COVID-19 updates: Pfizer vaccine highly effective in children 5-11
About 64.3 million Americans ages 12 and older are completely unvaccinated.
More than 731,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.9 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 66.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Secretary Mayorkas tests positive for COVID-19
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has tested positive for COVID-19, a DHS spokeswoman confirmed to ABC News.
Mayorkas, who is fully vaccinated, "is experiencing only mild congestion," a statement said.
Mayorkas will work from home, the statement said. Contact tracing is underway.
There were no major White House officials deemed to be close contacts. "No White House principal has been determined to be a close contact of Secretary Mayorkas, given that the most recent contact was at the outdoor National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, which took place outside of the 48-hour close contact window,” the White House said in a statement.
-ABC News' Luke Barr
Pfizer vaccine 93% effective against hospitalizations for 12-18 age group
A new CDC study found that the Pfizer vaccine was 93% effective against hospitalizations for adolescents ages 12 to 18 from July to September.
The researchers also found that nearly all (97%) of adolescents ages 12 to 18 who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated.
-ABC News' Sony Salzman
10 states see rise in hospital admissions
Ten states -- all of which have colder temperatures -- have seen upticks in hospital admissions in recent weeks, according to federal data: Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wyoming.
However, nationwide, just under 58,000 Americans remain hospitalized, a major drop from 104,000 patients at the end of the summer, according to federal data.
Death rates remain high, with more than 1,000 Americans dying each day, according to federal data.
Over the last month, the U.S. has reported approximately 45,000 COVID-19 deaths, including nearly 7,600 deaths in the last week.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
UK records highest daily death toll since March
The United Kingdom recorded 233 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest total since March 5, according to government data.
In a statement confirmed by ABC News, issued before the new figures were published, the prime minister’s office said it was keeping a "very close eye" on the numbers and urged people to get their booster shots.
"We have seen case rates rising, we've started to see some indications that hospitalisations and death rates are increasing also," a spokesman for the prime minister said. "It's important that the public understand that getting your booster jab is just as important as getting your first and second dose."
-ABC News' Guy Davies
Delta doesn't cause more severe illness than prior variants: CDC
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that although the delta variant is significantly more transmissible than prior variants, it is not more likely to lead to hospitalization.
Instead, the dramatic uptick in hospitalizations seen during the summer's delta surge was fueled by the highly transmissible variant spreading easily among mostly unvaccinated people, the CDC said.
The report, which analyzed COVID-19 hospitalization data from 14 states, also found that the proportion of people aged 18 to 49 hospitalized with delta increased "significantly" in July and August to 35.8% of all hospitalizations compared to 24.7% from January to June of this year. This was likely due to lower vaccination rates among younger people, the CDC said.
-ABC News' Sony Salzman