[ad_1]
How many Texans have been vaccinated?
As of July 16, 14.3 million people had received at least one dose, or 49.3% of the population of Texas, and 12.4 million people, or 42.6%, were fully vaccinated. A total of 25.6 million doses have been administered. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires one dose.
SEE RELATED STORY: 99.75% of Houstonians Who Died From COVID Unvaccinated, Doctors Say
Texas received its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine on December 14. Vaccines are available to anyone 12 years of age and older in Texas, regardless of occupation or health condition.
Health experts estimate that 75 to 90% of Texans should be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. That’s about 22 million people, or nearly 100% of the state’s adults. The state is still a long way from reaching that threshold, even considering people who have some immunity to a previous case of COVID-19. The CDC recommends that previously infected people get the vaccine because scientists aren’t sure how long their immunity lasts.
The state’s immunization effort has faced geographic, demographic, and data challenges, many of which are unique to Texas, including a higher-than-average number of people too young to get vaccinated and a collection system data that can take days to publicly report the doses administered.
A third of Texas’ population lives in more rural areas, where health care is more difficult to access. State health officials initially deployed vaccination centers to help administer the vaccines. But in May, the state shifted responsibility to a growing number of doctors, pharmacies, public health units and other smaller providers who have closer relationships with the community.
Who gets vaccinated?
The first groups eligible for vaccines were residents and staff of long-term care facilities, Texans aged 65 and over, frontline health workers, and people aged 16 and over with medical conditions. eligible. The virus has mostly killed people 60 and over, prompting urgent efforts to vaccinate older Texans.
SEE RELATED STORY: 13 Areas with More COVID-19 Deaths and Fewer Vaccines Investigated
The vaccine distribution is uneven, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. Among people who have received at least one injection, the percentage of white recipients roughly matches their proportion of the state’s population, while Hispanic and black residents are vaccinated at lower rates.
Advocates say language barriers and lack of access to health care providers and transportation have contributed to these disparities. Low-income people also face challenges when trying to make an appointment for a vaccine through a process that favors people who have easy access to the internet and transportation.
Texas’ Hispanic and black populations are younger than the state’s white residents, which also adds to the disparities. About 20% of the Hispanic population is under 12, and none of the vaccines are approved for children under 12. The majority of Texans aged 80 and over are white.
Where are most cases of COVID-19 in Texas?
As of July 17, the state had reported about 2.6 million confirmed cases in 254 counties and 452,706 probable cases in 229 counties since the start of the pandemic. Confirmed cases are detected by molecular tests, such as PCR tests, which are performed with a nasal swab and are very accurate according to the United States Food and Drug Administration. Probable cases are detected using rapid-result antigen tests, which are faster and less precise.
These totals may differ from what the county and city health departments report. The Tribune measures both the number of cases in each county and the rate of cases per 1,000 population over the past two weeks.
How many people are in the hospital?
As of July 16, there were at least 2,834 hospital patients in Texas with confirmed coronavirus infections. These data do not take into account people hospitalized but who did not obtain a positive test.
On July 16, the state reported 10,049 staffed hospital beds available, including 743 staffed intensive care beds available statewide. COVID-19 patients currently occupy 4.3% of total hospital beds.
How many people died?
The first coronavirus-related death in Texas occurred on March 15, 2020 in Matagorda County. As of July 17, 51,640 people who tested positive for the virus have died in Texas. The DSHS counts deaths based on death certificates that list COVID-19 as the cause of death, which excludes deaths of people with COVID-19 who died from another cause.
[ This timeline tracks COVID-19’s rampage through Texas over the virus’ first year ]
Some areas with the highest death rates are predominantly Hispanic. The virus has been deadliest in Hidalgo and Cameron counties in the Rio Grande Valley, where death rates rival more populous parts of the state like Dallas and San Antonio. In El Paso County, thousands of residents have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, placing the region far ahead of other major urban counties in terms of deaths per 1,000 residents.
How many new cases are reported each day?
The state is reporting the number of new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in Texas every day, which excludes pending cases. The number of newly reported cases declines on weekends, when labs are less likely to report new data to the state. At least one county, Bexar, the state’s fourth, only reports data once a week.
New variants of the coronavirus that appear to spread more easily have been found in Texas, although preliminary studies suggest that vaccinations are still effective against the variants.
The state reports very limited demographic data for people who have had COVID-19, so the impact on Texans of color is difficult to measure.
There are 452,706 known probable cases in 229 counties, including 880 new cases reported on July 17. The state began reporting probable cases, which can be detected by antigen testing, in November. A total of 25 counties, including Harris, Travis and El Paso, are not reporting probable cases to the state, although antigen testing may take place there.
How many coronavirus tests come back positive?
The positivity rate measures the prevalence of the virus in Texas. A rate above 10% puts states in the “red zone,” according to federal guidelines. During Texas’ two largest epidemics, the rate exceeded 20%, meaning one in five tests were positive.
This rate is calculated by dividing the average number of confirmed cases by the average number of molecular tests performed in the past seven days. It shows how the situation has changed over time by minimizing daily fluctuations.
DSHS reports a second positivity rate based solely on rapid-result antigen tests, which detect probable cases. As of July 16, the rate was 6.6% on 5.1 million tests.
How many tests were administered?
As of July 16, Texas had administered 32.7 million tests for the coronavirus since March 2020. We do not know the number of Texans who have been tested because some people are tested more than once. The state count does not include pending tests.
What else should I know about this data?
These figures come from the Texas Department of State Health Services, which typically updates the statewide case count at 4 p.m. each day.
In order to publish data quickly, the state must bypass what is normally a months-long process of reviewing infectious disease data and performing quality checks before releasing it. Therefore, all these figures and information are provisional and subject to change.
State data includes cases of federal immigration detention centers, federal prisons and, as of mid-May, state prisons. It does not include cases or vaccinations reported at military bases.
The Texas population estimate is from the Census Bureau’s one-year U.S. Community Survey in 2019. Population estimates for the state’s counties are from the 2019 Quinquennial Survey, which captures small counties . The state’s population by race, ethnicity, and age group is taken from the Census Bureau’s 2019 Vintage Population Estimates.
The video above is taken from a previous story.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, non-partisan media organization that educates Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
[ad_2]
Source link