COVID-19 updates: American Airlines to require employee vaccinations

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told The Atlantic Tuesday that the timeline on shots for children ages 5 to 11 is up to the FDA.

"I think it's not appropriate for me to comment how long FDA will take to review the data. They should take as much time as they think it's appropriate for them to have high levels of comfort," Bourla said. 

"If approved, we will be ready to have the vaccine available," he added.

Vaccines may be authorized and available for 5- to 11-year-olds in October or November.

Bourla said he thinks once kids get vaccinated, the U.S. will get a "strong push" toward herd immunity.

Bourla said he thinks booster protection from Pfizer vaccines will likely last one year.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

At Tuesday's White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci gave a loose timeline for when the FDA could have enough data to consider approving mixing and matching vaccines.

Moderna has already submitted data about using its shot as a booster for people who have received the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.  J&J will submit data on mixing its shot with the other vaccines in the next week, according to Fauci, and then Pfizer will submit its data within the first two weeks of October. Finally, the data will be examined by the FDA.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Over 400,000 Americans received a booster shot at a pharmacy since Friday and nearly 1 million more have scheduled appointments in the next few weeks, according to the White House.

The U.S. is expected to hit a milestone of 200 million Americans with at least one shot on Wednesday, White House COVID-⁠19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said.

The White House also touted another important milestone: racial equity in vaccinations nationwide.

According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 73% of Latinos and 70% of Black Americans have now gotten at least one shot, compared to 71% of white Americans. In May, this same poll found that 65% of white Americans were vaccinated compared to 56% of Black Americans.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

At the beginning of the month, there were more than 104,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. As of Tuesday, there were 81,000 patients hospitalized -- a drop of about 23,000 patients, according to federal data.

Nearly 50% of those patients -- 11,000 -- are from Florida, where cases and hospitalizations have been plummeting since mid-August.

In recent weeks, however, 16 states have reported higher hospital admission metrics, according to federal data: Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia.

Five states -- Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and Texas -- have ICU capacities of 10% or less, according to federal data.

Alaska has the country's highest case rate, followed by West Virginia, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota and Kentucky.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos