Protests against mandated COVID-19 vaccines pop up across US
Pushback is happening over vaccine requirements and mask mandates.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission -- vaccinated or not -- wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.
Latest headlines:
Nearly 72,000 kids tested positive in US last week
Nearly 72,000 children in the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19 last week, a massive jump from the approximately 39,000 cases among kids one week earlier, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Children represented 19% of all COVID-19 cases for the week ending July 29.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains "uncommon" among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. According to the nearly two dozen states that reported pediatric hospitalizations, 0.1% to 1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.
However, the two organizations warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on long-term impacts 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
US sees highest number of hospitalizations since February
According to federal data, nearly 56,000 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19 across the U.S., marking the highest number of patients receiving care since February.
Ninety-one percent of Americans are now living in high (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or substantial (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission in the last week.
Seven states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina -- have high or substantial community transmission in every county.
Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and Alabama currently have the nation's highest case rates, followed by Mississippi, Texas, and Oklahoma.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Texas sees demand for vaccinations skyrocket
In Texas, the demand for vaccines is skyrocketing. The number of daily doses has jumped from about 44,000 (just after the 4th of July) to 73,000 as of Monday, said Chris Van Duesen, spokesperson for the state’s Department of State Health Services.
Data ‘tipping’ to show delta more serious for kids than past variants
National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins told CNN Tuesday the data is "tipping" toward showing how the delta variant is more serious for children than past variants.
Collins listed studies from Singapore, Scotland and Canada that "certainly tilts the balance in that direction" but made clear that more data is needed.
Collins also added that part of the reason the U.S. is seeing more children in hospitals is because they're part of the unvaccinated population and he doesn't want to "overstate the confidence."
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Alabama hospital sees deadliest day of pandemic
Four COVID-19 patients at Regional Medical Center in Anniston, Alabama -- all unvaccinated -- died within 24 hours, marking the hospital’s deadliest day of the pandemic, The Anniston Star reported.
As delta surges, patients are now getting sicker faster, a doctor at the hospital told the newspaper.
Only 28% of residents in Calhoun County are fully vaccinated, according to The Anniston Star.