Texans have been slow to vaccinate their youngest against COVID-19, but they’re slightly ahead of the national average
For some parents of kids under 5 who want to vaccinate them, the wait has been excruciating, fraught with delays and close calls. Others are hesitant to have their young children vaccinated.
Analysis: A Texas election in the shade of government’s third branch
Challenges to new Texas laws on voting, political districts and abortion are all pending in court, as is the state’s challenge to federal vaccine mandates. But until the courts rule, those laws remain in place — and they provide political fodder for the incumbents who support them.
With the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers halted, Texas nursing homes dodge furloughs and fines
Texas’ nursing home staff vaccination rates are lower than half the country’s — but a judge’s decision last week to delay a vaccine mandate helped them avoid laying off a third of their employees.
Texas scientists search for potentially virulent new omicron COVID-19 variant as state health officials push vaccination
So much is unknown about the new COVID-19 variant: the severity of the illness it causes, whether it can resist vaccines and natural antibodies and whether it’s more contagious than the delta variant that has burned through Texas and the U.S. for months.
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Texas sues the Biden administration over federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott have been at war with locals and federal officials over vaccinate mandates. Earlier this month, Abbott expanded an executive order to block the requirement for any entity in Texas, including health care facilities and private businesses.
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“It puts a big burden on employers”: Businesses face tough choices after Gov. Greg Abbott bans vaccine mandates
American Airlines and Southwest Airlines say they will continue requiring employee vaccinations despite Abbott’s new order, which has left federal government contractors, nursing homes and other companies caught between conflicting rules from the Biden administration and the state.
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Texas doctors, seeing unprecedented numbers of pregnant patients with COVID-19, urge pregnant people to get vaccinated
Pregnant women are getting vaccinated at lower rates than the general population. “This variant is much more aggressive, [and] pregnant women are getting sicker much faster,” one doctor says.
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Texas lawmakers supported a statewide vaccine mandate a decade ago. Now skepticism abounds about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ten years ago, the state led in requiring meningitis vaccines for students under 22 enrolling in college. Now, in the middle of a pandemic, lawmakers are more skeptical of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames Democrats for low vaccinations among Black residents, but more white Texans are unvaccinated
In Texas, the vaccination rate among Black people is low compared with other racial and ethnic groups, but in terms of raw numbers, the biggest group of the unvaccinated is white people.
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Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff visiting Texas to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations
Their Texas swing is part of a larger effort by senior administration officials who are fanning out across the country this week to encourage vaccinations ahead of the administration’s self-imposed goal of hitting a 70% countrywide vaccination rate by July 4.
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Texas lawmakers responded to the pandemic by limiting what the government can do in response to a pandemic
Lawmakers didn’t succeed in curtailing the governor's power during a disaster, but they did pass bills that prohibit so-called vaccine passports and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores.
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Texas GOP state senator urged use of unproven hydroxychloroquine treatment for COVID-19. Now he's spreading doubt about vaccines.
In a period of sagging vaccination rates — particularly among staunch conservatives — state Sen. Bob Hall used his platform to promulgate debunked anti-vaccine conspiracies and push claims that have largely been eschewed by the medical community.
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Congress members ask Biden administration for resources to set up federal pilot community vaccination center in San Antonio area
SAN ANTONIO – Rep. Henry Cuellar and other Congress members representing the San Antonio area are urging the Biden administration to establish a federal pilot community vaccination center in the region. Cuellar -- along with Reps. Joaquin Castro, Chip Roy, Tony Gonzales, and Lloyd Doggett -- sent a letter to the federal government to request the community vaccination centers, which can administer 6,000 vaccines per day. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- in partnership with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and local officials -- would provide the necessary staffing and operational support to expand vaccination efforts in the area. “We applaud the work of the President and the Federal Emergency Management Administration to increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities,” the Congress members wrote in their letter. “In addition to being the third most populous area in the state, Bexar County is ranked first in the Centers for Disease Control’s Social Vulnerability Index.
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‘Almost a level of hysteria:’ Demand for vaccine in San Antonio continues to far surpass supply
San Antonio – City officials say the bottleneck in providing COVID-19 vaccinations to Bexar County residents continues to be the supply of vaccine doses. Bridger said that describes about 60% of Bexar County residents. Not all of those who got slots may even be Bexar County residents, though. It’ll just take a little bit of time.”Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff have asked Gov. Though all the mass vaccination slots are currently filled, a Metro Health spokeswoman said residents should continue to check the city’s vaccination site.