Around 14 million United States residents received their first dose of a Covid-19 shot in August, about 4m more than in July, White House officials said, as the US government continues to urge Americans to get vaccinated amid rising cases of the coronavirus.

The average number of daily cases in the United States is around 130,000, up from lows of fewer than 12,000 in late June, according to federal data, as the highly contagious new Delta variant continues to spread.

The seven-day average of daily deaths is up to nearly 900, higher than in the previous week, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, said, according to Reuters.