The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
“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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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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"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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The vaccine, which arrived in Texas on Dec. 14, has been available so far only to front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Full Story
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The relief bill, passed Monday night, will reinstate supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 per week and extend eviction protections through the end of January. The legislation also allocates another $284 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program. Full Story
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Abbott has stressed that the vaccine will not be required for Texans, and on Monday, he specifically said it will not be mandatory for the state's school children. Full Story
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Photojournalists captured the unforgettable images that defined an epic year in Texas as people grappled with the pandemic, protested police brutality and made their voices heard at the polls. Full Story
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So many workers at an Edinburg hospital declined the new COVID-19 vaccine that it offered doses to other medical workers in the region. The vaccine ended up going to nonmedical personnel as well. Full Story
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By the end of the month, the state expects to distribute 1.4 million vaccine doses to hospitals, long-term care facilities and a host of other locations. Full Story
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The group cautions that the more than 8,000 Texans on Medicaid who rely on Planned Parenthood could lose coverage during a pandemic. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott said he has not yet gotten the vaccine but will “at the appropriate time." Full Story
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Heavily Hispanic border regions have seen some of the highest death tolls from the virus. Health experts say people shouldn't let their guard down as vaccinations begin. Full Story
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Four Texas sites received a total of 19,500 doses of the vaccine on Monday, the first phase of a rollout that will put a quarter-million doses into 110 Texas facilities this week — with more on the way next week. Full Story
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Rules preventing large gatherings and the loss of work in a COVID-19-battered economy has forced many El Pasoans to surrender traditional funeral rites as the pandemic claims more victims in their city. Full Story
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From the Rio Grande Valley to the Texas Panhandle and from the Gulf Coast to West Texas, some 110 medical facilities are slated to receive the first allocation of 1.4 million doses earmarked for Texas. Full Story
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Intensive care units were full in at least 28 Texas hospitals for the week ending Nov. 27, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Full Story
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Within two weeks of an informal reception honoring retiring State Board of Education members, at least three members tested positive for COVID-19. No one told many of the other attendees or the hotel. Full Story
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Incumbent Dee Margo is considered the underdog as he fights for a second term leading the city in a Saturday runoff against his predecessor, Oscar Leeser, that has been dominated by management of the latest crisis. Full Story
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The virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 U.S. health care workers; others could face lasting mental scars. It’s “the time when we’re needed most,” one doctor said, “and we’re burned out.” Full Story
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“We are pausing all football team activities and shutting down football training facilities to get a COVID-19 spread among our football program under control,” Chris Del Conte, UT-Austin athletic director, said in a statement. Full Story
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