US expected to recommend vaccine boosters for all Americans

Biden administration health officials are expected to recommend COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received the second shot, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to USA TODAY.

The news, which will be announced as soon as this week, comes as the delta variant rages across the country. It also comes amid anxieties about the Pfizer vaccine's waning immunity and the Food and Drug Administration's approval of booster vaccines for immunocompromised people.

The official spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

Booster shots will begin as early as mid-to-late September once the FDA formally approves vaccines. The action is expected for the Pfizer shot in the coming weeks. As long as any of the vaccines are issued under an Emergency Use Authorization, no one but the FDA can recommend boosters.

Pfizer Monday also announced that they have submitted preliminary data to the FDA that their booster vaccine "elicits antibody levels that significantly exceed those seen after the two-dose" regimen, said Albert Bourla, Pfizer's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said in a news release.

- Courtney Subramanian

Also in the news:

►New York, the nation's first major city to require at least partial vaccination for indoor activities such as dining and using gyms, will begin to require proof Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday expanded the list of public venues with the requirement.

►The first four days of school in Nashville, Tennessee, yielded more than 250 cases of COVID-19 — 207 of them among students — forcing more than 1,000 students and staff to quarantine. Metro Nashville Public Schools, which has more than 80,000 students, started classes Tuesday.

►CVS and Walgreens pharmacies began administering the newly authorized third coronavirus vaccine shot to individuals with immunocompromising conditions. People who completed their first two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines at least 28 days ago and have a qualifying condition can schedule their booster shots.

►The U.S. administered 665,000 vaccine doses Sunday, including 404,000 newly vaccinated, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said. Among those who are eligible — ages 12 and up — nearly 70% have received at least one dose, including 72% of adults.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has had more than 36.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 622,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 207.7 million cases and 4.37 million deaths. More than 168.6 million Americans — 50.8% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

What we're reading: Should kids wear masks in school? These states have banned mandates, despite experts’ pleas.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Virus, politics disrupt start of school year across US

Public health, politics and education made for an uncomfortable mix in many parts of the country Monday as hundreds of thousands of K-12 students returned to school amid a major surge in coronavirus infections.

Confusion reigned in several Texas school districts after the state Supreme Court stopped mask mandates in two of the largest districts before the first day of school in Dallas. An Arizona judge upheld, at least temporarily, a mask mandate in a Phoenix district despite a new state law prohibiting such requirements. One Colorado county posted sheriff’s deputies in schools on the first day of classes as a precaution after parents protested a last-minute mask mandate.

After the coronavirus pandemic forced widespread school shutdowns and remote learning for several months, the new academic year is facing various disruptions partly created by the virus.

Some early-starting districts have already closed schools because of outbreaks, while others are trying to weather them. In South Carolina, the governor and the General Assembly are getting pressured to lift a ban on school mask mandates as infections mount.

Nowhere did Monday’s battles play out greater than in Texas, where some counties and school districts kept in place mask mandates banned by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and others rescinded them as schools reopened after Sunday’s court ruling.

The order by the state’s highest court — made up entirely of elected Republican justices — halted mask requirements that county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio, which are run by Democrats, put in place as new infections soared. Lower-court orders had allowed the two cities — as well as other jurisdictions across Texas — to impose the mandates.

Dallas school officials were among those defying the court order, and in Austin, students and parents gathered outside the Governor’s Mansion to urge Abbott to drop his opposition to the mandates. The Austin school district and Harris County, which includes Houston, also said their mask mandates for schools remained in place.

“We’re at war on behalf of moms and dads and kids against a deadly virus,'' Dallas county Judge Clay Jenkins said. "I sure wish the governor would join our side in the battle.”

Catholic cardinal who disdained vaccines and safety measures is hospitalized with virus

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US expected to recommend vaccine boosters for all Americans

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