Texas in the News Weekly Quiz January 18, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

The global pandemic brought on by the spread of COVID-19 has had a transformational effect on life for every Texan. Unemployment numbers are spiking, businesses are frustrated by rapidly changing (or unclear) rules, and local and state officials squabble over who is responsible for slowing the spread. The tension between levels of government (local, state, federal), as we learned in Chapter 3 on federalism (power sharing), has complicated handling the pandemic in Texas.

Admid all the economic and political turmoil brought on by the spread of the virus, the happy news that a vaccine was available gave many suffering Texans hope. Yet a sluggish rollout of the vaccine has limited efforts to vaccinate medically vulnerable Texans or significant numbers of health care first responders. In addition, the distribution of the vaccine has exposed gaps in delivery of health care services to rural Texas and racial minority communities.

Read the following articles that detail the issues in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine:

• "Analysis: A frustrating vaccine rollout in Texas that should’ve been smoother"
• "More than two dozen of Texas' rural hospitals haven’t received any COVID-19 vaccines"
• "Advocates worry vaccines will be out of reach for Black and Hispanic neighborhoods devastated by COVID-19"
• "The coronavirus vaccine rollout in Texas is leaving some with more questions than answers"