'If you are vaccinated, go for it': Large Texas counties roll back some pandemic-era limits Karen Brooks Harper, The Texas Tribune May 19, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Some of Texas’ most populous cities and counties are beginning to ease monthslong pandemic-era restrictions on gatherings and lift mask mandates on businesses as COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations plummet to the lowest numbers the state has seen in a year. On Tuesday, officials in Travis and Harris counties — both early and adamant adopters of stay-at-home orders, mask mandates and other limits that covered nearly 6 million residents between the two counties — dropped their risk-based community safety guidelines to reflect lower threat levels, rolling back some health policies and guidelines in an effort to allow vaccinated residents more freedom to return to their pre-pandemic lives.