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.”
Coronavirus in Texas
As the coronavirus spread across the state, The Texas Tribune covered the most important health, economic, academic and breaking developments that affected Texans. Our map tracker showed the number of cases, deaths, tests and vaccinations in Texas from 2020-22.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas House member Joe Deshotel tests positive for coronavirus, forcing other state lawmakers into quarantine
State Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, told The Texas Tribune he tested positive Thursday — three days after lawmakers gaveled in for this year’s legislative session
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Coronavirus in Texas
Balancing Texas’ budget is always complicated. The pandemic and recession will make it even harder in 2021.
Lawmakers could face a multibillion-dollar budget deficit due to the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying recession. That will only compound the difficulties of balancing the budget.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas becomes first state to administer 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
The milestone comes as intensive care beds are dwindling across the state and as experts predict daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations will worsen following an influx of holiday season gatherings.
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Coronavirus in Texas
After a rocky start, Gov. Greg Abbott promises to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations across Texas
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.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Four years ago, Texas Republicans were the most likely to use mail-in voting. Here’s how that flipped in the last election.
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.
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Coronavirus in Texas
In rural Texas, frustration with a disjointed vaccine rollout grows: “We’re better than this”
Steve Johnson, 75, says trying to get his first COVID-19 vaccine dose in Wise County highlighted the shortcomings of the distribution plan. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Advocates worry vaccines will be out of reach for Black and Hispanic neighborhoods devastated by COVID-19
In the state’s largest metropolitan areas, vaccine distribution centers like hospitals and pharmacies are more common in white, affluent neighborhoods.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Clogged phone lines and ethical dilemmas: Texas health providers scramble to roll out vaccine with little state guidance
More than 8 million Texans qualify to receive COVID-19 vaccines, but fewer than 2 million doses have shipped. Providers are facing clogged phone lines, crashing websites and tough decisions about who will get the first shots.
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Coronavirus in Texas
More than two dozen of Texas’ rural hospitals haven’t received any COVID-19 vaccines
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.