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:
Masks strongly recommended indoors for the vaccinated, NYC mayor says
Masks are now strongly recommended in public, indoor settings in New York City, even for those who are vaccinated, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
The mayor also announced that all new city hires must be vaccinated.
De Blasio noted that this week is the last week to get all children ages 12 and above fully vaccinated by the first week of school.
New vaccine policy for NY transit workers
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports, have adopted the same policy the state has for its public sector employees in requiring either a vaccine or a weekly proof of a negative test. Subway, airport and bus and commuter rail workers must be vaccinated starting Labor Day or face a weekly test, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.
The number of COVID-19 cases in New York state has increased four-fold in the last month while hospitalizations have doubled.
Cuomo last week mandated vaccines for public-facing workers in state-run hospitals. If cases continue to rise, Cuomo said he would consider mandatory vaccines for teachers and nursing home employees.
Cuomo also said he is encouraging restaurants, bars and other business owners to adopt a vaccine-only policy.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Tokyo COVID-19 cases up 200% in 1 week
There are 2,195 new COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, a 206.9% increase since last Monday, according to the Tokyo Media Center.
At the Olympics, there are 281 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of 17 cases in the last 24 hours, according to Tokyo 2020 organizers. None of these cases are athletes; they are all contractors, personnel or media.
-ABC News’ Rachel Katz
TSA screens highest number of people since start of pandemic
The Transportation Security Administration screened 2,238,462 people at U.S. airports on Sunday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, the agency said. The continued spread of the highly contagious delta variant has not stopped travelers this summer and the TSA put out a tweet reminding fliers to mask up and socially distance.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
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