, a drop from more than 17,000 patients earlier this summer.

But Kentucky and Idaho are both now seeing record hospitalization levels.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos