Tell us how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting you
While doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have begun to arrive, the pandemic is far from over. Share your story with us. Full Story
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![Cameron County residents wait to recieve the COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-in distribution site in Los Fresnos on Jan. 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: A call for unity in government — in Texas, two years ago
State leaders started their last legislative session, in 2019, with a call for unity. By their measure, they got what they set out to accomplish. They’re back to normal this year — not at odds, but not singing “Kumbaya,” either. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen pet Pancake, the governor’s dog after their joint press conference. Jan. 9, 2019.]()
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Facing a crush of COVID-19 patients, ICUs are completely full in at least 50 Texas hospitals
Across Texas, hospital intensive care units are being battered as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in a post-holiday surge. Dozens of facilities have reported that their ICUs have been at or above 100% capacity for weeks, leaving staff overworked and stretched thin. Full Story
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Dan Patrick asks Texas to revise coronavirus vaccine distribution plan as eligible people experience frustration trying to locate a dose
The lieutenant governor's request comes as distribution of the vaccine in Texas has been beset with miscommunication and technical issues that have created confusion for patients and providers, even as Texas outpaces other states in administering the vaccine. Full Story
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![Long lines of people wait to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at Fair Park, where Dallas County opened its first "mega" vaccination site. Jan. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Baylor students must test weekly for COVID-19. Those who keep missing tests could lose Wi-Fi access.
The new weekly test requirement is possible with the help of a new multimillion-dollar, on-campus lab that produces test results in less than 24 hours. Full Story
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![Diagnosticians process COVID-19 testing samples at the new state-of-the-art COVID-19 testing lab and research facility in Waco, developed through a new partnership between Baylor University and My Labs Direct. The high-throughput molecular PCR lab is one of the largest testing labs of its kind owned by a university with no affiliated medical school. Baylor University began the spring semester on Jan. 19, with weekly testing an important part of comprehensive COVID-19 measures to ensure a safe learning community.]()
Credit: Matthew Minard/Baylor University -
U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, hospitalized with cancer last year, tests positive for coronavirus
Wright, who was hospitalized in September while undergoing cancer treatment, said in a statement that he’s been in quarantine since Friday. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep, Ron Wright, R-Arlington, at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2018.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas has a problem with its COVID-19 vaccination data, and the stakes are high. Now the state is scrambling to solve it.
As the state began the massive undertaking of distributing the coronavirus vaccine, early data problems left state officials with immunization records that were outdated, incomplete and sometimes misleading. Full Story
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![Staff members work in Tarrytown pharmacy in Austin on Jan. 14, 2021.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas has administered most of its 1.7 million vaccine doses as it prepares to receive 333,000 more
Some 78% of the 1,725,575 doses already shipped to providers have been used, including second doses, Gov. Greg Abbott said, and Texas is set to receive 333,650 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference in Austin on Dec. 17, 2020, regarding COVID-19 and the Pfizer vaccines that have been sent to hospitals across Texas. Gov. Abbott was adamant that despite rising cases and deaths, he will not be ordering any shutdowns. Gov. Abbott also said he has not received the vaccine, but he will take it when the time comes.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Low-income Texans struggle to find new doctors as state officials boot Planned Parenthood off Medicaid
The state's health commission gave Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients until Feb. 3 to find new doctors. Experts say there are limited places low-income patients can go, in part because Texas already has a shortage of doctors who accept Medicaid due to the state’s low payment rates. Full Story
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![An anonymous HPV patient living in a Houston hotel to escape domestic abuse navigates the uncertainties of Planned Parenthood being withdrawn from Medicaid coverage.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas-based anti-vaccine group received federal bailout funds in May as pandemic raged
The Austin-based group founded by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree regularly posts information questioning the safety of the coronavirus vaccines. Doctors and scientists say both the Moderna and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Full Story
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![Anti-vaccination protestors at the Capitol in Austin on April 18, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“Lives are at stake”: Three Texas regions battered by coronavirus are out of intensive care beds
Hospitals in the Abilene, Bryan-College Station and Laredo areas have run out of intensive care unit beds. State health officials are “greatly concerned” about high numbers of hospitalized people throughout Texas. Full Story
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![A patient at the COVID-19 unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Trump administration extends health care safety net for uninsured Texans
A federal program known as the 1115 waiver helps pay for the costs of providing health care to people who are uninsured. Advocates for Medicaid expansion say it fills gaps in care that are caused by Texas’ refusal to expand coverage. Full Story
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![Dr. Spencer R. Berthelsen, M.D., Chairman, Board of Directors at Kelsey-Seybold, who still sees patients two days a week, visits with patient Francisco Garcia (also a doctor at Kelsey Seybold) before his annual physical at their clinic in Sugar Land. Sept. 22, 2011.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick awards committee chair to Texas senator who previously faced sexual harassment allegation
State Sen. Charles Schwertner gave up serving as chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services in 2019. This year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named him chair of the Committee on Administration. Full Story
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![A committee hearing room featuring plexiglass dividers on Jan 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
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 Full Story
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![State Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, during a State Affairs committee hearing in Austin on Feb. 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![A pharmacist prepares the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Houston Independent School District’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center. HISD partnered with Kroger to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to educators, police officers and school nurses as part of Phase 1A and 1B of the vaccine rollout. Jan. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
Point of Order: The incoming speaker speaks
In the latest episode of our podcast about the Texas Legislature, Evan Smith talks politics, policy, priorities and the pandemic with Dade Phelan, the presumptive speaker of the Texas House. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference in Austin on Dec. 17, 2020, regarding COVID-19 and the Pfizer vaccines that have been sent to hospitals across Texas. Gov. Abbott was adamant that despite rising cases and deaths, he will not be ordering any shutdowns. Gov. Abbott also said he has not received the vaccine, but he will take it when the time comes.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The Texas Legislature isn’t like Congress, right?
The Texas Legislature is more bipartisan than Congress, historically speaking. But a unique set of issues to address and an atmosphere of division emanating from Washington, D.C., could test that in the session that starts Tuesday. Full Story
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![Signs adorn every seat in the House Gallery to ensure social distancing in the house chamber. Jan 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas announces sites for next COVID-19 vaccine shipment
State health officials said Sunday that 28 hubs will be getting 158,825 doses this week. Full Story
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![Arlington Fire Fighter Samuel Rochin, right, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare worker Vannia Atao at the Esports Stadium in Arlington on Jan. 05, 2021.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![Health care workers at the UT Health/Dell Medical School administered COVID-19 vaccines in Austin on Dec. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
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