Texas now making virus vaccines available to all adults
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas on Monday began making Covid-19 vaccines available to anyone who wants one.
Texas becomes the most populous U.S. state to expand Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults. The state has nearly 30 million residents.
All people 16+ can now receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Texas.
— Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) March 29, 2021
There are multiple tools to help you find a vaccine. DSHS encourages people to use a tool that works best for them.
Vaccine locator tools: https://t.co/1jgbf9ROKw #HealthyTexas #COVID19TX pic.twitter.com/7PN6QHI9g8
This comes more than a month before President Joe Biden’s goal of opening vaccine eligibility to everyone by May 1.
In Texas, individuals who are 16 and 17 years old are also able to get a vaccine starting Monday. But the Texas Department of State Health Services said only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for individuals in that age group.
Alaska was the first state to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults.
Texas has one of the nation’s slowest vaccination rates. Only about 12% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, and roughly 24% has received at least one dose, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
In comparison, neighboring New Mexico has fully vaccinated more than 21% of its population and given at least one dose to 36% of its residents.
More than 10 million coronavirus vaccinations have been administered in Texas, according to state health officials.
New virus cases have continued to drop in Texas. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in Texas has lessened by 675.9, a decrease of 14.8%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
