US reports highest weekly COVID-19 vaccinations since July 4
There were over 7 million shots in the past week, an official said Saturday.
The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 712,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 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 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Latest headlines:
New rapid test to cost less than $10
The planned retail cost for the newly approved over-the-counter rapid home COVID-19 test, "Flowflex," will be "less than $10 per test," White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at Wednesday's briefing
ACON, the manufacturers of Flowflex, confirmed with ABC News that the White House's statement is in line with their current estimated pricing.
The company told ABC News their goal when creating the at-home test was to make it, "more accessible and more affordable than the other over-the-counter tests in the market."
By comparison the two rapid test kits currently out on the market --Abbott's BinaxNow and Quidel's Quickvue-- each retail for $23.99.
Both BinaxNow and Quickvue kits come two tests, so that a person can test themselves twice over the course of a couple days. That means each individual test costs around $12 each.
-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik
Canada mandating vaccines for travel within the country
Vaccinations will be mandatory for plane and train travel within Canada for people 12 and older at the end of November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
Trudeau also announced that federal workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 29.
About 82% of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
LA passes vaccine mandate for indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, malls and more
Los Angeles' city council passed an ordinance requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours for indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, malls, entertainment venues and personal care establishments. Grocery stores and pharmacies are not included.
The ordinance passed with 11 votes, short of the 12 votes need to pass with an urgency clause allowing it to take effect immediately. The mandate will go into effect Nov. 4
-ABC News' Kaylee Hartung
Nurse Sandra Lindsay, 1st to get vaccine in US, gets booster
New York nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the U.S. to get a COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial, received her Pfizer booster dose Wednesday at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.
Lindsay was joined by other health care workers who also got their first shots in December.
Anti-vaccine Texas gubernatorial candidate tests positive, 'probably' will be hospitalized
Allen West, a Republican candidate for Texas governor, said Saturday he "probably" will be hospitalized due to COVID-19 pneumonia one day after saying he was suffering "a low grade fever and light body aches" without specifying a positive test for COVID.
He said his blood oxygen levels currently stand at 89 and should be about 95.
"My chest X-rays do show COVID pneumonia, not serious. I am probably going to be admitted to the hospital," the outspoken and controversial politician wrote on Twitter.
West's wife, Angela, did test positive for COVID on Friday, according to the candidate's Twitter account. She had been vaccinated against the virus.
The 60-year-old West, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army and former congressman from Florida, has chosen not to get vaccinated and is instead touting his use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, two drugs the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration say should not be used to treat or prevent the virus.
West is also the former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. He announced he was running for governor in next year's election, against Republican Greg Abbott, in July.
He suspended all in-person campaign events on Friday after his wife tested positive.