Texas Briefly

More than 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses Texas-bound AUSTIN (AP) —

AUSTIN (AP) — More than 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are headed Texas’ way for next week, state health officials said Friday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said that 708,460 first doses of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been allocated to 928 providers in 129 Texas counties, while 570,520 second doses also have been ordered.

An estimated 470,000 first and second doses were allocated to pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and dialysis centers. Also, with the federal pause on the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine now lifted, the federal government is expected to make doses of that vaccine available as soon as this weekend.

So far, more than 23.4 million doses have been distributed to Texas, and more than 36% of the state's population has received at least one dose, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 24% of the population has been fully immunized.

New Texas COVID-19 cases were reported at below-average levels Friday, but new deaths were above the seven-day rolling average computed by Johns Hopkins University researchers. State health officials reported 3,306 new cases and 69 deaths, compared with averages of 3,403 new cases and 54 deaths per day.