(PATERSON, N.J) — Dafani Peralta said she had to drop out of high school when she became pregnant 12 years ago and didn’t have the support of her mom to continue her education.
“I saw that my mom didn’t even care about my education. She was really mad at me because I was pregnant,” Peralta, now 28, told “Good Morning America.” “It was really hard for me because I had my friends there and I wanted a better future for my daughter.”
Peralta, of Paterson, New Jersey, was 15 when she gave birth to her daughter, Viarnneyra.
She and her daughter bounced between family members’ homes, with Peralta struggling to find a job because she lacked day care for her daughter.
“Everything was new that first year, just the responsibility and trying to keep my baby alive,” she said. “I wasn’t really thinking about education that first year but as she got older, I wanted to [go back to school] to help her education at home.”
When Viarnneyra entered pre-K, Peralta decided to work on finishing her high school degree, but by that time, she also had a 1-year-old son with her now-husband.
Peralta started at a school that also had day care for her son, but then faced additional obstacles, including becoming pregnant with her third child.
“I was struggling with the transportation because I’d have to walk my daughter to school and then wait at the bus stop for 45 minutes to an hour in snow and rain to get to school,” she said. “While pregnant, for me, that was too difficult.”
After Peralta gave birth, she said she returned to school but due to lack of child care availability, had to take her infant to a relative’s house while she took her middle child with her to school.
“I had to take my daughter to school, walk with the stroller to the bus stop to go to drop one off and then take another bus and go to school [with the other child],” she said. “It was too much and sometimes I didn’t have money for the bus.”
Peralta tried to return to school again when her children got older, but she said she was beset by more obstacles, including one of her sons being diagnosed with autism.
“There were a lot of situations going on and I had to give up something and I gave up my education to focus on my kids,” said Peralta, who would go on to have six children in total. “I really love my kids and enjoy being with them at home but I really felt that I wanted [an education] to go forward.”
“Every time I’d go to get a job, they always ask for a high school diploma and I didn’t have it,” she said. “And I couldn’t give [my kids] simple things like help them with their math or their homework because I don’t understand. It was really frustrating.”
This summer, with her kids now ages 12, 10, 8, 7, 5 and 4, Peralta decided that she was going to get her high school equivalency diploma, or GED, no matter what it took.
She said she realized now was the time to do it because, due to the coronavirus pandemic, she could take the courses at home, and not have to worry about commuting or finding full-time child care for her kids.
“I was asking God for this opportunity to do it from home, from the computer, and I thought it was an impossible thing to happen, but I asked anyways,” said Peralta. “I thought this is the time and I’m not going to quit this time.”
Peralta said she also felt like she received a sign that now was the time to do it when her sister-in-law volunteered to spend her vacation with the family so that she could watch the kids while Peralta studied and her husband worked.
Over the course of one month this summer, Peralta took online classes through the Spanish High School Equivalency (S-HSE) program at Paterson Adult & Continuing Education (P.A.C.E.) in New Jersey.
“They gave us one month of class that is normally taught in three months, so it was intensive,” Peralta said. “I took it seriously because I thought this was the opportunity of my life. I thought I’m not going to take it for granted. Now that my sister-in-law was there, I had no excuses.”
Peralta’s teachers at P.A.C.E. say they noticed her determination right away.
“The first thing she said was, ‘I am a 28-year-old woman with six children and my goal is to graduate,'” recalled Vilma Carranza, a teacher in the S-HSE program. “I noticed that the more work I gave her, the more effort she put into it. She really put her mind and her heart into what she was doing.”
In July, Peralta was one of nine students out of an original class of 20 to graduate and earn her GED from the New Jersey Department of Education, according to Carranza.
“The program is very rigorous. It’s not a simple, easy class to pass,” said Carranza. “And she was superb.”
Peralta said receiving her high school diploma not only fulfilled a lifelong personal goal for herself, but also helped her fulfill the goal of being an example for her children.
“I want them to see what their minds can do,” she said. “I don’t have to just say to go to school and graduate, I’m doing it.”
The day that Peralta learned she had passed all of her exams, her oldest daughter Viarnneyra, with whom she became pregnant in high school, was the first to celebrate her mom’s accomplishment.
“The day that I told her that I passed all of my tests, she said we had to go to a bakery and celebrate it because she saw all my hard work,” said Peralta. “She said, ‘I’d go to your room and you were studying. It was nighttime and you were still studying. I saw the hard work and now we have to celebrate it.'”
Now that Peralta has her GED, she is looking into taking online college courses and her husband, an electrician, is going to pursue his high school degree, also at P.A.C.E.
“We have struggled so much as a family,” said Peralta, adding that now she and her husband can show their children “what’s possible.” “Now we have opportunity, but it took us a long [time].”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 639,000 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 61.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 6:54 pm
US hospital admissions could surge to 22,000 a day by late September: CDC
On average, approximately 12,200 Americans are being admitted to the hospital each day with COVID-19. The forecast models used by the CDC suggest that by Sept. 27, that number could surge to as high as 22,400 a day.
The lower end of the forecast puts the daily hospital admissions at around 6,400.
There are signs the rate of hospital admission nationwide may be slowing, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting hospital admissions will likely “remain stable or have an uncertain trend over the next 4 weeks.”
Kentucky currently tops the list of states expected to see the most hospital admissions, per capita, in the next two weeks, followed by Florida and Georgia.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulous
Sep 01, 6:08 pm
Medical, pharmaceutical associations call for ‘immediate’ end of prescribing deworming drug ivermectin for COVID-19
The American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists are calling for an “immediate end” to prescribing, dispensing or using the deworminig drug ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
Ivermectin is available in different formulations for both people and animals to treat parasites. It is not approved to treat or prevent COVID-19, nor is there enough evidence to support its use. Though amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S., internal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed by ABC News estimates a 19-fold increase of the medicine being distributed during the first week of August, alongside an increase in reported cases of illness related to ivermectin toxicity.
The prescribing and dispensing of ivermectin has increased 24-fold since before the pandemic, according to the medical and pharmaceutical associations, which said in a joint statement they were “alarmed” by an exponential increase in recent months as well.
“[We] are urging physicians, pharmacists, and other prescribers — trusted healthcare professionals in their communities — to warn patients against the use of ivermectin outside of FDA-approved indications and guidance, whether intended for use in humans or animals, as well as purchasing ivermectin from online stores,” the associations said. “Veterinary forms of this medication are highly concentrated for large animals and pose a significant toxicity risk for humans.”
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Sep 01, 5:37 pm
Moderna submits data to FDA on vaccine booster
Moderna has submitted initial data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its vaccine booster, the pharmaceutical company announced Wednesday.
Its booster candidate would be half the dose (50 micrograms) of the original dosing (two shots of 100 micrograms each).
Federal officials have said they hope to begin administering booster shots for many Americans starting on Sept. 20, with the third shot at least eight months after the second.
The FDA has only authorized booster shots of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for people who are immunocompromised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent advisory board also recommended booster shots for those with weakened immune systems.
Pfizer is also seeking authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA announced Wednesday it will hold a public meeting of its independent advisory committee on Sept. 17 to discuss the application.
-ABC News’ Eric Strauss
Sep 01, 3:18 pm
Schools still safe amid delta if guidelines are followed: CDC
Even with the delta variant, schools are still safe for children if guidelines are followed, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday at a town hall with the National Parent Teacher Association.
For the most part, Walensky said, “there’s more disease happening outside of school than there is happening within a school.”
Walensky, a mother of three, said she understands why parents are anxious.
But she added, “What we do know is when we implement the guidance for safe schools — we implement the masking, the ventilation strategies, the cohorting and the screening strategies — that we can have our kids be safe.”
American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Lee Beers said at the town hall that it’s still a very small percentage of children who get severely sick. The U.S. saw 200,000 cases among kids in the last week with about 2,000 of them hospitalized, Beers said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Sep 01, 12:50 pm
Hospitalizations at highest point in over 7 months
With nearly 104,000 hospitalized, U.S. hospitalizations are now at the highest point in more than seven months, according to federal data.
Alabama’s ICUs remain 100% full while Georgia’s ICUs are over 96% full, federal data show.
Nearly 1,000 COVID-19 deaths are now being reported in the U.S. each day, the highest average in more than five months.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Sep 01, 11:38 am
Booster shots start in France
Booster shots are beginning in France on Wednesday.
Eligible recipients include people over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions. They must be at least six months out from their second Pfizer or Moderna shot.
Those who received the single-dose J&J vaccine are also eligible to receive an mRNA booster if at least four weeks have passed since they were vaccinated.
As of Tuesday, 65.6% of France’s total population was fully vaccinated.
Sep 01, 10:42 am
Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it’ll help with mild COVID symptoms
Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.
The first participant has now been dosed in this “pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial,” Pfizer said.
Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.
If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization.
Sep 01, 9:52 am
Virginia Tech disenrolls 134 students who didn’t meet vaccination policy
Virginia Tech says 134 students have been disenrolled after they didn’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
The university’s roughly 37,000 students were required to submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption, Virginia Tech said.
“The university does not know whether any of these [134] students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement,” Virginia Tech said.
Sep 01, 9:19 am
TSA screens lowest number of travelers since May
Just 1,345,064 travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Tuesday, the lowest since May 18 when 1,408,017 were screened, the TSA said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday he thinks holiday travel will return to normal.
Sep 01, 8:52 am
San Diego County declares medical misinformation a public health crisis
San Diego has become the first county in the U.S. to declare that health misinformation is causing a public health crisis in its community. This follows the County Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 vote Tuesday night.
Changes to county strategy to combat the pandemic will include: labeling health misinformation and providing timely health information to counter it; modernizing public health communications; investigating in digital resources and training for health practitioners and health workers; and developing a website to be a central resource for fighting health misinformation.
The new policy was introduced when 96.7% of hospitalizations in San Diego County were residents who were not fully vaccinated.
Aug 31, 8:01 pm
Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID, KISS postpones shows
KISS co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19, the band shared on its Twitter page Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the band said the 72-year-old was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
His diagnoses comes less than a week after co-lead singer Paul Stanley, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, the band said that, “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated.”
KISS has postponed four of its “End of the Road” tour shows from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
“The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:56 pm
2 officials working on COVID-19 vaccine review to leave FDA
Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), announced the upcoming departure of two top vaccine regulators to his staff in an internal memo, which was obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) and her deputy, Dr. Phil Krause, are set to leave the agency in October and November respectively, according to the memo.
Krause, who’s been with the agency for over a decade, and Gruber, who has been with the FDA for over 30 years, were instrumental in the review and authorization of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the memo said.
The memo said that Gruber will be “retiring” and gave no other details about Krause’s departure.
ABC News has reached out to both Gruber and Krause for comment.
When reached for comment about their departure, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News the agency is “confident in the expertise and ability of our staff to continue our critical public health work, including evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.”
Their departures come at a critical time for the vaccine review team. After facing pressure to move as fast as possible to get vaccines’ full licensure done, the agency is now weighing booster shots for a wider pool of Americans.
The timing of the booster shot approval has been a bone of contention amongst federal agencies after the Biden administration announced the availability of booster shots would begin ahead of any ruling from the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory groups.
Aug 31, 4:57 pm
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife out of ICU
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is out of the ICU as both Jacksons continue to fight COVID-19, their family said.
“Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy,” their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated, reported ABC Chicago station WLS.
“Our mother remains in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been moved out of the ICU and back into her regular hospital room where she continues to receive oxygen,” the statement said. “Both of our parents are continuing to receive excellent medical care and we thank God for the progress that both seem to be making.”
Aug 31, 4:24 pm
Vaccination rate nearly double than it was in mid-July
The U.S. vaccination rate per day is now nearly double than it was in mid-July, according to the White House.
“Back in mid-July we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we’re averaging 900,000,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. “Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5.”
The increase in vaccinations comes amid fear about the rapidly spreading delta variant.
The delta variant, which is more transmissible, has also been part of the conversation around booster shots of the mRNA and J&J vaccines. The Biden administration said Americans would need a third shot eight months after their second because of waning immunity.
The Biden administration is standing by its decision to call for vaccine boosters beginning Sept. 20 despite questions about whether there’s enough data and the unusual process of announcing a plan before the FDA has evaluated the data and made a recommendation.
(SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.) — A California wildfire is inching closer to a resort town as fire conditions worsen in the region.
The Caldor Fire has now scorched more than 204,390 acres and is just 20% contained as it burns southeast of Lake Tahoe — raging nearer to the popular ski resort town of South Lake Tahoe.
It is now the 15th-largest fire in California history, destroying or damaging at least 772 structures, including nearly 550 homes, according to officials. Nearly 35,000 structures are still threatened.
Overnight, the fire remained “very active” due to poor humidity — down to 5% in some spots — according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But slow growth allowed firefighters to get more containment over the flames.
Those on the front lines are in an uphill battle now, with 35 to 40 mph wind gusts forecast through Wednesday night. Red flag warnings have been issued in California and Nevada.
Nearly 60,000 residents in Amador, El Dorado, Alpine and Douglas counties in California are under evacuation orders, which also expanded to Nevada on Wednesday as a result of the gusty winds and flames moving east.
The air quality in the Lake Tahoe area is nearly 40 times what the World Health Organization deems unhealthy due to the heavy plumes of smoke emitting from the Caldor Fire, according to IQ Air, a data tool that measures and ranks air quality in cities around the world.
There are currently 20 fires burning in California alone, with more than 1.88 million acres burned and 2,700 structures destroyed in the state.
The Dixie Fire — the second-largest and 14th most destructive fire in California history — is still burning in Lassen County in Northern California after it sparked on July 13. The fire has burned through 844,081acres, an area the size of Rhode Island, and is only 52% contained.
The Monument Fire in Trinity County, California — the 20th-largest in the state — has scorched through 174,706 acres and is 29% contained.
More than 15,000 fire personnel have been assigned to the front lines of the wildfire, while more than 59,000 people in California have been evacuated, according to Cal Fire.
About 6.3 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped from the air this year — a record set by the McClellan Air Tanker Base set for most fire retardant delivered in a single year, Cal Fire reported.
ABC News’ Max Golembo and Jenna Harrison, Kayna Whitworth and Haley Yamada contributed to this report.
Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Two Tennessee school districts have announced temporarily closures due to COVID-19 cases.
Sumner County School District announced Wednesday that students will be taking classes from Sept. 7 to 10 to “help mitigate the community spread of COVID-19 among students and staff.”
The district is using “inclement weather days” for the temporary closure. There won’t be any in-person or online instruction during that time period and school will resume on Sept. 13. Extracurricular activities will go on during the pause.
“We encourage everyone to practice safe, healthy measures during this break to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 within our community,” the district said in a statement.
Of the 2,444 cases reported from Aug. 17 to 30 in Sumner County, 868 were among school-age children between 5 and 18 years old, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Marion County School District also announced they will close from Thursday through Sept. 10 for “intensive cleaning and COVID-19 numbers.” All extra curricular activities will also be suspended through Sept. 13.
Marion County Schools has a mandatory mask mandate with a parental opt-out, Dr. Mark Griffith, director of Marion County Schools, said in a video message on Facebook to parents last week.
“Kids are wearing masks and doing what they’re supposed to do, we’re pleased to say that’s been a success so far,” he said.
He cited 116 COVID-19 cases among students across the county last week.
Neither school district has a public COVID-19 dashboard recording how many students and staff have tested positive for the virus.
The two new closures come one week after Wilson County Schools and Rutherford County Schools announced COVID-19 closures as well, according to Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN.
COVID-19 cases among children have skyrocketed since May 2021, with 31,594 cases among 5- to 18-year-olds reported in the past 14 days, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Tennessee has seen cases and hospital admissions surge along with a sobering trend across the country. Hospitalizations have hit their highest point in more than seven months with nearly 104,000 patients across the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pediatric COVID-19 admissions have also surged and school mask mandates have become the center of debates, especially as children under the age of 12 are still not eligible for the vaccine.
On average, nearly 340 children are now seeking hospital care for COVID-19 each day, according to the latest government data.
(NEW YORK) — A woman who was allegedly sexually abused as a child by Jeffrey Epstein is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that, if allowed to stand, would end her years-long challenge to federal prosecutors’ once-secret deal with the deceased sex offender, which in 2008 allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges involving more than 30 underage victims.
“The nation’s highest court should review this ‘national disgrace’ and bring some measure of justice by overturning the decision,” wrote attorneys for Courtney Wild in a petition to the Supreme Court this week. “The importance of this case to crime victims — and to the public — cannot be overstated.”
Wild’s lawyers contend that the case presents a “now-or-never opportunity” for the Supreme Court to decide whether the government’s “covert practices” that concealed the Epstein deal from his victims violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
“Courtney’s rights were intentionally violated by our government, and we are now asking our United States Supreme Court to take this important case and finally bring the justice Courtney has been seeking, which will forever forbid the government from working in secret against victims, no matter how wealthy and powerful the criminal might be,” said Brad Edwards, one of Wild’s attorneys.
Wild, 33, sued the U.S. Justice Department in 2008, demanding information from federal prosecutors about their investigation of Epstein, a multimillionaire financier who allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls, including Wild, at his waterfront mansion on Florida’s Palm Beach Island.
Wild’s legal action forced the government to admit that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami had already reached a confidential deal with Epstein several months earlier, without informing the alleged victims. Over 12 years of litigation, Wild’s case ultimately exposed details of the secret negotiations between prosecutors and Epstein’s high-priced legal team that led to the controversial agreement.
“Without our case, probably no one would have seen the non-prosecution agreement, the secret agreement,” Edwards said. “Without that action, nobody would have known just how bad [Epstein] and his other co-conspirators were. No one would have ever understood the whole story.”
But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April, in a 7-4 decision, that Wild’s case never should have been allowed to proceed. The majority of judges concluded that the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA), enacted by Congress in 2004, did not permit her to sue the Justice Department over Epstein’s so-called “sweetheart deal” in the absence of an existing criminal prosecution.
Federal prosecutors drafted a 53-page indictment of Epstein in 2007 but never filed it, opting to forgo federal prosecution in exchange for Epstein’s guilty pleas to two prostitution-related charges in Palm Beach County Court. Instead of facing a potential sentence between 14 and 17 years, Epstein served 13 months in the private wing of a county jail, much of that time on work release that allowed him to spend up to 16 hours a day at his West Palm Beach office, before he was released in 2009.
“Because the [federal] government never filed charges against Epstein, there was no pre-existing proceeding in which Ms. Wild could have moved for relief under the CVRA, and the Act does not sanction her stand-alone suit,” U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
Newsom acknowledged that the court’s decision left Wild and other alleged Epstein victims “largely empty handed” and without any remedy for the U.S. government’s alleged mistreatment of Epstein’s victims. Wild had argued for years that the Epstein deal, which also conferred limited immunity to any alleged co-conspirators, should be declared illegal and torn up.
“We have the profoundest sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror at Epstein’s hands, only to be left in the dark — and, so it seems, affirmatively misled — by government attorneys,” Newsom wrote in April. “Shameful all the way around. The whole thing makes me sick.”
In arguing for the Supreme Court to step in, Wild’s lawyers contend that the appeals court decision effectively frees the government “to dispense with victims’ rights and orchestrate clandestine deals without affording victims any rights under the CVRA.”
“Unless the decision from the 11th Circuit is overturned, the Justice Department will have a blueprint for keeping all sorts of negotiations secret — to the detriment of victims and the public understanding how cases are being resolved,” said Paul Cassell, another of Wild’s attorneys.
Wild, now a mother of two, was present in a Manhattan courtroom in July of 2019, when Epstein made his first appearance after being charged by federal authorities in New York with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. Epstein died a month later by apparent suicide while being held in New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. But Wild and her lawyers contend that her case against the federal government should not end with Epstein’s death.
“All we have ever wanted is to make sure that there are basic rights for victims like myself,” Wild told ABC News in a statement. “My final hope in this fight is with the United States Supreme Court, who I hope and pray will take my case and right the wrong that was done.”
(WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.) — A high schooler has died after being shot Wednesday at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, authorities said.
The victim was identified by authorities as William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr.
The suspect has not been apprehended, authorities said at a news conference over four hours after the shooting was reported around noon. The suspect is believed to be a student, authorities said.
“We have a mother and family who will not be able to hug their child tonight,” Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson said.
No one else was shot, authorities said, but some students suffered trauma-related health problems, including one student who had a seizure.
The school was locked down immediately after the shooting, police said. Once the campus was secured, students were sent to a local grocery store to be reunited with their parents, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said.
There is no known threat to the school at this time, police said.
Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene.
Mount Tabor’s school year started just last week.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper noted in a tweet that this was the second school shooting in the state this week. A 15-year-old was injured in a shooting at New Hanover High School in Wilmington on Monday.
“Our prayers are with the victims, their families and all the students of Mt. Tabor High School in Winston-Salem,” Cooper tweeted. “We must work to ensure the safety of students and educators, quickly apprehend the shooter and keep guns off school grounds.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 639,000 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 61.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 10:42 am
Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it’ll help with mild COVID symptoms
Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.
The first participant has now been dosed in this “pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial,” Pfizer said.
Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.
If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization.
Sep 01, 9:52 am
Virginia Tech disenrolls 134 students who didn’t meet vaccination policy
Virginia Tech says 134 students have been disenrolled after they didn’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
The university’s roughly 37,000 students were required to submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption, Virginia Tech said.
“The university does not know whether any of these [134] students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement,” Virginia Tech said.
Sep 01, 9:19 am
TSA screens lowest number of travelers since May
Just 1,345,064 travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Tuesday, the lowest since May 18 when 1,408,017 were screened, the TSA said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday he thinks holiday travel will return to normal.
Sep 01, 8:52 am
San Diego County declares medical misinformation a public health crisis
San Diego has become the first county in the U.S. to declare that health misinformation is causing a public health crisis in its community. This follows the County Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 vote Tuesday night.
Changes to county strategy to combat the pandemic will include: labeling health misinformation and providing timely health information to counter it; modernizing public health communications; investigating in digital resources and training for health practitioners and health workers; and developing a website to be a central resource for fighting health misinformation.
The new policy was introduced when 96.7% of hospitalizations in San Diego County were residents who were not fully vaccinated.
Aug 31, 8:01 pm
Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID, KISS postpones shows
KISS co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19, the band shared on its Twitter page Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the band said the 72-year-old was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
His diagnoses comes less than a week after co-lead singer Paul Stanley, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, the band said that, “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated.”
KISS has postponed four of its “End of the Road” tour shows from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
“The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:56 pm
2 officials working on COVID-19 vaccine review to leave FDA
Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), announced the upcoming departure of two top vaccine regulators to his staff in an internal memo, which was obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) and her deputy, Dr. Phil Krause, are set to leave the agency in October and November respectively, according to the memo.
Krause, who’s been with the agency for over a decade, and Gruber, who has been with the FDA for over 30 years, were instrumental in the review and authorization of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the memo said.
The memo said that Gruber will be “retiring” and gave no other details about Krause’s departure.
ABC News has reached out to both Gruber and Krause for comment.
When reached for comment about their departure, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News the agency is “confident in the expertise and ability of our staff to continue our critical public health work, including evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.”
Their departures come at a critical time for the vaccine review team. After facing pressure to move as fast as possible to get vaccines’ full licensure done, the agency is now weighing booster shots for a wider pool of Americans.
The timing of the booster shot approval has been a bone of contention amongst federal agencies after the Biden administration announced the availability of booster shots would begin ahead of any ruling from the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory groups.
Aug 31, 4:57 pm
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife out of ICU
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is out of the ICU as both Jacksons continue to fight COVID-19, their family said.
“Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy,” their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated, reported ABC Chicago station WLS.
“Our mother remains in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been moved out of the ICU and back into her regular hospital room where she continues to receive oxygen,” the statement said. “Both of our parents are continuing to receive excellent medical care and we thank God for the progress that both seem to be making.”
Aug 31, 4:24 pm
Vaccination rate nearly double than it was in mid-July
The U.S. vaccination rate per day is now nearly double than it was in mid-July, according to the White House.
“Back in mid-July we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we’re averaging 900,000,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. “Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5.”
The increase in vaccinations comes amid fear about the rapidly spreading delta variant.
The delta variant, which is more transmissible, has also been part of the conversation around booster shots of the mRNA and J&J vaccines. The Biden administration said Americans would need a third shot eight months after their second because of waning immunity.
The Biden administration is standing by its decision to call for vaccine boosters beginning Sept. 20 despite questions about whether there’s enough data and the unusual process of announcing a plan before the FDA has evaluated the data and made a recommendation.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Ida, which downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical depression Tuesday, battered Louisiana as a fierce Category 4 storm Sunday, leaving whole towns flooded along the coast and New Orleans still entirely in the dark.
Over 884,000 customers remain without power in Louisiana and over 14,000 remain without power in Mississippi as of Wednesday morning, according to a report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) obtained by ABC News. Entergy wrote on Twitter that it took the first step to restore power back to New Orleans East, and the first light shined. “Crews will have to methodically bring back additional transmission lines over time to provide additional pathways for progress,” they said.
FEMA reported four Louisiana hospitals were damaged due to the storm, 39 medical facilities had to start operating on generator power and many patients were evacuated. Also, several buildings in Port Fourchon — which is is responsible for 18% of the U.S. oil supply — sustained severe damage.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a news conference Tuesday evening that the city will see “some level of transmission” of power as early as Wednesday evening.
“The expectation should not be … that the entire city will be lit on tomorrow evening, but in stages,” she said.
As of Wednesday, the city’s Louis Armstrong International Airport is operating using generator power, and airlines have reported 197 cancellations for Wednesday, according to CISA’s report.
Cantrell said a curfew will go into effect at 8 p.m. local time and last until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Local and state police and the National Guard will patrol the streets, according to New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson.
The mayor called the curfew a “proactive” measure since there already have been arrests for looting.
Ferguson declined to give more details about those arrests to prevent “a false narrative about this city.”
Ida made landfall in Louisiana twice, first near Port Fourchon before noon local time and again two hours later in Lafourche Parish, obliterating neighborhoods and turning clear roads into rivers.
As of Wednesday morning, Washington, D.C., is under tornado watch and a flash flood warning has been issued for parts of Virginia.
Ida appears to be less lethal than Katrina, which hit as a Category 3, claimed more than 1,800 lives and caused more than $100 billion in damage.
So far, three deaths have been attributed to Ida: a 60-year-old man in Ascension Parish died Sunday when a tree fell on a home, a motorist drowned in New Orleans and a third person died in Jefferson Parish.
In Mississippi, two people died and at least 10 others were injured when a part of a highway near Lucedale gave out and sent vehicles plunging into a hole. Mississippi Highway Patrol Cp. Cal Robertson said the inundating rain may have caused the collapse.
The storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain in some places, like Rigolets-Slidell, Louisiana, and 13 inches in New Orleans. Ida also brought powerful winds gusts of over 100 mph in some regions.
Ida also knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — and temporarily halted the city’s 911 emergency response system.
Officials in Jefferson Parish, home to 400,000 residents, warned it could be 21 days before power is restored.
Communities reeling from the destruction are now stranded without water. Some 18 water system outages have impacted over 312,000 customers and 14 boil water advisories are in place impacting over 329,000 people, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press conference Monday evening.
Heat advisories are active in parts of Louisiana, threatening communities grappling with no electricity or access to air conditioning. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for southern Louisiana and Mississippi from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Another element Katrina didn’t have is the COVID-19 crisis. Some Louisiana hospitals pushed to the brink with an influx of coronavirus cases were forced to evacuate due to physical damage, water and electrical issues.
The Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News at least 11 hospitals had evacuations on some level and Terrebone General Health System’s evacuation is still underway.
The state fire marshal office’s leading task force of about 900 individuals from 15 different states is conducting search and rescue missions with local responders. Some 5,000 National Guard members are also on the ground.
Edwards said at least 671 were rescued by Monday afternoon, with some desperate locals fleeing to their attics or roofs to wait for help.
Over 2,200 evacuees are staying in 41 shelters, Edwards said.
Jaclyn Hotard, the president of St. John the Baptist Parish, called Ida, “one of the worst natural disasters I’ve ever seen in St. John,” noting that “almost 800 people” have been rescued due to extreme flooding.
Entergy New Orleans, a major electricity company in the region, said a storm team of more than 20,000 and growing is assessing the vast damage and destruction across New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that toppled power poles and other equipment.
Over 3,600 FEMA employees have been deployed to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to help with meals, water and generators for power, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Ida, now a tropical depression, is centered on the border of Missouri and Tennessee and threatens to bring deadly flash flooding to the Gulf coast overnight as it continues to move north and east. Almost 80 million in 17 states are on flash flood alert from Mississippi to Massachusetts.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 639,000 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 61.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 31, 8:01 pm
Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID, KISS postpones shows
KISS co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19, the band shared on its Twitter page Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the band said the 72-year-old was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
His diagnoses comes less than a week after co-lead singer Paul Stanley, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, the band said that, “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated.”
KISS has postponed four of its “End of the Road” tour shows from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
“The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:56 pm
2 officials working on COVID-19 vaccine review to leave FDA
Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), announced the upcoming departure of two top vaccine regulators to his staff in an internal memo, which was obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) and her deputy, Dr. Phil Krause, are set to leave the agency in October and November respectively, according to the memo.
Krause, who’s been with the agency for over a decade, and Gruber, who has been with the FDA for over 30 years, were instrumental in the review and authorization of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the memo said.
The memo said that Gruber will be “retiring” and gave no other details about Krause’s departure.
ABC News has reached out to both Gruber and Krause for comment.
When reached for comment about their departure, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News the agency is “confident in the expertise and ability of our staff to continue our critical public health work, including evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.”
Their departures come at a critical time for the vaccine review team. After facing pressure to move as fast as possible to get vaccines’ full licensure done, the agency is now weighing booster shots for a wider pool of Americans.
The timing of the booster shot approval has been a bone of contention amongst federal agencies after the Biden administration announced the availability of booster shots would begin ahead of any ruling from the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory groups.
Aug 31, 4:57 pm
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife out of ICU
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is out of the ICU as both Jacksons continue to fight COVID-19, their family said.
“Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy,” their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated, reported ABC Chicago station WLS.
“Our mother remains in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been moved out of the ICU and back into her regular hospital room where she continues to receive oxygen,” the statement said. “Both of our parents are continuing to receive excellent medical care and we thank God for the progress that both seem to be making.”
Aug 31, 4:24 pm
Vaccination rate nearly double than it was in mid-July
The U.S. vaccination rate per day is now nearly double than it was in mid-July, according to the White House.
“Back in mid-July we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we’re averaging 900,000,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. “Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5.”
The increase in vaccinations comes amid fear about the rapidly spreading delta variant.
The delta variant, which is more transmissible, has also been part of the conversation around booster shots of the mRNA and J&J vaccines. The Biden administration said Americans would need a third shot eight months after their second because of waning immunity.
The Biden administration is standing by its decision to call for vaccine boosters beginning Sept. 20 despite questions about whether there’s enough data and the unusual process of announcing a plan before the FDA has evaluated the data and made a recommendation.
(FILE photo) – U.S. Navy photo by Intelligence Specialist 2nd Class Jonathon Miller
(SAN DIEGO) — A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon off the coast of San Diego.
“An MH-60S helicopter embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31,” the Navy’s 3rd Fleet said in a statement.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said that preliminary information indicates one person has been rescued and five people are unaccounted for. The Navy also confirmed one crew member has been rescued and search efforts continue for the other crew members.
The Coast Guard and Navy were conducting search and rescue operations by sea and air.
The accident comes just 12 days after Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt took over command of the Abraham Lincoln.
The Abraham Lincoln is homeported in San Diego, the Navy said in a statement Tuesday night.
