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.
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Low staffing and burnout from COVID surge strain Texas hospitals
A labor analysis by the Texas Workforce Commission found that there are 23,000 openings for registered nurses in Texas and no one to fill them, the Texas Tribune reported Thursday.
The key factor: burnout. Nurses are leaving the profession due to stress from working under COVID-19 conditions for 19 months. And with the delta variant surging across the country, particularly in places like Texas, with lower-than-average vaccination rates, there's no end in sight for the state's health care workers.
New cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all on the rise, according to state data.
United to require all US employees be vaccinated by September
All U.S.-based United employees will be required to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by September and must upload their vaccination card to the company website, the airline announced Friday. The move is the strongest vaccination requirement a U.S. airline has taken so far.
"For those employees who are already vaccinated -- and for those employees who get vaccinated and upload their records to Flying Together before September 20th -- we’ll offer an additional day of pay," Scott Kirby and Brett Hart, the CEO and president of United, wrote in a memo to employees.
Employees will have until five weeks after Sept. 20 or five weeks after the Food and Drug Administration fully authorizes a COVID-19 vaccine to upload their cards. All three vaccines in the U.S. are currently being used under emergency use authorization.
-ABC News' Mina Kaji
Tokyo sees 4,515 new positive cases
There are 4,515 new positive coronavirus cases in Tokyo as of Friday, according to the city's COVID-19 information website.
It's a 152.7% increase since last Friday.
Of the new cases, 141 are severe and four have turned fatal.
There are now 387 positive cases at the Tokyo Olympics
As of Friday, there are 387 positive COVID-19 cases at the Tokyo Olympics, according to the Tokyo 2020 coronavirus positive case list.
This is an increase of 29 positive cases since Thursday.
All of the cases are either Tokyo 2020 contractors, Games-concerned personnel or media.
"Of the 726 U.S. Olympic delegates in Japan on Aug. 5, no COVID tests were confirmed positive based on daily results," the International Olympic Committee tweeted.
Louisiana respiratory therapist: ‘We see families destroyed’
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