Dan Patrick says senators will be tested for coronavirus, seating will be limited for opening day of the Texas Senate
An announcement of protocols for the Jan. 12 event did not mention masks. Full Story
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![The state Senate floor in Austin on Mar. 4, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ medical marijuana program is one of the most restrictive in the country. Advocates hope the Legislature will change that.
There are 3,519 Texans registered with the state to use medical marijuana, though advocates say 2 million people are eligible based on current law. Full Story
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Eligible Texans can’t get answers about the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s not clear who — if anyone — has them.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine to the people eligible to receive it has proven far from easy. Its rollout in Texas has been marred by poor messaging from state officials, technical errors, logistical delays and supply shortages. Full Story
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![A patient received a COVID-19 vaccine at DHR Edinburg Conference Center. Dec. 19, 2020.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton tell Austin restaurants to defy COVID-19 order banning overnight dine-in services
A judge ruled Austin and Travis County can restrict on-site dining overnight from Thursday until Sunday. Gov. Greg Abbott says restaurants should ignore the curfew. Full Story
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![Elia Montoya serves breakfast dishes to U.S. Representative Chip Roy and his family at Juan In A Million, located in East Austin, on May 1, 2020. This was the first phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to gradually reopen Texas businesses during the coronavirus outbreak.]()
Credit: Bronte Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman via USA TODAY NETWORK/REUTERS -
The coronavirus vaccine rollout in Texas is leaving some with more questions than answers
While all eligible Texans under the first phase of the rollout can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine, doses remain in short supply and many Texans who are desperate to get vaccinated can't get clear answers. Full Story
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![Critical Care Pharmacist Jennifer Cortes prepares the first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Medical Center in Houston on Dec. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton sues after Austin bans late on-site dining for New Year’s weekend amid COVID-19 surge
Mayor Steve Adler said the severity of the COVID-19 situation in Austin requires more drastic measures. El Paso County announced a similar order earlier this month. Full Story
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![A positive message is spray painted on a business on Sixth Street in Austin. Many businesses have closed their doors on the strip as a result of the recent coronavirus outbreak. March 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Disabled Texans worry loss of Affordable Care Act could cost them programs that help them live independently
Texas is leading a group of conservative states in a legal battle to have the sprawling health care law struck down. Without it, disabled Texans stand to lose programs that have allowed more people to stay in their homes, rather than state-run institutions. Full Story
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![Laura Halvorson at her home in San Antonio on Nov. 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas officials push hospitals, local health authorities to administer COVID-19 vaccines faster as infection rate reaches "red flag" levels
Texas officials' push for providers to administer more vaccines comes as Texas’ seven-day average COVID-19 positivity rate has remained above 15% for one week, according to data the state released Tuesday. Full Story
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![Medical personnel wear personal protective equipment as they register residents at a COVID-19 testing site at Nations Tobin Park in El Paso on Nov. 19, 2020.]()
Credit: Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune -
Lone Star State sees dramatic increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations
The previous high of nearly 10,900 was broken as more than 11,300 Texans with COVID-19 were hospitalized Monday. Full Story
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![The COVID-19 unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
"We need to be at the table": Texans with disabilities worry changes in legislative process during the pandemic could shut them out
COVID-19 rules and accommodations are still uncertain in the Capitol, though many people with disabilities don't plan to give testimony in person because of fears of exposure. Full Story
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![Adapt of Texas, a grassroots disability rights organization, held a rally and march to protest proposed cuts and changes to health care in 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen tests positive for coronavirus
“We are unable to pinpoint our initial exposure, as we ... made the difficult decision to celebrate Christmas with just our own household this year,” Bonnen, who is retiring from the House, wrote on his Facebook page. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dennis Bonnen during a press conference on a Domestic Terrorism Task Force roundtable held at the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
A grieving daughter, a dedicated teacher and a former bar owner: We check back in with Texans about the pandemic and 2020
Like so many people, everyone we spoke to for this special edition of The Brief podcast said they're ready for this year to be over. Full Story
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Credit: The Texas Tribune -
One Texas health district received 900 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, it closed for Christmas.
The move in Williamson County drew a sharp rebuke from local leaders, who felt that health officials shirked their duties by failing to promptly administer doses of the vaccine. Full Story
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![Holly Ainsworth, a nursing intern at the University of Texas, prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine to Stephanie Vasquez, a PACU Nurse at UT HS-ASC, on Dec. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“We are fighting back”: Texas health care workers receiving vaccines look forward to the end of a tragic year
The arrival of the vaccine signaled an emergence from what countless health care workers called the darkest time in their careers. Full Story
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![A vial containing the Pfizer-BioNTech CODID-19 vaccine is prepared to be administered to health care workers at the UT Health/Dell Medical School in downtown Austin on Dec 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Hungry and homeless Texans are waiting anxiously for Congress to act. The day after Christmas, pandemic jobless aid expires.
President Donald Trump has suggested he will veto COVID-19 aid legislation, creating uncertainty about when assistance may reach Americans. Meanwhile, Texans are living in cars and the state is sitting on unspent relief money. Full Story
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![Workers boarded up bars on Sixth Street in Austin after Gov. Greg Abbott closed bars in Texas for the second time in three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic on June 26, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Here's what you need to know about getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Texas
Texas health officials have told vaccine providers that they could resume using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in all adult recipients. Use of that vaccine had been paused for nearly two weeks. Full Story
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![A vile containing the Pfizer-BioNTech CODID-19 vaccine is prepared to be administered to health care workers at the UT Health/Dell Medical School in downtown Austin on Dec. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: "A dose of hope" as medical workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Rio Grande Valley
At a hospital in Edinburg, medical workers lined up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. It will be months before the shots are widely available to most Texans, but many hope the end to the pandemic could be in sight. Full Story
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![People waited in line at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Conference Center in Edinburg to receive the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 19, 2020]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Some Texans are hesitant to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Here's how health officials are countering skepticism.
“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
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![Doctors Hospital at Renaissance employees ready a Pfizer vaccine for administration on Dec. 19, 2020]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott allows only limited COVID-19 restrictions for Texas' worst hot spots. Local leaders say it's not enough.
A Texas Tribune analysis of state data shows that in regions with the worst outbreaks, including El Paso, Amarillo and Lubbock, the restrictions have done little to ease an overburdened health care system. Full Story
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![Guests dance at Billy Bob’s Texas, a honky-tonk in Fort Worth. Billy Bobís has been operating since August 13 under food and beverage guidelines after previously being classified as a bar. Bars that did not already get the food and beverage license were allowed to reopen October 14 at 50% capacity, and must stop selling alcohol by 11 pm.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott receives COVID-19 vaccine, saying he wants to serve as an example to Texans
"I will never ask a Texan to do something I'm not willing to do myself," Abbott said moments before getting vaccinated at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin. Full Story
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![Registered Nurse April Burgeons administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at Ascension Seton Medical Center on Dec. 22, 2020, in Austin. Commissioner Dr. John William Hellerstedt of the Texas Department of State Health Services far left and Registered Nurse Toby Hatton look on.]()
Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell/POOL via American-Statesman