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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European drug regulator approves Pfizer booster for 18-plus
The European Medicines Agency is recommending that, for people with severely weakened immune systems, the Pfizer and Moderna boosters can be administered at least 28 days after the second dose.
For people with normal immune systems, the Pfizer booster is approved for people 18 and older due to data showing a rise in antibody levels when a Pfizer booster dose is given about six months after the second dose. (Data for Moderna for those with normal immune systems is still being evaluated).
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
NYC public school employees must now be vaccinated
All New York City public school employees must now be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that 95% of full-time employees are now vaccinated, including 96% of teachers and 99% of principals.
"It clearly works," the mayor said of the mandate, which went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday.
Schools Chancellor Misha Porter said 18,000 new shots were given out since Friday. She said unvaccinated employees can still get their shots and return to work.
Protesting teachers will march across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall for a rally Monday afternoon.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
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