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• Texas has a problem with its COVID-19 vaccination data, and the stakes are high. Now the state is scrambling to solve it.

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Shannon Najmabadi Jan. 20, 2021

  As the state began the massive undertaking of distributing the coronavirus vaccine, early data problems left state officials with immunization records that were outdated, incomplete and sometimes misleading. Full Story 

• Texas has administered most of its 1.7 million vaccine doses as it prepares to receive 333,000 more

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Jan. 19, 2021

  Some 78% of the 1,725,575 doses already shipped to providers have been used, including second doses, Gov. Greg Abbott said, and Texas is set to receive 333,650 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Full Story 

• Texas lawmakers aren’t all eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Austin’s top health official is trying to get them vaccinated anyway.

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Cassandra Pollock Updated: Jan. 15, 2021

  Dr. Mark Escott, the interim medical director for Austin Public Health, told The Texas Tribune that he asked Ascension Seton hospital system “if they would be willing to vaccinate lawmakers and key staff if they had availability.” Full Story 

• After a rocky start, Gov. Greg Abbott promises to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations across Texas

  by Karen Brooks Harper Jan. 11, 2021

  Twenty-eight coronavirus vaccination hubs will receive most of the state's next shipment of COVID-19 vaccines this week, with 158,825 doses shipping to providers able to manage large-scale efforts as more doses arrive in the state. Full Story 

• Four years ago, Texas Republicans were the most likely to use mail-in voting. Here’s how that flipped in the last election.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Jan. 11, 2021

  Absentee ballots, which only certain groups of Texans are eligible to use, have traditionally been a tool utilized by the GOP, and in 2016, higher percentages of Republican voters cast absentee ballots than did Democratic voters. Full Story 

• More than two dozen of Texas’ rural hospitals haven’t received any COVID-19 vaccines

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Jan. 8, 2021

  Those lucky enough to be near another provider with shots available are relying on neighborly generosity — encouraged but not mandated by the state — to innoculate front-line workers while they wait. Full Story 

• About 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses will be shipped next week to Texas, mostly for large “vaccination hubs”

  by Karen Brooks Harper Jan. 7, 2021

  Some doses will also go to smaller providers, while hubs will set up registration phone numbers and websites to streamline distribution, according to the state health agency. Full Story 

• More vaccines on the way to Texas this week as the state's COVID-19 situation worsens

  by Karen Brooks Harper Jan. 4, 2021

  COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas are at record levels, while just under half of the vaccine doses shipped to Texans have been given out, according to state numbers. Full Story 

• “We are fighting back”: Texas health care workers receiving vaccines look forward to the end of a tragic year

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Dec. 24, 2020

  The arrival of the vaccine signaled an emergence from what countless health care workers called the darkest time in their careers. Full Story 

• Some Texans are hesitant to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Here's how health officials are countering skepticism.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Dec. 23, 2020

  “Vaccine hesitancy” or “vaccine skepticism” remains a huge challenge for health authorities trying to overcome mistrust by communities of color, the anti-vaxxer crowd and general dubiousness on the part of a traumatized nation. Full Story