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.
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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.
White House to announce $1 billion purchase of rapid at-home tests
The Biden administration is set to announce Wednesday that it's buying another $1 billion of rapid at-home tests, on top of the $2 billion investment in September.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients is expected to make the announcement at the afternoon COVID-19 briefing.
With this new purchase, combined with September's investment and the FDA approval of the ACON rapid test money, the White House says the U.S. is now on track to quadruple the number of rapid at-home tests available to Americans in December.
A White House official emphasized that this is not just about more tests on the market, but more affordable tests on the market.
-ABC News' Karen Travers
Hospital admissions on the decline
Daily hospital admissions have dropped by 14.6% in the last week, according to federal data.
Even so, ICU capacities remain at critical levels in several states. In Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Idaho and Texas, about 10% or less space is available.
About 70,000 Americans are currently in hospitals with COVID-19.
Alaska currently has the country's highest infection rate, followed by Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, according to federal data.
Despite high vaccination rates in the Northeast, infection levels in Maine are reaching peak-pandemic records, while case numbers in New Hampshire and Vermont are steadily inching up.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Child hospitalizations fall but kids still make up quarter of all new cases
Last week, the U.S. reported more than 173,000 child COVID-19 cases, marking the first week with fewer than 200,000 new cases reported since mid-August, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Even with the decline, last week children still accounted for 26.7% of reported weekly cases. (Children make up 22.2% of the population.)
The South is reporting the highest number of pediatric cases followed closely by the Midwest.
The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 is also declining. About 1,700 children are currently hospitalized across the country, according to AAP and CHA.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains "uncommon" among kids, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, "including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects."
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos