Jesse Jackson, wife hospitalized with COVID-19
The civil rights pioneer was vaccinated in January.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 628,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 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 59.9% 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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J&J looking into booster of its single-dose vaccine
Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it is "engaging" with the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities on a booster of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
The company said it "will share new data shortly regarding boosting" with its vaccine, which one study suggests provides immunity for at least eight months.
The statement comes after the Biden administration said Wednesday it is preparing to roll out booster shots of Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines to more Americans next month.
California to require proof of vaccination or negative test for large indoor events
People attending large-scale indoor events in California soon will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test, state officials announced Wednesday.
The new rules apply to indoor events with more than 1,000 people beginning Sept. 20. Tests must be administered within 72 hours of the event.
Currently, attendees have to self-attest to either having the vaccine or a negative test to attend events with more than 5,000 people.
Health officials pointed to the highly transmissible nature of the delta variant in updating the rules.
Biden will issue memo to block Republican anti-mask efforts in schools
President Joe Biden plans to issue a memo to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Wednesday to counter the Republican governors who have blocked mask mandates in their states.
"Some state governments have adopted policies and laws that interfere with the ability of schools and districts to keep our children safe during in-person learning, with some going as far as to try to block school officials from adopting safety protocols aligned with recommendations from the CDC," according to a fact sheet released by the White House Wednesday.
Biden's memo will ensure the department of education "is doing everything it can to prevent anything from standing in the way of local leaders and school leaders taking steps to keep all students safe in full-time, in-person learning, without compromising students' health or the health of their families or communities," the fact sheet continues.
In a press conference, the president had a blunt message for Republican governors who are banning school districts from requiring masks in schools: "If you aren't going to fight COVID-19, at least get out of the way of everyone else who is trying."
Biden said his administration is not going to "sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting children," and announced that he's directing Cardona to go as far as using legal action against these governors and that his administration will use COVID-19 relief funds to pay the salaries of educators who defy them.
-ABC News' Justin Gomez
Biden to announce nursing homes must require employee vaccination to get federal funding
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to require nursing homes participating in Medicare or Medicaid to have all workers be vaccinated for COVID-19, a Biden administration official confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.
The new rule, which will impact more than 15,000 nursing homes and 1.3 million workers, will go into effect in late September. Nursing homes that don't comply could lose federal funding.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett
Frontline workers warn of increase in pediatric COVID-19 related hospitalizations
The average number of people being admitted to the hospital each day with COVID-19 in the U.S. has surged by more than 480% since the end of June, marking the highest number of patients seeking care in over six months.
Doctors are warning of the alarming rates of people entering the hospital with life-threatening conditions.
"What was more terrifying this time is that these people are drowning, they're drowning, and it is an awful thing to see,” Dr. Enrique Lopez, surgical tntensivist at Phoebe Health in Georgia said Monday in a new video message.”And you would look up on the monitor and their oxygen saturation would be near perfect and they would just sit there just starving for air just begging to breathe.”
Nationally, more than 83,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide. Several Southern states are experiencing their worst surge yet, with front line workers raising the alarm about overwhelmed ICUs, and patients waiting in hallways at some hospitals.
"They're just saying over and over again I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe, and it was so different than it was last time," said Lopez. "Now, it wants kids, and those ICUs for those pediatric patients are filling up."
Likewise, as cases have increased, so have pediatric hospital admissions, experts say.
"Even though it's uncommon, it can be very severe and even life threatening in some cases," said Dr. Zac Aldewereld, assistant professor of pediatric critical care medicine and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh. "And yet we have a vaccine to prevent it."
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos