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Houston Health Department, partners announce free COVID-19 testing schedule for week of January 4
US virus death toll surpasses 350,000; surge feared
The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 350,000 as experts anticipate another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths stemming from holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year’s.
Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the U.S. passed the threshold early Sunday morning. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected. The U.S. has begun using two coronavirus vaccines to protect health care workers and nursing home residents and staff but the rollout of the inoculation program has been criticized as being slow and chaotic.
Multiple states have reported a record number of cases over the past few days, including North Carolina and Arizona. Mortuary owners in hard-hit Southern California say they’re being inundated with bodies.
The U.S. by far has reported the most deaths from COVID-19 in the world, followed by Brazil, which has reported more than 195,000 deaths.
Texans vs. Titans live blog: 38-35 Titans, 4th Q
First-quarter
15:00 — Titans call tails. It’s headed. Houston will receive.
15:00 — WR Brandin Cooks catches a 20-yard pass from QB Deshaun Watson, and Cooks now goes over 1,000 receiving yards.
13:48 — Watson scrambles for four yards on a third-and-6 from the Houston 49-yard line.
9:58 — On a third-and-18 from the Titans’ 34-yard line, QB Ryan Tannehill checks down to TE Anthony Firkser for six yards.
7:43 — On a third-and-6 from the Houston 28-yard line, Watson throws an interception right into the hands of S Amani Hooker. Watson was looking for Cooks the entire time.
6:46 — K Sam Sloman hits a 47-yard field goal. Titans 3-0
1:45 — K Ka’imi Fairbairn nails a 24-yard field goal. 3-3
Second quarter
15:00 — Not so fast, General. RB Derrick Henry for a 52-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 10-3
12:44 — On a third-and-2 from the Houston 46-yard line, Watson throws an incomplete pass intended for Cooks.
12:44 — Houston direct snaps it to QB A.J. McCarron on punt formation, and he throws a 20-yard pass to WR Steven Mitchell at the Tennessee 34-yard line.
8:15 — Fairbairn hits a 43-yard field goal. Titans 10-6
4:35 — Tannehill throws a 4-yard touchdown to WR A.J. Brown. Extra point is good. Titans 17-6
0:10 — Fairbairn hits a 28-yard field goal. Titans 17-9
Halftime
Texans
Watson: 15/23, 162 yards, INT; 3 carries, 3 yards
David Johnson: 9 carries, 34 yards
Keke Coutee: 5 catches, 61 yards
Cooks: 5 catches, 58 yards
Titans
Tannehill: 6/9, 59 yards, TD; 2 carries, 9 yards
Henry: 10 carries, 113 yards, TD
Brown: 3 catches, 33 yards, TD
Third quarter
15:00 — Titans get the ball to start the second half.
9:57 — Henry rushes for a 6-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 24-9
8:18 — Watson throws a 38-yard touchdown pass to Cooks on a flea flicker. An extra point is missed. Titans 24-15
4:36 — Tannehill rushes for a 5-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 31-15
2:59 — Watson throws a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cooks. The two-point throw to WR Chad Hansen is good. However, during commercial break they overturned it after a review. Titans 31-21
2:59 — ILB Zach Cunningham reaches in from behind as Henry is going back and punches the ball out. DE Carlos Watkins recovers at the Tennessee 28.
1:20 — Johnson rushes for a 1-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 31-28
Fourth quarter
15:00 — On a first-and-10 from the Houston 49-yard line, Henry rushes for six yards.
13:17 — DE Charles Omenihu sacks Tannehill on a fourth-and-11 from the Houston 37-yard line. Turnover on downs.
10:14 — Watson throws a 7-yard touchdown to TE Pharaoh Brown. The extra point is good. Texans 35-31
1:53 — The Titans get called for an illegal formation on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
1:42 — Tannehill rushes for a 6-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 38-35
Wall, Rockets beat Kings 102-94; Harden sits with injury
John Wall scored 28 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings 102-94 on Saturday despite playing without an injured James Harden.
Harden, who sat out with a sprained right ankle, was not listed on the injury report and coach Stephen Silas did not mention his injury in his pregame availability. The team announced that he wouldn’t play about 38 minutes before the game was scheduled to begin.
Wall, who sat out Houston’s first two games because of COVID-19 contact tracing, missed all of last season and played just 32 games two years ago because of injuries. He scored 22 points in his Rockets’ debut on Thursday after a trade from Washington to make him the first player to score 50 points in his first two games after an absence of at least two years since Michael Jordan did it in 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I just put in a lot of hard work and dedication to get to this point,” Wall said. “I couldn’t ask for a better start to be 2-0 in my first two games.”
Silas wasn’t sure what to expect from Wall after being out for so long. But he has definitely been impressed.
“Whatever expectations I had, he’s obviously exceeded them,” he said.
The Rockets scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 92-81 with about 8½ minutes left. Eric Gordon led the team in that stretch, making a 3-pointer and three free throws.
Sacramento ended a scoring drought of more than 3½ minutes soon after that on an alley-oop dunk by Richaun Holmes.
Both teams struggled to score after that as they combined to miss 10 shots in a row. Gordon finally made a shot for Houston with just less than five minutes to go, and Wall added a bucket a few seconds later to extend the lead to 96-83.
Silas raved about his team’s defense on Saturday and said without Harden’s scoring prowess it was even more important to concentrate on that part of the game.
“We really buckled down and played some defense,” Silas said. “In order for us to be good, we have to be good on defense. We can’t just outscore people.”
The Kings used an 8-2 run, capped by four points from Harrison Barnes, to get within 98-91 with less than a minute to go. But Christian Wood responded with a dunk to put the game out of reach.
Harden had started Houston’s first three games this season and is averaging a league-leading 37 points with 11 assists.
De’Aaron Fox had 23 points for the Kings, who lost to the Rockets for the second straight game after winning three of their first four games.
“The guys should feel bad about the loss just like I do, losing is painful,” coach Luke Walton said. “But they should also feel very good about how they are playing as a group.”
He said they got stagnant offensively in the second half and was particularly disappointed in their lack of assists.
“We only had 11 assists tonight as a team, which is awful,” he said. “That’s not who we are as a group.”
Wood had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Gordon added 21 points for Houston.
The Kings cut the lead to two points on a 3-pointer by Buddy Hield with about 7½ minutes left in the third quarter. Wall made four quick points after that to stretch the lead to 79-73.
The Rockets were up by seven late in the third before Fox scored the last five points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 83-81 entering the fourth.
Houston Health Vaccinates More than 1,000 People During the City’s First COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
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How people in phase 1B can get vaccinated for COVID-19 in Texas
The State of Texas is giving a green light to health care providers to begin phase 1B vaccinations for people 65 years and older or with certain medical conditions.
The announcement is bringing a flood of questions from people wanting to know where to go to get in line.
Notifications are going out
“I think most facilities are doing what we are doing which is notifying the people we want to get vaccinated, to go ahead and schedule and get the vaccine, rather than having long lines and a sign outside saying walk in and get your COVID vaccine,” said Dr. Melanie Mouzoon, with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic.
She says Kelsey-Seybold is already moving into phase 1B. Last week, Memorial Hermann told us it planned to start early this week. Afterward, we heard from a lot of you, asking what day will phase 1B begin at area hospitals.
When we checked back with Memorial Hermann Monday, they told us they were still working on a rollout date. Houston Methodist told us it would likely be next week.
Don’t have a doctor/clinic/hospital? You may need to call around
If you don’t have a primary care physician you may need to look for another option to get the vaccine.
“The large pharmacies are going to be getting allotments as well, CVS and Walgreens, so I expect they will be doing some outreach for people that don’t have providers,” said Dr. Mouzoon.
The state health department also has a list online of every place the vaccines have been shipped. You can see the full list here. When we asked, a spokesperson told us people in phase 1B can call those places directly and ask for a vaccine appointment.
Check the map to see where COVID vaccine has been delivered
The state of Texas has put out a map, showing locations that have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Launch the map here.
Can you travel after getting both doses?
Another viewer wanted to know, can you travel after you’ve received both doses of the vaccine?
“Whether traveling or staying in town, the infection prevention measures in terms of social distancing, mask-wearing, washing hands does not change,” said Dr. Hana El Sahly, with Baylor College of Medicine.
She says the reason to still be cautious about travel, the vaccine prevents the symptoms of COVID but researchers don’t know if it prevents you from spreading the virus.
U.S. could ramp up slow Covid vaccine rollout by giving two half volume doses of Moderna shot
The head of the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccine program said Sunday that health officials are exploring the idea of giving a major group of Americans half volume doses of one vaccine to accelerate the rollout.
Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that one way to speed up immunizations against Covid-19 was to give two half-volume doses of the Moderna vaccine to some individuals.
“We know that for the Moderna vaccine giving half the dose for people between the ages of 18 to 55 — two doses, half the dose, which means exactly achieving the objective of immunizing double the number of people with the doses we have — we know it induces an identical immune response to the 100 microgram dose,” Slaoui said.
“And therefore, we are in discussions with Moderna and with the FDA — of course ultimately it will be an FDA decision — to accelerate injecting half the volume,” he added.
The comments came in response to a question about why the U.S. was not using the strategy of administering all available doses of vaccines now, even though the approved vaccines require a second round of shots to be fully effective. The United Kingdom has adopted this approach, with the hope that continued production will allow the second shots to be given in the future.
Slaoui said he thought it would be a mistake to make a decision that was not supported by the trial data. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci made similar comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier Sunday, saying the strategy “goes against the science” and wouldn’t fix the issues facing the U.S. rollout.
“The idea about stretching it out so you can get more people, that’s if you have not enough vaccine and you have a lot of people lined up waiting to get a vaccine,” Fauci said. “That’s not our problem now. We have the vaccine. We need to get it into people’s arms. It really is the right solution to the wrong problem.”
The argument over different vaccination approaches comes as the U.S. rollout of the vaccine has failed to meet the goals of Operation Warp Speed and the pandemic continues to ravage the country. President Donald Trump has blamed the states for the slow rollout, as the number of vaccinations administered lags behind the number shipped and delivered.
Health officials were aiming to inject 20 million Americans with a vaccine by the end of the year. However, only about 4.2 million had received shots as of Jan. 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest seven-day average for new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. is 205,093, according to John Hopkins University. That figure is up 8% week-over-week, though testing and reporting have tended to be inconsistent during holiday seasons. The nation is also averaging more than 2,600 deaths per day attributed to the virus, according to Johns Hopkins.
Houston opens first free COVID-19 vaccination site
The Houston Health Department opened the city’s first public COVID-19 vaccine site Saturday.
“We are working efficiently to vaccinate eligible frontline employees and vulnerable Houstonians,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “The virus has taken a toll, especially among the elderly and black and brown communities. The vaccine is our best shot to help prevent people from getting sick and potentially suffering severe consequences.”
In a release Saturday morning, the Houston Health Department said the public’s response was overwhelming. The COVID-19 call center was inundated by those seeking to schedule vaccination appointments.
The call center, which handles COVID-19 vaccination scheduling, COVID-19 test scheduling, and also releases COVID-19 test results, was experiencing technical issues due to the high call volume.
While the department worked to get its call center up and running again, it pivoted to on-site registration Saturday.
Those who met Phase 1A or Phase 1B vaccination criteria and wanted to get vaccinated were asked to proceed to the Bayou City Event Center, located at 9401 Knight Road, where they were provided an appointment time.
The clinic’s Saturday capacity was limited to 750 appointments. By 1:30 p.m. Saturday, all appointments had been issued.
The goal in January is to provide 100,000 vaccines to residents.
“We have to get there,” said Turner, who announced he will receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
Turner also said the call center’s technical issues were resolved and the call center had reopened.
How the clinic works:
To make an appointment to receive the Moderna vaccine, call the health department’s COVID-19 call center at 832-393-4220 between the house of 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Each person will be provided a location and appointment time to be vaccinated. The health department says it will screen people when they first drive into the clinic area, direct them to a secure area to receive the vaccination, and monitor them for any adverse reaction for 15 minutes, according to a press release.
Who’s eligible to get the vaccine at the clinic?
Texas’ Phase 1B distribution plan will prioritize people 65 and older and people 16 and older, who have at least one chronic medical condition, putting them at increased risk, according to a release.
According to the release, “The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization. Per CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.”
Medical conditions include the following: cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart conditions, solid organ transplantation, obesity and severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes.
The release also stated that frontline healthcare workers will be eligible for vaccination as part of the Phase 1A distribution that began in mid-December.
The Houston Health Department will announce additional free vaccination opportunities as supply increases.
According to the release, people who qualify should contact their medical provider or use the Texas Department of State Health Services’ online map to find and call vaccine providers.
For more information about COVID-19 vaccines, click here.
Texas AG sues city of Austin over Covid-19 dining restrictions for New Year’s weekend
The Texas AG sued the city of Austin on Wednesday after local officials placed new Covid-19 restrictions on dining services for the New Year’s weekend.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, filed a petition for a temporary injunction and a temporary restraining order in Travis County District Court against the directive, which limited restaurants to the drive-thru, curbside pickup, takeout, and delivery services between 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Thursday to Sunday.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown, both Democrats, introduced the new four-day restriction to limit social gatherings over the holiday weekend after the state reported a record number of hospitalizations and new cases.
In a letter on Wednesday, Paxton said the new directive violated a previous order by Gov. Greg Abbott and directed both officials to rescind or modify the order.
“Mayor Adler and Judge Brown do not have the authority to flout Gov. Abbott’s executive orders by shutting down businesses in Travis County and our state’s capital city,” Paxton said in a statement. “The fact that these two local leaders released their orders at night and on the eve of a major holiday shows how much contempt they have for Texans and local businesses.”
Paxton’s lawsuit names Adler, Brown, the city of Austin, and Travis County as defendants.
Adler said on Wednesday he consulted with doctors, educators, and city attorneys, calling the city of Austin in “critical” condition.
“We are now facing our most dangerous surge prospects,” he said during a news conference.
Brown called the order “the most narrowly tailored thing we could think of” to curb the spread of the coronavirus over New Year’s weekend.
Dr. Mark Escott, medical director of the city of Austin and Travis County, urged residents to “stay home as much as possible and not gather with people outside their households.”
“We are now experiencing uncontrolled widespread community transmission of COVID-19, particularly in circumstances where masking and distancing are not possible, making bars and similar establishments extremely concerning over this holiday weekend,” Escott said in a statement.
Texas logged a record of almost 12,000 hospitalizations and 27,000 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, according to the state health department’s Covid-19 dashboard.
Texas officials push hospitals, local health authorities to administer COVID-19 vaccines faster as infection rate reaches “red flag” levels
Top Texas officials again urged health care providers to administer more coronavirus vaccines Tuesday, the same day the state reported that the proportion of Texans whose coronavirus tests come back positive has hit levels not seen since a summer wave of cases that overwhelmed some hospitals.
The state reported Tuesday that 163,700 Texans had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine. About 1.2 million doses have been allocated to providers across the state through the first three weeks since their arrival, according to the Department of State Health Services.
“A significant portion of vaccines distributed across Texas might be sitting on hospital shelves as opposed to being given to vulnerable Texans,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Tuesday evening.
That tweet came after health officials asked providers that received doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to “immediately vaccinate” all eligible Texans, including people 65 and older and those who are at least 16 with a qualifying medical condition. That renewed push echoed a statement Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas DSHS, sent to providers last week directing them to “administer their entire allotment with all deliberate speed.”
“Dr. Hellerstedt put out that statement today to make it clear to all providers that people over the age of 65 and people with medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe disease of death from COVID-19 are eligible to receive vaccine now,” said spokesperson Douglas Loveday. “Vaccine supply remains limited but more vaccines will be delivered to providers each week. It will take time to vaccinate everyone in those priority groups.”
Texas officials’ push for providers to administer more vaccines comes as Texas’ seven-day average COVID-19 positivity rate has remained above 15% for one week, according to data the state released Tuesday. And that sustained rise in the rate comes one day after the state reported a record number of Texans hospitalized with the virus.
“We can expect an increasing surge in case numbers over the coming weeks as a result, and not far behind the surge in cases will be a surge in hospitalizations and potential fatalities,” said Angela Clendenin, an epidemiologist, and biostatistician at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health.
Clendenin said the rising positivity rate is likely in part due to a greater number of tests among people who are asymptomatic and those who have only mild symptoms.
On Tuesday, the state reported that 17.15% of molecular coronavirus tests came back as confirmed cases over the last seven days. The seven-day average positivity rate has remained above 15% since Dec. 22.
Abbott in May said that a sustained positivity rate above 10% was cause for alarm.
“If the positivity test rate is more than 10%, that’s one of those red flags that we begin to look at,” Abbott said at a May 5 press briefing.
But in recent months, Abbott has repeatedly sworn off any new shutdowns. Instead, he has pointed to a statewide mask mandate that remains in effect and certain occupancy reductions that are triggered when the proportion of a region’s COVID-19 patients exceeds 15% of hospital capacity for seven days. A Texas Tribune analysis found those restrictions did little to ease burdened health care systems in areas hit hardest by the virus.
“Gov. Abbott continues to rely on the data-driven hospitalization metrics used by doctors and medical experts to help inform and guide the state’s ongoing efforts to mitigate COVID-19,” said spokesperson Renae Eze. “As some communities experience a rise in hospitalizations, the state of Texas is working closely with local officials to quickly provide the resources needed to address these spikes and keep Texans safe, including surging medical personnel and supplies.”
In September, the Texas DSHS began publishing a new version of the state’s positivity rate. It takes into account the date a test was administered, not when it was reported. That change in reporting revealed that the share of people receiving positive test results was higher in the spring than originally disclosed.
Texas’ rising positivity rate is the latest in a series of metrics that has worried public health experts, particularly in the midst of the holiday season which could exacerbate an already spreading virus.
On Monday, the state reported more Texans were hospitalized with the virus than at any point during the pandemic. And earlier this month, the state’s stock of available intensive care beds sank to its lowest point yet. There were 11,775 people in hospitals on Tuesday and 653 available ICU beds.
Two weeks ago, Texas began vaccinating front-line health care workers and nursing home residents and staff, marking a significant first step in the fight against the coronavirus. But experts estimate that it will take between six and nine months for the COVID-19 vaccine to be widely available.
“It is more important than ever, where we find ourselves today, to remain extra vigilant about physical distancing, mask-wearing, good hand hygiene, and avoiding non-essential travel and gatherings with others outside of our households until the vaccine becomes widely available and a significant number of people become vaccinated,” Clendenin said.
