Page 21 - Mark Escott News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for younger children in the coming days, Austin and Travis County health leaders said they are bracing for an increase in vaccine demand by parents seeking to return their youngsters' lives back to normal.  Parents and guardians of children 12 and older will likely be able to schedule vaccine appointments for their kids once the FDA gives the vaccine a thumbs-up for younger people, according to Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority. Escott said that emergency...

Matthew Ruiz gets vaccinated agains COVID-19 at a clinic in March. More than 40% of adults in Travis County are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and nearly 58% have received at least one dose, Austin's interim medical director said Tuesday. Still, Dr. Mark Escott told a joint session of Travis County commissioners and the Austin City Council, reaching herd immunity in the area is going to be a difficult task. “Because of the variability in vaccine availability, because of the challenge of having a worldwide pandemic with multiple hot spots which shift around the world, it’s going to make...

Bastrop County COVID-19 tracker: 1 new death, 24 new confirmed cases reported this week Cameron Drummond, Austin American-Statesman Other COVID-19 trackers: Here's the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Bastrop County. Updated data will be added to the top of this story each Tuesday evening by 5 p.m. For the fourth straight week, Bastrop County has reported at least one new death from COVID-19. The county has now reported 96 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Effective Tuesday, both the Bastrop and Smithville school districts no longer...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend that children over the age of 2 wear masks in child care settings. Regionally, Austin-Travis County's interim health authority Mark Escott has consistently said that masks prevent classroom spread of the coronavirus, and that most outbreaks in Austin-area schools have sprung from extracurricular activities where students went unmasked. In a spring survey conducted by DSISD's COVID-19 Preparedness Team, 66.3% of parents said it should not be required for students under age 10 to wear masks for the rest of the school year, an...

Austin health officials weigh new CDC mask guidance, moving community to safer Stage 2 Austin Public Health officials on Tuesday said they are trying to figure out how to apply the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new mask guidelines, just as they are preparing to loosen coronavirus pandemic restrictions.  The CDC's updated guidelines include new rules that say Americans who are fully vaccinated can unmask while walking, running, hiking or biking outdoors alone or with members of their household. Fully vaccinated people also don’t need to wear a mask during smal...