(KERO) — The U.S. continues to sink on the list of global vaccination rates, currently ranking 45, according to data compiled by The Financial Times.
The CDC says just under 65 percent of Americans 12 and up are fully vaccinated.
75 percent of eligible Americans have now received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, but vaccination rates have declined by 37 percent over the past three weeks.
Former CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden thinks, “The reason we're seeing lots of people in hospitals and still more than a thousand, more than 1,500 deaths every day in this country is because there are so many people who are not yet vaccinated.”
The push is on to encourage the 70 million eligible Americans who still have not been vaccinated to roll up their sleeves.
New York’s Department of Labor has announced any workers fired for refusing to get vaccinated will not be able to collect unemployment benefits - unless they have a valid medical reason.
Meanwhile, a vaccine mandate for New York City public school employees that was set to take effect on Monday, has been temporarily blocked by a judge.
In the early weeks of this new school year, almost 2,000 schools have been closed and more than 900,000 students in more than 40 states have been impacted.
Across the country, Pfizer boosters are being administered to people newly eligible for them. In Tulsa, some getting their boosters at a pop-up clinic.
