Coronavirus Watch: Hospital suspends 178 health care workers for refusing shots

Scores of workers at a Houston hospital system have been suspended and face being fired for refusing vaccinations, a controversial company mandate that has drawn protests and an outcry from those facing termination.

Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Bloom said the 178 workers represent less than 1% of almost 25,000 employees.

"We are nearly 100% compliant with our COVID-19 vaccine mandate," Bloom said in an email to staff Tuesday. "Houston Methodist is officially the first hospital system in the country to achieve this goal for the benefit of its patients." Read more.

It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adjusted travel guidance for vaccinated Americans by revising travel health notices for dozens of nations to a lower-risk tier.
• A former pharmacist in Wisconsin who admitted trying to sabotage more than 500 doses of vaccines at a time when demand for the shots was overwhelming has been sentenced to three years in prison.
• India’s daily coronavirus infections have dropped below 100,000 for the first time in more than two months.
• The highly transmissible delta variant now makes up 6% of infections in the United States, the Biden administration said.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 33 million COVID-19 cases and 598,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 174 million cases and more than 3.7 million deaths. Nearly 52% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and more than 42% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck