Mayor Steve Adler and Travis Co. Judge Andy Brown extended their eviction orders to August 1. Residents who continue to struggle to pay rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic can find rental assistance resources at the City of Austin’s website and Travis County’s website. You can email covid19@koop.org to have links sent to you, or you can call the City at 512-488-1397 or the County at 512-677-6070.
The Texas Dept. of State Health services reports that 51% of Texas state residents are vaccinated against COVID-19, and in Travis County, 51% of residents are fully vaccinated as of May 24. In general, counties with higher shares of people disproportionately affected by COVID-19, including people with high-risk medical conditions, and people living in poverty have lower vaccination rates than counties with higher-income residents.
Recent COVID-19 surges around the world suggest that COVID-19 variants will emerge from regions with high populations and low vaccination rates, and these variants will prolong the pandemic. In addition, global citizens are exhausted by states of emergency and social distancing, so those measures are becoming less effective than they were in 2020. Texans concerned about global vaccination rates may call their elected representatives to ask them to advocate that the US ship more vaccine doses to highly-populated areas throughout the world.
If you have a question or comment for KOOP about COVID-19, leave a message for us at 512-710-5353 or covid19@koop.org. We will respond to questions and share other community updates weekly on Reflections of Community Outreach or the In Touch Interviews show.