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A study by the Texas Department of State Health Services during the Delta variant outbreak of COVID-19 indicates unvaccinated Texans were 20 times more likely to die from the virus than those who had received one of the vaccines. From the report: All authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the United States are highly effective at protecting people from getting sick or severely ill with COVID-19, including those infected with Delta and other known variants. Real-world data from Texas clearly shows these benefits. Meanwhile, the total number of new cases of COVID-19 in Texas in the past week rose slightly to 23,350, as did new deaths at 846, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University. Since the pandemic began, 4.28 million Texans have been diagnosed with the virus—14.6 percent of the state’s entire population. COVID-19 has taken the lives of 72,760 Texans, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Harlingen. The good news is that at least for now, the number of hospitalized, lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients continues to drop, with 2,736 reported by DSHS as of Sunday. That is down 75 percent from mid-August levels. DSHS also reports the number of Texans who are fully vaccinated continues to inch upward, with 15.67 million reported, a number that now includes children ages 5-11 who are now eligible for the vaccine.
