WASHINGTON, DC — Full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is “imminent,” a senior federal official said Friday. A person familiar with plan told CNN the decision is expected early next week, and a Biden administration official said approval of the two-dose vaccine “could be as early as Monday.” The
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. government on Friday extended a ban on non-essential travel along the borders with Mexico and Canada through at least Sept. 21 to slow the spread of Covid-19 despite increasing pressure to lift the restriction. U.S. border communities that are dependent on shoppers from Mexico and Canada and their political representatives
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EL PASO, Texas — The El Paso County Commissioners and the El Paso City-County Health Authority have decided that the Freakazoid Robots Festival slated for Labor Day weekend should be cancelled. Their reasoning is that the festival would put attendees at risk of contracting or spreading the Covid-19 virus amid the surge of the Delta
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott’s request that it disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts — albeit on a technicality. The state Supreme Court’s order Thursday evening temporarily allows school districts to require face coverings because it leaves in place previous temporary restraining orders issued
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas school districts must now notify teachers, staff and students’ families of positive Covid-19 cases in classrooms or extracurricular or after-school programs, the Texas Education Agency announced in updated public health guidance Thursday. This is a change from the TEA’s previous guidance, which didn’t explicitly require school districts to notify parents of
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EL PASO, Texas — As a new face mask mandate took effect Thursday in the El Paso Independent School District, may wondered what would happening to students who did not wear a mask while in class? Teachers from EPISD reached out to ABC-7 to explain what they had been instructed to do if a student
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UPDATE, Aug. 19: The Ysleta Independent School District will now join Anthony, Canutillo, El Paso and Socorro ISDs in complying with the El Paso City-County Health Authority’s mask mandate for all indoor facilities, including schools. YISD officials made the announcement in a statement Thursday evening, citing this week’s court ruling that said the Health Authority
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EL PASO, Texas — Across the state of Texas, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to increase. With hospital bed capacity in the Lone Star state becoming increasingly thin medical experts are turning to another treatment in hopes of giving patients a fighting chance. Monoclonal antibody infusions are on the rise as a way to
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will be available as soon as this weekend in El Paso for those who are immunocompromised. The city of El Paso and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso will be operating independent vaccine clinics. There is a list of CDC recommendations for
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — On the first day of the Health Authority’s new indoor mask mandate to battle Covid-19, the city of El Paso discovered not everyone was aware of the new regulations. As a result, city officials announced Wednesday that they would be instituting door-to-door visits to enforce the mandate at businesses. RELATED STORIES:
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EL PASO, Texas — UTEP President Heather Wilson, in an email to students and staff on Wednesday, said the university will not require students or staff to wear masks – but will offer cash incentives to get vaccinated. Wilson explained the although El Paso’s Health Authority has mandated face masks at indoor public facilities, including
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WASHINGTON, DC — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott may soon be fighting a war on two fronts — with local officials and the federal government — to stave off mandatory Covid-19 prevention efforts after the Biden administration announced Wednesday it was going after states like Texas that try to ban universal masking at schools. Saying that
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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso’s Catholic Diocese announced Wednesday evening that it would institute a face mask requirement for all indoor church services and functions effective immediately. The announcement puts the diocese in lock step with the mask mandate issued by El Paso’s City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza, even though that order carried
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — School districts were preparing staff Wednesday to start implementing face-covering requirements for students after the El Paso and Socorro independent school districts both approved mask mandates at board meetings on Tuesday night. The president of the Socorro chapter of the American Federation of Teachers union, Veronica Hernandez, was happy to hear
Continue Reading PARIS, Texas — A Texas school district is amending its dress code to require masks in hopes of sidestepping Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates. The Paris Independent School District’s board of trustees voted to require masks as part of its dress code when classes begin Thursday. The district, which has about 3,800
Continue Reading WASHINGTON , DC — President Biden was delivering remarks Wednesday afternoon in a White House address on the federal government’s Covid-19 response. His administration has announced plans to dispense Covid-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging Delta variant. The plan calls for booster doses eight months after people
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EL PASO, Texas — The El Paso Department of Public Health and the City Attorney’s Office held a media briefing Wednesday afternoon on the local face mask mandate as well as a court-issued restraining order that blocks Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s prohibition of the El Paso order. (You can watch it in the video player
Continue Reading US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy explains why the decision was made to roll out vaccine boosters for Covid-19.
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso hosted a virtual town hall on Wednesday to address vaccine safety, effectiveness and myths. You can watch it in the video player above. As cases of the Delta variant increase, Texas lags behind the national average vaccination rates, especially in rural counties
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The nation’s top health officials are recommending all Americans get Covid-19 booster shots to shore up their protection amid the surging Delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ overall effectiveness is declining somewhat, but still offers strong protection against hospitalization. Among those making the recommendation were Centers for Disease Control Director Dr.
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A judge blocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order forbidding mask mandates late Tuesday night, clearing the way for a new mask rule from El Paso’s City/County Health Authority to take effect at midnight. County Court at Law Judge Ruben Morales signed a temporary restraining order after ruling that Abbott exceeded
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UPDATE: EPISD’s board, with only one nay, voted 6-1 Tuesday night to impose a mask mandate for all teachers, staff and students in school facilities, effective Thursday, as well as take legal action against Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott over his ban on local school districts being able to implement such mask-wearing requirements. The vote came
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UPDATE: SISD’s board voted unanimously Tuesday night to follow the El Paso Health Authority’s mask mandate for schools, which was set to take effect on Wednesday. The vote came after Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza made a presentation to the board about the current Covid-19 spread situation in the community. SISD became the second El
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch opponent of mask mandates, is infected with a “breakthrough” case of Covid-19, the governor’s office confirmed Tuesday. Officials said Abbott was isolating in the governor’s mansion following the positive test for Covid-19 earlier Tuesday; a statement indicated he was “currently experiencing no symptoms” and was “receiving
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday that face masks will once again be required in all public indoor settings, with limited exceptions, and regardless of vaccination status. This new mandate will begin Friday and it comes as vaccination rates remain stagnant and infections increase. The state is also
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — With the state of New Mexico on Tuesday reinstating mask requirements for all indoor activities, Las Cruces Public Schools said it would continue with its existing mandate put into place earlier this month. That word brought dozens of those opposed to school masks to the LCPS board meeting on Tuesday evening
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The mask mandate for travelers on planes, trains and buses will be extended into January, a Department of Homeland Security source told ABC News on Tuesday. The Transportation Security Administration will extend the federal transportation mask mandate through Jan. 18, according to the source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because
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EL PASO, Texas — It’s still too soon to know how kids going back to the classroom will impact community spread in the Borderland, according to a local physician, but cases in kids and teens are starting to slowly increase in El Paso. According to local data, on the week of Aug. 2, the first
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — One of El Paso’s top infectious disease experts said he does not believe El Paso hospitals will be overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, like other major Texas cities are. Dr. Ogechika Alozie spoke about the statewide Covid trends on Tuesday’s edition of ABC-7’s Good Morning El Paso. “I think it’s important
Continue Reading UPDATE: El Paso City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza told City Council he planned to impose a mask mandate, requiring that face coverings be worn at all indoor establishments, including schools, starting Wednesday morning. The mandate would be in effect for 30 days and the re-evaluated based on local Covid-19 conditions. In defense of Ocaranza’s
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