The latest on the Covid-19 pandemic in the US

Half of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to White House Data Director Dr. Cyrus Shahpar.

In a tweet on Friday, Shahpar said that more than 821,000 doses had been reported administered over the previous day’s total, including about 555,000 people who got their first shot.

The first dose of Covid-19 vaccine was administered about nine months ago, on December 14. It took about four months – until late March – to fully vaccinate a quarter of the US population, and another four and a half months to reach half, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s COVID-19 Data Tracker has not yet officially updated with this data, but it is expected to this afternoon. 

According to the latest data available from the CDC dashboard, an average of 699,261 doses have been administered each day over the past seven days, and an average of 464,778 people initiated vaccination each day over the past seven days. 

Covid-19 vaccinations in the US reached a record high in mid-April, with an average of more than 3 million shots administered each day and about 2 million people initiating vaccination each day.

President Joe Biden said that while vaccinations and other efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic will help make the Delta variant wave "very different" than previous waves in the US, it's still taking a "needless toll."

As of today, 193 million Americans have gotten at least one vaccine dose and 165 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to Biden.

"Today, about 400 people will die because of the Delta variant in this country. A tragedy, because virtually all of these deaths were preventible if people had gotten vaccinated," he said.

President Biden said while there will continue to be "ups and downs along the way as we continue to fight the Delta surge of Covid," the administration's plan to bring by jobs and jump start the economy is working.

The US economy added 943,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4% — a new low of the pandemic era — the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

It was the biggest job gain since August last year, when more than 1 million positions were added back — and more than the 870,000 economists had expected.

"What is indisputable now is this – the Biden plan is working. The Biden plan produced results and it is moving the country forward," the President said on Friday.

Since May 2020, America has added back 16.7 million jobs. But remember: it’s still 5.7 million short of its pre-pandemic level.

WATCH:

New data published Friday suggest that people with a previous Covid-19 infection may have a sufficient immune response to the virus when vaccinated with just one of Pfizer’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine doses. 

In the study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, researchers from Rush University compared antibody levels after one and two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine in people previously infected with Covid-19 to levels in those without a previous infection. 

“We observed higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in previously infected individuals after 1 dose of BNT162b2 compared with infection-naive individuals after 2 doses,” the study authors wrote. 

The researchers said a second dose in this population did not “significantly increase” antibody levels, meaning one dose may be enough for the previously infected. 

Of the group with a previous infection, four had a positive PCR test for Covid-19 but did not develop antibodies to the virus. In these people, vaccine response was more similar to that of people without a previous infection, meaning that a PCR test alone may not be enough to determine the number of vaccine doses needed, the study authors wrote. 

Asked about calls from some House Democrats for a vaccine mandate for members and staff, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We are guided and have to be guided by the guidance of the Capitol Physician,” but suggested the dynamic might change once full approval is granted.

Pelosi also thanked President Biden for the administration’s move to announce a new targeted eviction moratorium.

“Thank you Mr. President for the courage and the initiative that you took to extend the moratorium,” she said, adding, “It was very clear the Senate was not going to take any action. We needed a presidential moratorium.”

A lawyer representing Indiana University students asked the Supreme Court to block the school's vaccine mandate that is set to take effect this fall, while the appeals process plays out. 

The filing Friday marks the first time the justices have been asked to weigh in on the issue as private and public entities are increasingly requiring vaccines in the wake of a new surge of the virus caused by the Delta variant.

The university requires students to be vaccinated unless they qualify for exemptions. If they are exempted, they must wear masks and undergo testing twice a week.

"IU is coercing students to give up their rights to bodily integrity, autonomy, and of medical treatment choice in exchange for the discretionary benefit of matriculating at IU," James Bopp, a lawyer for the students, told the Supreme Court in an emergency petition asking the justices to act by Aug. 13.

Bopp said the students' refusal is "based on legitimate concerns including underlying medical conditions, having natural antibodies, and the risks associated with the vaccine."

Lower courts have ruled against the students, citing a Supreme Court decision from 1905 which held that a state may require vaccines against smallpox. 

A panel of judges on the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, all Republican appointees, said that vaccination requirements "have been common in this nation" and stressed that the IU policies allow exemptions for those who have medical issues related to the vaccine or religious objections. 

"These plaintiffs just need to wear a mask and be tested, requirements that are not constitutionally problematic," the court held, and added that vaccination is a condition for attending the university. 

Those who do not want to be vaccinated may "go elsewhere." 

The Supreme Court will likely ask the university for its response. 

Last week, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney told CNN that it "remains confident" that it will ultimately prevail because of a legitimate public health interest in assuring the safety of our students, faculty and staff."

Unions representing United Airlines employees are urging workers get vaccinated or face getting fired by the company this fall.

In a Friday memo, the chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association representing United pilots said that 90% of its members are already vaccinated thanks to incentives already offered by the company, but “we recognize that a small number of pilots do not agree with this new Company policy.”

While the union said “the vaccine requirement represents an employment change we believe warrants further negotiations,” it cautioned that court cases have upheld corporate vaccinate mandates.

The airline joins a growing list of companies including Google, Microsoft and Facebook mandating workers get vaccinated. United has said workers who do not want to get vaccinated by Oct. 25 must show a valid religious reason or face separation.

The union representing United mechanics told CNN that it is “educating” members about the virus. 

“We encourage vaccinations, but we are not imposing a mandate on our membership,” said Richard Johnson of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants said it has seen a “notable uptick” of positive coronavirus tests over the last two weeks, mostly by workers who are unvaccinated. In a statement, it said 80% of United flight attendants are vaccinated, but “now is not the time to let our guard down.”

The president of the second largest teachers union in the country stopped short of saying she supports a vaccine requirement for teachers in schools.

President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten said her union is looking at all the options on the table, during an interview with CNN's John Berman Friday morning.

"We have supported everything that our employers have actually put in front of us to date, meaning, we have supported vaccines or testing," Weingarten said, indicating plans like the one in New York City, which says that unvaccinated teachers must be tested weekly for Covid-19.

Weingarten emphasized that her union wants all schools to be open and safe environments for all students.

If states or cities try to impose a vaccination requirement for teachers, Weingarten said her union will "be bargaining over those policies" to make sure that people who have medical or religious exemptions would be able to opt out.

She said the voluntary approach has worked with teachers so far, but said full FDA approval of the vaccines would mark a point where mandatory vaccination might be acceptable.

"Would it be this month if the FDA goes give full approval?" Berman asked.

"Yes. Yes," said Weingarten.

Dubai’s flagship airline, Emirates, welcomed the decision by the UK to move the United Arab Emirates to the “amber” list, saying in a statement that they have been receiving a huge surge in queries from customers “desperate to travel to see their families.” 

“Since the UK’s announcement, we’ve seen a huge surge in queries from customers desperate to travel to see their families, planning their kids’ return for the new school term, as well as their postponed business or holiday travel,” Emirates Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim said in a statement on Friday. 

In a promotional video posted on Emirates’ social media, an actress dressed as an Emirates employee stood on top of Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world, holding signs saying “moving the UAE to the UK amber list has made us feel on top of the world.”

The British government moved India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE from the "red" list to the "amber" list, meaning that travelers arriving from those countries will no longer need to quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 and are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the UK. 

Travel is popular between the UK and the UAE, with British tourists making up a significant percentage of visitors to Dubai. The total percentage of British tourists to Dubai in 2019, a year before the pandemic, stood at 7%, the third highest after India and Saudi Arabia, according to governmental statistics. 

Thousands of British residents currently live in the UAE, while for Emiratis, the UK remains the most popular travel destination in Western Europe, the UK’s national tourism agency said on its website.    

A UK-UAE travel corridor had initially been set up in 2020, allowing residents and tourists to travel between both countries freely, however as coronavirus cases persisted in the UAE, the UK placed the country on the “red list,” stopping Britons from traveling to the Gulf nation. 

British residents in the UAE trying to travel home have been planning stopover holidays in “green list” destinations.