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People line up in cars to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at a federally-run mass vaccination site at NRG Stadium in Houston on Feb. 26, 2021.
People line up in cars to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at a federally run mass vaccination site at NRG Stadium in Houston on Feb. 26. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

2021 in photos: Texans navigated COVID-19, weathered power outages and witnessed an increase in border crossings

As 2021 comes to a close, here’s a look back at just some of our favorite images captured by Texas Tribune photographers all over the state — and across the nation — to tell the stories of Texans in a challenging year.

by Texas Tribune Photo Team
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For Texans, 2021 will be remembered for the ongoing pandemic that continued to kill thousands and the brutal February winter storm that paralyzed the state and killed hundreds. Many will also look back at laws passed by the Texas Legislature that thrust the state, again and again, into national debates about voting rights and abortion access.

Through it all, Texas Tribune photographers captured the moments, both sweeping and intimate, that tell the story of our time.

Long lines of people waited to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at Fair Park, where Dallas County opened its first "mega" vaccination site.
Cameron County residents wait to recieve the COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-in distribution site in Los Fresnos on Jan. 22, 2021.
Beverly Mills, a teacher at Anderson Elementary School, speaks to pharmacist Ilana Druker before getting vaccinated at Houston Independent School District’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on January 9, 2021 in Houston. HISD partnered with Kroger to administer the covid-19 Moderna vaccine to educators, police officers and school nurses as part of Phase 1A and 1B of the vaccine rollout. (May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune)
First: Long lines of people waited to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at Fair Park, where Dallas County opened its first "mega" vaccination site. Next: Cameron County residents wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru distribution site in Los Fresnos on Jan. 22. Last: Beverly Mills, a teacher at Anderson Elementary School, speaks to pharmacist Ilana Druker before getting vaccinated at Houston Independent School District’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Jan. 9. Credit: Shelby Tauber, Eddie Gaspar and May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune
People waited for hours to receive their drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park vaccination site in Dallas. Feb. 8, 2021.
People wait for hours to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park drive-thru vaccination site in Dallas on Feb. 8. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
An eastbound view of East Stassney Lane in south Austin on Feb. 15, 2021.
Heavy snowfall in Austin on Feb. 15. A series of winter weather events caused statewide power outages and led to hundreds of deaths. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
From left: Logan Roerig and David Dobrinsky skid bikes through the snow in Austin, Feb. 15, 2021.
Megan Linden sits in her car to warm up and charge her phone in East Austin on Feb. 17, 2021.
First: Logan Roerig skids their bike through the snow in Austin on Feb. 15. Last: Megan Linden sits in her car to warm up and charge her phone in East Austin on Feb. 17. Credit: Evan L'Roy and Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
Food pantry manager Farrah Rivera map out routes to resident rooms at the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center in Austin on Feb. 17, 2021.
Nicole Colato, 12, holds her sibling Christian Colato, 8, at Gallery Furniture, which opened to the public as a warming center, on Feb. 16, 2021 in Houston. The snowfall on Feb. 15 continued to cause problems in Houston as well as other parts of Texas.
First: Food pantry manager Farrah Rivera maps out routes to resident rooms at the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center in Austin on Feb. 17. Last: Nicole Colato, 12, holds her sibling Christian Colato, 8, at Gallery Furniture in Houston, which opened to the public as a warming center on Feb. 16. The snowfall on Feb. 15 continued to cause problems in Houston as well as other parts of Texas. Credit: Montinique Monroe and May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune
The Blanco Vista neighborhood of San Marcos is blanketed with several inches of snow as a massive winter weather system causes power outages across Texas on Feb. 15, 2021.
The Blanco Vista neighborhood of San Marcos was blanketed with several inches of snow as a massive winter weather system caused power outages across Texas on Feb. 15. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
DanaÎ Gutierrez, founder of Harvest Project Food Rescue, drives the bus carrying hundreds of meals, blankets, and warm clothes to distribute in Dallas after the winter storm.
Danaë Gutierrez, founder of Harvest Project Food Rescue, drives a bus carrying hundreds of meals, blankets and warm clothes to distribute in Dallas after the winter storm. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Amanda Zhang, right, attends a rally at Discovery Green on March 20, 2021, in Houston. People gathered for the Stop Asian Hate Vigil and Rally after a man killed eight, including six Asians, in a mass shooting at three Atlanta spas.
Amanda Zhang, right, attends a rally at Discovery Green on March 20 in Houston. People gathered for the Stop Asian Hate Vigil and Rally after a man killed eight, including six Asians, in a mass shooting at three Atlanta spas. Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune
Flowers lay atop a sign at Discovery Green on March 20, 2021, in Houston. People gathered for the Stop Asian Hate Vigil and Rally after a man killed eight, including six Asians, in a mass shooting at three Atlanta spas.
Hundreds of people gathered to take collective action against Asian hate during the Stop Asian Hate Rally and Vigil at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, on April 17, 2021.
First: Flowers lay atop a sign at Discovery Green on March 20. Last: Hundreds of people gathered to demonstrate against racism during the Stop Asian Hate Rally and Vigil at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin on April 17. Credit: May-Ying Lam and Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
LaChay Batts leads a chant saying Marvin Scott IIIís name at a demonstration outside of the Collin County Jail to demand justice for Marvin Scott III, who died while in custody at the jail on March 14, 2021. Family, friends and supporters have gathered at the jail every night since his death to demand the arrest of the 7 detention officers involved.
LaChay Batts leads a chant saying Marvin Scott III's name at a demonstration outside of the Collin County Jail to demand justice for the man, who died while in custody at the jail on March 14. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Marvin Scott III's mother LaSandra Scott prays at the end of a demonstration outside of the Collin County Jail. People gathered to demand justice for Marvin Scott III, who died while in custody at the jail on March 14, 2021.
Melinda Whittemore participates in a demonstration held by Next Generation Action Network at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney to demand justice for Marvin Scott III, who died while in custody at the Collin County Jail on March 14, 2021.
First: Marvin Scott III's mother LaSandra Scott prays at the end of a demonstration outside of the Collin County Jail on March 26. Last: Melinda Whittemore participates in the March 26 demonstration. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Rosa Ramos has her sugar levels checked by a health worker at the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Uvalde on April 1, 2021.
Rosa Ramos has her sugar levels checked by a health worker at the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Uvalde on April 1. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
Marie Sanders looks out the window in a family visitation room at Focused Care at Humble on April 1, 2021, in Humble.
Executive Director of Operations Jeannie Dupree hugs her grandmother, Pauline, at Focused Care at Brenham, a nursing home that experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 positive patients after the winter storm in Texas, on Thursday, April 1, 2021. Dupree is grateful her grandmother lives in the facility she directs so she could have visitors during the pandemic.
Rosa Ramos and Rebecca Pargas watch television while drinking coffee at the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on April 1, 2021.
First: In Humble, Marie Sanders looks out the window in a family visitation room at Focused Care at Humble on April 1. Next: Executive director of operations Jeannie Dupree hugs her grandmother, Pauline, at Focused Care at Brenham, a nursing home that experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 infections after the winter storm in Texas. Last: Rosa Ramos and Rebecca Pargas watch television while drinking coffee at the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on April 1. Credit: Mark Felix, Annie Mulligan, and Miguel Gutierrez Jr. for The Texas Tribune
Brenda Ramos visits the grave of her son, Michael Ramos, at Assumption Cemetery in Austin on April 19, 2021. Ramos was shot and killed by Austin police officer Christopher Taylor last year.
Brenda Ramos visits the grave of her son, Michael Ramos, at Assumption Cemetery in Austin on April 19. Michael Ramos was shot and killed by Austin police officer Christopher Taylor last year. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
inside a locker room at the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center in McKinney, Texas. The Pfizer vaccinations were for McKinney ISD students ages 12 and older and their parents or legal guardians.
Israel Cheathem, 5, bottom left, waits in line with his sisters Zoey Cheathem, 14, right, and Trinity Cheathem, 15, so the teenagers could receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a site hosted by McKinney ISD and the McKinney Fire Department, on May 20, 2021 outside the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center in McKinney, Texas. McKinney ISD students ages 12 or older, along with their parents, received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Ben Torres for the Texas Tribune
First: Joshua Martin, 17, leans forward from his wheelchair as he watches his mother, Teddi Martin, receive a COVID-19 vaccine by a registered nurse at a vaccine site hosted by McKinney ISD and the McKinney Fire Department on May 20. Last: Israel Cheathem, 5, bottom left, waits in line with his sisters Zoey Cheathem, 14, right, and Trinity Cheathem, 15, so the teenagers could receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the McKinney ISD vaccination site. Credit: Ben Torres for the Texas Tribune
People protest against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all hospital employees outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas on June 7, 2021. Employees who chose not to inoculate themselves by the hospital's Monday deadline faced suspension without pay and job termination, a policy criticized by the protesters as unfair and unauthorized.
People protest against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all hospital employees outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown on June 7. Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune
The Saddle Sores at the White Horse on June 9, 2021.
Carolina Rascon, Sarahi Diaz, and Suzanne Oviedo gather on the Discovery Green social distancing circles in Downtown Houston on June 13, 2021.
Early in the summer, after coronavirus vaccines became widely available, Texans took tentative steps toward returning to normalcy. First: The Saddle Sores play at the White Horse in Austin on June 9. Last: Carolina Rascon, Sarahi Diaz and Suzanne Oviedo gather on the Discovery Green social distancing circles in Downtown Houston. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. and Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune
Rene Gonzales dances with his partner at the Mercedes Flea Market. Mercedes, TX. June 13, 2021.
At left, Marta Linares and her family watch a movie at the WesMer Drive-In Theatre in Mercedes. They have been coming to the theatre once a month for the past 15 years.
First: In Mercedes, Rene Gonzales dances with his partner at the Mercedes Flea Market on June 13. Last: Marta Linares, left, and her family watch a movie at the WesMer Drive-In Theatre in Mercedes. They have been coming to the theater once a month for the past 15 years. Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune
Lisa Smith, Denise Weeks, Latarshia Hall react to Vivian Greenís performance during the I Am Juneteenth festival at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth on June 19, 2021.
Lisa Smith, Denise Weeks and Latarshia Hall react to Vivian Green's performance during the I Am Juneteenth festival at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth on June 19. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Fireworks conclude the I Am Juneteenth festival at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth on June 19, 2021.
A fireworks show happily surprised some children during the conclusion of the I Am Juneteenth festival at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth on June 19, 2021.
First: Fireworks conclude the I Am Juneteenth festival at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth on June 19. Last: Fireworks surprised some children during the conclusion of the I Am Juneteenth festival. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Children look through the border wall to their family in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas on June 19, 2021.
Children in El Paso look through the border wall to their family in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on June 19. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune
From left: Central Texas Food Bank volunteers Melanie Engerski, Annette Baker, and Laura Dennis, load boxes of food into an individual’s car at a distribution event for people facing increasing food insecurity at the Travis County Expo Center on July 1, 2021.
From left: Central Texas Food Bank volunteers Melanie Engerski, Annette Baker and Laura Dennis load boxes of food into an individual's car at a distribution event for people facing increasing food insecurity at the Travis County Expo Center on July 1. Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
A man gazes up at a stained glass window in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church while exiting the church with other asylum seekers in Mission on Aug. 3, 2021.
A man gazes up at a stained glass window in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church while exiting the church with other asylum-seekers in Mission on Aug. 3. Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
Judith Anderson-Bruess poses for a portrait at her home in Newark, DE on Aug. 11, 2021.
Judith Anderson-Bruess at her home in Newark, Delaware, on Aug. 11. Texas’ controversial new social studies law prompted McKinney school officials to cancel its Youth and Government class, which Anderson-Bruess taught until she retired. Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune
Patients receive COVID-19 antibody infusions at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant on Aug. 19, 2021. The antibody infusion is performed at the earlier stages of infection, which can reduce the chance of hospitalization by 70%.
Patients receive COVID-19 antibody infusions at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant on Aug. 19. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Registered Nurse Lori Kelley dons an N95 mask and other PPE before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient at Goodall-Witcher Hospital in Clifton on Wednesday, August 3, 2021.
A nurse dons full PPE before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient at Goodall-Witcher Hospital in Clifton on Wednesday, August 3, 2021.
First: Registered Nurse Lori Kelley dons an N95 mask and other personal protective equipment before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient at Goodall-Witcher Hospital in Clifton on Aug. 3. Last: A nurse at the Clifton hospital dons full personal protective equipment before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
Tristeza Ordex is an activist in Tarrant County voicing her concern over the proposed redistricting of Senate District 10, with the new version reaching into more conservative Parker and Johnson counties.
Tristeza Ordex is an activist in Tarrant County voicing her concern over the proposed redistricting of Senate District 10, with the new version of the district reaching into more conservative Parker and Johnson counties. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Tomas Garcia looks out of his home in Houston on Sept. 8, 2021.
James Whitfield, 43, principal at Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, who has been placed on leave by the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District after being accused of teaching critical race theory at his high school. Photographed at his home in Hurst, on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021.
First: Tomas Garcia looks out of his home in Houston on Sept. 8. As the pandemic took a toll on both his physical and mental health, he decided to leave teaching after contracting COVID-19. Last: James Whitfield, 43, principal at Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, was placed on leave by the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District after being accused of teaching critical race theory at his high school. He ultimately resigned but remains on paid administrative leave until 2023. Credit: Justin Rex and Ben Torres for the Texas Tribune
Billy Smith, 61, lived at the homeless encampment under I-35 near APD headquarters for a year until it was cleared on September 29, 2021.
Billy Smith, 61, lived at a homeless encampment under Interstate 35 near the Austin Police Department headquarters for a year until it was cleared in September. A new statewide law banned camping in public places, and Austin voters approved a May ballot measure reinstating a camping ban that the City Council had nixed two years earlier. Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune
Migrants cross the Rio Grande between Del Rio and Cuidad Acuna, Mexico on Sept. 16, 2021.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, on Sept. 16. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
Migrants cross the Rio Grande between Del Rio, TX and Acuna, MX to bring supplies such as food, water, clothing, and shelter back to a temporary migrant camp under the international bride in Del Rio on Friday, Sep 17, 2021.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande with food, water, shelter, clothing, and other supplies as they prepare to spend the night under the International Bridge in Del Rio on September 16, 2021.
Migrants crossing the Rio Grande between Del Rio and Cuidad Acuña, Mexico, on Sept. 16 bring supplies such as food, water and clothing back to a temporary migrant camp under the international bride. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune
The University of Texas at Austin holds its commencement for the class of 2020 on Sept. 17, 2021. The ceremony had been postponed due to concerns regarding COVID-19.
The University of Texas at Austin holds its commencement for the class of 2020 on Sept. 17. The ceremony had been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
Chiara Sunshine Beaumont at the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in Austin on Sept. 18, 2021. Chiara held a cleansing ceremony at the park in late August 2021.
Chiara Sunshine Beaumont was taught Karankawa traditions by her mother, who took her to powwows and didn’t allow her to cut her hair until she was 15. Beaumont is shown in ceremonial attire at the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in Austin. Karankawa is the name of a people who, for several centuries, controlled a more than 300-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast shore from approximately present-day Galveston Bay south to Corpus Christi Bay. After finding one another through social media and the internet, a group of Indigenous people who call themselves Karankawa Kadla have come together just as an oil company is moving to expand its facility on a patch of coastal land in an area where their ancestors lived. Credit: Liz Moskowitz for The Texas Tribune
Maria Bottazzi and Peter Hotez in the Tropical Medicine Lab in the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development on Oct. 5, 2021, in Houston.
Maria Bottazzi and Peter Hotez in the Tropical Medicine Lab in the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston on Oct. 5. The pair would like a U.S. distributor for their Texas-born COVID-19 vaccine that's cheap, easy to make and in demand overseas, but until it can break into the U.S. market, they have focused efforts abroad to inoculate those in countries where COVID-19 variants surface more quickly. Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
A vendor sells lit up balloons at the Día de los Muertos parade at the Dallas City Hall in Dallas, TX on October 30, 2021.
A vendor sells lit up balloons at the Dia de Los Muertos parade at Dallas City Hall in Dallas on Oct. 30. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
People attend the Día de Los Muertos parade at the Dallas City Hall in Dallas, TX on October 30, 2021.
Dancers in the Día de los Muertos parade at the Dallas City Hall in Dallas, TX on October 30, 2021.
Performers at the Día de Los Muertos parade in Dallas on Oct. 30. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Nurses point out how they avoided a mosquito bite to ten-year-old Miranda Morales after she received her first dose of the Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX, on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.
Nurses point out how they avoided a mosquito bite to 10-year-old Miranda Morales after she received her first dose of the Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston on Nov. 3. Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
Reverend Erika Forbes had two abortions, once when she was 14 and once when she was 18 years-old, despite taking birth control. “The reality is if SB8 were in effect whenever I had my abortions, my life would have been decimated. I would never had gone on to college, I wouldn’t have gotten my master’s, I wouldn’t be the minister I am now.”
Reverend Erika Forbes had two abortions, once when she was 14 and once when she was 18, despite taking birth control. “The reality is if Senate Bill 8 were in effect whenever I had my abortions, my life would have been decimated. I would never had gone on to college, I wouldn’t have gotten my master’s, I wouldn’t be the minister I am now.” Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Susana Garcia, left, embraces her sister, Martha Garcia, near the Paso del Norte International Port of Entry after not seeing her for nearly 2 years, Monday, November 8, 2021, in El Paso, TX. Garcia is one of the first persons to cross into El Paso from Juarez after the reopening of the border to vaccinated nonessential travelers. The border had been closed for nearly 20 months due to the global pandemic.
Susana Garcia, left, embraces her sister, Martha Garcia, on Nov. 8 near the Paso del Norte International Port of Entry in El Paso after not seeing her for nearly two years. In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. had closed land borders with Mexico to vaccinated travelers —and reopened them after 19 months to Mexican nationals who can present proof of vaccination. Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune
CBP agents check documents on the Paso Del Norte International Bridge in El Paso, Texas after the United States opened the border with Mexico on November 8, 2021.
A woman commutes across the U.S-Mexico border crossing in Laredo, TX on Nov. 9, 2021.
Families are turned away from making their asylum claims at the Paso del Norte International Bridge after the Biden administration announced they would stop metering families at ports of entry into the United States. CBP agents told the asylum seekers they were at capacity before calling Mexican INM officials to remove them from the bridge. Earlier in the day the United States opened land borders to vaccinated people from Mexico. El Paso, Texas on November 8, 2021.
First: Customs and Border Protection agents check documents on the Paso Del Norte International Bridge in El Paso on the first day that land borders with Mexico reopened after 19 months. Next: A woman commutes across the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Laredo on Nov. 9. Last: Families are turned away from making their asylum claims at the Paso del Norte International Bridge after the Biden administration announced it would stop metering families at ports of entry. Credit: Justin Hamel and Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune
Maddox Cozart, 12, plays at a park in Temple on Dec. 8, 2021. Maddox was placed in in-school suspension over his hairstyle earlier this year.
Tambra Morrison holds her 7-month-old daughter Kalani as they watch her other two children Kayden and Kynnedi climb the park jungle gym at Red Bird Park in Duncanville, TX on August 14, 2021.
First: Maddox Cozart, 12, plays at a park in Temple on Dec. 8. Maddox was placed in in-school suspension over his hairstyle earlier this year. Last: Tambra Morrison with her three children at Red Bird Park in Duncanville in August. After a life-threatening experience following the birth of her youngest child, Morrison saw the need for Texas to expand postpartum care for mothers. A new state law to extend Medicaid coverage went into effect Sept. 1., but some say it doesn’t go far enough. Credit: Montinique Monroe and Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Spectators look at the balloons during the McAllen Holiday Parade in McAllen on Dec. 4, 2021.
Spectators look at balloons and confetti as they enjoy the McAllen Holiday Parade in McAllen on Dec. 4. Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune

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