Latest Contributions

• Medicaid expansion picks up bipartisan support in the Texas House, but hurdles remain

  by Karen Brooks Harper 11 hours ago

  Expanding the Medicaid rolls to include more than a million Texans could get a floor vote during House budget hearings on Thursday. Full Story 

• COVID-19 ravaged Texas nursing homes. Here are the stories behind the numbers.

  by Carla Astudillo and Karen Brooks Harper April 15, 2021

  Nearly 9,000 Texas nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. This is what the last year of chaos and isolation was like for nursing homes residents and the employees who care for them. Full Story 

• Texans hit hardest by coronavirus are facing another challenge: the pause on the J&J vaccine

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Mandi Cai Updated: April 14, 2021

  Efforts to vaccinate young people, rural Texans, communities of color and people experiencing homelessness have been impacted by the pause. Full Story 

• Texas pauses J&J vaccinations as feds plan to review six reports of blood clotting among 6.8 million doses nationwide

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: April 13, 2021

  At the state's three FEMA vaccination sites in Dallas, Arlington and Houston, officials said that vaccine efforts would continue but that officials would not be administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Full Story 

• Trying to make sense of how Texas ranks on coronavirus vaccinations? Here’s a look behind the numbers.

  by Karen Brooks Harper April 9, 2021

  Texas is beating the national rate in terms of seniors fully vaccinated, but unique challenges make it harder to move up in the rankings in other areas, officials and experts say. Full Story 

• As vaccine eligibility widens, some vulnerable Texans are still fighting for access

  by Karen Brooks Harper March 31, 2021

  The state is still directing providers to prioritize older and vulnerable Texans, and cities are continuing their efforts to reach Texans who have trouble accessing vaccine doses. Full Story 

• Vaccinated Texas nursing home residents can now hug their families and receive more visitors after a year of isolation

  by Karen Brooks Harper March 23, 2021

  For many residents, birthday parties and holiday celebrations took place largely through windows and over video calls. Full Story 

• Texas opens COVID-19 vaccine to everyone 16 and older on March 29

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: March 23, 2021

  The Texas Department of State Health Services is asking providers to prioritize appointments for people 80 and older, and to prioritize walk-ins from anyone in that age group who shows up without an appointment. Full Story 

• Unmasked: Across Texas, elation and caution as COVID-19 restrictions end after a year

  by Karen Brooks Harper, Duncan Agnew and Marissa Martinez Updated: March 10, 2021

  A newly "open" state will likely look very different in rural towns and suburban neighborhoods compared to more populous areas and coronavirus hot spots, residents and business owners say. Full Story 

• Texans don’t have to prove they’re eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and some are jumping the line. Here’s why.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: March 9, 2021

  Providers are not allowed, under state health guidelines, to require vaccine recipients to prove a medical condition that would qualify them because it could create barriers at a time when Texas is trying to vaccinate most of its 29 million residents. Full Story 

• Keep wearing your mask, health officials say after Gov. Greg Abbott lifts mask mandate

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: March 2, 2021

  Some variants of COVID-19 are more contagious and researchers believe they can reinfect people who already have gotten the virus. Doctors and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend wearing masks. Full Story 

• Texas National Guard deployed to get COVID-19 vaccines to older Texans who are homebound

  by Karen Brooks Harper Feb. 25, 2021

  Gov. Greg Abbott said he wants the majority of Texans who are 65 and older to be inoculated against COVID-19 by the end of March. He said the state could announce more eligibility for the vaccines next month. Full Story 

• Texas’ COVID-19 vaccinations begin to rebound after plunging during last week’s winter storm

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Feb. 23, 2021

  Texas expects to see about 1.5 million doses arrive this week, including last week’s undelivered doses, and the opening of three new federally supported vaccination hubs. Full Story 

• “An emergency on top of a pandemic”: Texas hospital workers scramble as winter storm hampered operations

  by Karen Brooks Harper Feb. 18, 2021

  Water disruptions, patient logjams, overflowing emergency rooms, exhausted workers, staffing shortages and power outages created challenging conditions for health care workers across the state. Full Story 

• “Please help us, please”: More than 100 older and disabled Texans were stranded without power in Austin high-rise

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Montinique Monroe Feb. 17, 2021

  Firefighters helped staff evacuate residents who wanted to go to shelters after more than two days of frigid temperatures and dwindling food supplies. Full Story 

• Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries, injections delayed by winter storm

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Feb. 16, 2021

  Vaccine events and appointments across Texas were shut down when snow and ice made travel too dangerous, brought power outages and delayed vaccine deliveries. Full Story 

• Texas launches multimillion dollar campaign to combat vaccine hesitancy

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Marissa Martinez Feb. 12, 2021

  Local governments and advocacy groups are targeting skeptical communities early, but the state is holding back a large media blitz until more vaccine arrives. Full Story 

• Three FEMA-run vaccination sites aimed at underserved Texans to open later this month, Abbott says

  by Karen Brooks Harper Feb. 10, 2021

  Combined, the three sites are expected to administer more than 10,000 shots per day, with doses supplied by FEMA. Full Story 

• Older and disabled Texans are demanding their home caregivers be vaccinated for COVID-19. But many workers don’t want it.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Feb. 8, 2021

  Home health workers, most of whom are women of color, could start losing their jobs if they aren't vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts widely agree that the vaccine is safe — Pfizer and Moderna both reported their vaccines are more than 90% effective at protecting people from serious illness — but some still refuse to get a shot. Full Story 

• Progress in the fight against the coronavirus is coming, but Texas is a long way from herd immunity

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Anna Canizales Feb. 1, 2021

  Medical experts say the state will struggle to immunize enough Texans to halt the chain of transmission through vaccination. But they hope to soon see evidence that vaccination efforts are helping to take pressure off the health care system. Full Story