Week 58's COVID-19 Report

Today is Monday, April 26 and this is my Week58 Texas Covid Report. I provide this information (dates) in order to put the data into context. So much of what we read "here" is old information; alternatively, new information can have errors that occur when automated procedures have errors (e.g. indexing, leaving out data from later time zones, leaving out data from remote regions, ...). So, the date is probably the most important information on each of these posts - And, we are still in a "steady state" mode where the number of cases (confirmed by hospitalization trends) equals the number of recoveries plus deaths. This statewide plateau has been in place since the North Texas Region cut over from a decreasing hospitalizations vs. time to one of steady state. This occurred roughly 3 weeks after Statewide Covid Restrictions were lifted.

Below are the latest Vaccination Results. As shown, the State has just crossed into the 30+% range of those who are completely vaccinated. This result combines results which vary from 28.7% (Central Texas) to 39.0%(Border). Taking the average over regions, the result comes out to 31.5% +/- 4.2%. As reported in the media, vaccination rates are decreasing with ours at 3.2% (down from the previous week, just over 5). Therefore, we are still going to have to wait until the end of August to reach that Herd Immunity nirvana that everyone is drooling about.

Meanwhile, Vaccination Hubs are closing. While it will be more convenient for many to obtain vaccinations at the local Wal Mart, Grocery Store, or Pharmacy - there is no telling what effect this will have on the data. Will these entities report their daily counts on a timely basis? Will errors and retractions make the whole table impossible to track? Because of this uncertainty, I am devoting the Month of May to volunteering at Public Health Drives to get as many people as possible protected by the end of May. You should too. Get off of fb, Get off of Netflix, Get off of Door Dash. Everyone must find a way to pitch in so that our front line Medical Workers can finally get some relief, time off, and well earned consideration.