Beyond Brown’s library/dining room stand lamps made from high-voltage insulators in the entryway.
I always wanted a library–slash–dining room,” says Jill Brown, who owns a housewares shop in Houston. “I always wanted to eat and entertain among books.”
Perched at her ebonized mahogany Napoleon III table in a corner lined with shelves of art tomes, an Hermès scarf casually tossed around her neck and a spread of cheeses and crusty breads laid before her, Brown exudes the unmistakable air of someone who has spent a fair share of time in Europe. This three-bedroom country home northwest of the city, near the town of Bellville, looks equally civilized. Brown’s little pocket of East Texas, where the coastal plains give way to gently rolling hills carved into small farms and vacation acreage, lends itself well to the finer pleasures of country life.
The chief executive of Uber had requested the same for rideshare drivers and food delivery workers.
Similar requests for early access to the vaccine came from representatives for teacher groups, home health care workers, rice farmers, federal judges, dialysis patients, journalists and 911 operators, among scores more, according to a state document obtained by the American-Statesman.
The behind-the-scenes competition illuminates the high-stakes demand for a vaccine that remains in relatively short supply, even as the virus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge in Texas. On the line, beyond health and lives, are livelihoods, as industries of all sorts struggle to remain afloat as the pandemic drags on.