President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. is donating another 500 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to low- and middle- income countries around the globe.

"For every one shot we've administered to date in America, we have now committed to do three shots to the rest of the world," Biden said Wednesday.

Biden also announced the creation of a new U.S.-EU partnership focused on expanding global vaccination. He noted that the U.S. is working to ramp up manufacturing around the world.

"For example, our quad partnership with India, Japan and Australia is on track to help produce at least 1 billion vaccine doses in India to boost the global supply by the end of 2022. And we're providing financing and helping to strengthen manufacturing in South Africa and produce more than 500 million doses of J&J in Africa, for Africa, next year," Biden said.

Biden announced an initial 500-million-dose commitment in June. The U.S. has so far sent more than 160 million doses to 100 other countries, Biden said.

The latest announcement comes as the World Health Organization has criticized the U.S. for pushing booster doses while much of the world has yet to receive a single shot.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

In New York City, officials say they'll be cracking down on mask enforcement on the subway, buses and commuter trains.

Compliance was near-universal earlier in the pandemic when ridership was way down. Now, subway compliance is at about 87%, according to MTA chief safety officer Patrick Warren.

"We want to move up to 100%," Warren said at a Wednesday news conference.

In recent months the MTA has issued only 41 summonses for noncompliance with mask requirements.

"We’re going to start handing out summonses more frequently," Warren said.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

With more than 1,500 coronavirus-related deaths reported each day, the U.S. is now averaging the highest number of daily deaths in nearly seven months.

States with the lowest vaccination numbers are experiencing weekly death rates nearly four times higher than the most vaccinated states, according to an ABC News analysis of federal data.

The 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates, where under 45% of residents are fully vaccinated, averaged more than 7.39 deaths per capita each day. The 10 states with the highest vaccination rates, where more than 62% of residents are vaccinated, averaged about 1.89 deaths per capita.

The lowest vaccination rates are in West Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas.

The highest vaccination rates are in Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Washington and New Mexico.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Alabama is experiencing a near record-breaking surge in COVID-19 deaths.

“We are seeing a decrease in the number of patients that are in the hospital, but unfortunately, it's not because all of them are getting better and going home to their families... these patients are dying,” Dr. Kierstin Kennedy, chief of hospital medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, told ABC News Tuesday.

In July, there were only six COVID-19 patients in the UAB hospital, but within four weeks, the number skyrocketed over 100, according to Kennedy.

This latest wave of patients is much younger, primarily consisting of unvaccinated patients, Kennedy said.

“These patients are as sick if not sicker than elderly patients. They're staying in the hospital longer, and they're dying at an alarming rate,” Kennedy said. “It's unlike anything that I've seen.”

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday, "2020 is going to be the first year that we know of in the history of our state where we actually had more deaths than births -- our state literally shrunk in 2020."

Across Alabama, more than 97% of ICU beds are in use, according to federal data.

Just 41.6% of the state's total population is fully vaccinated.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

The New York State Department of Labor has issued guidance to clarify that workers who are fired for refusing to get vaccinated are not eligible for unemployment insurance unless they have a valid medical reason.

That announcement came as part of a multi-layered plan released by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday in preparation of the state's vaccine deadline for health care workers and school employees to receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday or face termination and to prevent resulting staff shortages in hospitals and health care facilities.

Under her plan, New York would declare a state of emergency to increase the health care workforce including allowing health care professionals licensed in other states or countries, recent graduates and retirees to work in New York state.

Other facets of the plan include deploying medically trained National Guard members and federal disaster medical teams to assist local health care providers.

As of Sept. 22, 84% of all hospital employees in New York State were fully vaccinated, according to the press release. As of Sept. 23, 81% of staff at all adult care facilities and 77% of all staff at nursing home facilities in New York State were fully vaccinated.

"We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal," Hochul said. "I am monitoring the staffing situation closely, and we have a plan to increase our health care workforce and help alleviate the burdens on our hospitals and other health care facilities. I commend all of the health care workers who have stepped up to get themselves vaccinated, and I urge all remaining health care workers who are unvaccinated to do so now so they can continue providing care."

-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway