A timeline of 2021′s top COVID-19 developments

Read more stories wrapping 2021 here.

The year is ending as it began — with a spike in COVID-19 cases.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t progress made against the coronavirus in 2021, because there was. And so far, the end-of-December spike shows hundreds of new cases a day, not thousands like last January.

The start of 2021 focused on getting vaccines to healthcare workers, those 65 years and older and people with qualifying health conditions as COVID-19 hospitalizations reached an all-time high in Bexar County.

By the end of March, cases were down drastically and the vaccine was available to all adults in Texas. But, just as we got our hopes up for a “normal” summer, the delta variant hit. That caused cases to climb again, peaking in mid-August just as kids headed back to school.

This month, it’s the omicron variant that’s causing cases to rise.

There’s hope though, as the year comes to a close, with vaccines for children, boosters and newly approved treatments — all things that were unavailable a year ago.

Last January, only a few thousand people had received a single vaccine in Bexar County, Now, more than 1.3 million are fully vaccinated here, city data shows.

Here’s a look back at the top COVID-19 headlines in 2021 to see how far we’ve come in the fight against COVID-19:

• Jan. 11 City of San Antonio to convert Alamodome into mass, no-cost COVID-19 vaccination site
• Jan. 14 Texas is the first state to administer 1 million COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Abbott says
• Jan. 18 COVID-19 hospitalizations hit all-time high in Bexar County hospitals
• Feb. 1 Fiesta San Antonio postponed due to coronavirus pandemic
• Feb. 26 Texas announces program to find, vaccinate homebound seniors against COVID-19
• Mar. 8 Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says
• Mar. 10 Texas lifts statewide mask mandate
• Mar. 19 CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be closer
• Mar. 29 Texas among more than a dozen states to open vaccines to all adults
• April 13 US recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports
• April 29 Texas’ COVID-19 death toll surpasses 50,000, data shows
• May 10 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use in kids ages 12 to 15
• June 5 Masks will no longer required on Texas public school campuses
• June 28 WHO: Delta variant is ‘most transmissible’ identified so far
• June 28 WHO encourages fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks due to surge in delta variant
• July 7 Global COVID-19 deaths hit 4 million
• July 13 COVID-19 positivity rate climbs to 11.2% in Bexar County
• July 27 CDC changes course on indoor masks in some parts of the US
• Aug. 3 COVID-19 level in Bexar County increases from ‘low’ to ‘severe’ and ‘worsening’ in one month
• Aug. 9 Gov. Greg Abbott’s order banning mask mandates in Texas schools faces lawsuit, defiance by big-city districts
• Aug. 10 Masks required in all Bexar County facilities starting Wednesday after county judge issues executive order
• Aug. 17 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID-19 and then tests negative four days later
• Aug. 23 FDA gives full approval of Pfizer vaccine
• Sept. 7 Bexar County positivity rate drops to 7.6%; risk level ‘moderate’
• Oct. 2 COVID-19 deaths eclipse 700,000 in US as delta variant rages
• Oct. 19 Bexar County COVID-19 positivity rate drops to 2.1%
• Nov. 2 COVID-19 risk level ‘low’ in Bexar County, officials say
• Nov. 2 CDC signs off on Pfizer shots for kids 5-11
• Nov. 4 US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4
• Nov. 16 Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill
• Nov. 19 US opens COVID boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
• Nov. 29 WHO warns that omicron variant poses ‘very high’ risk
• Nov. 30 Judge blocks Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers after Texas, other states sue
• Dec. 1 1st US case of COVID omicron variant confirmed in California
• Dec. 6 Texas reports its first case of the omicron COVID-19 variant
• Dec. 8 US hits 200M vaccine milestone
• Dec. 8 New COVID-19 antibody drug OK’d to protect most vulnerable
• Dec. 9 Texas creates hotline for employees to report workplaces requiring COVID-19 vaccine
• Dec. 9 US expands Pfizer COVID boosters, opens extra dose to age 16
• Dec. 9 WHO warns fears of omicron could spark new vaccine hoarding
• Dec. 13 First two cases of COVID-19 omicron variant reported in Bexar County, health officials say
• Dec. 14 COVID-19 death toll in U.S. hits 800,000
• Dec. 14 Data indicate omicron is milder, better at evading vaccines
• Dec. 15 One year anniversary of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Bexar County
• Dec. 16 CDC recommends Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 shots over J&J’s
• Dec. 17 WHO approves Novavax vaccine for emergency use against COVID
• Dec. 20 Omicron now 73% of new US COVID cases
• Dec. 21 Texas man is reportedly the 1st person to die from omicron variant in the US
• Dec. 22 Pfizer pill becomes 1st US-authorized home COVID treatment
• Dec. 23 US shortens COVID-19 isolation recommendation to 10 days for health workers
• Dec. 23 US adds Merck pill as 2nd easy-to-use drug against COVID-19
• Dec. 27 Monoclonal antibody supply to fight omicron variant ‘exhausted’ at San Antonio infusion center, TDHS says
• Dec. 27 US officials recommend shorter 5-day COVID isolation, quarantine