In Louisiana, which has the nation's highest case rate per 100,000 residents, COVID-19 hospitalizations are reaching peak levels, with more than 1,700 patients now receiving care.

"We're seeing people that are way too young to be so sick," David Wrightson, a respiratory therapist and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) specialist for the Willis-Knighton Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana, told ABC News. "We see families destroyed. We see children without one or more parent because of this virus. We see a new mom who will never go home to see her newborn, will never see her child grow up."

He went on, "When you see someone that's 30 years old with no medical problems at all, nobody knew anything was wrong, and we have this person literally on death's doorstep, doing everything in our power to turn them around and return them to their family. The vaccine is something worth getting."

More people need to see and understand the reality of this disease, he said.

"I wish I could show them a few steps in our day to see what we see and to see what we have to do, and to go home at night and, and have nightmares about those things, and sometimes cry yourself to sleep," he said.

-ABC News’ Erica Baumgart and Arielle Mitropoulos

Denver is mandating vaccinations for city employees and those in high-risk jobs like first responders, correctional workers and school personnel. The mandate also applies to staff at long-term care facilities, shelters and hospitals.

Seventy percent of adults in the U.S. have now had at least one vaccine dose, the White House announced Monday, nearly one month after President Joe Biden hoped to reach the milestone.

Biden said in May, "Our goal by July 4th is to have 70% of adult Americans with at least one shot and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated." When that date finally rolled out, the White House touted that 70% of Americans ages 27 and up met the goal, but low vaccination rates among young people kept the country from fully meeting the target.

Biden is scheduled to give remarks on vaccination progress on Tuesday.

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky

At least one COVID-19 patient was checked in every hour Monday morning at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hospital officials told ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ.

The hospital said Monday it has 301 unvaccinated COVID-19 patients and 52 vaccinated COVID-19 patients.

Our Lady of the Lake Hospital is among 45 hospitals in the state requesting extra staff, reported WBRZ.

Louisiana is recording a "remarkable increase in the number of newly vaccinated people," White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted Monday.

Mississippi is facing "a phenomenal increase in daily reported cases of COVID, and this is entirely attributable to the delta variant, which is sweeping over Mississippi like a tsunami," state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Thursday.

Dobbs said 97% of new cases are among the unvaccinated, and that 89% of hospitalizations and 85% of deaths are unvaccinated.

Dobbs pleaded with the public to get vaccinated, stressing that the unvaccinated population is driving the current surge, but that vulnerable, vaccinated people are suffering the fallout.

"There is going to be some collateral damage, unfortunately, even folks who've done everything they can to protect themselves," Dobbs said.

"The minority of folks who are vaccinated and hospitalized are overrepresented by the older and those with weaker immune system, so we're seeing a pretty dramatic spillover effect from the transmission in the community to more vulnerable parts of our population," he said.

-ABC News' Soorin Kim