COVID-19 updates: White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive
Psaki said she has mild symptoms and is working from home.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 744,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.7% 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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Immunocompromised may need 4th dose: CDC
Immunocompromised people may need a fourth dose of the vaccine, according to newly issued guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those patients may end up needing an additional shot six months after their third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, the CDC said. The fourth dose can be of any of the three available vaccines, according to the agency.
This is in line with what the CDC has said before regarding immunocompromised adults. A third shot is considered necessary to establish vaccination for those patients and a boost would need to come six months later, according to the agency.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
FDA panel greenlights vaccines for kids
An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday in support of the Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 ages 11.
Seventeen people voted "yes" and one person abstained.
Next, the FDA will make a decision. Then, the matter heads to the CDC's independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote next week, and after that, the CDC director is expected to make the final signoff.
The earliest shots could be in arms is the first week of November.
-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik, Sony Salzman, Cheyenne Haslett
Biden administration to ship vaccines for children as soon as FDA approves them
The Biden administration will begin shipping vaccine doses for kids ages 5 to 11 as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives the green light in coming days, White House officials told governors on a private phone call Tuesday.
Doing so will allow children to begin receiving shots as soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, which is expected around Nov. 4.
Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on the federal response to COVID-19, said one big concern is the shorter shelf life for pediatric doses. In trying to make the vaccine easier for pediatricians to handle, the doses for kids 5 to 11 can be kept for only 10 weeks, compared with six to nine months for adult doses.
"We don’t want to have wastage, so we encourage you to build flexibility into your distribution systems you can move around within your state or territory," he told the governors. Audio of the call was obtained by ABC News. "Just order what you need. We have plenty of supply. We can always get you doses on short notice."
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
Kids 5 to 11 account for 8,300 hospitalizations
Officials with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened Tuesday's FDA panel meeting by explaining how children 5 to 11 years old are impacted by the pandemic. They have accounted for over 1.9 million infections and over 8,300 hospitalizations, about a third of which have required ICU stays, officials said.
Nearly 100 children in that age group have died from COVID-19, making the virus one of the top 10 causes of death in this age range at this time, officials said.
The independent FDA advisory panel on Tuesday is debating whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The panel's nonbinding vote is expected Tuesday evening.
After the panel votes on whether or not to recommend Pfizer, the FDA will make a decision. Then, the matter heads to the CDC's independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote, which is scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Once the CDC panel votes, the CDC director is expected to make the final signoff.
-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik
FDNY vaccination rates increase as commissioner warns members against 'bogus sick leave'
The FDNY released updated data on the vaccination status of its members Sunday evening, two days after the city imposed a mandate on all public employees.
About 80% of all of the fire department's members are vaccinated -- 90% of civilian employees, 87% of EMTs and paramedics and 75% of firefighters -- the department said.
Last week, a group of firefighters, police officers and other public employees staged protests against Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate.
More than 2,000 of the 11,000 total firefighter personnel have been on medical leave at some point over the past week, according to the FDNY.
New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said no firehouses were closed as a result of the medical leaves, however, he issued a strong warning against any member who was deliberately skipping work.
"Irresponsible bogus sick leave by some of our members is creating a danger for New Yorkers and their fellow firefighters. They need to return to work or risk the consequences of their actions,” Nigro said in a statement.
-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos and Matt Foster and WABC's Morena Basterio