Coronavirus Watch: US seeing rise in vaccinations as cases surge

Some of the states hardest hit by the pandemic — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma — are administering vaccinations at a rate not seen since April.

Over the last 24 hours, there were a total of 864,000 vaccines administered, the highest since early July, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Thursday during a briefing. During the same period, 585,000 people received their first shot, an encouraging sign as the delta variant runs rampant through the unvaccinated.

"Clearly, Americans are seeing the impact of being unvaccinated and unprotected," Zients said. "And they responded by doing their part, rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated."

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

• California's public health department issued an order Thursday mandating vaccines for all workers in healthcare settings as the state sees the number of cases surge due to the delta variant.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced all state and county employees must show proof of vaccination or take weekly tests. Those who don't could be fired. Puerto Rico, Virginia and Maryland also set similar requirements.
• Six Cincinnati area hospital systems will require their workers and volunteers to be vaccinated starting Oct. 1.
• All K-12 students in New Jersey will be required to wear masks in schools again this fall as cases and hospitalizations continue to increase while vaccination rates fall, an official in Gov. Phil Murphy's administration confirmed Thursday.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged late Thursday to deliver 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world through this year.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 35.4 million COVID-19 cases and 615,300 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 201.1 million cases and more than 4.2 million deaths. About 58% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 50% 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