COVID-19 updates: 345 children currently hospitalized with coronavirus in Texas

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news was developing. All times Eastern:

Sep 05, 6:51 pm
Nearly 350 children currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas

Nearly 350 children are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas, state data shows.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ online COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated on Sunday afternoon, there are 345 pediatric patients in hospitals across the Lone Star State. That number was up from 282 on Thursday afternoon.

The data also shows there are 73 staffed pediatric intensive care unit beds available in all of Texas.

Since the new school year began in Texas last month, some 52,000 students have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the data.

Sep 05, 5:09 pm
Moderna booster shots delayed by at least one week: Fauci

Booster shots for the Moderna vaccine will have to wait at least one week after the president’s Sept. 20 target because of the delay in submitting data, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

Fauci told CNN that Pfizer was able to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration about their mRNA vaccine booster shot earlier, and “it’s been examined and ready to go.” Moderna is behind in submitting its data causing the delay.

“What you might see is rather than the simultaneous rolling out of the booster program of both those products you may have be sequential by about a week or two,” he said. “I don’t think that is a major issue there, but we would have liked to have seen it happen all together simultaneously.”