The latest Department of State Health Services news from The Texas Tribune.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine to the people eligible to receive it has proven far from easy. Its rollout in Texas has been marred by poor messaging from state officials, technical errors, logistical delays and supply shortages. Full Story
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Texas health officials have told vaccine providers that they could resume using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in all adult recipients. Use of that vaccine had been paused for nearly two weeks. Full Story
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“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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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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Great news: The COVID-19 vaccines are coming. Not-so-great news: There won't be enough for all of us for a while, and that means the first doses will go to people deemed essential. Full Story
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Residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, among others, were added to the priority list that already included hospital staff working with COVID-19 patients. Full Story
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Under the state’s vaccine distribution plan, vulnerable people, including health care workers, older people and people with underlying medical conditions, would likely be the first to get the vaccine in the early months that it’s available. Full Story
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The state's second attempt at reporting known COVID-19 cases among students and staff doesn't get much closer to helping the public understand how or whether infections are spreading in Texas public schools. Full Story
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Local health officials describe the electronic system as “cumbersome,” “archaic” and “really slow," though its performance has improved since it was upgraded in August. Full Story
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Budget cuts meant skimpier caches of protective equipment, and Texas' chronic shortage of public health workers has made the response more difficult, experts said. Full Story
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The state's public health experts are changing their calculation of one of the governor's go-to measures of the spread of coronavirus. It's an improvement, but the new version has some bugs of its own. Full Story
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The Texas Department of State Health Services said it will now rely on a calculation that takes into account the date on which a coronavirus test was administered, rather than when it was reported. Full Story
One key COVID-19 metric is trending downward, but experts worry that Labor Day gatherings and school reopenings could cause cases to spike again. Full Story
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The state disclosed a backlog of more than 850,000 tests this month, which were delayed in part because of coding or formatting errors and a lengthy onboarding process needed to receive reports from laboratories. Full Story
Without numbers on how many children or staff are in Texas child care facilities — which the state does not report — it’s hard to gauge the magnitude of infections. Full Story
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In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, listen to why Ambra Hernandez felt compelled to launch a Facebook group to help teachers fulfill their longer-than-normal wish lists. Full Story
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The governor also said that testing is down statewide possibly because of the closure of some temporary testing sites created in July that targeted various coronavirus hotspots. Full Story
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The news comes as Texas resumes limited visitations in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities that meet certain requirements. Full Story
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It’s hard to collect good numbers on an unknown virus, and Texas health officials have made errors. But experts say the state’s coronavirus data is useful as long as users understand its limitations. Full Story
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Not only are Hispanic Texans catching the coronavirus at higher rates in the state's largest county, but they also suffer some of the worst outcomes. Full Story
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