COVID-19 updates: Austria orders nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated residents
The lockdown for unvaccinated residents began at midnight on Monday.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 763,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.8% 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:
Boosters required for people 65+ to retain health pass in France
French residents over the age of 65 must get a booster in order to keep their health pass, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
The health pass, which indicates a person is vaccinated, is mandatory for restaurants, theaters, museums and similar institutions throughout the country.
-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud
10 states see increase in hospital admissions
Ten states -- Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont -- have seen an increase in hospital admissions in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
The daily case average in the U.S. has jumped by 12.6% over the last two weeks, according to federal data.
Twenty-one states have seen daily cases go up by at least 10% over the last two weeks: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Pfizer asks FDA to amend booster authorization to include all adults
Pfizer is asking the FDA to amend its booster authorization to include all adults 18 and older.
In September, the FDA and CDC authorized Pfizer booster shots after six months for anyone older than 65 and younger adults with a high risk of developing COVID-19. But the agencies stopped short of recommending a Pfizer booster for all adults, saying data was insufficient to recommend boosters for everyone.
Since then, Pfizer published new data from its Phase 3 trial showing that a booster shot raises vaccine efficacy against symptomatic infections to 96% -- regardless of the person’s age. Now, the company is asking the FDA to broaden its authorization so that everyone over the age of 18 would be eligible for a booster shot. The FDA still needs to review this request.
-ABC News' Sony Salzman
Aaron Rodgers: 'To anybody who felt misled … I take full responsibility'
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he takes full responsibility for anyone who felt misled by his comments about his vaccination status.
“I do realize I am a role model," Rodgers said on "The Pat McAfee Show" Tuesday. "I made some comments that people might have felt were misleading. And to anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments."
Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week and is not vaccinated, said Friday that he wasn't hiding his vaccination status, even though he told reporters in August, "I've been immunized."
Rodgers also said Friday that he's allergic to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines.
He added, "I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body."
Rodgers said Tuesday that he's heard from the team and coaching staff and that he hopes to join meetings via Zoom ahead of Sunday's game. Rodgers added that there is a "small possibility" he doesn't play on Sunday.
Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News in September that severe allergies to the vaccines are extremely uncommon and are experienced by less than one in 1 million people, according to health data.
The CDC said: "If you have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction -- even if it was not severe -- to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get either of the currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. ... If you aren’t able to get one type of COVID-19 vaccine because you are allergic to an ingredient in that vaccine, ask your doctor if you should get a different type of COVID-19 vaccine."
Dr. Jeff Linder, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News in September that research so far shows that severe allergic reactions are likely triggered by polyethylene glycol, or PEG, a component of the vaccines.
"An allergy to that is pretty rare," Linder added. "It would have to be documented, as a moderate or severe allergy, before I would consider giving a medical exemption."
Unvaccinated Texans about 20 times more likely to die: Study
Unvaccinated Texans were about 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to test positive in September than those fully vaccinated, according to a study released by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The risk of death was 55 times higher for unvaccinated people in their 40s and 23 times higher for Texans in their 30s compared with vaccinated people in the same age groups, according to the Department of State Health Services.