The outbreak in Texas
This week’s COVID-19 digest
The week began with a rare bit of good news. On Sunday, Texas reported its first day without a recorded COVID-19 death since the beginning of the pandemic 14 months ago.
The bad news came Monday, when state health regulators reported nearly two dozen people had died -- the worst such count for a Monday in months.
Meanwhile, the Chronicle reported on Wednesday that Texas is wasting an increasing number of its COVID-19 vaccinations. Public health experts said that it’s a sign indicating that the supply of inoculations is far outpacing demand.
The increase in wasted doses has coincided with falling demand: The state is administering an average of about 144,000 shots per day, less than half the rate of the April peak at 290,000. With fewer people who want a shot lining up to get one, the people who have yet to be vaccinated are those who haven’t had the time to do so or are opposed to getting a vaccine.
The state also hit a new milestone this week in its vaccination efforts, with one-third of Texans having been fully vaccinated.
More than 12.2 million people now have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is 50.8 percent of the population 12 and older. More than 9.7 million Texans are now fully vaccinated, which is 40.4 percent of the population.
In Harris County, 2 million people have received at least one vaccine dose. More than 1.5 million people are now fully vaccinated, and more than 3.4 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the county.
Texas reported
12,705 new COVID cases, the fifth straight week with a decline in weekly reported cases. There were
259 newly reported deaths in
Texas, the fewest reported weekly deaths since the week of
June 19, 2020.
Hospitalizations remain low, and there are 2,081 patients hospitalized for
COVID-19 statewide. There have been fewer than 3,000 patients in Texas hospitals for more than five weeks at this point.
The positive test rate fell below 4 percent and is currently at 3.66 percent.