HOUSTON, Texas The good news is that Texas is finally seeing COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases trend downward after a holiday season marked by a record-breaking surge that pushed hospital systems and health care workers to their limits.
The bad news is that there are still more Texans getting sick and being hospitalized for the coronavirus than this summer, when the state was in the throes of the first wave.
And while vaccinations are reaching more people every day, health care experts warn that this doesn t mean Texas is out of the woods. They say people should remain vigilant and continue following safety guidelines like mask-wearing and social distancing, especially as new variants of the virus continue to emerge. With Super Bowl Sunday around the corner, many are concerned about super spreader events that could undo the modest progress the state has experienced in the past few weeks.
HOUSTON, Texas Calling a hospital to see if a bed was available for a COVID-19 patient isn t part of ABC13 anchor Chauncy Glover s job description. Neither is guiding a viewer online to find a place to be vaccinated.
He s done both, and isn t alone. Listeners and readers across the country are reaching out directly to journalists for help during the coronavirus pandemic, and many are responding. We are now doing more than we bargained for, Glover said. We have to be smarter on these topics. We have to know more. For so many people, it may be life or death.
LSU Health Shreveport depletes allocation of COVID-19 vaccine doses, hopes to get more in near future LSU Health Shreveport is vaccinating people for COVID-19 at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (Source: KSLA) By Jeff Ferrell | January 12, 2021 at 11:48 AM CST - Updated January 14 at 5:54 PM
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) -
UPDATE - As of Jan. 14, LSU Health Shreveport has depleted its allocated number of vaccine doses. Officials say they’re hopeful they’ll get more in the near future. Those who had an appointment to get the vaccine Friday or next week will be notified via email of their rescheduled appointment.
Texas health officials on Sunday released a list of coronavirus vaccination hubs that will receive the state s next shipment of vaccines.
The 28 hubs will get 158,825 doses of the vaccine this week, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Another 38,300 doses will go to other providers across the state.
The number of doses that each provider is getting is based on its own estimate of how many people it could vaccinate in a week, DSHS said.
The hubs are meant to streamline large-scale vaccination as Texas continues to prioritize vaccinating people who are health care workers, 65 and older with underlying medical conditions.
Appointments for Sunday s clinic filled up fast as 750 people signed up to receive the vaccine.
Across the state, vaccines are being administered to people in Phase 1A and 1B, which includes health care workers, residents and staff at long-term health facilities, people who are 65 years or older and people who have at least one chronic medical condition.
Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that the Moderna vaccine was being administered at the city s site located at the Bayou City Event Center.
People without appointments were asked not to show up at the site because they will not be seen.
Most of Sunday s appointments were booked through the department s call center on Saturday, despite the high volume of calls it received, which forced officials to move to an on-site registration format.